Euro J Nutr: nature's gift to men! Tomato extract can improve sperm quality!

October 17, 2019 / BIOON / -- a new study published recently in the European Journal of nutrition by the University of Sheffield found that as long as a compound is added to cooked tomatoes, sperm quality can be improved The findings could change the prospects of men with fertility problems and lead to better ways to reduce the damaging effects of modern life on reproductive health Of all infertility cases, about 40-50% are caused by "male factor" Photo source: https://cn.bing.com, the first ever double-blind randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of lactolycopene, a compound in the diet, on men, led by Allan pacey, Professor of male reproduction and head of the Department of cancer and metabolism at the University of Sheffield, and Dr Liz Williams, an expert in human nutrition The team found that taking lactolycopene increased the proportion of healthy shaped sperm (sperm morphology) and increased "fast swimming" sperm by about 40% Lycopene can be found in some fruits and vegetables, but the main source of the diet is tomatoes Lycopene is a pigment that makes tomatoes appear red, but the lycopene in the diet is difficult to be absorbed by the human body, so the compound used in the experiment is a commercial formula called lactose lycopene: designed by futureyou Cambridge to improve the bioavailability The 12 week trial, designed by Dr Williams, involved 60 healthy volunteers aged 19 to 30 Half of them took lactorubin supplements every day and the other half took the same placebo (fake pill) for 12 weeks Neither the researchers nor the volunteers knew who was receiving lactorubin or placebo The researchers collected sperm and blood samples at the beginning and end of the trial "At the end of the study, we didn't expect any difference in sperm between men on pills and men on placebo When we analyzed the results, I almost fell off the chair The improvement of sperm size and shape in morphology is remarkable We use computer system to carry out these measurements, thus eliminating many human errors Moreover, people who use computers don't know who took lactoglobin and who took fake pills This is the first reasonable design and control study on the effect of lactoferrin on semen quality, which urges us to do more research on this molecule "We were surprised by the improvement in sperm quality that the results showed," Dr Williams said "This is a small study that we need to repeat in larger trials, but the results are very encouraging The next step is to repeat the process for men with fertility problems to see if they can improve their sperm quality, help couples conceive and avoid invasive fertility treatment "Her team includes three other researchers, Madeleine Park, ailing Robinson and Sophie Pitt, who hope to start the new study as soon as possible Professor pacey said that up to now, this work has not studied the mechanism of lycopene's beneficial effect, but it is a known strong antioxidant, so it may inhibit the damage caused by sperm oxidation, which is the known cause of male fertility problems He believes that this antioxidant effect is the key to improve sperm quality in the experiment, and hopes to conduct more research on it Reference: Elizabeth A Williams et al A randomized placebo controlled trial to investigate the effect of lactolycope on men quality in health mares, European Journal of nutrition (2019) Doi: 10.1007/s00394-019-02091-5