Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018

BODY
Over the past twenty years, fertility problems
have increased dramatically. At least 25
percent of couples planning a baby will have
trouble conceiving, and more and more couples
are turning to fertility treatments to help
them have a family. On average, young couples
can expect to wait an average of three years
before conceiving, and, as a result, very few
doctors will consider a diagnosis of infertility
until after at least a year has passed. With
a growing number of women waiting until
their careers are established before they try to
conceive, conception can be more difficult.
Boosting fertility nutritionally
Although it goes without saying that a healthy
diet is crucial to a successful pregnancy and a
healthy baby, many people are unaware of the fact
that diet can help to correct hormone imbalances
that may affect a couple’s ability to conceive. The
following should be included:
• Plenty of fruit and vegetables
• Complex carbohydrates – wholegrains like brown
rice, oats and wholemeal bread
• Organic foods where possible
• Oily foods such as fish, nuts, seeds and oils
• Reduced intake of saturated fats from dairy products
• Increased intake of fibre
• Avoid additives, preservatives and chemicals,
such as artificial sweeteners
• Avoid sugar, both on its own and hidden in food
Eating the right type of fats is particularly
important for fertility. Just small increases
in the consumption of trans fats can double
the risk of anovulatory infertility. Also for
problems with ovulation like PCOS, substituting
just 5% of the calorie intake as vegetable protein
rather than animal protein reduces the risk of
not ovulating by 50%.
Having four cups of coffee or any caffeinated
drink a day makes it 26% less likely that a
woman will conceive and drinking only 2 cups
of coffee (200mg of caffeine) a day is associated
with a 25% increased risk of miscarriage. And
problems with sperm health are connected with
increased coffee intake.
Alcohol will also make it more difficult to get
pregnant with only just three alcoholic drinks
or more a week. The same is true for male
fertility, as we know that alcohol can lower
sperm counts and will also block the body’s
ability to absorb fertility boosting nutrients like
zinc. It can also cause abnormalities in the head
of the sperm which is important for healthy
fertilisation of the egg.
Lifestyle recommendations
A woman is twice as likely to get pregnant if she
doesn’t smoke compared to a woman who does.
And smoking is linked to 5,000 miscarriages
per year.
Stopping smoking is just as important for men.
We know that chemicals in tobacco smoke
can damage DNA in sperm which can make it
harder to conceive because fertilisation can’t
take place or if it is does, it can increase the risk
of a miscarriage as nature will always work on
survival of the fittest. Smoking can also affect
the sperm count, motility and the morphology
(the shape of the sperm, whereby it could have
two heads or two tails if the morphology is
abnormal). Smoking also has a negative effect
on the head of the sperm making it harder
to fertilise an egg. It is thought that nicotine
overloads the receptors on sperm, affecting their
ability to bind to the egg.
Smoking also reduces the changes of an IVF
treatment being successful. If couples smoke
during the IVF cycle the number of eggs retrieved
is decreased by 40 per cent and 46 per cent if just
the man smokes during the cycle. Also, the overall
success rate of the IVF was 44 per cent for nonsmokers
and 24 per cent for smokers.
Other simple lifestyle changes for the man can
include avoiding hot baths and tight underpants as
sperm production takes place at 32°C (89°F) which
is lower than the body temperature at 37°C (98.4°F).
The testes are on the outside of a man’s body to keep
them cooler but the closer they get to the body e.g. by
sitting for long periods when driving for example, can
heat up the sperm and reduce the count.
Men using laptops on their laps are also a problem
for sperm health. In order to balance the laptop,
men will often close their legs and this on its own
(even without the laptop) raises the temperature
of their genitals by up 2.1°C. But the laptop itself
generates heat and the combination of closing the
legs and the heat from the laptop causes a rise in
temperature of up to 2.8°C. Just a rise of 1°C can
decrease fertility by 40%.
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