How To Create Super Duper Swimmers! Our 10 Top Tips for Sperm Health.

We tend to focus on the female when trying for a baby, this is possibly due to the fact that we have the menstrual cycle, as women we get used to our bodies monthly rhythms. So it’s us that tend to get checked out first.
However recent studies show that Male fertility is the cause of 35-40% of infertility in couples. Many of our patients find a stumbling block when we mention that we would like the man to get his semen analysis done. This is often the case when perhaps the woman wants to actively try for a baby, and the man is more laid back, and wanted to leave it a bit longer. It isn’t the most pleasurable thing to do, in a sterile room, in a fertility clinic. But communication is key here, make sure you as a couple want to take the next step, and if you have been actively trying for a baby for over a year if under 35, and 6 months if 36 plus, then it is vital to get a semen analysis done, along with blood tests for the woman, testing FSH & LH and progesterone.
Here at Clonmel Acupuncture & Therapy Centre we have come up some of our top Super Duper Sperm creators!

• You know what our first tip is going to be… An absolute must is GIVE UP SMOKING. Not only do cigarettes contain more than 70 carcinogenic compounds and release over 4000 chemicals when burnt, smokers both male and female take longer to conceive than non-smokers (Shiverick 2011). Smoking has a negative impact on sperm production, motility, and morphology.
• Reduce Alcohol. Consuming alcohol, especially over 6 units a week can lead to a reduced sperm count. It can also have a negative effect on sperm quality and embryo quality.
• Eat a diet rich in Organic fresh food, with at least 4-5 portions of different coloured vegetables a day. Too few vitamins and the toxins in the many processed foods wreak havoc on man’s fragile sperm cells. So keep processed foods to an absolute minimum, this includes sausages, ham and bacon! Plenty of protein, such as eggs and Oily fish. Walnuts are especially good for healthy sperm, try adding them to your snack cupboard!
• Minimise your scrotum’s exposure to excess heat! Avoid wearing tight Jeans and placing hot laptop computers on your lap. Always make sure your scrotum is well aired and cooled by choosing boxers over briefs and avoiding heated car seats, sauna and tanning bed sessions.
• Invest in a really good quality multi vitamin, even if you do have a healthy diet. Healthy Sperm production needs plenty of nutrients on a constant basis. We have found that these 3 seem to be producing great results after 12 weeks; Fertilsan M supplement, Bio-Care MaleForte® Multi, and Pre Conceive.
• SEX and lots of it! Saving sperm is a complete myth, the more fresh sperm there is the better the quality.
• STOP HAVING PASSIONLESS SEX – This is one of my personal top tips; sex often becomes a chore, mechanical and quick when it comes to mid-cycle. We need to get DESIRE back into your sex life. Testosterone is the hormone of desire, arousal is so important as it affects the amount of sperm you produce. So now maybe you can see why timed, almost forced intercourse rarely results in a positive pregnancy test.
• Exercise – Balance your exercise, if you are overweight you need to get out in the fresh air and move 3-4 times a week. In a study conducted by Vaamonde et al. in 2009 it was noted that men who are physically active, exercising at least 3 times a week for 1 hour, typically scored higher in almost all sperm parameters in comparison with men who engaged in competitive sport or were athletes.
• Sleep – It’s exactly the same with men as it is with women, sleep allows our bodies to recharge, and re-balance, and this includes our hormones. When sleep is broken, this has a knock on effect to male fertility over time.
• Acupuncture – In the last 10 years treating couples for fertility, especially those leading up to getting IVF. Every single semen analysis has come back improved in almost all parameters after 3 months of Acupuncture treatments. Also acupuncture helps hugely with stress, another cause of male fertility issues. So many men come into our clinics dragging their heels, and yet they keep coming back long after they have successfully had a family!

 
Sperm cells take 11 weeks to mature in the testicles before they are ready for ejaculation. If you adjust your diet today, along with any of the other tips that apply to you, it will thus take three months for the better sperm to be ready for fertilisation. You must therefore keep eating the healthy diet and/ or taking supplements on an on-going basis – ideally until your partner is pregnant. 

Katie Murphy Lic Ac MTCMCI