.png)
Healthy individuals manufacture ample L-carnitine. For those men who are having difficulty with fertility, supplemental L-carnitine is a consideration. (Photos.com)
I remember learning in medical school that one-third of cases of infertility are exclusively due to problems with the male, one-third are due exclusively to problems with the female, and one-third were due to issues with both.
If true, that means that two-thirds of cases of infertility involve male infertility, which I think is a higher percentage than most people imagine. (My experience is that individuals believe that infertility is much more often a female-based issue than a male one.)
Male fertility issues come in a number of forms, which include low sperm numbers, high numbers of abnormal sperm, and sperms that lack motility (asthenospermia). There is at least some evidence that nutritional supplementation can help improve male fertility by helping to resolve one or more of these issues.
A recent Chinese study published in the May edition of the National Journal of Andrology assessed the effect of the nutritional agent L-carnitine on men with asthenospermia. Half the men in this study were treated with 2 grams of L-carnitine each day along with some vitamin E, while the other half took just vitamin E. The study lasted three months.
Those taking the L-carnitine saw the percentage of motile sperm rise from about 29 percent to 45 percent. Perhaps more importantly, the rate of pregnancy in this group was about 31 percent, which compared very favorably with the 3.8 percent seen in the group taking vitamin E only.
This is not the only study, which suggests that L-carnitine has the capacity to improve sperm motility. In another study in the May-June edition of Andrologia, 3 grams of L-carnitine each day increased the proportion of sperm showing normal motility.
Other nutrients that have been tested and found to have promise for male fertility include vitamin C and zinc. Vitamin C appears to help prevent sperm from sticking together and also increases the percentage of normal sperm. Vitamin C should be taken in 500-milligram doses, twice a day. This study was published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In a study published in February 2008 in Medical Principles and Practice journal, zinc supplementation was shown to improve asthenospermia.
Another thing that may help here is to avoid tight underwear. Sperm production is generally enhanced in cooler temperatures (that’s why the testes are contained in a sac outside the body). And men wanting to maximize their fertility should also avoid long, hot baths.
Dr. John Briffa is a London-based physician and author with an interest in nutrition and natural medicine. His website is Drbriffa.com
