With the spread of obesity throughout the
industrialized world and a series of warnings about this growing
problem from the rest of the world, many questions have been raised
about how would obesity influence millions of lives. One such
question is the title of this article.
No studies have been
performed yet to determine whether obesity has a direct impact on the
quality of sperm, but science has already identified several
indirect links between obesity and a decrease in the quality of sex
and sperm. What we know for a fact is that overweight and obese
people tend to cut down on effort whenever they can.
This
has a big influence on sex since regular effort is crucial to the
secretion of testosterone by the body.
Testosterone does not regulate the quality of sperm, but
it does influence the sex drive and the growth of spermatogenic tissue
in the testes. It is this tissue that performs the very production of
sperm.
A decrease in the normal level of testosterone, which is
bound to happen to every "couch potato" person who tends to avoid
effort, leads to a drop in the libido. The individual is no longer as
interested in sex as before, nor does he get as much pleasure from it
as he used to. Combined with the frequent exposure to substances that
mimic the effects of the estrogen hormone, the low level of testosterone
may lead to shrinking penis and testicles.
Moreover, people
who are overweight or obese may have unbalanced diets that tend to
leave out foods rich in zinc. Zinc is one of the most important minerals
that enter the human body through food. It is found in oysters, beans,
nuts and seeds. A deficiency of zinc, resulting from the inadequate
intake or absorption of zinc, is marked by hair loss, skin lesions and
wasting of body tissues.
Zinc is very important for the production
of sperm and for maintaining the quality and motility of sperm.
Without enough zinc, the quality of sperm will suffer. Therefore it
can be argued that weight does influence the quality of sperm because
overweight people tend to exercise less and, in fact, to avoid
physical exertion, which is crucial to the production of testosterone.