Industry-funded study of the week: nuts and erectile dysfunction

I swear I’m not making this up.

The study: Effect of Nut Consumption on Erectile and Sexual Function in Healthy Males: A Secondary Outcome:  Analysis of the FERTINUTS Randomized Controlled Trial.  Albert Salas-Huetos, Jananee Muralidharan, Serena Galiè, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, and Mònica Bulló.  Nutrients 2019, 11(6), 1372; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11061372.

The conclusion: “Including nuts in a regular diet significantly improved auto-reported orgasmic function and sexual desire.”

The funder: “This work was partially supported by the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC)…INC is a non-profit entity registered at the Register of Foundations of Catalonia, Spain. Nuts were supplied by Crisolar, Spain.

Comment: I love these results, and have no doubt that the funder did too.  I can only imagine the ads based on this study.  News accounts too (here’s a good one from London’sDaily Mail).

The results were so interesting that a separate group reviewed the data and confirmed that the numbers led to the same results.  This is not surprising.  Most studies of bias in research show that it turns up mainly in the way the research question is framed or in the interpretation of the data, not in the conduct of the science or collection of data.

Hey guys: have problems?  Eat a mixture of raw walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts and collect your own data!