r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 9d ago

Health Ultra-processed foods harm men’s health. They increase weight, disrupt hormones, decrease testosterone, and introduce harmful substances linked to declining sperm quality. They contain industrial and synthetic ingredients. This may be why over the past 50 years, sperm quality has plummeted.

https://cbmr.ku.dk/news/2025/not-all-calories-are-equal-ultra-processed-foods-harm-mens-health/
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u/clyypzz 9d ago

This is most likely just one factor of the problem. Others might be a far more sedentary life and work, more pollution of new types such as endocrine disruptores like BPA, PFAS, lead, aluminium, and tons of other stuff plus social factors plus stress from a changing society and so on and so on

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago edited 9d ago

Yeah. I think in general modernization happened faster than we have been able to adapt, whether to new chemical compounds and foods or just to new modes of doing something like feeding ourselves in general.

Within the past two hundred years, our lives have changed so much that our day to day behaviors look nothing like our ancestors' just two generations ago, let alone the last 5-6.

We live the lives of a different species really. One far more sedentary and more mentally/emotionally/socially taxed than in the past. It's no wonder our bodies fail to meet the demands.

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u/details_matter 9d ago

Grasshoppers of the Acridoidea superfamily are a good metaphor, I think. The locust form versus the grasshopper form: same species, wildly different behavior.

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u/procrastablasta 9d ago

There’s a sci-fi short story about humans having a locust mode

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u/3esen 9d ago

What’s that called?

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u/lcenine 9d ago

Likely "The Locusts" by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes.

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u/Sawses 9d ago

Niven really does love his alternative human life stages. Another interesting one is Coalescent, by Stephen Baxter.

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u/lcenine 9d ago

Niven's whole Pak Breeder/Protector stuff completely comes to mind. Baxter's Destiny's Children is a fantastic series.

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u/cptgrudge 9d ago

We're living it.

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u/RedditAdminAreVile0 9d ago

World War Z

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u/GuardianAlien 9d ago

Let me know if you remember the name of the short story!

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u/procrastablasta 9d ago edited 9d ago

The Locusts) by Larry Niven

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u/RareCandyMan 9d ago

Some of the last books in the original Dune novel series touch on a similar theme, specifically Chapterhouse. can't remember how involved the Honored Matres are before that.

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u/scoopzthepoopz 9d ago

Weird that only a fraction of 1% of that family are locusts (19/6,800 per Cullen et al. ) yet everyone knows what locusts are. I also see environmental factors spur them to swarm and do other locust behaviors. Curious what industrialization and then post-industrialization will say about humans in hindsight.

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u/details_matter 9d ago

If this subject intrigues, I can heartily recommend a book-length examination of it: Civilized to Death by Christopher Ryan

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

I'm going to look into this, because it's something I've long struggled with myself. I feel like my brain is wired for a life that no longer exists, and I know i'm not the only one to feel this way.

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u/ray12370 9d ago

I can assure you that life style probably still exists, just probably not in the heavily modernized place you currently live in.

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

Oh god no. I'm not interested in giving up my life for that. I was just curious about the reading material

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

I wish I could see what humanity becomes in time before I die, just a glimpse of it to marvel and what we will achieve -- or maybe not. That might be a bit optimistic.

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u/AfraidOfTheSun 9d ago

You sound like Douglas Adams hah

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago edited 9d ago

I'm been told I have very British sensibility and humor by everyone who has never met a Brit. It feels like quite the compliment for these people to give.

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u/StickStill9790 9d ago

OTOH, the OP is suggesting that decreasing intake of chemical laden food might be a good place to start making improvements. Great to know there are a lot of factors, but you have to start somewhere.

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

It's definitely a great place to start, as is just moving. Not even running, just walk and be active. Those two things alone should go a long way.

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u/citiclosethrowaway 9d ago

Man how far we've lowered the bar over the past two decades is astounding...

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

What do you mean?

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u/citiclosethrowaway 8d ago

Just seeing so many people saying that "Just moving your body is a huge improvement" is really disappointing. While factually correct, have we really gotten to the point in our society where just standing or walking is considered a HUGE WIN for one's health and fitness?! Don't get me wrong, any movement is a positive, but this sentiment is setting the bar so low. We need to strengthen our muscles and engage in physical activity that raises the heart rate... a walk just doesn't get you there.

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u/jackloganoliver 8d ago

I mean, yes, because for much of the world people don't need to hunt, gather, or farm for food. And that's not just super wealthy people like in the past. In parts of the world, you can basically hire out any actual physically demanding responsibility.

People moving consistently is absolutely a huge step for hundreds of millions of people.

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u/Ghostrider556 7d ago

I agree with you and I think the studies are interesting in that they show regular and basic movement to be highly beneficial (cooking, cleaning, just walking around town or the house) whereas hardcore exercise might be fun but won’t really extend your lifespan

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u/jackloganoliver 7d ago

Yeah, I remember reading a study that suggested the health benefits (so not asthetic or athletic benefits) you get from just moving are essentially equal to that of hardcore exercise like lifting, training for decathalons, etc. so long as you're consistent with it. Essentially, *any* activity improves your health enough to make a difference.

That's not to say you can't see quality of life benefits from more strength, but that the health effects of basic exercise is enough to make a difference in people's lifespans. I think of all the people who never start because they don't think they can keep up with the hardcore fitness people, but they don't need to. Just being active, even around the house like you said, is good enough for most people.

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u/Kakkoister 9d ago edited 8d ago

It's likely not even so much "chemical laden foods" but the decrease in important minerals from eating ultra-processed foods. There tends to not be much zinc and copper in processed foods, zinc is especially important for sperm production. But essential minerals and vitamins just generally aren't being consumed in good enough quantities, most "enriched" foods are enriched with things we tended to lack in the 1800s, not the late 2000s.

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u/reddigaunt 9d ago

The problem with not understanding all of the factors is that you risk spending resources on solutions that don't match their effectiveness. What if upf was only 10% responsible, but health institutions spent massive budgets on information campaigns to reduce upf consumption. Well, the populace is now 10% healthier, but now we did nothing to address the effect of sedentary lifestyles and how it's 75% responsible (made up numbers).

Resources are limited, so we need to do our best to make the biggest impact with what we have.

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u/Worldly_Influence_18 9d ago

Focus on improvements, not eliminations.

It's about what you're not doing for your body and less so about the crap you add

Other than inhaling smoke (doesn't matter the kind). Eliminate that.

Then drink more water and eat more vegetables or take supplements and you'll address the majority of infertility problems affecting men. Cutting out processed food isn't going to change much by itself.

Hydrate. Reduce or offset oxidative stress. If that doesn't fix the problem then you are really going to struggle because everything else are minor variables

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u/greiton 9d ago

a little off topic, but I hate how overpriced and subscription based exercise equipment has become.

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago

I moved to a city a few months ago, got rid of the car, and just walk. Down 30lbs and feeling good.

Just walk. You won't get ripped or look like the cast member of a Marvel movie, but you'll feel better and be healthier.

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u/greiton 9d ago

I used to live in a walkable city and it was much easier to keep weight off. being able to walk while getting errands done or going to work is great. but, outside of those spaces, the just walk idea gets harder. suddenly it isn't something that happens while you do other things, but something you have to carve time out of your day to do on its own.

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u/ActionPhilip 9d ago

Walking is good to start, but will fail you as you age. You need to challenge your body's strength on a regular basis or you risk muscle wasting, bone density loss, and joint issues. This is not to say that you should stop walking or that you must go to the gym, but good health requires that you do some form of resistive exercise for all parts of your body.

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u/angelicism 9d ago

You can get a very good workout in at home with just a yoga mat and some exercise bands. One time purchase. I guess trying to simulate a 300lb bench press (I have no idea what a "good" bench press weight is) with exercise bands might be a little hard but you can certainly get some solid strength-based movement in.

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u/ActionPhilip 9d ago

A solid but pretty easy to achieve bench press weight is 1x your body weight. For reference, a push up is usually about 2/3 of your bodyweight equivalent in a bench, so the "equivalent" push up to a bodyweight bench for a 150lb person would be all the way down until your chest touches the ground, and all the way up, with 50lbs resting on your upper back/neck. A "good" bench press would be closer to 1.5x your body weight. A 300lb bench isn't insane, but it's pushing into outlier territory even among those that work out.

If all you care about is general daily fitness and body movement ability, push ups are totally fine.

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u/HybridVigor 9d ago

I live the r/homegym life and love it. Mostly weightlifting, which no one has found a way to make a subscription service happen as far as I'm aware, but also a walking treadmill for my standing desk that was really affordable. Also an ~$150 treadmill off Amazon. i'd love a Comcept 2 ($900 new but lots of used ones listed online) and they have an optional subscription service, but it isn't necessary. The squat rack, adjustable bench, Ironmaster dumbells and Olympic weights set me back around $1k but I don't need a gym membership anymore.

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u/ataxiastumbleton 9d ago

+1 for the Concept2 - they're tanks and last forever. I have something like 5 million meters on mine and I've never done any kind of maintenance.

Rowing is tough but it's the best cardio

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u/MythReindeer 9d ago

Would you mind sharing which walking treadmill you use with a desk?

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u/HybridVigor 9d ago

I got the WalkingPad Folding Treadmill P1 on sale a couple of years ago. It's more expensive than I remember. Maybe affected by the tariffs.

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u/MythReindeer 9d ago

Thanks! I suppose it isn't cheap, but I'm willing to shell out for something good.

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u/greiton 9d ago

Tonal has absolutely brought subscription service to low end weight lifting. $5000 machine +$1200 per year for the ability to use it.

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u/HybridVigor 9d ago

Oh, yeah. A friend of mine has one. He and his wife make much, much more than me though, and I'm old school so free weights are my preference.

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u/MeltBanana 8d ago

I bought my power rack off Amazon for $200. I wouldn't squat 600lbs in it, but for 99% of regular people it's absolutely perfect and does everything a full priced Rogue rack does. For another $100 I added a lat pulldown and cable attachment.

I got a brand new set of 5-50lb rubber coated hex dumbbells, with stand, for under $600 from Walmart.

My plates I bought used. $100 bucks of foam flooring from Home Depot and some plywood for a deadlift platform.

Complete home gym, better than what is available is many commercial gyms, built for a little over a grand. I'd say right now is the cheapest time it's ever been to buy exercise equipment.

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u/HybridVigor 8d ago

Yeah, I built my home gym over a bit of time so I'm unsure of the total cost. Probably around $2k. The Titan T-3 power rack and Ironmaster adjustable dumbells were overkill really (I'm middle aged now so I think it's a safe bet I won't hit the 1,100# rackable weight). I still think it's saved me money over a gym membership for all of these years and it's really nice to be able to lift whenever it is convenient instead of driving to the gym, waiting around between sets for the Instagram kids to finish taking selfies while doing biceps curls in the rack, etc.

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u/jello1388 9d ago

Recently did the same after transitioning from a very physical job to a very sedentary one and realizing how bad sitting at a desk all day was whooping my ass. It's made a world of difference in just a few weeks. Still look like a chubby slob but not feeling like one is keeping me motivated to work on that, too.

Still looking for a good deal on adjustable dumb bells, but I got grip plates with handles to make do for the time being.

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u/BoleroMuyPicante 8d ago

That's all voluntary though. You can get in excellent shape without any equipment at all.

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u/BoleroMuyPicante 8d ago

I can see us being more socially taxed today than in the past, but I'm not sure about mentally or emotionally. A century ago you were pretty much guaranteed to have at least one child die before adulthood, child abuse was considered good parenting, women were still practically property (extraordinarily taxing for the women, probably made the men pretty happy).

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u/jackloganoliver 8d ago

I guess i don't necessarily see the social aspect of that as detached from the mental or emotional. Because suddenly our connectedness compounds those sorts of tragedies, though they are far less likely today (thankfully). If it happens to us, we have more people we have to explain it to, more opinions we have to hear, more questions, more, more, more.

And I say this as someone with trauma in my past (not interested in getting into any type of trauma Olympics, but I'm happy to answer genuine questions people have about trauma, coping, etc.) that we tend to underestimate how taxing those social interactions are when trying to deal with something emotionally or mentally taxing. I've heard from other people who had similar experiences that yeah, the trauma is as awful as people imagine, but it's the carrying cost that just continues to build because of the social implications from the hardships we face that are the biggest threat.

As a species, we're expected to reserve emotional and mental energy for more people than ever. I just view that as a compounding stressor...even though ironically the goal should be for society to come together to build support systems for people in hardship that they don't have to go through it alone. Society should be a system of support, and instead it feels very adversarial, but that's a completely different discussion.

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u/Kyell 9d ago

I haven’t give my theory to friends who laugh but that evolution in humans is both physical and social. The social encompassing technology as well. The thing is that it takes humans at best hundreds of years to physically evolve and depending on the evolution potentially millions. As for social evolution it’s went from being small changes over thousands of years to suddenly things changing every year or few. We just can’t adapt fast enough.

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u/Worldly_Influence_18 9d ago

We live the lives of a different species really. One far more sedentary

True.

and more mentally/emotionally/socially taxed than in the past.

We don't know that but... it's almost certainly not true.

We've had 80 good years but before that, things were increasingly mentally, emotionally and socially taxing the further you go back.

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago edited 9d ago

You don't think we're more mentally taxed than we as a species have ever been before?

I'd love to explain why I feel that way.

First, the human knowledge pool is just larger. The average human is more away of, well, everything than they have been in the past. Some of this is good knowledge to have, such as making vaccines, cancer treatment, etc. We can make foods safer and tastier. That's good!

But with that, we've also gained mass media telling us about new threats to our safety, it stokes fear, we are more aware of atrocities happening halfway across the world, and we are forced to observe it. That is emotionally taxing. Maybe not to everyone, but it's been documented to cause emotional struggles for many.

Additionally, media means that beauty standards are in our face with much more regularity. Beautiful standards have always existed, but when mass media, advertising everywhere, and the conversation online, there's never a break from it.

Not to mention we carry computers around in our pockets, which means works never really leaves us. While it's not everyone in every sector of the economy, there are millions of people who never really stop working that to technology. They're forced to take calls out respond to emails at all hours. That's emotionally taxing.

This is before we get into how many bills and expenses there are that humans aren't adapted to. The average American spends $25k/year on just their top 10 expenses -- that's just the top 10. For most of human history, the idea of a monthly expense was nonexistent, but that changed, and now people have to financially plan with far more variables in play.

And the thing is, I could keep going. This isn't to say life wasn't emotionally taxing two centuries ago. It certainly was, and always has been.

But the sheer volume of things modern humans have to account for, from work to personal lives to societal standards, laws, to medical appointments (routine medical care is less than a century old!), etc etc etc etc. Our brains are just handling so much not information and responsibility than ever before.

I could keep going. And going. And going.

I will absolutely say that the stakes were probably much higher 300 years ago, but we are burdening people with hundreds, maybe thousands, of minor tasks and other responsibilities that we don't ever stop to think about, but they're absolutely taxing our resources. We're expected to meet the expectations of people we have never met and never will meet.

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u/Worldly_Influence_18 8d ago

My grandfather was a genocide survivor. He witnessed his father (and others) get crippled in an attempt to destroy their community's way of life. He saw so much evil as a child he volunteered to fight in WWII despite being exempt. He died from a heart attack in his early 40s.

This was two generations ago.

For people in other countries they only have to go back one generation, if that.

An older colleague of mine got to experience the smell of piles of burning bodies as a child (he was told to close his eyes)

But okay. Media beauty standards

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u/jackloganoliver 8d ago

So, if it's within the last few generations, that's part of what I'm talking about that advancement has outpaced our capacity to adapt. Advancements in technology even enabling the industrialization of murder is part of that.

What I'm speaking to is that the advancements we've made as a species have outpaced our physical capacity to adapt, and as such we are living in such an unfamiliar life compared to our ancestors' lives that, from a purely observational standpoint, we are living the lives of a different species.

I'm not saying modern inconveniences are emotionally worse than genocide. I'm saying that there are collectively so many more various emotional and social stressors by sheer quantity than has existed other times in history.

Please don't misrepresent what I'm saying.

I hope your grandfather is able to enjoy the blessings in his life after what he went through.

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u/Tricky-Ad7897 9d ago

OTOH we're also living like 20-30 years longer so you win some and you lose some ig

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u/jackloganoliver 9d ago edited 9d ago

Well, living longer is also a part of what I'm talking about. People are having kids later, becoming grandparents later, and generally delaying several parts of becoming adults because, well, there's less rush. And retirement planning is one of those added new emotional stressors I mentioned. Previous generations didn't have to plan a retirement. They just moved in with their family and helped care for the next generation, which came along every decade and a half or so. Now generations are spacing out 25+ years among some populations. That's a huge difference.

But also, it feels worth pointing out that reducing infant mortality rates has been the key driver of increased life expectancy. Humans are making it to adulthood with much more consistency in most of the world. That's monumental for life expectancy.