• EAT WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOODS: Whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Eat a healthy diet with at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, along with whole grains and some good quality protein such as meats, fish, eggs, or milk. It is especially critical for men with a low sperm count to have an optimal nutritional intake since sperm formation is so closely linked to diet.

  

• AVOID ALCOHOL: Alcohol reduces sperm count in men and can prevent a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in the uterus in women.

  AVOID CAFFEINE: Caffeine may prevent some women from becoming pregnant.

  TAKE A COMPREHENSIVE SUPPLEMENT: This ensures the presence of all nutrients for your body to perform its best.

  WATCH THE FAT: Fat can clog the arteries in the penis causing problems in the ability to get and maintain an erection.

GET REGULAR EXERCISE: While you should avoid vigorous training programs, regular and moderate exercise helps you maintain a healthy body weight, helps control stress, and gives you a healthier overall body.

PERFORM RELAXATION EXERCISES: Since infertility and life in general can be stressful, learn to relax. Stress is sometimes responsible for certain infertility problems such as hormonal problems.



MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT: Not too under or overweight since weight influences estrogen and testosterone levels.

WATCH YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE: Avoid vigorous exercise, hot tubs, and saunas since they raise the body temperature and may cause changes in ovulation and reduced sperm count.

CHECK FOR EXPOSURE TO HEAVY METALS: Heavy metal toxins may affect ovulation. A hair analysis can determine exposure.

TAKE AGE INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN PLANNING CHILDREN: A woman's fertility begins to decrease after she is thirty so take this into consideration when deciding when to have children.

FERTILITY DRUGS: Usually, a women injects this type of drug to stimulate ovulation.

INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION: Sperm is injected into the woman's uterus. A tube is used to get the sperm in past the cervix.



IN VITRO FERTILIZATION: The egg is fertilized with the sperm in a lab dish and the fertilized embryo is implanted into the uterus.

GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER: The eggs and sperm are inserted directly into the fallopian tubes in the hope that a resulting embryo will travel to the uterus and implant there.

ZYGOTE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER: The eggs are fertilized in a lab dish and any resulting fertilized eggs are transferred to a fallopian tube.

FROZEN EMBRYO TRANSFER: When too many embryos have resulted from an IVF cycle the extra embryos are frozen and stored so that they can later be thawed and implanted in the uterus.

DONOR EGGS: In women who do not produce viable eggs, eggs from another woman's ovaries are fertilized by the man and then transferred to the infertile woman's uterus.

Issues to be aware of with the above procedures:

• Fertility drugs can be painful as they usually need to be injected into the muscle and are difficult to administer without help. As often as 25-50% of the time the use of these drugs can result in multiple births.

• The surgical procedures listed above are expensive, sometimes totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars, and most have less than a 50% chance of success.