r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 10d 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/jackloganoliver 10d ago edited 10d 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/greiton 10d ago

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

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u/HybridVigor 10d 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/jello1388 10d 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.