Skip to main content

Table 2 The relation between semen quality indicators in 400 infertile men and intake of different meat types

From: The association between animal flesh foods consumption and semen parameters among infertile Iranian men: a cross-sectional study

Meat intake (servings/day)

Semen volume (ML)

Total sperm count (million)

Progressive motility

(% motile)

Sperm morphology

(% normal)

Sperm immotile

(% immotile)

Total meat

 Quartile 1

3.35 (3.0–3.7)

37.5 (30–44)

28.8 (26–31)

2.4 (2.2–2.7)

49.3 (45–53)

 Quartile 2

3.4 (3.1–3.7)

40.6 (34–47)

32.5 (29–35)

2.6 (2.4–2.9)

51.8 (48–55)

 Quartile 3

3.7 (3.3–4.0)

41.3 (35–48)

30.9 (28–33)

2.5 (2.2–2.7)

50.1 (46–53)

 Quartile 4

3.8 (3.4–4.1)

43.8 (37–50)

31.7 (29–34)

2.6 (2.4–2.9)

52.8 (49–56)

 P-value

0.173

0.615

0.302

0.636

0.528

Processed red meata

 Quartile 1

3.7 (3.3–4.1)

43.3 (36–50)

31.2 (28–34)

2.5 (2.2–2.7)

48.3 (44–52)

 Quartile 2

3.2 (2.7–3.6)

37.7 (29–44)

28.7 (25–31)

2.5 (2.2–2.8)

49.5 (45–53)

 Quartile 3

3.7 (3.3–4.1)

41.4 (34–49)

31.4 (28–34)

2.5 (2.3–2.8)

54.9 (50–58)

 Quartile 4

3.6 (3.2–4.1)

39.8 (32–46)

32.1 (29–35)

2.6 (2.3–2.9)

51.8 (47–55)

 P-value

0.195

0.623

0.282

0.856

0.132

Red meatb

 Quartile 1

3.6 (3.3–4.1)

41.6 (34–47)

30.2 (27–33)

2.5 (2.3–2.8)

49.4 (45–53)

 Quartile 2

3.5 (3.1–3.8)

42.3 (35–48)

30.4 (27–33)

2.6 (2.3–2.9)

53.6 (49–56)

 Quartile 3

3.2 (2.9–3.6)

37.4 (30–44)

30.7 (27–33)

2.5 (2.2–2.8)

51.4 (48–55)

 Quartile 4

3.7 (3.4–4.1)

42.5 (36–49)

32.4 (29–35)

2.5 (2.2–2.8)

49.8 (45–53)

 P-value

0.202

0.697

0.729

0.958

0.476

Poultryc

 Quartile 1

3.9 (3.4–4.3)

41.5 (33–50)

30.8 (27–34)

2.5 (2.1–2.8)

50.1 (45–54)

 Quartile 2

3.2 (2.8–3.6)

35.1 (27–42)

29.8 (26–33)

2.5 (2.2–2.9)

49.5 (45–53)

 Quartile 3

3.4 (3.1–3.8)

41.8 (35–47)

31.1 (28–33)

2.5 (2.3–2.8)

51.1 (47–54)

 Quartile 4

3.7 (3.2–4.2)

45.6 (35–55)

32.8 (28–37)

2.6 (2.2–3.1)

53.7 (48–59)

 P-value

0.197

0.353

0.741

0.944

0.655

Fresh fish

 Quartile 1

3.5 (3.1–3.9)

39.2 (31–46)

31.1 (27–34)

2.3 (2.0–2.6)

51.9 (48–55)

 Quartile 2

3.5 (3.1–3.8)

42.4 (35–48)

30.9 (28–33)

2.5 (2.2–2.8)

45.3 (39–50)

 Quartile 3

3.5 (3.2–3.9)

40.1 (33–47)

30.6 (27–33)

2.7 (2.4–3.0)

53.8 (50–57)

 Quartile 4

3.6 (3.2–4.1)

41.7 (33–49)

31.7 (28–35)

2.7 (2.4–3.0)

49.8 (45–54)

 P-value

0.955

0.930

0.969

0.341

0.074

Organ meatd

 Quartile 1

3.8 (3.4–4.1)

42.7 (36–49)

32.1 (29–34)

2.6 (2.3–2.9)

51.7 (47–56)

 Quartile 2

3.3 (2.8–3.8)

35.5 (26–45)

27.7 (23–31)

2.3 (1.9–2.7)

49.3 (45–53)

 Quartile 3

3.3 (3.0–3.7)

39.5 (32–46)

31.1 (28–33)

2.6 (2.3–2.8)

50.7 (46–54)

 Quartile 4

3.5 (3.1–3.9)

42.8 (35–50)

31.4 (28–34)

2.6 (2.2–2.9)

52.5 (48–56)

 P-value

0.251

0.603

0.371

0.648

0.713

Canned fish

 Quartile 1

3.4 (2.9–3.9)

41.6 (32–51)

33.6 (29–37)

2.7 (2.3–3.1)

52.5 (47–57)

 Quartile 2

3.4 (2.9–3.9)

35.7 (26–45)

28.3 (24–32)

2.2 (1.8–2.6)

53.1 (49–46)

 Quartile 3

3.6 (3.3–4.0)

38.6 (31–46)

29.1 (25–32)

2.5 (2.1–2.8)

49.7 (44–54)

 Quartile 4

3.5 (3.2–3.8)

43.7 (37–49)

32.3 (29–34)

2.7 (2.4–2.9)

47.4 (43–51)

 P-value

0.824

0.587

0.120

0.247

0.026

  1. aProcessed red meat included sausages and bologna
  2. bRed meat included hamburger, beef and lamb meat as a mixed or main dish
  3. cPoultry included chicken with or without skin, as a main dish, sandwich, or frozen dinner
  4. dOrgan meat included liver and chicken liver
Back to article page

Nutrition Journal

ISSN: 1475-2891

Contact us