Contents:
- Medical Video: 10 Supplements That Will Increase Your Sperm Count & Sperm Volume
- How food and environment damage a man's sperm
- Foods for male fertility must be high in lycopene
Medical Video: 10 Supplements That Will Increase Your Sperm Count & Sperm Volume
About 30% of difficult cases of pregnancy are affected by male fertility problems. Many things can cause productive age men to be infertile, especially free radicals that you get from unhealthy food and air pollution which can damage sperm quality. Well, researchers believe that certain foods can reverse these negative effects. A number of studies report that the best types of food for male fertility are those that contain high levels of lycopene, a brightly colored antioxidant on some fruits and vegetables.
How food and environment damage a man's sperm
Sperm cells need about 75 days to grow and mature. Well, there are three important factors that are of concern when we discuss sperm quality, namely the number of sperm, their shape, and their movements. If there is only one abnormality of these three factors, the risk of a man who is infertile or even barren can increase.
The free radicals you get from unhealthy foods and the environment in the long term can reduce sperm quality. Because the free radicals in the body are damaging healthy cells, including sperm cells.
Damage caused by free radicals on sperm cells can interfere with the composition of DNA, proteins, and fat membranes from sperm cells, thus disrupting sperm shape and sperm movement or motility. Long-term exposure to free radicals also shortens the life span of sperm cells. In fact, sperm cells must have a perfect shape, strong, and can swim fast in order to fertilize a female egg.
Foods for male fertility must be high in lycopene
In recent years, researchers are competing to find various kinds of antidotes to free radicals. A large number of food ingredients were studied so that some substances that have the potential to be antioxidants were obtained. One of the most studied ingredients is lycopene. This substance is one of the formers of carotenoids, which are known as bright color giving pigments in vegetables and fruits.
After being in the digestion, the body will absorb 20-30 percent of the total lycopene that enters, then spread to several parts of the body. One part that gets the most lycopene is the testis, the place where sperm is produced. Lycopene will react with free oxidants because the potential is fairly strong and has a more stable nature. In addition, researchers also found that this substance can enhance the human immune system.
Lycopene is a compound that is only produced by plants. That is, humans must get lycopene from outside the body because a person's body does not produce it. This substance is fairly cheap and easy to obtain because it is contained in many types of food that we meet everyday. Lycopene is widely found in brightly colored vegetables and fruits, including:
- Tomato
- Watermelon
- Guava
- Papaya
- Apricot
However, you cannot rely solely on lycopene intake to maintain a healthy reproductive system. Other things are needed to reduce the risk of free radical formation, including healthy lifestyles, exercise and adequate rest, and managing stress.
