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# Men on high fat diet should use selenium supplements
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/high_fat_diet_selenium_supplements_1208120436/
- Published: 2012-12-08T17:34:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:05:22.000Z
- Description: In male mice, a high-fat diet for 75 days worsened lipid profiles, lowered testosterone, reduced semen quality and damaged seminiferous tubules. Adding inorganic selenium, selenium-enriched probiotics or ordinary probiotics reduced those effects.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Supplements, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Dec 8, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Biological Trace Element Research suggests that men who are obese or use a high fat diet may be better off taking selenium supplements or selenium enriched probiotics.

The study shows that a high fat diet worsened fertility, but selenium supplements or selenium rich probiotocs reduced the harmful effect in male mice. 

The study was conducted by H.A. Ibrahim from Institute of Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders of Domestic Animals and Fowls, Nanjing Agricultural University in Nanjing, China and colleagues.

In the study, five groups of male mice with 15 in each group were either fed a normal diet or a high fat diet or high fat diet with an inorganic selenium supplement, selenium enriched probiotics or an ordinary probiotics for 75 days and then lipid profiles including total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein and reproductive parameters including testosterone levels, sperm index, penis length and weight and histopathology of testes were measured.

The high fat diet was linked to increased levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein and lowered levels of high density lipoprotein. The diet also decreased testosterone levels, reduced semen quality and caused atrophy and degeneration of seminiferous tubules, according to the study report. But it did not affect penis length or weight of testis.

In mice on the high fat diet, supplementation of probiotics, inorganic selenium, or selenium-enriched probiotics all reduced the adverse effects induced by the high fat diet. That is, mice on the high fat diet but supplemented with inorganic selenium supplements, or selenium rich probiotics or ordinary probiotics had a better lipid profile, and reduced testicular tissue injury, increased testosterone levels and improved the sperm index.

In comparison, selenium supplements and selenium rich probiotics were better than ordinary probiotics in reducing the adverse effects of the high fat diet, which consisted of 15% lard, 1% cholesterol, 0.3% cholic acid, and 83.7% basal diet.

The researchers concluded "that hyperlipidemia had significant adverse effects on male fertility, which could be ameliorated at various degrees by feeding the diets supplemented with probiotics, inorganic selenium, or selenium-enriched probiotics."