Drinking too much alcohol is bad for your health. Nonetheless, drinking in moderation can in fact have a few important positive effects on your body. For example, we have seen research studies in the past suggesting that drinking alcohol in moderation could have positive effects on heart health. Some of these studies have however been reversed due to their methodologies and since some were funded by alcohol companies, their authenticity has been questioned.
But the body evidence that still remains is still compelling. For instance, a recent study that was published earlier this year showed that people who drink in moderation tend to live longer than those who don’t drink at all. Another study has also shown an interesting correlation between alcohol intake and male fertility. The study found that men who drank around four to seven units of any alcoholic drink each week were more fertile.
The research study had 323 participants. 10% of them were teetotal while 30% of the study participants drank at least 3 units of alcohol per week. There was also another cohort of 30% that drank 4 to 7 units of alcohol per week while the remaining 30% drank more than 8 units a week. The results of the study showed that drinking four to seven units of alcohol a week leads to higher sperm count. This means that men who drink more moderately are likely to be more fertile.
But these new findings appear to contradict previous research studies. For instance, there was a study in 2004 which showed that the total sperm count and sperm concentration is negatively affected by alcohol intake. In addition to this, there was also another 2005 study that showed semen volume and sperm concentration among alcoholics was lower compared to abstainers. Other studies didn’t show any effect of alcohol in fertility.
However, this new study suggests that the inconsistencies in the findings of previous studies can be explained. It argues that these previous studies had different ways of understanding alcohol consumption and drinking habits. There’s also the issue of self-reporting. People are not always honest when they are asked sensitive information. They can lie about how much they drink or how often they do it. This makes the findings very skewed.
The new study also compared results among people who didn’t drink, those who drank moderately, and those who drank excessively. The findings revealed that drinking too much alcohol has in fact a negative effect on fertility. This is something that has also been backed by previous research studies. The new paper concluded that even though high fertility is linked to moderate alcohol intake, there’s still a need to do more research on this area. The paper is proposing to look at the health effects of moderate alcohol drinking. This could provide new insights that previous studies haven’t yet captured. Regarding fertility, there have been many recent studies that have linked improved fertility with diet.
