Takes Two to Tango — Men’s fertility matters

23 Mar 2023

When the focus in your life is having a child, there are different considerations. The excitement of planning a baby stirs a whirlwind of options from names to strollers to what colors to pick and is my home safety proof. The focus for many is on the health of the mom and the environment and logistics of the baby. That is completely normal. Here, while this is for everyone, I am focusing on the male side. For the males reading this, please know that in no way you are left out of the baby creation equation and there are a couple items that you may not know. In this blog I am going to highlight the importance of men’s health on the fertility journey.

To clarify males and females in this article, given many newer status types in the world today, if you have the male anatomy to make sperm, this is for you. Your health is very important in what you do proactively before you decide to have a baby. It is all about improving the odds in your favor of supplying good genes for the healthiest child possible.

Hormones

Let’s mention a couple things the average person doesn’t know. Decades ago, I didn’t either. You have the same hormones as your female partner. If you are one of the few lucky ones, you will have done your reading. Maybe you read about the hypothalamus &  the pituitary, which makes hormones like gonadotropin, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone as well reading about estrogen, testosterone and if you were paying attention in your learning, maybe the role of inhibin. You may have at least seen a chart with the abbreviations.

If you were like me in my younger years, you would be relating this to a complicated cycle that women go through to produce an egg. You didn’t fully understand it, much less, minus the uterus and related parts, think that you have these playing a role in your sperm production. You have sperm, you know how to deliver it, that is the sum of what many know. The rest is for doctors to know.

Key Items to Consider

I am not going to talk about the roles of the anatomy and hormones but there are a few things that you can do to increase the odds of having the healthiest baby possible. I say possible because there are so many factors just to have a sperm and an egg meet, much less begin a life. It is not as easy as one thinks. It can take several tries over many months or years. If you want specific details, you can talk to our Naturopathic Doctors and learn the full process in detail. If you are making the big decision, here are a couple key items to consider starting with knowing that your body has a 60 – 90 day cycle of creating new sperm. So if you have a chance to make life changes before 90 days of having new “fresh” sperm that are the healthiest possible, read on.

Briefly and getting right to the point — Eat well. Drink water. Cut down or stop the consumption of alcohol, nicotine and cannabinoids (including vaping). (I say this with respect to how very difficult that is but you are about to create a life). Do not use hot tubs or hot baths. Cool baths or regular showers instead. Try, again with respect I say this, to not be sitting for long extended periods of time. Get up and move if possible. Avoid unhealthy chemicals. Lose weight if possible (only if you are very overweight). Check with your doctor if you are on medications to see if there are any concerns. Exercise moderately, not heavily.

What does all this do to the body?

In a larger picture, there are two main items to think about — chemistry and temperature. You can probably surmise that chemical avoidance and healthy living will make better quality sperm. This is true more than you may know. Here are a couple of known facts to consider this quest of health. An imbalance in your health may cause the spindle fibers that need to separate the genes that design us, to be affected. The energy in the middle of each sperm to give it the battery strength to make the voyage, can be affected. The quality of semen can be affected which can affect the ability to safely transport the sperm. The amount of healthy sperm can be affected and in a game of numbers, you want the most amount of healthiest sperm possible to have a chance at meeting the egg.

My last point involves heat. The testis need to be a couple degrees cooler than the body. Hence the reason to avoid things like hot tubs and losing weight if possible. This is not an easy ask either but a larger belly and thighs can make more heat to the testis. Not impossible, just improves the odds. If you can take this in mind 90 days or more before you begin trying, you increase the chances of more healthier sperm.

Conclusion

Those are a few details to keep in mind. If you are overwhelmed or need expert advice, come see our Naturopathic Doctors and Osteopaths and other bodyworkers. Getting the information you need can take the stress off your mind of what you can be proactively doing. Having access to the right supplements, figuring exercises and learning what foods to choose, are a good decision to help in the right direction. If your body has any twists or discomfort, you might want to be assessed and treated as any body discomfort or restriction can affect the function of the body or of it’s parts.

You might also watch a replay of a recent webinar from our team that focuses on the mother’s health to learn what information you can pass on to your partner, family or friends that are considering having a baby. Click the following link for the replay — NaturalChoiceMedicalClinic.Video.Replay

The amount of information can be overwhelming. That is why clinics like ours can help save you time and brain power to not only learn more about your body but to expand on what you may already be doing. Feel free to reach out to our clinic to ask what kinds of practitioners would be helpful to this important stage of life.