- Eat well. If you know that your sperm DNA needs improvement, I strongly recommend advice from a nutritional therapist with experience in fertility. This is about much more than eating a ‘healthy balanced diet’. You may need to load up on certain nutrients you are deficient in, avoid foods that are setting off inflammation in your body and you may need anti-oxidant therapy. Choosing a good quality male fertility supplement may help. However, some evidence indicates that antioxidants may damage healthy sperm. So always test your sperm before you take. If you don’t need them, antioxidants can do more harm than good.
- Stop smoking. The toxins found in cigarettes can cause a massive amount of sperm damage and even if pregnancy does occur, can lead to problems for your child’s health further down the line. Marijuana is particularly pernicious and can create long lasting damage to your sperm production.
- Stop carrying your mobile phone in your trouser pocket. The electromagnetic radiation from it can damage your sperm.
- Reduce caffeine and alcohol. An excess of both is associated with sperm problems. We recommend no more than 1 cup of caffeinated coffee a day and be aware that high street coffee chains usually use two shots – reduce to one shot. Keep within recommended weekly limits for alcohol and be particularly aware of binge drinking – a man can drink enough in one stag weekend to put a serious dent in his sperm quality for 3 months.
- Ejaculate often both by having sex with your partner and on your own if you want. Ejaculating through masturbation is fine – it improves the production of good quality sperm and gets rid of stale sperm.
Dee Armstrong
Fertility Adviser
