Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Ironically the Med has been experiencing low birth rates since the 1980s.

Virtually the entire developed world has had low birth rates since the 80s.

That’s a relief. I worried it was something I’d said.

I'm guessing that's when they got McDonald's.

That was late 90s. Beer and spaghetti were both on the McD menu in 1999. Good times.

Beer I'm fine with. I'm not sure I would really want to try the McDonald's version of spaghetti.

It wasn’t bad frankly.

I’ll take your word on it. Never a thing in the US.

[removed]

Ever had skyline chili out of Cincinnati? It’s spaghetti with chili and cheese on top, it should come with a roll of toilet paper. The worst.

I have not. But most foods have a similar effect on me so I carry my own toilet paper.

But how many Mediterraneans do I have to eat?

Depends on how many kids you want to have.

Ironically that’s about the time the extraction of wealth from the middle class kicked off. 40 years later we are struggling through a capitalistic waste land.

So eating pasta and cheese and drinking wine is good for me?

[removed]

"With an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and legumes.."

This isn't news. Stop eating so much processed food and gorging yourself on meats. Focus on fresh produce, beans, etc.

Kinda have to be careful when talking about diets, and the topic of fertility. You could have two people with very different fertility circumstances, who would benefit from very different dietary changes… so I would proceed with caution with general advice of “this diet will help fertility.”

Got it. No mediterranean diet.

Just what I need another bunch of Mediterranean men knocking my sperm quality