Why sperm health deserves way more attention than it gets

By Lindsay Bell (DipNT mBANT mANP rCHNC), Nutritionist

For too long, the conversation around conception has been almost entirely focused on a woman - her cycles, eggs, hormones and supplements. When a couple struggles to conceive, it's often the woman who gets tested first, who researches first, and often carries the emotional weight first. Meanwhile, the male half of the equation usually gets overlooked.

However, when we deep dive into science, it's a slightly different story.

A male factor is a primary or contributing cause in approximately 50% of couples experiencing infertility. HALF! And yet, despite this, men have been largely neglected in terms of research, diagnosis and treatment. 

To add to the story, over the past 40 years, sperm counts worldwide have halved – in a phenomenon known as Spermageddon - and sperm quality has declined alarmingly, with 1 in 20 men currently facing reduced fertility. That's a striking decline in one single generation, and it's being driven by things we have real influence over e.g. diet, stress, sleep, environmental toxins, and lifestyle habits. 

Yet you walk into any health food shop or look at any wellness brand, and you'll find shelves stacked with female fertility supplements; prenatal vitamins, cycle-support blends, egg-quality formulas… the list goes on. Even speaking to Ross I know his Female Fertility Formula outsells the Male Fertility Formula by 4:1.  Four to one!!!

If half of fertility challenges have a male component, that ratio makes very little sense. Men are missing a trick. 

What actually affects sperm health? 

Sperm quality comes down to a few key things: count (how many), motility (how well they swim), morphology (their shape), and DNA integrity (the quality of the genetic material they carry). Sperm volume, progressive motility, and total motility all significantly decline as men age, and DNA fragmentation (essentially damage to the genetic material inside sperm) increases too. When DNA fragmentation is elevated, it poses significant challenges to natural conception and can contribute to early miscarriage and embryonic abnormalities. And in one of the more surprising areas of emerging research, even the microbiome plays a role. Semen was once thought to be sterile, but scientists now know it hosts its own community of microbes, and an imbalanced one is more commonly seen in men with poorer sperm health. 

The good news is that many of these factors are treatable. Antioxidant-rich foods, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin C, folate and Vitamin D all have solid evidence behind them for supporting sperm quality. Managing stress, cutting back on alcohol, and prioritising sleep matters too. Interestingly men who were depressed had measurably poorer sperm parameters, partly due to hormonal shifts and health behaviours like disrupted sleep. Mind and body are always connected.

Sperm health = overall health

This is the part that often surprises people. Sperm quality is not just about conception, it's actually a meaningful marker of a man's broader wellbeing. Large-scale studies show that men with poorer sperm health don't just face fertility challenges, they tend to have poorer overall health outcomes too. In other words, looking after sperm health is looking after health, full stop. 

Simply put… 

Fertility is a two-person story, it always has been. If you or your partner are thinking about conception, whether now or further down the line, sperm health needs to be part of the  conversation from the start, not an afterthought when things aren't going to plan.

The nutrition, the lifestyle support, the supplements…it applies just as much to the men in the room, and the science shows sperm health responds well when you give it the attention  it deserves.

Lindsay Bell | Nutritionist

Lindsay is a Nutritional Therapist at Studio Nourish, practising with Ross J. Barr Clinic. If you want to know more about supporting male fertility through nutrition, get in touch at lindsay@studionourish.com

References:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32667-2/abstract
https://academic.oup.com/biolreprod/article/101/5/872/5551192
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging/articles/10.3389/fragi.2025.1603916/full
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/4/1446
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/14/11/3930