12 Ways To Improve Sperm Health

So as you will all be aware, I generally focus my posts and education on the importance of optimising WOMENS health for their prenatal, pregnancy and postpartum journey. However, it does take 2 to tango and whoever your special person may be (👫👭👬) sperm plays a very important role in fetal growth and development. So, I thought I’d share the love and talk about our beloved men in our lives and their sperm!

Did you know, almost half the cases of infertility are due to problems with the male reproductive system?

Yes that's right, It’s not always the woman!

It takes about 3 months for men to produce or regenerate new sperm. This is why it is really important to be as healthy as possible in the 3 months leading up to conception.

In these 3 months try and implement a few of the following things in this blog! I don’t ask you to do all 12 things because let's face it, that becomes overwhelming and stressful. Pick a few that are achievable and work to incorporate them into your daily routine. 

The quality and health of a man's sperm can be affected by:

👴🏼 Age
🍕 Diet
🚶🏼‍♂️ Being overweight
🚬 Smoking & Drug use
🔥 Heat exposure to testes
🦠 Sexually transmitted infections
🩺 Injury
💉 Anabolic steroid use
📱 Radiation

Please, get your bloods done- correct any deficiencies! 

• Minimise alcohol intake
• Avoid smoking and recreational drugs
• Lose any excess weight
• Exercise and move your body
• Eat organic whole-foods, avoid pesticides, preservatives, GMOs, artificial flavours etc.
• Try to minimise exposure to endocrine disruptors (deodarant, moisturisers, cleaning products etc.) If you want to learn more about this topic you can visit my Instagram page @thepregnancyculture
• Get that phone and laptop away from your balls- Don't have it in your pocket or your laptop on your lap (ironic isn't it)
• Look at implementing Ashwagandha, why? it is protective against oxidative stress which can help to improve sperm quality. In addition, it mitigates hormone imbalance, preventing stress-induced cortisol-mediated decrease in testosterone levels, thus improving male infertility.
• Consider implementing vitamin D and zinc. A few other vitamins to help with male fertility include; coenzyme Q10, L-Arginine/Citrulline and L-Carnitine. Check with a medical professional eg- nutritionist or dietician before supplementing with these.

Fatherhood begins before conception. Try to make some positive changes to your diet and lifestyle for your baby’s long term health and development.