Many men suffer from some form of infertility. Often infertility is associated with semen that contains a low sperm concentration, sperm that has poor motility, or sperm that does not have the correct shape. Here are some ways that you can improve the quality of your sperm.

Take colder baths.

Sperm production requires colder temperatures, which is why your testicles have special muscles to ensure that your sperm stays in the ideal environment. Your testicles must be colder than your body temperatures, so muscles will pull your testicles towards your body if your testicles are too cold. They will push your testicles away from your body if they need to cool down a little bit. Otherwise, your sperm would die in the presence of high temperatures and it can take over three months for you to recover from this loss of healthy sperm.

If your sperm start to die, prolonged exposure to high temperatures will prevent you from producing. Therefore, hot baths can be bad for your sperm. If you are in the habit of taking hot baths, then you might want to turn the temperature down a little bit. Additionally, hot tubs, laptops, saunas, tight clothing, cooking, and motorcycles can all cause your testicles to get too hot, so you want to be careful around anything that can cause your testicles to overheat.

Lose some weight.

Men with a higher BMI tend to have a decreased sperm count. When you are overweight, your hormones can change. These changes can cause your testosterone levels go down, but you estradiol levels might go up. Estradiol imbalances and testosterone imbalances are both responsible for causing a number of sexual problems, including erectile dysfunction. It can also reduce the quality of your sperm and semen. Additionally, obesity can cause your body to experience oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress occurs when certain metabolic issues cause your free radical concentration to get too high. Free radicals are molecularly unstable compounds that sometimes become stable again by stealing electrons from DNA, proteins, lipids, and other important cell components. By stealing these electrons, free radicals destabilize these cell components, which can cause longer term damage to your cells. Obesity can exacerbate these metabolic issues. If you end up destabilizing your sperm cells or the cells in organs responsible for ensuring that your sperm mature properly, then you can end up with unhealthy sperm. Therefore, by maintaining a healthy body weight, you can keep your sperm healthy.

Eat healthy foods.

You can decrease oxidative stress by maintaining a healthy body weight, so you want to eat the right types of food to avoid weight gain. If you are having trouble losing weight quickly enough, you can also decrease oxidative stress by eating antioxidants. Antioxidants can provide free radicals with an electron, which prevents free radicals from stealing an electron from important cell components. Many fruits and vegetables are usually rich in different types of antioxidants. Apples, berries, prunes, and grapes all have a relatively high concentration of important antioxidants that can counteract the effects of oxidative stress.

Additionally, sunflower seeds, kiwis, spinach, and oranges can also get you vitamin E and vitamin C, which can help to improve the quality of your sperm. If you do not have enough vitamin E or C, you sperm can develop an improper shape. They may have multiple tails or they may be crooked. Sperm with improper shapes can have a more difficult time with motility, so you should try to make sure that you have a healthy intake of vitamins E and C.

Quit alcohol.

Alcohol is toxic to your testicles and too much drinking can actually cause your testicles to shrink. Smaller testicles will mean that they are less effective and efficient when it comes to sperm production. Additionally, drinking too much alcohol can damage many of the cells that produce and release testosterone, which can cause your sperm to have an improper shape. Alcohol also has negative impacts on your brain, which is where you have your hypothalamus and your pituitary gland. These organs are also important for stimulating testosterone production. Damaging these organs can decrease your testosterone levels. Since testosterone allows you produce sperm, reduced levels of testosterone will cause you to have a decreased sperm count.

Fortunately, you can reverse the negative effects of alcohol on your sperm quality simply by abstaining from alcohol for a while. It takes sperm about seventy-two days to mature, so if you practice abstinence for about seventy-two days, then your new sperm should be much healthier.

Try yoga and meditation.

Recent studies show that stress can decrease your sperm quality. In order to respond to stress, your body releases certain hormones, including adrenaline, cortisol, ghrelin, and others. These hormonal changes can trigger the release of glucocorticoids, which are hormones that can lower your testosterone levels and your sperm production. Additionally, some scientists also believe that stresses and anxieties can trigger oxidative stress. It is unclear why, but it might have to do with the fact that your brain uses a lot of oxygen.Free radicals are made of oxygen compounds, which means you brain is especially susceptible to oxidative stress. Since stress and anxiety primarily impact your brain, these mental conditions can negatively affect you brain so that the number of free radicals in your body increases.

Therefore, you want to avoid anxiety induced infertility by finding ways of destressing. Yoga and meditation have long been shown as good methods to reduce your stress levels. However, you also have a number of other options, including certain forms of exercise, writing, listening to music, breathing exercises, and even intercourse or masturbation. If you think you might be suffering from serious anxiety or other mental illnesses, then you should not hesitate to speak to your healthcare provider about therapy and antidepressants.

Poor sperm and semen quality often has to do with certain behaviors. By making certain lifestyle changes, you can improve your own health and you can also improve the quality of you sperm and semen. Healthier sperm will allow you reverse your infertility.