Ep.3 The Fertility Series: Male Fertility

 

00:00 - Intro

01:05 - How sperm is produced

03:46 - How to improve sperm quality

06:16 - Nutrients that support sperm health

08:20 - Timing to optimise conception

09:32 - Lifestyle adjustments that make a difference

12:12 - Male fertility mythbusting

14:09 - Outro

 

Transcript:

Gail: Actually, 1 in 5 male sperm parameters are under the World Health Organisation's healthy parameters.

Thalia: When we think about fertility, we associate women getting older and the fertility declining, and we don't actually make the same connection with men.

Gail: Men's fertility rates does decline with age. It's just not at the same rate as women.

Thalia: You think about oxidative stress in the body. That's not just about how sperm moves or looks. It's also about DNA damage as well.

Gail: Half of fertility comes from sperm, but most fertility conversations barely mention men. I'm Gail Madalena, a registered nutritional therapist with over eight years of experience in fertility and preconception health. In today's episode, we're going to take a deep dive into male fertility.

Thalia: Sperm takes around 74 days to develop, so the decisions we made today about our lifestyle and diet affect our fertility months from now. I'm Thalia Pellegrini, I'm a registered nutritional therapist specialising in women's hormonal health. I have more than 15 years experience. Sperm takes around 74 days to develop, so the choices men make today can affect their fertility months from now. So let's break that down. Tell me a bit more about sperm parameters and how they've changed dramatically in the last few decades.

Gail: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, this is primarily down to Western diet, the lifestyles we're living, our work-life balance. Actually, 1 in 5 male sperm parameters are under the World Health Organisation's healthy parameters. So it's massive and not really spoken about.

Thalia: Absolutely. A lot of focus tends to be on the woman and actually, of course, we can't talk about healthy fertility without talking about men as well. So when we think about fertility, we associate women getting older and the fertility declining, and we don't actually make the same connection with men. But it is true that as men age, fertility declines.

Gail: Absolutely. It's not at that dramatic rate that we see in females. But there is a decline as men get older, so it's certainly something to think about if you are trying for a baby a bit later in life.

Thalia: So let's talk about sperm production and the cycle that sperm goes through.

Gail: Yeah, so really unlike women, you know, we have one egg per month that we ovulate, whereas men are continuously producing new sperm. And what we're really looking at and focusing on when thinking about fertility is the volume. So how much sperm, the motility, how it's moving, and the morphology: how it physically looks.

Thalia: Okay. And we think about women a lot in terms of their lifestyle. But of course the lifestyle and diet of men are important. We'll come to diet later. So let's talk a little bit now about lifestyle influences that can affect sperm health.

Gail: Yeah. Well we spoke about stress in women. It can have the exact same negative impact in men. And you know, if you are chronically stressed, have very high stress levels all the time, that will impact all three parameters on your sperm. So, you know, volume, motility, and morphology. Or say sleep, we spoke about that with women. Really important as well for men and their diet, their nutrients. That's really important.

Thalia: Actually, the stress that you talked about. When we think about oxidative stress in the body, that's not just about how sperm moves or looks, it's also about DNA damage as well.

Gail: Yeah So in order to have a healthy pregnancy, genetically that sperm has to be viable. And when there's high levels of oxidative stress, so that's damage to your core cells. And that means that it's not going to be viable. And you are at an increased risk of experiencing a miscarriage or recurrent miscarriage. The biggest shifts in sperm quality often come from small, consistent changes.

Thalia: Absolutely. So let's run through some of those. So the key one I think is alcohol.

Gail: Yes. And it can be a big one. Particularly people that are entertained for their work. That's really common. Where drinking multiple times a week is common practice. Alcohol, you know, it can deplete us of nutrients. It can be, uh, it affect our blood sugar levels. And overall, it can have negative impacts on sperm quality.

Thalia: And the same applies for smoking.

Gail: Yes. There's so much research around the toxins produced by cigarettes and vaping as well, which obviously is a newer trend but really, really detrimental to sperm, overall sperm health. 

Thalia: Much the same with women's hormonal health and we're thinking about optimising fertility. We need to think about stress and sleep.

Gail: Yeah.

Thalia: And nutrients right?

Gail: Yeah. These are all fundamental. And no one thing is, you know, going to improve sperm quality. You really need to think of it as a whole body approach and looking at all those areas.

Thalia: So what we don't talk about with women because we don't need to, but we do need to talk about with men is things like heat.

Gail: Yeah.

Thalia: And where that heat comes from. So that can be saunas or cycling. You know, cycling kits or hot tubs or, phone in pocket.

Gail: Yeah, or working with a laptop on your lap. If you think about it, sperm production is done in testicles, which are outside of the body, so they don't have that internal heat, regulation. And so having a high temperature can really affect the volume of sperm and the production, that production cycle of sperm. And so if it's consistently exposed to high heat, it can mean that your sperm count is very low.

Thalia: So when we think about any one of those in isolation, the damage might be minimal.

Gail: Yeah.

Thalia: But we're talking about someone who, you know, cycles to work, drinks socially or drinks for work, smokes as well. Yeah. Then that overwhelmingly, possibly that's going to impact their fertility journey.

Gail: Yeah 100%. Yeah. So it's really taking all of those factors into consideration. And again, like women, laying the foundations in preconception.

Thalia: I think what's really encouraging about semen quality is how much difference we can make in 1 or 2 cycles. Yeah. So we think one cycle is about 74 days. So it's really positive that we can do so much. So I think the key nutrients are worth talking about. So for me, zinc is a really good one.

Gail: Yep.

Thalia: So let's talk about where you can get zinc from or why that's valuable.

Gail: And I mean, zinc is fundamental to that sperm turnover and production. It's a really potent antioxidant. You can find it in, you know, seafood, things like nuts and seeds, lots of fruits and vegetables as well. Things like chicken, poultry, so you can get really good levels of zinc via your diet. But also it may be something to consider with supplementation.

Thalia: Likewise selenium.

Gail: Yeah. Really, really important in oxygen stress. Thinking about, how that sperm is functioning. Selenium is a really, really key nutrient. And, you know, typically, you know, our soils are overharvested and don't really contain enough selenium. But food sources that are rich in it are Brazil nuts. So a couple of Brazil nuts a day can massively help increase selenium levels.

Thalia: Vitamin C, our hero antioxidant.

Gail: Yes, really important for DNA. You know, supporting against oxidative stress. Very rich in your fruits and vegetables, you know, colourful. Classically, things like your berries, your citrus fruits, things like bell peppers. But if you've got a diet that is diverse in fruits and vegetables, chances are you're getting a lot of vitamin C.

Thalia: What about B12?

Gail: This is a really important one. It's really, really key for energy production. And energy is a huge component of sperm health. We get it mostly from animal sources, red meat typically. So if you are vegan, vegetarian 100%, this is something that needs supplementation.

Thalia: These nutrients that we've talked about for a backbone for fertility support for men. And they're going to give that support for morphology, motility and volume, to really enhance a fertility journey for men.

Gail: Yes, particularly over that 74 day cycle. You know, consistently having that will give the body nutrients to support it. Most people focus on the egg but healthy sperm can optimise the fertile window.

Thalia: I think that's often overlooked, and I think we should talk about how long healthy sperm can survive. 

Gail: Yeah. One we're looking at healthy sperm, but also the semen, the fluid that the sperm swim in. If this is healthy, then sperm can survive for up to five days in the vaginal cavity. So really, that is giving you the best chance across your fertile window. Of course, that isn't always the case, but that is the best case scenario. It will last five days.

Thalia: So we're thinking about timing to optimise chances of conception. What would you be recommending?

Gail: I always encourage people to have intercourse before ovulation occurs, so best best time would be 1 to 2 days prior to ovulation.

Thalia: Let's talk about sperm turnover.

Gail: Yeah, absolutely. I see it so often that people will only have sex on those 1 or 2 days around ovulation. Actually, sperm quality can improve the more often or more frequently a man ejaculates. So actually, the best way to optimise your chances of conception is to have sex every other day across your cycle.

Thalia: Okay, so let's talk about small positive steps a man can make to improve his fertility.

Gail: Yes, and it's worth pointing that all of the things we're going to mention here work for female egg health as well. We want to be focusing on balanced meals. I'd say that's the number one, you know, having your three meals a day and making sure that they comprise of your key macronutrients so your proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. 

Thalia: And what about thinking about what we can exclude or reduce. We've touched on this a little bit.

Gail: Yes. We obviously mentioned about alcohol. Caffeine as well can have detrimental impacts. But also thinking about ultra-processed foods, you know, added sugars, refined sugars, trying to pare those back because they can do, you know, crazy things to our blood sugar. They can raise things like inflammation. And they also don't really feed into that energy picture.

Thalia: I like the approach of crowding out what doesn't serve us. So when we think about what we can add in.

Gail: Yes.

Thalia: I think that can feel more empowering. We, I think could focus on antioxidants. So that's a really easy one. So lots of colourful fruits and vegetables to really get those antioxidants in because we're getting so many key nutrients from eating the rainbow.

Gail: Yes, yes. The more fruits and vegetables, the better. And also things like fibre, can be really, really key as well to an overall healthy diet. And so it's incorporating that with each meal as well.

Thalia: So let's talk about those three lifestyle measures that can be really useful to be aware of sleep, stress and heat, particularly for men.

Gail: Yes. We obviously want to optimise sleep. So whether that's putting in a more consistent bedtime routine, you know, getting good quality sleep. Stress, it's finding small ways. You can't completely eliminate stress. You know, in the day to day world that we live in, but we can absolutely put in small, you know, meaningful, actionable tips throughout our day to, to manage it better. And then movement as well, really important. Being sedentary can have very negative impacts on overall sperm quality. So getting some form of movement into your day-to-day routine as well.

Thalia: Which can be a stress reliever, so that's quite a nice way of doing it.

Gail: Yeah.

Thalia: And then thinking about reducing that heat exposure, that's just being mindful of the potential impact of that, particularly if having trouble conceiving.

Gail: Yes. It's just looking to see if that is a factor that could be feeding into it. As you said, you know, if you're cycling to and from work every day, if you're having regular saunas, you know, wearing very tight clothing, that can be normal clothing or activewear, it's just trying to reduce that as much as possible.

There are a few myths that cause a lot of confusion for men. Let's set the record straight.

Thalia: Okay, let's start with the fact that we don't think of men's fertility declining with age?

Gail: Yes. And, you know, you often see older men having children, which is where I think this stems from. Men's fertility rates does decline with age, it's just not at the same rate as women. You don't have that drastic decline at any one point. But we do know men's fertility is declining at a much quicker rate these days than it did in the past.

Thalia: So what about the myth that more sex equals better chances for conceiving?

Gail: This is, uh, in some cases, yes. In some cases, no. You can have too much sex. If you're having sex multiple times a day, you know, your sperm quality can be a little bit diluted. However, on the flip side, if you're not having enough sex, you're only doing it once or twice across your fertile window. That's not going to be as optimal as having it more consistently every couple of days.

Thalia: How about lubricants. All lubricants are fine. Is that true?

Gail: This one's a myth. And I'd say pick your lubricant carefully, because actually, sometimes it can be really detrimental to sperm and it can damage the sperm quality. So I would go for a more natural water-based lubricant.

Thalia: What we hear in consultations a lot, is a woman will say, my partner's had a child with another partner. He says he's fine.

Gail: Yes, we get this. This question, and also people that have had testing, and say sperm parameters are all good. I would say things change. You know, um, environments change, your diet changes. There's a lot of variability. And just because you've had a child before, it doesn't mean that you're automatically fine and will conceive again. Secondary infertility is huge, so it's still worth investing the time and laying the foundations in male health as well.

Sperm quality can significantly improve over the course of a few months with simple, impactful changes.

Thalia: Male fertility is an equal half of the picture, and these changes work best when approached as a couple. We're here to support you. You can book that free consultation with us at Wild Nutrition via our website.