Naturopathy
A naturopathy may suggest the following as treatment for infertility: improving the nutrition of both partners; hot and cold water splashes on the genitals to stimulate circulation locally; avoiding alcohol and smoking for a while, and also getting enough rest.
Nutritional Therapy
A balanced diet is essential for the body to function properly. Supplements help improve fertility. Lack of protein and calories from malnourishment is a cause of infertility, so adequate nutrition should be the basis for treatment of any illness, including infertility.
The supplements most important in enhancing fertility in men are vitamin C, E, zinc, and L-arginine. Vitamin C helps prevent sperm from clumping or sticking together, thus improving the chances for fertility. Vitamin E is the fertility vitamin because it corrects the functioning of the endocrine glands. Zinc increases both sperm count and sperm motility. It is important for the health of reproductive organs and the prostate gland. Found in high amounts in the head of the sperm, L-arginine also improves sperm count and motility. L-arginine also improves sexual desire and ejaculation.
Essential fatty acids, chromium, selenium, copper, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and vitamin B complex are also useful. Since sperm formation takes almost three months, it will take at least this amount of time before reaping the benefits of a nutrient supplementation program.
Royal jelly is rich in hormonal factors that help optimize hormone balance in both sexes. It has been found to increase sperm count, and many believe it also enhances sexual performance. Take 20 milligrams of royal jelly daily.
The B vitamins are required for a healthy nervous system and help maintain muscle tone in the intestinal tract. Take a good B-complex supplement that supplies 25 to 50 milligrams of each of the major B vitamins daily.
Eat pumpkin seeds for zinc. Avoid coffee, tea, and colas since caffeine promotes infertility. Green, leafy vegetables, especially watercress, contain vitamin E. Drink one tablespoon of watercress juice daily or add a few fresh sprigs to a salad. Wheat germ is an excellent source of vitamin E.
Essential fatty acids, found in black currant seed oil, borage oil, evening primrose oil, and flaxseed oil, are required for normal glandular activity in both men and women. Take 500 to 1,000 milligrams of any of these oils two or three times daily.
Vitamin C
According to practitioners, Vitamin C decreases sperm abnormalities and increases sperm number and quality.
Antioxidants such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, selenium, and vitamin E have been shown to be very important in protecting the sperm against damage. Vitamin C plays an especially important role in protecting the sperm's genetic material (DNA) from damage. Ascorbic acid levels are much higher in seminal fluid than in other body fluids, including the blood.
The important role played by Vitamin C in male fertility had been proved in animal and human studies. In one study, when dietary vitamin C was reduced from 250 mg to 5 mg per day in healthy human subjects, the seminal fluid ascorbic acid level decreased by fifty percent and the number of sperm with damage to their DNA increased by ninety-one percent. Thus, dietary vitamin C plays a critical role in protecting against sperm damage. Low dietary vitamin C levels are likely to lead to infertility.
Cigarette smoking is known to greatly reduce the vitamin C levels in our bodies. RDA of Vitamin C for smokers is twice as much as that for nonsmokers.
In one clinical study, men who smoked one pack of cigarettes per day received either 0, 200, or 1,000 mg of vitamin C. After one month, sperm quality improved proportional to the level of vitamin C supplementation.
Nonsmokers also benefit from vitamin C supplementation. For example, in one study, thirty infertile, but otherwise healthy, men received either 200 mg or 1,000 mg of vitamin C or a placebo daily. Their sperm was tested weekly for sperm count, viability, motility, agglutination, abnormalities, and immaturity. After one week, the 1,000-mg group demonstrated a 140-percent increase in sperm count, the 200 mg group a 112-percent increase, and the placebo group no change. After three weeks, both vitamin C groups continued to improve, with the 200-mg group catching up to the improvement of the 1,000-mg group.
One of the key improvements observed during the study was in the number of agglutinated (clumped-together) sperm. When more than twenty-five percent of the sperm are agglutinated, fertility is very unlikely. At the beginning of the study, all three groups had over twenty-five percent agglutinated sperm. After three weeks, the agglutinated sperm in the vitamin C groups dropped to eleven percent.
The most impressive result of the study was that at the end of sixty days, all of the vitamin C group had impregnated their wives, compared to none for the placebo group. It can be concluded from these results that vitamin C supplementation can be very effective in treating male infertility, particularly if the infertility is due to antibodies against sperm.