Before you plan on having a kid with your wife, there’s something that you need to consider – are you ready to have a kid?
All men assume that conception is an easy process and that they just need to have intercourse at the right time of the month to wrap the entire process up, but life hardly works that way. There are many minor issues that are associated with the process of conception, and the quality of your sperm will feature prominently in this list.
It’s not necessary that your sperm should be of high quality, as this will depend on your lifestyle and your many habits. There are certain factors that can affect the quality of your sperm, and these are:
- Drug Abuse: This is one of the main causes behind weak sperms, and men who smoke marijuana regularly are more prone to dodgy sperm and low sperm counts than men who are clean. The problem here lies with all drugs, and not just marijuana, as even ecstasy and cocaine can bring down the quality of your sperms.
- Steroids: All men want rippling muscles, and steroids provide a short cut through which many men try and achieve this goal. While it is true that body builders look packed and muscular, the side effects that these steroids come with are many – including liver damage, high levels of LDL cholesterol, roid rage, stunted growth, baldness, sterility issues and kidney problems. Steroids can cause temporary sterility, so it would be sensible on your part to avoid these substances.
- Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol abuse is hard to keep track of, and although it’s not as bad as tobacco smoking, it still has its fair share of harmful effects. Drinking too much alcohol can affect your fertility and can bring down the quantity and quality of your sperms. Keeping a tab on the amount of alcohol that you chug down everyday can help.
- Intense Exercises: Intense exercises can keep your heart healthy and they can also keep you charged and active, but there are other issues that can crop up if you stress your body out too much. Your genital region should always be well maintained and cool and dry. When you indulge in intense workouts, the region becomes hot and this can bring down your sperm count (as the gonads need an optimal temperature to produce sperm).
- Vitamin C Deficiency: Lack of Vitamin C in your daily diet is another major cause of sterility. You should ensure that you include items that are rich in this vitamin, like oranges and other citrus fruits that are rich in antioxidants. Your sperms are bound to stick together if you suffer from low levels of vitamin C, and this will bring down your sexual potency by a good margin.
- Smoking: It’s a well known fact that smoking can cause a lot of disorders ranging from various types of cancers to impotency. Smoking can contribute to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, and such plaques block the flow of blood to the penis. Smoking can also affect the quality of your sperms (and their liveliness), rendering you impotent.
- Low Nutrition: Almost all processes within the body are interconnected, and you should ensure that you follow a standard diet so that you face no problems with malnutrition. You’ll need to include good amounts of food items that are rich in manganese, zinc and selenium to ensure that your body is well supplemented. The lack of such minerals can bring down the quality and quantity of your sperms, so it’s always a good idea to opt for nutritious meals.
- Environmental Hazards: You should try and stay away from pesticides, insecticides, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, lead and organic solvents in order to avoid any form of environmental poisoning, which can later cause weak sperms. Any form of ionizing radiation can also cause damage to your reproductive system and in this way, affect your sperms.
- Hot Conditions: This is something that not many men are aware of, but it’s true anyway. Men who wear tight underwear are likely to face problems with their sperm motility and production. This is because tight underpants make the genital region hot, and this affects the production of sperms. Hot baths and Jacuzzis can also cause such problems, so you should keep your gonads dry and wear loose clothing.
- Antibiotics: Antibiotics that are prescribed to fight against infections can bring down sperm quality and can decrease the mobility and count of sperms too. You should always consult your doctor before opting for such medication, so that it doesn’t interfere with your plans of having a kid.
Once you ensure that you avoid these ten things and construct a healthy lifestyle, you'll well be on your way to realizing your dream of having your first child.
