If you’re trying to become pregnant with a partner, you might be curious to know how you can increase your sperm count to improve your chances of conception. We wanted to shed some light on key lifestyle changes you can make to improve your chances, which centre around your general health and wellbeing.
Consider your diet
Diet and lifestyle can play a huge part in male fertility. Aim to eat a healthy balanced diet, and reduce your alcohol intake while trying to conceive. There are lots of male fertility supplements that are advertised claiming to improve fertility; however, few ingredients used in expensive fertility supplements have positive evidence in randomised clinical trials. Instead, simply opting for a basic multivitamin is a good way to ensure you’re getting the vitamins and minerals you need, like selenium, zinc and magnesium.
Increased body fat can decrease testosterone, so ensuring you’re a healthy weight is also important when it comes to improving your sperm.
Smoking and drug use
Smoking has been shown to delay natural conception, and negatively impact IVF outcomes– possibly due to damage to sperm at a molecular level.
Both prescribed and recreational drugs can also seriously impact male fertility. Anabolic steroids can stop you from producing sperm, and cannabis can decrease the size of the testicles and reduce sperm count, motility and morphology.
Turn down the heat
If you’re trying to improve your sperm count, reduce heat stress on your testes. Move more, choose loose fitting underwear, avoid hot baths or saunas– and don’t sit for a long period with your laptop on your lap! An increase in scrotal temperature of just a few degrees can inhibit sperm production and function.
Final thoughts
By following all of the above, you’re giving yourself the best chances of improving your sperm count. Remember though, it can take many months for any lifestyle changes you make to have an impact on your semen parameters– so don’t feel disheartened if you don’t see results fast. Keep at it, and if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.