Affecting about 17 per cent of couples, infertility is generally defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. Male infertility accounts for half of these cases, often as a result of poor quality sperm connected to lifestyle and diet choices,
When a man is referred for fertility tests, his sperm will be checked for morphology (the percentage of sperm that are normal), and sperm count (the total number of sperm in the sample). Abnormal sperm may have defects such as a large head or two tails, and are not capable of fertilising an egg. Medical treatment for male infertility is limited to surgical corrections or, in the case of infection, antibiotics, and current NICE guidelines state that there is “no effective treatment” available for unexplained male infertility.1 As a result, many couples may turn to complementary therapies, such as nutritional therapy.
Spermatogenesis
When a man is overweight, this can have a direct impact on his sperm count. The male hormone testosterone is critical for sperm production, but obesity is a major risk factor to testosterone levels. This is attributed to the release of an enzyme from enlarged fat cells called aromatase, which irreversibly converts the testosterone to the female hormone oestrodiol, resulting in testosterone deficiency and poor sperm production.
The testes can produce sperm at a rate of 1,000 sperm a second. As with most metabolic processes, this generates byproducts called reactive oxygen species (ROS) which, if left unchecked, can be a major cause of damage to maturing sperm. However, a complicated system of antioxidant enzymes produced in the testes provides an in-built protection mechanism, which can be supported by including a high amount of antioxidant-rich foods in the diet.
The antioxidant most associated with male fertility is zinc. This is naturally found in most animal products, but particularly in seafood, nuts, seeds and legumes. In rat studies, zinc has been shown to protect sperm even when the testes are exposed to potentially damaging heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
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