Dr. Sami David
Many men never think about their ability to conceive children until they start trying and run into problems. Fertility visits are anxiety-inducing in this case because you never know if it is a problem with your sperm that is standing in your way of creating a family. Ideally, you should start thinking about your lifestyle choices and their impact on your fertility before you decide it is time to have children.
Whether you are already experiencing problems with conception or just want to make sure your lifestyle does not interfere with the health of your sperm, there are five sperm-sabotaging behaviors you should avoid at all costs.
1. Pass up the gym in favor of the couch.
An inactive lifestyle sets you up for obesity and a variety of other health conditions that may negatively affect the health of your sperm. When you keep your body moving and maintain a healthy weight, you are more likely to keep your sperm mobile and healthy.
2. Choose alcohol over water, sweets over fruit, and burgers over salad.
The food you consume is used to create your sperm, so it naturally follows that an unhealthy diet may contribute to unhealthy sperm. You don’t have to live like a dietary saint, but you do need to select the healthiest foods and drinks possible the majority of the time.
Give yourself the occasional alcoholic beverage or dessert, but make sure your sperm receives a healthy supply of nutrients as well.
3. Allow the stress of daily life to keep you down.
While you don’t want to hear it, stress is a major contributing factors to male and female infertility. Life is full of stress and you will never completely eliminate it from your life, but you should find ways to take the edge off on a daily basis. One of the best forms of stress relief is exercise, and that is a double win because it will also help you maintain a healthy body weight.
4. Continue lighting up the cigarettes.
While you may get a charge of energy from a cigarette, this habit can actually slow your sperm down. Many smokers have less mobile sperm, and many have lower sperm counts in general. If that isn’t enough to make you put out the fire, think of the impact you could have on your partner if she inhales your secondhand smoke.
5. Continue taking prescription, over-the-counter or recreational drugs without checking into the side effects.
Many drugs can decrease sperm count or interfere with your sex drive. If you know that you want to have children in the near future, check with your doctor to see if there are better alternatives. If you take recreational drugs, consider getting clean so that you have the healthiest sperm possible when it comes time to conceive.
If you avoid all of these potentially harmful behaviors, there is no guarantee that you will procreate without problems. You will have a much lower chance of struggling with conception problems, but there are other reasons that some men struggle to create a baby.
If you want to learn more about your reproductive health and lifestyle choices, visit Dr. Sami David on his website or pick up his book, “Making Babies.”
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 28th, 2013 at 6:56 pm and is filed under .lv, service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
