Antioxidants tied to older men’s sperm quality

Middle-aged and older men who get enough antioxidants in their diets, through eating foods such as broccoli and tomatoes, may have better-quality sperm than men who don’t get as much of the nutrients, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers found that among men aged 45 or older, those who got the most vitamins C and E, folate and zinc tended to have fewer DNA-strand breaks in their sperm, according to a report in the journal Fertility & Sterility.

Strand breaks are a measure of the genetic quality of sperm, which is known to decline as a man ages, though the findings do not prove that antioxidants themselves directly improve sperm quality or boost the chance of a healthy pregnancy.

“People who eat well are probably doing a bunch of other healthy things too,” said senior researcher Andrew Wyrobek, of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

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