Vitamins For Fertility - Men
Men may wish to consider these supplements:
• Vitamin C (500-1500 mg/day)
Vitamin C helps to combat the pollution we are surrounded with. Pollution, particularly agricultural chemicals have been shown to cause much lower sperm counts. Vitamin C has been shown to reduce DNA damage in sperm by 91%. It is also shown to reduce agglutination and abnormalities. Vitamin C (1000mg) per day raised sperm counts by 140% in the first week in one study and 200 mg increased sperm counts by 112% in the first week. After 60 days the 200 mg group had caught up with the 1000mg group. All of these men had impregnated their wives by the end of the study.
• Vitamin E (400-800 i.u. per day)
Studies show that vitamin E can increase sperm potency by 2 ½ times. Two studies found that vitamin E supplementation lead to a 20% pregnancy rate in previously infertile men. That is higher than most assisted reproduction procedures! Take vitamin E in mixed tocopherol form. Take it with vitamin C but do not take it without consulting your doctor if you have anemia, poorly clotting blood, hyperthyroid, high blood pressure, or liver disease.
• Zinc (15-60 mg/day)
Even a mild zinc deficiency can cause drastically lower sperm counts. Zinc may also improve sexual function. In one study, thirty-seven men with more than five years of infertility, and whose sperm counts were less than 25 million/ml took 60 mg of zinc daily for forty-five to fifty days. For the twenty-two patients with initially low testosterone levels showed an increase in testosterone and mean sperm count increased significantly, from 8 to 20 million/ml. Nine of the twenty- two wives became pregnant during the study. For the fifteen men with normal testosterone levels, sperm count increased slightly but there was no change in testosterone level and no pregnancies occurred. If you take zinc for longer than a few weeks you should add 1-3 mg of copper to prevent a copper deficiency.
• B-12 (10-100 mcg/day) and a B-Complex supplement
can help balance testosterone and LH/FSH secretions. Lack of B-vitamins is very common in people who eat mostly refined and processed foods as well as those who smoke. Twenty-seven percent of men in one study with sperm counts under 20 million/ml took 1,000 mcg of vitamin B12 per day. As a result, their total sperm count increased in excess of 100 million/ml.
• Selenium (100-200 mcg/day)
Selenium deficiency causes fragile sperm with easily broken tails. Semen is high in selenium so it must be replenished regularly. Selenium is toxic in large doses so don’t take more than 200 mcg day. One double-blind trial found that sperm counts doubled in previously infertile men after supplementation with selenium.
• Co-enzyme-Q10 (30-100 mg/day)
increases sperm counts. Also an anti-oxidant.
• L-Carnitine (up to 3 grams per day)
An Italian study found that 2 grams a day of carnitine for three months dramatically improved sperm counts and mobility.
• A good multi-vitamin including vitamin A.
It is not a good idea to take vitamin A separately as it is very easy to overdose on this vitamin. A multi will not have enough of the other supplements, but it is a good starting place to make sure you are not missing anything. Vitamin A helps improve sperm production.
• Essential fatty acids (EFA)
are even more important for men than for women. Eat lots of coldwater fish and ground flax seed or supplement with a combination of between 1-7 grams of fish oil and flax oil capsules. Fish oil and flax oil contain different EFA so you will need to add substantial amounts of both to your diet. EFA are important for lowering your risk of diabetes and heart disease, improving overall health, and improving sperm count. Be careful about taking too much if you are on blood thinners. Be sure to choose distilled fish oil because oils such as cod liver oil contain toxic levels of vitamin A.
• L-Arginine (2-4 g)
Arginine has shown very promising results in numerous studies on both sperm counts and motility. It is best used when everything else has failed.
Read more: BellaOnline.com
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Category: Fertility, Male Fertility, sperm, supplements, Vitamins
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