What if I told you males make up 50% of infertility cases? Yep, it turns out men don't just make up half the chromosomes when it comes to making babies. They play just as an important role as the females knowing their cycle, and intercourse happening on fertile days.
So guys, what steps have you taken to ensure you have enough viable sperm to fertilise the egg this month?
I have a few valuable tips for you to try out before you're actually trying to conceive.
Sperm take about 120 days to reach maturity. So that's about the amount of time I'd recommend starting to consciously make an effort to create better sperm.
Serenoa repens or Saw palmetto, is considered a male tonic herb. It encourages testosterone in the body to remain in a favourable form, as opposed to going down a pathway which might lead to symptoms such as 'man boobs', prostate enlargement, and hair loss.
It is a common aphrodisiac herb, and is useful in treating and preventing benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH).
Men with high stress, poor immune function, poor lifestyle and dietary habits have shown to respond well to this herb, as it is also helpful in restoring nervous system balance.
Tribulus terrestris has been shown to increase testosterone and DHEA in men, which may help to improve sperm quality and motility, and even treat erectile dysfunction.
A Bulgarian study performed in 1998, showed a 61% increase in conception for couples with antisperm antibodies (female immune system attacks sperm cells), who were taking Tribulus. The average time it took couples to conceive after treatment was 5 months.
Tribulus is one of the best male reproductive system supporting herbs.
Epimedium grandiflorum also known as horny goat weed has been used as an aphrodisiac and for increasing sexual desire and performance. The active ingredient Icariin has been shown to increase nitric oxide; increasing circulation to the extremities. It may be useful in aiding sustained erection.
Gingko biloba is traditionally used to improve memory, mostly due it's ability to increase tissue perfusion rate. Since Gingko has a circulatory stimulant effect, it may assist with erectile dysfunction. Gingko is also a potent antioxidant, which may improve the quality of sperm produced. Generally speaking, if you can increase your count of 'normal' sperm (see right), you're in with a much better chance at promoting fertilisation, and your lady maintaining the pregnancy (the woman's immune system will 'kill off' a non-viable fertilised egg otherwise).
There are a number of nutrients that are particularly useful such as Zinc, Selenium, CoQ10, Vitamin C, Lipoic acid and Omega 3. If you take a multi vitamin, make sure it contains these important nutrients!
Some diet and lifestyle tips...
- Clean up your diet. Eat many different colours of fruits and veggies each day. This helps to increase your antioxidant status & produce healthier sperm cells.
- Drink at least 2 litres of filtered water per day. Ensures you have enough fluids to produce a good amount of ejaculatory fluid and stop it from being too thick and sticky.
- Cease alcohol and smoking of all kinds to decrease the toxic burden on your body.
- 30 minutes of physical exercise daily. You don't have to have bulging biceps to produce quality sperm, but the extra oxygen and blood circulation is extremely important for balancing your mind and body.
- Cease masturbation. Yep that's what I said. It is essential to 'save your sperm' in order to get the mature ones to swim the fastest on the fertile days to win the fertilisation race. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), they believe the male essence or 'life force' so to speak is in his semen. If you keep as much semen on board as you can, you will have more energy, less lower back pain, and produce stronger offspring.
- Avoid bike riding for long periods of time as it puts a large amount of pressure on the perineum and prostate.
- Avoid saunas, hot showers and baths. I'm not saying you have to freeze in the cold shower in the middle of winter, but keep the water warm, not hot. The testes are designed with their own heating/cooling system and the ultimate temperature is just less than regular body temp (around 36 degrees celcius).
- For temperature reasons as outlined above, avoid tight fitting underwear. Use loose fitting boxers, or just go commando!
If you are questioning your fertility, I urge you to have some further testing from your health professional to find out more.
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