Male Health and Fertility

Health Affects Fertility

Male fertility is related to a man’s overall health and habits. A man can be very healthy and still have fertility problems, but in general, men should expect that changes to their health and lifestyle could help or harm their fertility. 

Some lifestyle factors that have known links to male fertility are: 

  • Diet and Excersize
  • Weight/BMI
  • Smoking, drinking, and drug use

Diet and Male Fertility

There is a link between a healthy diet and a man’s ability to produce healthy and functional sperm. While specific guidelines for a “trying to conceive” diet do not exist, it is generally a good idea to focus on fish, poultry, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. These foods are high in:

  • Antioxidants: Antioxidants are believed to help prevent declines in sperm quality.
  • Folic acids: Associated with sperm counts, and may prevent damage to sperm DNA.
  • Vitamin B-12: May improve sperm counts and motility.

If you are experiencing mild male fertility problems, a doctor may recommend taking supplements for any of the above.

Weight And Exercize

It’s not just your diet. Your weight and the frequency you exercise can have an impact on sperm quality too. Obesity can negatively impact male fertility in two ways: Decreases in sperm count and concentration, and decreases in the amount of reproductive hormones.

It is estimated that for every 20 pounds that a man is overweight, his odds of infertility increase 10%.

Excessive exercise may also have a negative impact in some cases. Excessive exercise can lead to a decrease in testosterone production, and also increases the risk that you damage your testicles through regular overheating.

Drinking, Smoking and Drug Use

Each of these habits have been well documented to have a correlation with increased likelihood for male infertility. The most obvious effects are observed when someone has a consistent excessive habit, but many men do not realize that they are overdoing it.

As few as five alcoholic beverages in a week may be enough to negatively affect your fertility. A lot of drinking can suppress your testosterone production which impacts almost all of the reproductive process.

Both smoking tobacco and marijuana can negatively impact semen parameters depending on the dose. Studies have seen reductions in sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology.

In fact, usage of marijuana even once per week has been shown to have a negative impact impact on male fertility.

Good news for regular smokers and drinkers trying to conceive: negative effects appear to be temporary. If you can quit for a couple months before trying to conceive that could have a meaningful impact.

Sperm Age Science

DNA methylation age prediction is possible from sperm. Check out the latest reserach from leading fertility researchers.   

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Sperm Age Impacts Fertility Too

Another factor you can’t control has a big impact too: Age. And it’s not just your chronological age.

Your lifestyle may be aging your sperm even faster than normal.

Find out if you have increased sperm age.

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Sources:

  • https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(18)30426-6/abstract
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19285597
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18722602
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485731/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408383/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4709430/
  • https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/9/e005462.full
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