Your money shot may be a blank. About 15
percent of couples have trouble conceiving, and at least a third of the
time the guy’s sperm is at fault, according to the National Institutes
of Health.
So get busy: Sperm quality peaks in
winter and early spring, an Israeli study found, and low-stress weekends
offer your best chances of success.
Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., head of
reproductive medicine at Cleveland Clinic, explains how four lifestyle
changes can improve your baby-making odds.
Avoid Any Defects
Sperm are not perfectly shaped little
tadpoles. In fact, 90-plus percent of the average guy’s swimmers may be
too deformed to penetrate the egg. Excess free radicals may be to blame,
Agarwal says.
Consuming foods rich in the antioxidant
lycopene is one solution, Harvard scientists say. (For a quick boost,
eat tomato sauce: A quarter cup has 8,500 micrograms.)
Lift Your Number
A typical ejaculation can contain 15 to
150 million sperm. To maximize your potential payload, you need to work
up a sweat outside the bedroom, says Agarwal.
In fact, Harvard researchers found that
men who worked out the most had a 33 percent higher sperm count than
those who exercised the least. That’s because gym time helps burn fat
while boosting testosterone.
Make Them Mobile
Your sperm must carry out their mission
in 12 to 14 hours; that’s how long the egg, once it’s released, remains
viable. Success can depend on their swimming speed.
So help them out: Put down the
smartphone. In a Cleveland Clinic study, men who used their phones more
had decreased sperm mobility, perhaps because of these phones’
electromagnetic waves.
Keep The Alive
Those swimmers need to stay alive—and
your choice of lube matters. Even lubes that are touted as “all natural”
may contain chemicals that are acidic or alkaline enough to poison your
mini-Phelpses.
In fact, some brands can wipe out 72
percent of your offering in 30 minutes, say researchers in Australia.
Save your sperm with a blend designed for procreation.
Like Us on Facebook!
0 comments:
Post a Comment