The Medicinal Properties of Food

There is some suggestion, as I have reported, that men who eat too many fruits and vegetables, and who do not eat enough animal protein have lower sperm counts.

Other studies suggest that the pesticides and other chemical contaminants used in agriculture cause lower sperm count.

Today, we learn that a man who wants to counteract the effect of too many fruits and vegetables should drink beer. Beer increases sperm count. 

To optimize the effects of beer the man should stop drinking coffee. Too much coffee lowers a man’s ability to conceive.

The New York Post reports the shocking discovery:

Beer-guzzling guys can increase their chances of becoming a father if they drink a few beers each day, a new study shows.

But while the booze helped men get their gals pregnant, downing a few cups coffee each day cut the guys’ chances of making a baby, according to the study done by Massachusetts General Hospital.

The study examined more than 100 men at the hospital whose partners were undergoing in-vitro fertilization between 2007 and 2013, according to London’s Telegraph.

Dudes who downed at least a pint and a half each day were more than twice as likely to have children through IVF than those who stayed stone-cold sober.

Java drinkers, however, showed the opposite effect. Men who drank more than two cups of joe each morning had their chances of becoming fathers cut drastically to just 1 in 5.

It’s not quite the same thing as the female biological clock, but still….

Anyway, there’s some consolation for men who eat lots of fruits and vegetables. No matter what it does to their sperm count and no matter what the reason, consuming these foodstuffs enhances a man’s mental health.

The Daily Mail reports the study:

As the saying goes, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away,' - now research suggests that eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables every day can keep the therapist away, too.

A study by The University of Queensland has found that eight or more portions every 24 hours drastically improves mental wellbeing.

Dr Redzo Mujcic, a researcher from the University of Queensland, collected data from 12,000 Australian adults to examine how their consumption of fruit and vegetables correlates with their mental health.

As it happens, fruits do more for mental health than vegetables and both help women more than men.

And yet, if you put all of this evidence together, it looks like science has discovered a new male contraceptive: a diet of fruits, vegetables and coffee. Dig in!

Since this diet will also improve your mood and keep you out of the therapists’ office—a good in itself—who’s to complain?