Whether you are just starting to try and get pregnant, or you and your partner have been trying for a long time, making lifestyle changes to increase your own fertility is essential. While lifestyle habits are rarely the only cause of infertility, making a few changes could possibly push you over the “infertile” line, especially if the health of your sperm is considered borderline. Making some changes may even possibly help fertility treatments work better. The following article offers several tips to increase male fertility…
Many people today have heard that antioxidants help our bodies fight cancer and heart disease. Did you know that they might also increase fertility?
Antioxidants are substances that prevent cell damage from free radicals. As your body breaks down the food you eat, it produces free radicals. Unfortunately, free radicals are also created when you are exposed to some pretty nasty things, such as radiation, cigarette smoke, toxic chemicals, and pollution.
Since sperm are also cells, it makes sense that adding antioxidants to your diet may also help improve the health of your sperm. Research studies have found that men who took antioxidants in supplement form had less DNA damaged sperm than men who did not take antioxidants. Some researchers also found that couples had higher pregnancy rates if the men took additional antioxidants.
Several Antioxidants Have Been Scientifically Proven to Increase Sperm Health:
- Vitamin C: Found in many fruits and vegetables, including oranges, red peppers, kiwi, and grapefruit
- Zinc: Found in crab, oysters, red meat, poultry, and beans
- Vitamin E: Found in nuts, seeds, oils, and leafy greens
- Selenium: Found in especially high amounts in brazil nuts, along with tuna, cod, beef, turkey and chicken
- Lycopene: Found in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, apricots, and watermelon
- Folic Acid: Found in beef liver, leafy green vegetables, fruits, beans, and peas, and often in fortified grains
Adding more of these foods into your diet may prove helpful in improving the health of your sperm. If changing your diet seems difficult, you might consider taking a supplement. Moderation is the key however, so don’t eat too many of these foods. (Brazil nuts should not be eaten every day, for example.) Keep in mind that some supplements can interfere with other medications; therefore it would be best to consult with a doctor first before starting an antioxidant regimen. Include in a discussion with your doctor a conversation about the proper amount of antioxidant foods in your diet.
You may be able to increase your fertility simply by keeping your male reproductive organs cool. The male reproductive organs are outside of the body for one main reason — to keep them at temperatures lower than 98.6 F, our normal body temperature. High body temperatures can damage sperm, so be sure to avoid hot tubs or taking long hot baths. Even if you’re not the boiling hot bath type, there are other things you do every day that increase your scrotal temperatures.
According to research, sitting for long periods of time increases scrotal temperatures. If you have a desk job, or even a long commute to work, be sure to get up and walk around now and then. If you have a long daily commute to work, don’t turn on your seat heater in the winter. It is a proven fact that seat heaters, a feature found in some cars that warms up the seat of your car for cold winter mornings, can lead to higher than normal scrotal temperatures. It is also not advisable to sit with your laptop in your lap. Both keeping your legs tightly together to balance the laptop, and the heat generated by the laptop itself, can lead to higher than normal scrotal temperatures. Make sure that your laptop is on a desk or table when you are working on your computer.
Whether or not boxers are more fertility-friendly than briefs is debatable. One research study suggests that it does make a difference, and another study found no difference at all. The bottom line seems to be that as long as you’re not wearing extremely tight, non-breathable fabric, your personal preference, boxers or briefs, probably doesn’t matter.
Too much alcohol can decrease your fertility. One study, looking specifically at alcoholics, found that only 12% of the men had completely normal fertility health, with normal sperm counts, compared to 37% of non-smokers and non-alcoholics. One of the important findings in the study showed that as the amount of alcohol that the men drank went up, sperm counts dropped, sperm mobility declined, and the normal sperm shape decreased.
Another study, looking at couples going through IVF treatment, found that for every additional drink a man consumed per day, the risk of conception not leading to a live birth increased by up to 8 times. This was especially true if the drinking occurred within a month of the IVF treatment. However, other studies have found no relationship between male fertility and just a few drinks.
So the question is what should you do? Moderate drinking is most likely okay, especially if you limit drinking alcoholic beverages to a few times a week, instead of daily. If you’re going through IVF treatment, however, it is probably best to consider cutting out alcohol for the time being.
The good news is that with a few lifestyle changes (some are simple and some may be more challenging), you can improve your chances of conception. If you and your partner continue to have trouble getting pregnant, it may be time to make an appointment with a reproductive specialist. Take control of your fertility and make an appointment with one of our compassionate and highly trained infertility doctors. CORM serves the greater southeast area of Texas with full-service fertility clinics in Webster and Beaumont using the latest techniques and procedures to help others achieve the gift of new life. The professional staff at the Center of Reproductive Medicine will work closely with you to choose the most appropriate fertility program for your individual reproductive medical needs.