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Healthy sperm: Improving your fertility

Your lifestyle and your exposure to certain environmental factors may affect your sperm and your fertility. Here are some things to boost your sperm quality and improve your fertility.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Do your sperm pass muster? Despite several months of effort, you and your partner haven't yet conceived. You're not ready to seek a fertility evaluation, but you might be wondering whether you're doing all you can to make sure you have healthy sperm.

Male fertility depends on sperm quality and quantity, which can be affected by a variety of things. While you may not be able to control all the factors that could improve your fertility, there are steps you can take to maximize your fertility and make sure your sperm are top performers.

What factors are linked to having healthy sperm?

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Illustration of male reproductive system Male reproductive system

To achieve its goal, sperm must have three things going for it:

  • Quantity. You're most likely to be fertile if you have more than 20 million sperm per milliliter of semen. However, researchers are finding that having healthy sperm (the quality) may be just as important as the total amount of sperm you produce. Of the millions of sperm in the ejaculated semen, only about 200 actually reach the egg in a woman's fallopian tube. But, just one is needed to fertilize the egg.
  • Quality. It's not enough just to have enough. Sperm shape and structure (morphology) are equally important. You are most likely to be fertile if more than one-third of your sperm are of normal shape and structure. A normal sperm has an oval head and a long tail that propel it forward. Sperm with large, small, tapered or crooked heads or kinky, curled or double tails are less likely to fertilize an egg.
  • Motility. To reach the target, your sperm have to move. Riding the semen wave will only take the sperm so far. To reach the egg, sperm have to move on their own — wriggling and swimming the last few inches to reach and penetrate the egg. Sperm movement (motility) is an important characteristic of healthy sperm. You're most likely to be fertile if at least half of your sperm are moving.

What can you do to produce high-quality sperm?

It takes only one sperm cell to fertilize an egg. With millions of sperm vying for the chance, you'd think each act of intercourse between you and your partner would have excellent odds of resulting in pregnancy. In fact, it may take many attempts before you succeed, even if you're both healthy and your timing is right — that is, you have sex in the days leading up to ovulation when the egg is released from the ovary.

Here's what you can do to increase your chance of contributing enough hardy, energetic sperm to get the job done.

  • Take a multivitamin. A daily multivitamin can help provide selenium, zinc and folic acid — trace nutrients that are important for optimal sperm production and function.
  • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. These foods are rich in antioxidants, which may help improve sperm health.
  • Reduce stress. Stress might interfere with certain hormones needed to produce sperm. Stress can also decrease sexual function.
  • Get regular exercise. Physical activity is good for reproductive health as well as your overall health. But don't overdo it. Men who exercise to exhaustion show a temporary change in hormone levels and a drop in sperm quality.
  • Watch your weight. Too much or too little body fat may disrupt production of reproductive hormones, which can reduce your sperm count and increase your percentage of abnormal sperm. You're most likely to produce lots of high-quality sperm if you maintain a healthy weight.
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References
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  2. Eskenazi B, et al. Antioxidant intake is associated with semen quality in healthy men. Human Reproduction. 2005;20:1006.
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  7. Sharpe RM. Lifestyle and environmental contribution to male infertility. British Medical Bulletin. 2000;56:630.
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  10. Martini AC. Effects of alcohol and cigarette consumption on human seminal quality. Fertility and Sterility. 2004;82:374.
  11. Nudell DM, et al. Common medications and drugs: How they affect male fertility. Urologic Clinics of North America. 2002;29:965.
  12. Jung A, et al. Influence of the type of undertrousers and physical activity on scrotal temperature. Human Reproduction. 2005;20:1022.
  13. Anderson L, et al. The effects of coital lubricants on sperm motility in vitro. 1998;12:3351.
  14. Nippoldt TB (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 21, 2008.
  15. Human exposure to endocrine disrupters and semen quality. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, Critical Reviews. 2008;11:188.
  16. Swan SH. Does our environment affect our fertility? Some examples to help reframe the question. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine. 2006:24:142.
  17. Carlsen E, et al. History of febrile illness and variation in semen quality. Human Reproduction. 2003:18:2089.

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Dec. 16, 2008

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