Why junk food might hurt your body and sperm
Effect of ultra-processed food consumption on male reproductive and metabolic health.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People ate either regular food or super-processed food for a while, then switched. The processed food made them gain weight, raised bad cholesterol, lowered some important hormones, made sperm move slower, and left more chemicals in their blood—even when they ate the same number of calories.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
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Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People ate either regular food or super-processed food for a while, then switched. The processed food made them gain weight, raised bad cholesterol, lowered some important hormones, made sperm move slower, and left more chemicals in their blood—even when they ate the same number of calories.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 527 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Preston JM, Iversen J, Hufnagel A, Hjort L, Taylor J, Sanchez C, George V, Hansen AN, Ängquist L, Hermann S, Craig JM, Torekov S, Lindh C, Hougaard KS, Nóbrega MA, Simpson SJ, Barrès R
Related Content
Claims (5)
Eating a lot of processed foods may lower two important hormones—one that helps control appetite and another that helps make sperm—which could hurt both your metabolism and fertility.
People who eat a lot of processed foods may have more toxic chemicals from packaging in their blood and less of a naturally occurring mineral called lithium, which might help explain why these foods are harmful.
Eating lots of highly processed foods like chips, sodas, and frozen meals can make you gain weight and worsen your 'bad' cholesterol compared to 'good' cholesterol—even if you eat the same number of calories as someone eating whole foods.
Men who eat mostly processed foods may have sperm that don’t swim as well, which could make it harder to get a partner pregnant—even if they’re otherwise healthy.
Just eating more or fewer calories affects your body differently than eating processed foods—even if the total calories are the same.