United States seafood organizations praised a new study linking eating seafood with higher fertility rates.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, found that couples where the male and female partners consumed eight seafood servings per ovulation cycle had 47 percent and 60 percent higher fertility rates, respectively, compared to couples with male and female partners who consumed less than one seafood serving per cycle.
Couples in which both partners consumed greater than eight seafood servings per cycle had 61 percent higher fecundity compared to couples consuming less than one serving per cycle. Those couple also had a 22 percent increase in frequency of sexual intercourse.
“These latest findings only add to the overwhelming library of science that touts the benefits of seafood. For more than a decade now, published peer-reviewed science has demonstrated that the benefits of seafood conferred to babies in the womb are positive, multiple, and quantifiable. This study suggests seafood could play a role even before that,” Jennifer McGuire, a dietitian for the National Fisheries Institute, told SeafoodSource.
The study confirms that seafood is rich in nutrients and is a perfect food in many ways, Tom Brenna, who is on the board of directors for Seafood Nutrition Partnership and leads the nonprofit's Scientific and Nutrition Advisory Council, told SeafoodSource.
“Reproduction in all its aspects has long been recognized as among the most demanding of physiological functions. Being well-nourished is a prerequisite for fertility. It also likely helps that the omega-3 fatty acids in seafood are linked to balanced mood in all adults, keeping love in the air,” Brenna said.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and other universities conducted a prospective cohort study of 501 couples planning pregnancy. The couples, who lived in Michigan and Texas, participated in the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment Study from 2005 to 2009 and were followed for up to one year or until pregnancy was detected. Seafood intake was collected daily during follow-up in journals.
“Higher male and female seafood intake was associated with higher frequency of sexual intercourse and fecundity among a large prospective cohort of couples attempting pregnancy,” the researchers wrote.
