Increase Male Fertility in 6 Steps

About 15% of couples struggle with infertility after a year, and in about one third of those cases, male fertility is the culprit (1). Infertility in men can obviously complicate the ability to conceive with their partner, but fertility is also an important indicator of overall health–and any issues should be a warning sign to make some vital changes.

Lifestyle factors, like stress levels and exercise, as well as certain vitamins and minerals heavily influence male fertility. Let’s look at the easiest and most effective ways men can improve their fertility–and their health as well!

Male Fertility: An Overview

Healthy male fertility is also a sign of general wellbeing and sexual function. Here are the main factors for male fertility:

  • Libido – Also called sex drive, a healthy libido refers to someone’s desire for sex. Being interested in your partner is an important first step!
  • Sperm count – A measurement of the number of individual sperm in a given amount of semen. When working with a provider about fertility concerns, they’ll likely test your sperm count. At least 15 million sperm per millimeter is considered adequate for male fertility.
  • Sperm quality – This is the ability of sperm to accomplish fertilization, and is affected by motility (how well they move) and morphology (their shape and size), in addition to the DNA they carry.
  • Hormone balance – Low testosterone may be responsible for infertility in some men, and is affected by other hormones like cortisol and insulin.

Each component above can be affected by lifestyle choices, diet, genetics, stress levels, and more. Male fertility is a combination of factors which often affect one another. 

Let’s find out how you can improve your fertility starting right now, with the top most effective changes you can make to your daily habits that will improve your health and fertility.

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6 Steps to Boost Male Fertility

1. Focus On Whole Foods

Eating a nutrient-dense diet is important whether you’re trying to boost male fertility or not, but getting enough nutrients from your food can increase sperm count, and improve testosterone levels.

For example, meat and seafood are the top dietary sources of zinc, which is an essential mineral for male hormone health. Zinc enables the body to produce testosterone and promotes healthy sperm quality (2). 

Essential fatty acids, like those in salmon, flax, and others also help optimize sperm’s ability to penetrate the egg.

Other beneficial supplements for men’s fertility include: magnesium, vitamin D, B vitamins, omega-3s, d-aspartic acid, and ashwagandha.

A balanced, nutrient-dense diet is crucial for healthy fertility and should include quality proteins, healthy fats, and an array of fruits and vegetables.

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2. Eat More Antioxidants

Antioxidants such as vitamin C, CoQ10, vitamin E, and glutathione have been shown to support male fertility (3). 

Antioxidants are important for neutralizing unstable free radicals which can damage DNA and reduce sperm quality. To support overall antioxidant function, some of the highest antioxidant foods are:

  • Blueberries
  • Green tea or matcha
  • Dark chocolate
  • Leafy greens like spinach and kale
  • Nuts and seeds

You can also increase your body’s own production of antioxidants like glutathione by exercising, getting enough sleep, and keeping stress to a minimum.

Antioxidants also help reduce oxidative stress that leads to inflammation. Inflammation is linked to poor overall health, as well as almost all modern diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

3. Support Healthy Hormone Balance

The hormones in the male body may not fluctuate as much or as noticeably as female hormones, but men should still be aware of the signs and symptoms of a hormonal imbalance which can cause infertility.

Signs of a possible hormone imbalance in men include:

  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty sleeping, insomnia
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Weight gain
  • Digestive troubles (constipation, diarrhea, bloating)
  • Decreased sex drive
  • Changes in mood
  • Joint or muscle aches

All of the above could indicate an imbalance in your body’s chemical messengers like insulin, estrogen, cortisol, or testosterone. 

For example, if you have diabetes, you’re as much as three times as likely to have lower testosterone levels, which can cause infertility in men, as well as fatigue and low libido (4). 

4. Decrease Stress & Cortisol

When working to improve male fertility, it’s impossible to overlook the impact stress can have on your overall health as well as an infertility risk.

Related: Your Antidote for Stress + Anxiety: Magnolia Bark

Physical, emotional, or mental stress can negatively affect testosterone production. This is because stress disrupts the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis, or how the male body signals the testicles to produce testosterone (5). 

Cortisol (the main hormone produced during stress response) and testosterone interact in a see-saw-like fashion. When one is high, the other is low.

Low (or even low-normal) testosterone levels can indicate the presence of more overall stress than the body can handle, and can have disastrous effects on men’s fertility.

5. Get Adequate and Consistent Sleep

Sleep is essential for healthy hormone balance, testosterone production, and reducing stress. Testosterone is also linked with circadian rhythm, or a natural sleep cycle (6). Because of this rhythm, healthy testosterone levels are dependent upon adequate and consistent sleep. 

In fact, just one week of restricted sleep has been shown to cause hormonal imbalance in men and a 10-15% decrease in testosterone production (7).  

6. Avoid Environmental Estrogens

High exposure to xenoestrogens, or estrogen-like compounds in the environment may also affect male fertility and hormone levels. Things like BPA, PFCs, and other toxins are endocrine disruptors, which mean they can change the way your hormones function, including testosterone. 

Additionally, other factors like excess body fat, a poor diet, drug or alcohol use, and slow detox function can negatively impact the way your body processes estrogen. High estrogen relative to testosterone in men can reduce fertility.

Healthy Male Fertility with Holistic Medicine

Rather than treating each issue independently, a holistic approach to improve men’s fertility considers the body as a whole, working to synergize each component to support the others.

A healthy libido, sperm function, and hormone balance all play a role in male fertility, and these are all often an indicator of overall health. So by improving diet quality, promoting optimal hormone balance, and reducing stress, you can increase men’s fertility naturally and make it more likely you’ll have success when trying to conceive.

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Resources

  1. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/menshealth/conditioninfo/infertility
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010824/
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5456340/ 
  4. https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/3/749.1
  5. https://news.utexas.edu/2010/09/27/stress-hormone-blocks-testosterones-effects-study-shows/
  6. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/86/3/1134/2847605
  7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445839/