Fertile attempt

Lifestyle factors can affect male fertility. Dr Himanshu Singhal suggests making dietary changes and avoiding stress to better their chances of conception

When a couple have trouble conceiving, the focus often turns to the woman’s health. But just as men are equal partners in conception, they contribute approximately 40-50% of all infertility cases. We often come across people who assume that if a couple is facing difficulty in conceiving, it’s the woman’s responsibility to make the changes and it’s her body that’s not working right, but we’re learning more about how that’s not the case.

It is important to understand that fertility-related issues vary among populations and declines with age in both men and women, but the effects of age are much more pronounced in women. For women, the chance of conception decreases significantly after the age of 35, while for men, fertility does not appear
to be affected before the age of 50.

Role of diet

Women are often counselled about lifestyle-related issues and they actively seek intervention to regulate and change their lifestyles. However, men need to know that lifestyle factors affecting male fertility include diet, body weight, levels of exercise, stress and use of tobacco and drugs.

Lifestyle factors may affect sperm parameters, pregnancy and miscarriage rates.

Trans fat and “unhealthy diets” (those rich in red and processed meats, potatoes, sweets, and sweetened beverages) should be completely avoided.

Include foods like eggs that are packed with vitamin B, which is important for fertility. They are rich in protein, which is great for your overall health and fitness.

Another good source can be walnuts which are loaded with good fats that can provide you with a healthy reproductive system. Being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts can be beneficial in boosting fertility. So, go and have them as a snack! Nuts such as walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

Include more lentils and beans in your diet. Both of these are an excellent source of protein, fibre and folate.

Limit or cut out processed meats.

Limit caffeine and alcohol. If you consume caffeine, limit yourself to one or two cups of coffee per day.

Engage in some moderate exercise.

Obesity not only increases the risk of medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver and kidney diseases, sleep apnea, depression but some studies have demonstrated its link to delay in conception, reduced pregnancy rates and an increase in loss of child in couples undergoing IVF.

Lifestyle changes

Keep a check on your weight and maintain normal BMI by eating healthy doing regular exercises.

Prevent infections by maintaining a monogamous relationship.

Eat a healthy diet like green vegetables, citrus fruits, tomatoes, berries, cabbage, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, whole grains, fish, shellfish, seafood which will give you loads of antioxidants and micronutrients.

Get enough sleep.

Get a semen analysis done from any fertility centre where it is performed as per WHO 2010 criteria, as semen analysis is the cornerstone of an infertility evaluation.

Your doctor may prescribe some supplements, (eg. Vit C, Vit E, Zinc, CoQ10 etc) do take them.

Semen freezing as a measure of fertility preservation to father children in future should be done if you are suffering from cancer as certain cancers and their treatments (radiotherapy & chemotherapy) can affect fertility.

Don’ts

Smoking is associated with a low count & morphology. This also leads to an increased number of abnormal sperms and their decreased ability to fertilise the egg. As smoking damages genetic material in egg & sperm, it increases the risk of miscarriage and birth defects in the offspring.

Limit your intake of alcohol.

5 drinks/week may lead to lower concentration and morphology of sperms.

Drugs — anabolic steroids like testosterone can even lead to a complete shutdown of testicular functions. Cocaine, marijuana lowers the count, motility and morphology of sperms.

Avoid using lubricants during sex.

Stress decreases sexual function.

Age impacts it too. Pregnancy rates are somewhat lower and miscarriage rates are somewhat higher in couples with older fathers (especially for those over 40).

The child’s chances of birth defects, schizophrenia and autism are two times more if the mother’s age is around 45 years and 2.2 times more if the age of the father is around 50years.

(The author is senior fertility specialist,
Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Bengaluru)