Getting nutty: this food can help increase your man’s sperm count

If you're trying to have a baby, or thinking about starting a family in a few years, you may want to start taking notes.

According to new research, your man should be chowing down on nuts (sorry boys) as they increase his sperm count. 

Researchers took 119 healthy males between the age of 18 and 35 and gave one group a portion of nuts whilst the other continued to eat as normal.

They found a 16 percent increase in sperm count from those who had the nuts.

Their sperm vitality also rose by 4 percent, sperm motility by 6 percent and sperm morphology by 1 percent.

The study was run in the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University in Spain, by lead author Dr Albert Salas-Huetos. 

Dr Albert says they embarked on the study in response to "pollution, smoking, and trends toward a western-style diet," which is impacting the quality and quantity of human sperm.

The results also concluded that those who ate nuts had a “significant” fall in sperm DNA fragmentation, which is crucial for successful fertilisation and normal embryo development.

Before you run out and stock up on the nuts and force-feed them to your partner, the author said more investigations need to take place before they can solidly conclude the benefits of the nuts when baby-making. 

“We can't yet say that based solely on the results of this study,” says Salas-Huetos.

During the 14-week study the men ate 60 grams of mixed almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. 

Dr Albert did say that if you want to try for a baby, evidence points to a healthy diet aiding your chances of conception.

“But evidence is accumulating in the literature that healthy lifestyle changes such as following a healthy dietary pattern might help conception – and of course, nuts are a key component of a Mediterranean healthy diet," he said.

It's never too early to get his swimmers fighting fit!