Eating very processed industrial products does not only harm your line or the health of your arteries. In men, this consumption when it is daily, can also target a more intimate part: male fertility and metabolism. And this, in just a few weeks.
Chips, prepared dishes or cold meats on the menu
A study published last Thursday updates this nuisance, which we did not speak to “here. “”Our results show that ultra-transformed foods harm our reproductive and metabolic health, even if they are not consumed in excess. This indicates that it is the transformed nature of these foods that makes them harmful “explains Jessica Preston, main author of the study. Here is what she establishes.
The test in question focused on 43 men aged 20 to 35, all in good health, specifies the study. They followed two successive regimes of three weeks each, separated by a three -month break. One rich in ultra-transformed foods (chips, cold meats, cookies, prepared dishes, confectionery, etc.), the other composed of little or not processed foods. Scientists have constituted 2 subgroups: one with caloric intake adapted to the age, weight and activity level of participants. The other included a voluntary excess of 500 kcal per day.
Throughout the study duration, participants were entitled to regular blood, sperm and metabolic measures (weight, cholesterol, etc.). Ultimately, the results that appeared are worrying. In just three weeks of ultra-transformed diet given, the researchers observed harmful changes for humans:
- Rapid weight gain, approximately 1.3 to 1.4 kg depending on the group, mainly in the form of fat mass – whether they have followed a normal or hypercalorical diet;
- Several other markers of cardiovascular health have also been affected;
- A drop in testosterone levels and the FSH hormone (which stimulates the production of sperm);
- But above all a decrease in the number of mobile sperm, essential to fertilization;
- A disturbing increase in the CXMINP phthalate level, an endocrine disruptor used in plastics.
“We have been shocked by the number of bodily functions disturbed by ultra-transformed foods, even in young and healthy men. The long-term consequences are alarming and emphasize the need to revise nutritional recommendations in order to better protect against chronic diseases”, warns Professor Romain Barrès, principal author of the study.
Limits, but a strong alert
Why this effect? The team of scientists suggests that the pollutants present in ultra-transformed foods, some of which have endocrine disruptors, could play a key role in these hormonal and reproductive alterations. However, the authors recognize limits for this study: the participants were not hospitalized, so their exact consumption was largely based on their declarations. In addition, the short duration of the diets could have induced acute reactions, such as transient inflammation, which could have evolved differently in the long term.
However, this randomized study, a rare nutrition protocol provides additional evidence of the dangers of ultra-transformed products, regardless of the amount of calories consumed.
At a time when the consumption of ultra-transformed food explodes in the world, many epidemiological studies have already established a link with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers or even mental disorders. With this new study, researchers show that male fertility could also be compromised in the very short term. An argument that can count.