Human infertility is one of the most heart breaking and impending epidemics of todays “modern life,” with the technological and chemical “progress” most likely to blame.
Female infertility tends to get the most attention (and that deserves its own article, coming soon), but recently male infertility has made headlines. Recent research showed a dramatic decline in sperm concentration and quality in recent decades.
According to the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis[1] of its kind published in August 2017, sperm counts around the world declined by more than 50% between 1973 and 2013, and continue to shrink.
Researchers estimated that these men had an average sperm concentration of 99 million per millilitre in 1973 but that that had dropped to an average 47 million per millilitre in 2011!
The most significant declines were found in samples from men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, where many had sperm concentrations below 40 million/mL — a level at which a man will have trouble fertilising an egg. (Men suspected of infertility, such as those attending IVF clinics, were excluded from the study).
CAUSES OF MALE INFERTILITY
“This study is an urgent wake-up call for researchers and health authorities around the world to investigate the causes of the sharp ongoing drop in sperm count.”
CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES DISRUPTING THE MALE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
One paper published in PLOS Genetics suggests there are endocrine disrupting chemicals such as those in contaminated (common) water, plastics, personal care products and herbicides[2] that directly affect mens reproductive health by lowering sperm count.
The study also confirmed that these chemicals, specifically synthetic forms of estrogen that men are exposed to in their day-to-day lives, have generational effects.
While studying mouse lineages,
“by the third generation the scientists were finding animals that could not produce sperm at all.”
~ Environmental Health News
Males exposed to chemicals and EMF during the critical period of being in the womb (pre-natal life), especially while their reproductive organs are being developed, and as a young baby with a vulnerable immune system are especially susceptible from chemical damage causing future sperm issues and infertility.
Everything an expectant mother takes into her body can potentially get passed along to her developing child, and scientific evidence strongly suggests exposure to chemicals is contributing to cancer, reproductive abnormalities, early puberty[3][4][5] and a host of other endocrine, neurological and metabolic problems.
A shocking study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005 found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in the umbilical cord blood of infants born in the U.S.!!
After numerous studies were coming out exposing the ridiculously high amounts of industrial chemicals and pollutants in the environment and food of our modern world, the Endocrine Society noted in a 2009 scientific statement:
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD (EMF) EXPOSURE IS ZAPPING MENS GENITALS AND DECIMATING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
I personally believe this may be the most significant factor for the observed decrease in male sperm count.
It was well known in World War II that radar operators could easily create sterility by exposing the groin to radar waves. Radar is microwave radiation and was the precursor to cellphones that use similar frequencies.
In May 2011, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organisation, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified radio frequency EMF — such as the radiation from cellphones — a class 2B carcinogen, meaning it is possibly carcinogenic to humans.[7]
This is because EMFs cause excess hydroxyl free radicals which decimate mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, their membranes and proteins. The end result is mitochondrial dysfunction, a core cause of chronic disease.
Keeping your cellphone in your pocket or waist, or your laptop on your lap is simply frying your genitals!
A man’s testicles are also more vulnerable to EMFs for the fact that they’re on the outside of the body. Women’s eggs, on the other hand, are somewhat protected and shielded from EMFs due to them being further inside the body,[8] (but still should not be reckoned with!).
Indeed, studies have linked low level electromagnetic radiation (EMR) exposure from cellphones to a reduction in sperm motility and viability.[9][10]
Wi-Fi equipped laptop computers have also been linked to decreased sperm motility and an increase in sperm DNA fragmentation after just four hours of use![11]
So, if you care about your reproductive health or sex life, please don’t keep your laptop on your lap or your phone glued to your pants. If you are carrying it in your pocket, keeping it in aeroplane mode massively reduces EMF exposure.
OBESITY AND OVER WEIGHT
One study found being overweight has a significant impact on a mans sperm count. The study concluded that only one in seven! Western Australian men met fertility benchmarks set by the World Health Organisation.
The decline in sperm quantity and quality isn’t just about having babies.
It has larger implications for men’s health. Poor sperm health has been linked to cardiovascular issues, obesity, cancer and testicular diseases.
“Having a low sperm count is a signal…that there’s something wrong in men’s health overall”
STRATEGIES TO TREAT INFERTILITY AND BOOST FERTILITY NATURALLY
First of all, prevention is key. This is why I’m writing this article. You now have the knowledge so stop ignoring what you already know. Prevent yourself from becoming part of the number of this distressing epidemic. Let alone the other chronic diseases that are crippling up the bodies of the majority of the earth’s population.
REMOVE THE CAUSE: REDUCE CHEMICALS
Mainly found in your food, so eat organic as much as possible. If you don’t eat 100% organic, make sure you know the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen” so you know what produce you must avoid (Dirty Dozen) and what foods are “safe” non-organic (Clean Fifteen). Also get in the garden and think about the skin of produce to understand what foods would require more pesticides.
Only drink filtered water.
Avoid self-care products that contain chemicals, especially aerosol sprays the contain aluminium as that, especially mixed with glyphosate (commonly found on your non-organic produce) is very harmful.
Investigate your environment – What’s being put into the air in your workplace and home? Think cleaning products, industrial pollutants and eating or storing your food with plastic.
REMOVE THE CAUSE: REDUCE EMF EXPOSURE
Step 1 (simple).
- Is your phone on bluetooth when you are not using it? Turn it off.
- Use speaker phone or wired headphones to talk on the phone rather than holding a high frequency device next to your temporal lobe that Apple actually advises in their fine print: users should opt for hands-free options, such as the built-in speakerphone, headphones or similar accessories to reduce radio frequency (RF).
- Get the laptop off your lap. If you really want it on your lap, use a radiation shield.
At nighttime:
- Turn your wifi off.
- Switch your phone to aeroplane mode and preferably keep it out of your bedroom.
- Turn your smart TVs off at the powerpoint since they don’t have an aeroplane mode.
These changes are so simple because your’e asleep anyway and don’t need these devices. People are now starting to hire electricians to wire in a master switch next to their bed to turn off the whole house. These changes will also significantly improve quality of sleep, especially for babies and young kids! Plus other benefits.
Step 2:
- Avoid keeping your phone in your pocket during the day. Keep it on your desk away from you or even better, on a surface at the other end of the room.
- Using landline phones for phone calls rather than your mobile.
- Attach an anti-radiation sticker or phone case (this still isn’t nearly adequate enough).
- While carrying your phone in your pocket or having it near you, keep it on aeroplane mode as much as possible. You don’t need to be on call and socially connected and available 24/7. Detach. It’s so liberating. It’s like removing excess, high frequency baggage.
Step 3:
- Assess your environment. Perhaps you need to make more radical changes to prioritise your health such as shifting offices or shifting rooms around the house.
- Ethernet Plugin System – There is now a revolution of health conscious people hiring electricians to re-implement Ethernet in their home and banishing wifi altogether.
- Hire a Building Biologist. A professional in this area who will come to your home with advanced equipment and skills to assess the biology of the structure that shields you (your home). They will show you were the hazards are and give you simple steps to create a healthy home.
Step in before shit hits the fan. Prevention is better than dealing with chronic disease (again, EMF affects so much more than infertility). Step in before you may have to quit your job altogether or spend a lot of money on IVF that is likely to be unsuccessful.
HEALTHY DIGESTION GRANTS NUTRIENTS ACCESS TO YOUR REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS
Your body wants the food you eat to nourish all your body’s tissues, including your reproductive tissue. Catch is, the food has to not only be digested by your stomach (jathara agni), but every tissue has its own metabolic process (dhatu agni). (There are 7 tissues or dhatus: lymph, blood, muscle, adipose, bone, bone marrow and reproductive tissue).
The reproductive tissue (shukra) happens to be the seventh and last tissue down the line, which means it only will be nourished if each of the 6 tissues above it on the metabolic chain metabolise the nutrient fluid (ahar rasa) properly.
But there is one more step after the seven tissue metabolism.
Under the seven tissues resides a bio-celestial liquid substance called Ojas.
‘Ojas’ is considered to be the most refined product of digestion. It is the vital essence of our body that translates to “vitality.”
Ojas governs ageing, immunity, radiant skin, vigor, mood, sleep, digestion, spirituality, physical strength and libido and fertility.
EAT OJAS INCREASING FOODS
Building Ojas is an art. Perhaps one of the best ways to consistently build Ojas is to eat a diet of fresh unprocessed, seasonal whole foods, and have a balanced agni to support the process. A handful of special foods even metabolise to nourish and build Ojas directly, fast-tracking the tissue metabolism process.
Ghee
You should primarily be using this fantastic fat as your cooking oil.
Read more about the Lowdown on Ghee.
Milk
Always boil quality unhomogenised cows milk.
Read more about milk here.
Honey
The source of honey is very important. Don’t over consume honey, reserve it for medicinal uses and herbal preparations
Read more about Honey: Nectar or Poison?
Raisins / Sultanas
Dates
Almonds
Read more about this strengthening, grounding and Ojas building nut and how to eat it here.
HERBAL SUPPORT
My favourite herbal formula to increase sperm count, improve viability, motility and libido and maintain optimal hormonal balance is a product called Promactil.
This formula consists of 30 herbs that Stimulate, Rejuvenate and Nourish.
(Available at Vital Veda).
MEDITATION
Effective meditation easily integrated into modern daily life, such as Vedic Meditation, should be apart of your life as much as eating, sleeping and brushing your teeth is. You got to allow the technique to quite your mind, reduce metabolic activity, bathe in deep rest, release stress and so much more on a daily basis. Mediation is also one of the best ways to increase Ojas.
OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD OJAS
- Loving others.
- Laughing.
- Acting on things you are passionate about.
- Giving and serving others.
- Being in nature.
- Getting ample sleep – Sleeping before 10pm and up early with or before the sun.
Panchakarma Detox and Rejuvenation Program
If the infertility is lagging, undergoing Panchakarma treatment will be wise to heal the physiology on a deeper level. Panchakarma before conception is perhaps the most important time to so since the state of the sperm and ovum at the time of conception will be transferred to the health of the future offspring. Panchakarma will purify and enhance the physiology of the sperm and ovum
References:
(1) The Washington Post, Sperm concentration has 50% in 40 years in three countries.
(2) Toxicology. 2009 Aug 21;262(3)
(3) The Guardian, Why is Puberty Starting Younger?
(4) J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol.
(5) Puberty Before Age 10 a New Normal? New York Times.
(6) Body Burden: The Pollution in New Borns. Environmental Working Group
(7) International Agency for Research on Cancer CLASSIFIES RADIO FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AS POSSIBLY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS
(8) How EMF Affects Sperm & Eggs Differently, Shield Your Body.
(9) Safe Space Protection, Male Fertility Impacted by EMFs.
(10) Environ Int. 2014 Sep; 70C:106-112
(11) Fertility and Sterility January 2012.
Credits:
Dr. Joseph Mercola
Photos:
Chemicals during pregnancy – Baby Doppler
Laptop radiation danger – The Nourished Life
Ethernet – Tech Terms
Honey by Cereal Mag
Almonds by Tetiana Bykovets