Hera Health Hub

Fun Fact Friday #9: Key Facts and Tips for Boosting Male Fertility with Stephanie Anne

• Rachel & Elise from Hera Nutrition • Season 2 • Episode 4

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Welcome to another quick and snappy Fun Fact Friday episode of the Hera Health Hub Podcast! In today’s episode we are joined by the lovely Stephanie Anne, a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Reproductive Medicine. Steph has a passion for everything Women’s Health and Reproductive Health. She has worked in the field for over 10 years covering a range of specialties including Gynaecology, Fertility & IVF and Early Parenting Programs.

On today’s Fun Fact Friday, Steph shares what she thinks that all men and people with testes must know about their sperm health and Rach chats about the rates of infertility in males or people with testes and ways to improve sperm health through diet and lifestyle. 

Steph also shares a fun fact about herself for our new segment, which is actually something that her and Rach have in common! 

If you haven’t listened to Steph’s previous episode about Menstrual Cycle and Fertility Awareness you can listen HERE.


You can find Steph on Instagram HERE, via her website HERE or on YouTube HERE.


References:

  1. https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2017/september/male-infertility


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Disclaimer: Information shared on The Hera Health Hub Podcast is general in nature and should not replace individualised advice from a health professional. Professional medical advice should be obtained before making any decisions regarding your health. Hera Nutrition absolves itself of any responsibility or legal liability for any harm or damages that may arise as a consequence of following any of the recommendations or suggestions presented in this podcast episode.

Note: The music featured in our podcast intro and outro was provided by Suno.

Speaker 1:

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is recorded. We pay our respects to elders, past and present, and extend these respects to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people joining us today. We would also like to welcome people from all backgrounds and communities In our podcast. We may use the terms female or women. However, we understand that not all people identify as this gender and we would like to extend our podcast and service to the wider gender diverse community. Hi, I'm Alicia and I'm Rach, your favorite dietitian duo.

Speaker 2:

besties and founders of Hero Nutrition, Join us on our podcast Hero Health Hub, where we empower you with the knowledge and tools to make informed choices about your diet and overall health.

Speaker 1:

Whether you are seeking advice on what to feed your little ones navigating the challenges of pregnancy trying to conceive or struggling with endometriosis symptoms?

Speaker 2:

we've got you covered.

Speaker 2:

We share the real and raw, unpolished moments of women's health and motherhood through the sharing of real life experiences interviewing experts in the field and creating a community of like-minded women that support each other through every step of the way. Hi, it's Rach here. I just wanted to pop on and let you know that we had a little bit of crackly noise in some of Steph's audio. I've attempted to edit it out but haven't been successful, so I do apologize for that. It's still an amazing episode with lots of good information, so I hope that you will enjoy it. Anyway, let's get into it. Hi, everyone, welcome back to our quick and snappy Fun Fact Friday episode, where we bring you two facts with actionable tips on how you can implement them into your life.

Speaker 2:

This week we had the lovely Stephanie Ann back on the podcast. Steph is a women's health and fertility educator who we interviewed back on season one of this podcast where we chatted about the phases of the menstrual cycle fertility awareness. So if you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out. I'll pop the link in the show notes. It's actually been one of our most popular episodes so far, so I love that. Yes, well done. Um, for the next month I'll be. We will be chatting all things sperm health. So we've invited steph back to share her expertise on this important topic. How are you, steph? Thank you for joining us again. Thank you for having me, of course. Now, before we get into our fun facts for the day, we have started a new segment on the fun fact Fact Friday episode, where one of us brings a fun fact about ourselves, so I've asked Steph to bring one along today. So, steph, what's something that people may not know about you?

Speaker 3:

I had a good think about this and I thought I'll keep it nice and simple. Some people might not know. Like you, rach, I'm actually a twin as well, are you? I didn't know that. There you go, but I have a twin brother. So no, we do not look alike. Um, he is much taller than I am, um, but um, I guess we're similar in certain ways.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, do you always get asked the question if you can read each other's minds? Yes, of course we get asked that all the time. Yeah, we get asked all the time if we, yeah, can sense each other's feelings or can read each other's minds. Um, the answer is no, no, we cannot. I mean, I've sensed things, but I don't know if that's a twin thing or just a?

Speaker 3:

um coincidence a gut feeling that you had yeah, exactly there you go.

Speaker 2:

I think it would be nice to have twins, like if, if I was having twins, I'd want a boy and a girl. I think that's nice Well my mum always.

Speaker 3:

Well, funnily enough, my mum only wanted one child, because my dad had two kids from a previous marriage. So, she just wanted one for herself and she got two, which she cried when she found out. But then she looks at now and thinks yeah, I've got a boy and a girl, so I've got one of each. So she goes, I'm lucky.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my parents were trying, so I'm one of five, four girls, one boy, mum and dad were trying for another boy and got twin girls. Twin girls, lucky them, yes, lucky them. Let's get into it. So I might let you go first with your fun fact, steph, I think we did kind of chat about this before we started recording. I think our facts will probably be a little bit similar, but that's okay, yeah, jump in, go for it.

Speaker 3:

Perfect. Well, my fun fact that I was gonna start with that I think it's really important for all men, people with testes to know is that there are actually millions of sperm in an ejaculation, but did you know that it's only a few hundred actually make it to the egg? So there's actually lots of complex things that the sperm have to overcome in order to reach the egg, but that's why you have millions of them to help them overcome these things. So I guess the tip would be is to actually know that sperm health matters. So men are constantly making new sperm each and every day and there's so many things that can negatively and positively impact that sperm health. And then if, say, you had a lower sperm count, that means lower numbers actually making it to the egg and in turn, makes it hard to become pregnant. So really it's just knowing these things and knowing that you can have, by improving your lifestyle and things, positive impacts on your sperm health.

Speaker 2:

Perfect. I love that. I think it's very important that we do kind of get that message out there as well, because with fertility it's always been such a woman's problem.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but my fact is very similar in terms of the. You know the importance between the both. So great fact, I completely agree. So my fun fact is that research has shown that male factor infertility contributes to about half of all infertility cases. So I think that that can be surprising for some people.

Speaker 2:

I think we've always had such a big focus on female fertility, so kind of bringing some light to the fact that it's not just the female or the person that's born with a uterus that is contributing to that infertility. So, yeah, up to 50%. But before I go or move on, I wanted to explain that a little bit more. I think you know when I say that male factor contributes to about half of all infertility cases, that doesn't mean 50% has come from the male or 50% has come from the female. It's a little bit more complicated than that. So 30% of infertility cases have been found to be solely due to male infertility and the other 20% has been found to be co-contributing factor. So that means there's both male and female factors causing the issues there. Yeah, do you agree? They're all the numbers that you've heard before.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely agree. And then the other one is like 10% is like unexplained or on top of that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we don't know what's going on and I can only imagine how frustrating and yeah, being told you're one of that 10% that we just don't know what's going on.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely Okay.

Speaker 2:

So what does that have to do with nutrition?

Speaker 2:

So, just like women or females, males' bodies also require a variety of vitamins and minerals and other nutrients to produce healthy sperm, and sperm takes just under three months to grow and mature, which is why it's recommended to start making those changes to your diet and lifestyle as soon as you decide to start trying to conceive.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to go into more detail around the link between sperm health and diet in a future episode. Like I said, we're focusing on sperm health this month, so I'm going to do a whole episode on that, so I'm not going to go into too much detail today, but my tip is that if you're thinking about starting to try and conceive, you know, in the next three to six months, or if you have already started trying to conceive, now is the time to start making changes to your diet and lifestyle. It's not just something that females or those you know who will be carrying the child need to consider. There's actually evidence to say that what we eat can have an impact on your fertility outcomes or chances to conceive, but also plays a role in the health of your future child as well. So it goes, you know, for both parents that are involved.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I can see you just nodding.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2:

So what can you start doing now to improve sperm health? Um, like I said, I'm not going to go into this in too much detail, but general kind of guide is to start eating a balanced diet that's rich in fruits and veggies and whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats. They can help to improve um sorry, provide important nutrients that are needed to support optimal sperm health and, in particular, antioxidants like your vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, folate, as well, as you know, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc are all really important for sperm health. So they're the things you want to increase. There are some things we want to try and limit or reduce, which is things like our saturated and trans fats. They increase inflammation in the body and can have a negative impact on sperm health.

Speaker 2:

And, finally, overall health and lifestyle can play a big role in male fertility.

Speaker 2:

So some of the things that can have a negative impact like I said, the saturated and trans fats, but also too much alcohol, recreational drugs, smoking and other things to consider are things like your staying physically active, as well as maintaining a healthy weight as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so, to summarize, increase your intake of antioxidant rich foods and fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds seeds like your sunflower seeds, or brazil nuts or almonds, extra virgin olive oil, legumes like lentils, and then reduce some of those foods that may have a negative impact. So that's my fun fact, and steph shared her fun fact. So thank you so much for joining us, steph, for our fun fact friday, and you'll be back next week for a longer episode where we will go into more detail around sperm health. So, as always, you can find us on at Herein Nutrition on Instagram and TikTok or via our website, wwwhereinnutritioncomau. Don't forget to download this episode and follow us on the podcasting platform that you're listening to us on now, so that you don't have to go searching for future episodes and leave a rating or review so we can reach more people just like you, steph, where can people find you?

Speaker 3:

People can find me on all social media platforms, so Instagram, facebook, tiktok, youtube, at your Women's Health Educator, or you can find out more information about what I do at wwwstephanieanncomau amazing.

Speaker 2:

Thank you again for joining us and we'll see you next time bye. Information shared on the hero health hub podcast is general in nature and should not replace individual advice from a health professional. Professional medical advice should be obtained before making any decisions regarding your health.