In a new study, researchers found fast-food meals consumed by obese or overweight men have an immediate negative impact on testicular performance and testosterone production.
The research was conducted by Flinders University and UniSA researchers.
Obesity is known to be linked to impaired testicular function, potentially resulting in androgen deficiency and sub-fertility.
While many facts are involved in the underlying cause of obesity-related male hypogonadism, This study shows that a high fat intake from fast food meals has a decisively negative effect on a man’s serum testosterone levels.
The team examined the impact of dietary fat on testicular endocrine function showed some alarming results.
They found that the ingestion of a high-fat Fast Food mixed meal, which is a common practice for obese men, produced a 25% fall in serum testosterone within an hour of eating, with levels remaining suppressed below fasting baseline for up to 4 hours.
These results suggest that the passage of fat through the intestinal tract elicits a response that indirectly elicits a post-prandial fall in testosterone.
The team says the observed falls in serum testosterone (25% decline from baseline, 2–3 nmol in absolute terms) are likely to be clinically significant for the obese or older man with low baseline levels of testosterone.
These men are likely to be placed into a continuous hypogonadal state during waking hours if they frequently consume meals and snacks high in fat.
This will clearly have an adverse impact on both their mental and physical wellbeing, plus possibly their fertility potential.
The researchers suggest that these men should minimize their fat intake and avoid inter‐meal snacking in order to optimize testicular function.
One author of the study is Flinders University’s Professor Kelton Tremellen.
The study is published in Andrologia.
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