Fertility Supplements for Male Infertility

by Dr. Robert J. Stillman, M.D., Shady Grove Fertility

Although large scale and comprehensive studies are not yet available, there is substantial and growing scientific evidence to suggest that certain nutritional supplements may help improve male fertility.

One category of supplements that appear important is antioxidants. There is an expanding body of evidence regarding the damaging effect of oxidative stress on sperm function. Oxidative stress occurs as a result of an imbalance between the amount of oxidizing molecules (also called reactive oxygen species or ROS) and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in the semen. When the ROS exceeds the TAC, damage to the sperm may result. These harmful effects can include DNA fragmentation and cell membrane damage.

While an attempt should be made to eliminate some presumed and some known sources of increased ROS (varicocele, infection, smoking, etc.) many experts believe that increasing one's nutritional intake of antioxidants - such as vitamin E, vitamin C, selenium and lycopene - may help reduce oxidative stress as well.

Other dietary supplements (which are not antioxidants) have been shown to provide potential benefit as well. Folic acid is a vitamin that plays a critical role in normal DNA synthesis. L-carnitine is an amino acid that helps with sperm energy production. And zinc is a mineral that appears to play an important role in both sperm production and testosterone synthesis.

A number of products combining a group of supplements are currently for sale on the Internet and elsewhere that claim to promote male fertility. The lack of government oversight of the dietary supplement industry creates concerns about the purity and content accuracy of these products. In particular, those with herbal content should probably be avoided.

The FDA is beginning to address the lack of standards in the nutritional supplements, and therefore some regulatory oversight may be forthcoming. In addition, one manufacturer of supplements* formulated for urologic treatment (prostate enlargement, prostate cancer) and male fertility, have voluntarily required independent, third party confirmation of product purity and have required scientific threshold of efficacy for all of their product ingredients before making their products available. Hopefully this type of product purity and efficacy threshold, will help minimize our skepticism over a number of effective but nonetheless "complementary" approaches.

*Disclosure. Robert J. Stillman is an infertility specialist at Shady Grove Fertility located in the Washington DC area. He also serves on the medical advisory board of Theralogix® a manufacturer of supplements.

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