Authors : Nikhil R.; Shobha D.; Kalpana B.; Manjunatha S.; Divya C.

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 9 - September

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/mw8xc3f4

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26sep865

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Over the past few decades, the human diet has undergone a transformation with few precedents in history: whole foods have been steadily replaced by industrially formulated products designed for shelf life, palatability and profit rather than nutritional quality. This shift toward increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) over staples has coincided with a well-documented and concerning decline in fertility indicators across many parts of the world from falling sperm counts to increasing rates of unexplained infertility. This review brings together evidence from cross-sectional surveys, prospective cohort studies, a randomized controlled feeding trial and rodent models to address a simple question: does what we eat, after it has passed through industrial processing, influence our chances of becoming parents. The evidence while still incomplete, increasingly indicates that it does through pathways involving endocrine-disrupting packaging chemicals altered gonadal signalling, obesity-related hormonal imbalance, gut microbiome disruption and oxidative damage to gametes. The study also examined the less studied question of how parental consumption of ultra-processed foods before conception may influence the health of the next generation and we consider the dietary and lifestyle factors that may help to mitigate these effects. By integrating evidence from human and experimental studies, this review highlights current knowledge, identifies existing research gaps and discusses future directions for understanding the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and reproductive health.

Keywords : Ultra-Processed Foods, Fertility, Reproductive Health, Endocrine Disruption, Oxidative Stress, Gut Microbiota, Preconception Nutrition.

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