Overview
- The Dutch Generation R cohort, published Tuesday in Human Reproduction, reports that higher intake of ultra-processed foods—packaged snacks, sugary drinks, processed meats and ready meals—tracks with poorer reproductive indicators.
- In men, greater ultra-processed food intake was tied to a longer time to pregnancy and higher subfertility risk, with one analysis estimating about a 10% lower chance of conceiving in a given month for a typical increase in intake.
- In women, higher intake was linked to slightly smaller embryos and yolk sacs at seven weeks on ultrasound, and these size differences weakened by nine and 11 weeks.
- The study followed 831 women and 651 partners, assessed periconception diets with questionnaires using the NOVA processing scale, found median ultra-processed shares of 22% for women and 25% for men, and cautioned that observational design and diet measurement limits prevent causal claims.
- A separate U.S. NHANES analysis published this week associated higher ultra-processed intake with lower odds of being classified as fertile in women and noted that a Mediterranean-diet advantage shrank after adjusting for obesity, reinforcing calls to test whether cutting ultra-processed foods before conception helps and to include men in preconception care.