Each time are more and more couple who has to take an assisted reproduction method and their frequency of conventional conception decrease. Problems to conceive affects on 15% of couples and 30% the cause lies in the male infertility, other 30% its due feminine infertility and 40% mixed causes.
Influential factors in seminal quality
Of course if the decline in fertility is being noticed in recent years, our environment and our customs can be crucial to determinate the seminal quality, today there are many environmental factors that may affect fertility, such as:
- Dietary factors: food contamination or poor treatment, contaminating agents (benzene, pesticides, heavy metals, organophosphates, cadmium, ddt, hexachoride)
- Other factors: sexually trasnsmitted diseases, drug dependencies such as alcohol and tobacco, ionizing radiation, high temperatures, drugs use of anabolic steroids, chemotherapy. Some evidence suggest that stress reduces semen quality, probably due to hormonal changes in the body. The modern causes of stress are innumerable and concern about fertility or not being able to conceive are very important added causes.
On the other hand, a high body mass index (bmi), a high consumption of coffee (there is a correlation between high consumption of caffeine and a low concentration and sperm count), a low frequency of ejaculation and long periods of sexual abstinence, are factors that have a negative effect on sperm quality.
Inadequate forms of feeding.
Low zinc diet
Is a micro mineral component of different tissues of our body, specially of the skeletal muscle, liver and bones. Also is a component of insulin, participates in nucleic acids metabolism and as enzymatic factor. In food is associated to proteins and nucleic acids, it is absorbed in the small intestine and its use decrease gradually from 20 % to 50 % with age.
Daily needs of dietary zinc:
- Male adults 15mg
- Female adults 12mg
- Child 3 to 15mg
- Pregnancy or lactancy 20 to 25mg
A lower intake than recommended could be cause of growing fails and sex cells deficiency. This modifications and disability of the male sex glands caused by a poor diet on zinc, would have as result a remarkable decrease on the sperm quality.
Strict hypocaloric diet
In this case, the sexual function are wasted due the body is subjected to a regime of low calories and a bad nutritional quality, which initiate a series of physiological situation of saving energy where includes an important decrease of sexual abilities. For this reason the appearance of amenorrhea in anorexic women is common, as well as decreased reproductive capacity for a malnutrition male.
Antioxidant deficient diet
Antioxidants are germ cells protectors against the oxidative damage. Here zinc has an important role as antioxidant and in the cell division of spermatogonia.
Healthy life style, with an adequate and sufficient diet
- . monitor contributions of microminerals, specially those which intervein on oxidative stress.
- . maintain our diet with adequate antioxidants without appeal to supplementation.
- . monitor our body weight, it must be optimal, not reaching the overweight levels neither malnutrition that may affect our functionality and abilities.
- . no smoke, no drugs, or drink alcohol over the limits.
- . avoid industrial hazard or toxic substances exposure
- avoid sexually transmitted diseases, making safe sexual practices.