Male Fertility
Ever wondered why testicles hang off the body? It’s to keep them cool. The rest of the bodies temperature is tightly controlled by homeostasis, but for sperm to function properly, the testicles need to be cooler than the rest of the body. In 4/10 couples, fertility issues are down to man’s sperm. So what can men do to protect themselves and boost their sperm count/motility (swimming ability)?
1. A lesser known fact is that saliva kills sperm, as do many lubricants. Think about what intimate products you are using - lots contain a huge amount of chemicals it’s best to keep away from the genitals! So if you’re trying to conceive avoid saliva or brands like KY Jelly and go for natural lubricants: https://www.yesyesyes.org/ have different ranges of lubricants that are organic & chemical free. That being said, lubricants nor saliva are 100% effective as contraceptives.
2. It sounds obvious but few people actually think about this: keep your phones away from the Crown Jewels. Do not store your phone in your front pocket! This is in part because the radiation off mobiles decreases sperm count + quality, but also because phones get hot and increase the temperature of the testicles damaging the sperm.
3. With temperature in mind, if you’re currently trying to conceive think about avoiding ultra hot baths, very tight underwear and lycra style tight exercise gear all which increase the heat…. as does cycling long distances!
4. Eat organic. Pesticides + herbicides are know to damage sperm
5. Avoid endocrine disruptors (things that interfere with our hormones): this includes BPA found in plastic packaging (try and drink filtered water from glass bottles where possible), many processed soy products, dairy, pesticides/herbicides, toothpaste that contains fluoride (also in many countries tap water is fluorinated so be cautious/check your area), preservatives.
6. Avoid food contaminated with heavy metals. Remember, heavy metals are present in toxic quantities in large fish (especially farmed fish) eg. tuna. You want to get that oily fish in 2 x a week but ONLY from clean sources (wild salmon only!) otherwise it doesn’t contain any of the Omega 3 we are looking for. Heavy metal toxicity can also come from mercury dental fillings (plus see my last post on this). Herbs like parsley, coriander, spirulina and chlorella are great heavy metal chelators (they take the heavy metals from inside our body and bind to them so that they can be excreted with the herbs), so make sure to have these often!
7. Oxidative stress - I’ve banged on about this enough but smoking, badly cooked/stored oils, trans fats, alcohol, marijuana, caffeine all cause oxidative stress to which sperm is particularly susceptible to being damaged by, adjusting sperm shape, causing DNA fragmentation in the sperm and reducing count, concentration and motility. So, boost your anti-oxidant intake - eat the rainbow, eat 7 portions of veg a day, eat fibre.