Male Fertility - Sperm Quality

The decreasing quality of men's sperm has been linked with the chemicals found in food, household products and the environment. These include chemicals found in pesticides and detergents, paints and many industrial pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), which accumulate in fatty tissue in the body.

The most common problem for men relates to sperm quantity and quality and there are several aspects to this:

Quantity of the sperm (oligospermia);
The percentage of moving sperm;
The motility of the sperm (how well they move or swim);
The sperm formation (they can be malformed e.g. two tails, no tail); and…
The volume of semen.

The decreasing quality of men’s sperm has been linked with the chemicals found in food, household products and the environment. These include chemicals found in pesticides and detergents, paints and many industrial pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), which accumulate in fatty tissue in the body.

Subclinical Nutritional Deficiencies
Subclinical deficiencies of various nutrients can affect sperm formation. Vitamin C protects sperm against free radical damage and the level in seminal fluid is much higher than in other body fluids. Zinc is critical in male reproduction and low zinc status may contribute to infertility. Vitamin A deficiency can also cause sperm shape abnormality.

Too much alcohol, cigarettes or drugs, working with harmful chemicals, eating too many processed foods and insufficient fruit and vegetables in your diet may lead to unexplained infertility or problems with your sperm.

A low sperm count may be due to environmental factors, such as oestrogenic pesticides, but a poor diet will also lead to weakened or deformed sperm.

With the urbump nutritional and lifestyle programme we will look at your nutritional requirements and provide you with advice that can help improve your fertility and chances of having a healthy baby.