Study shows obese men who lose weight - and keep it off - can increase their sperm count by 40%

Being overweight or obese can affect a person's fertility - but the damage is reversible by losing weight and keeping it off, a new study finds.

A Danish research team from the University of Copenhagen found that obese men who lose weight can increase sperm counts by 40 percent compared to unhealthy excess weight.

Maintaining the weight also increases higher sperm counts, so fertility losses due to being very overweight are not permanent.

America is dealing with an obesity crisis, and some experts believe the number of overweight people in the country may be responsible for lower overall fertility and birth rates in the U.S. compared to previous years.

Experts found that obese men can increase their sperm count by about 40% if they lose weight and keep it off long-term (file photo)

“This study shows that sperm concentration and sperm count improved after diet-induced weight loss in men with obesity,” the researchers wrote.

“Our results suggest that either liraglutide or exercise, or both, can be used as weight maintenance strategies to maintain improvements in sperm concentration and count.”

Researchers who published their results last week in Human reproduction collected data from 47 obese men for the study.

The men all had unhealthily high body mass index (BMI) levels - a metric that measures a person's weight in relation to their height.

Each of the men was put on a low-calorie diet for eight weeks and lost an average of 36 pounds per participant during that time.

Sperm counts were measured both before and after the diet, and researchers found a significant increase in sperm counts during the study period.

The men were then divided into four groups. One group was recommended to exercise 150 minutes per day. Another gained access to a diabetes drug that doctors prescribe to patients to help with weight loss.

A third group was advised to continue exercising and given the drug. The fourth group was a control group that was not given any support to maintain weight.

After about a year, half of the men had regained the weight they had lost, causing their sperm counts to drop.

However, the men who managed to keep the weight off kept their sperm counts high, meaning the damage done to sperm levels by obesity can be permanently reversed through a healthy diet and exercise.

Neither exercise nor the diabetes medication was more effective at improving sperm count than weight loss.

Sperm counts and overall fertility among U.S. men have declined in recent decades, perhaps reflecting the country's obesity epidemic

"Our study showed that exercise helped maintain weight loss, but that exercise did not improve sperm parameters any more than the fairly significant effect of the initial 8-week diet-induced weight loss in men with obesity," the researchers wrote.

'Similarly, for [the drug] we observed no additional effect beyond the initial improvements in diet-induced weight loss.'

Infertility, low sperm counts and reduced testosterone levels are believed to be problems in America right now, and poor diet and lifestyle may be to blame.

Experts told DailyMail.com last month that while concerns about infertility and low sperm counts are legitimate, they can be managed with simple lifestyle changes.

America is currently experiencing an obesity crisis, with more than 40 percent of the population considered dangerously overweight.

This has led to an overall decline in male fertility, Studies have found and could even be a contributing factor in the declining U.S. birth rate.