Tomatoes can boost quality of sperm

Adietary supplement containing a compound from cooked tomatoes can improve the size and shape of sperm, according to a study. The study, published in the journal European Journal of Nutrition, assessed the impact of giving men a dietary compound called LactoLycopene. The scientists, including those from the University of Sheffield in the UK, conducted the first ever double-blind randomised control trial for the drug -- a clinical trial protocol to eliminate study bias in which neither the researchers nor the patients know what treatment individual subjects are getting.

The research team discovered that the compound could increase the proportion of healthy shaped sperm, and boost ‘fast swimming’ sperm count by around 40 per cent. Lycopene, found in some fruits and vegetables, particularly in tomatoes, is a pigment that gives them their red colour, the researchers said.

Dietary Lycopene, they mentioned, is poorly absorbed by the human body, so the researchers tested if the compound’s commercially available formulation called LactoLycopene could improve its bioavailability. “We didn't really expect that at the end of the study there would be any difference in the sperm from men who took the tablet versus those who took the placebo. When we decoded the results, I nearly fell off my chair,” said co-author Allan Pacey from the University of Sheffield.The researchers said that the improvement in the size and shape of the sperm was dramatic.