Researchers followed 500 couples in Michigan and Texas for one year, asking them to log their seafood consumption and sexual activity in daily journals. Couples had 39 percent higher odds of having sex on days when both partners ate seafood, the study found.
And by the end of the year, 92 percent of couples who ate seafood more than twice a week had conceived, compared to 79 percent of couples who ate less fish and shellfish. The association between seafood and fertility remained even after accounting for how frequently couples had sex.
"While an increase in sexual activity might be one behavioral mechanism linking seafood intake to higher fecundity, it is not the only mechanism," said lead study author Audrey Gaskins, a nutrition researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.