#128 | The Top 5 Sperm Health Mistakes You’re Making (and How To Boost Male Fertility in 90 Days)

Tired of feeling like you’re the only one doing the work to get pregnant? The truth is: male fertility matters just as much—and it’s often overlooked.



In this episode, Dr. Katie uncovers five sneaky sperm saboteurs that silently destroy sperm quality—even when semen analysis results look “normal.” From daily heat exposure and EMFs to stress, toxins, and nutrient deficiencies, you'll learn what could be affecting your partner’s fertility without either of you knowing.

In this episode, you'll...

-Learn the most overlooked lifestyle habits that damage sperm motility, morphology, and count

-Discover the impact of phones in pockets, saunas, Wi-Fi, and poor sleep on conception

-Get practical, science-backed steps to improve sperm health in just 72–90 days

Press play now to uncover how to boost sperm quality naturally and take the pressure off your body—because fertility is a we thing, not just a me thing.

💊Check out my go-to male fertility multi & grab 20% off here.

🌟Follow and connect with me on Instagram @the_wellness_pharmacist to fast-track your fertility so you can finally get and stay pregnant naturally!⁠

Finally Get Pregnant Naturally is your go-to TTC podcast for holistic fertility support to help you get pregnant naturally by addressing the root cause of unexplained infertility, secondary infertility, and recurrent miscarriage. Hosted by Dr. Katie Wood, a pharmacist and holistic fertility practitioner, this show offers natural fertility solutions for those on a fertility journey struggling to conceive, navigating miscarriage, or dealing with endometriosis, PCOS, low sperm count, or failed IUI or failed IVF. Whether you're trying to conceive, increase egg quality, optimizing sperm health, or healing after a miscarriage, each episode delivers practical guidance to support your fertility journey. Learn how to improve fertility, balance hormones, regulate your fertile window, and conceive naturally through root cause healing, emotional wellness, and mind-body tools—because true fertility starts from within.

DISCLAIMER: By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use it as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others. This podcast offers information to help the listener cooperate with physicians, mental health professionals or other healthcare providers in a mutual quest for optimal well-being. We advise listeners to carefully review and understand the ideas presented, and to consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having. Under no circumstances shall Pharm to Wellness LLC, any guests or contributors to the Rising into Mindful Motherhood podcast, or any employees, associates, or affiliates of Pharm to Wellness LLC be responsible for damages arising from the use of the podcast. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Episode Transcript

Katie (00:00):
In this episode, we're diving into the top five hidden factors that
can quietly sabotage sperm qualityand lower your chances of conception.
Whether you've already done a semenanalysis or haven't quite looked into
male fertility yet, you'll learn whatmight be going unnoticed and how to

(00:20):
start improving sperm health today.
Welcome to the finally GetPregnant Naturally Podcast.
The podcast helping women identifythe real reasons you haven't
conceived or stayed pregnant, soyou and your partner can finally
grow the family of your dreams.
I'm your host, Dr.
Katie Wood.
Let's dive in, shall we?

(00:41):
Welcome to the Finally Get Pregnant Naturally podcast.
Today we're talking about sperm qualitybecause yes, this journey is a team effort
unless you are a solo parent by choice.
And here's something thatmost people don't realize.
Mal factor issues contribute tonearly 50% of fertility struggles.

(01:06):
Yet sperm health is often a completeafterthought or worse, completely ignored.
So whether your partner has been told,quote unquote, everything looks fine
or normal, or you haven't tested yet,today I'm going to share five common
things that can silently sabotage.

(01:28):
Sperm quality and what you cando about them to change that.
So let's dive in.
Number one, and this is probably one ofthe easier things that you can do to.
Help improve the qualityof sperm is heat exposure.
So sperm don't like it hot.

(01:51):
They like to be in a coolerenvironment for optimal health.
So the testes are outside of the body.
For a reason and they need aslightly cooler temperature to
be able to produce healthy sperm.
So here is where heat can sneak in andyou might not even be realizing this.

(02:15):
So hot tubs and saunas, right?
I feel like saunas are all therage right now for detoxing
and just health in general.
Like I have a sauna.
As well at my house.
But that could be a culprit in diminishingand lowering your sperm health,

(02:35):
even though it's like a health hack.
Tight underwear.
So briefs like if.
We can't get good circulationin the groin area.
That can increase the temperaturesitting for long periods of time.
So whether it's a sedentarylifestyle desk jobs, I.

(02:56):
Maybe your partner reallylikes to play video games, and
they do that for hours on end.
Or if they have like a, a job wherethey're driving constantly, Uber
drivers, truck drivers, things like that,having a laptop directly on your lap.
Or this is a really common one, ishaving your phone in your pocket,

(03:19):
which is right next to the groin area.
So all of these things are goingto increase the temperature around
the testes, and that can have anot so great effect on sperm health
if you're trying to get pregnant.
So some tips here.
Switch to boxers.
If you can, they even say sleepingin the nude at nighttime can be

(03:42):
another good thing you can do.
Skip the sauna session, skip the hottub session, keep devices off of your
lap and try move your body, right?
Set a reminder on your phone to moveyour body every 30 to 60 minutes or so.
So pretty easy things that we can control.
Number two is environmental toxins.

(04:05):
There are environmental toxinsthat we can't control, and then
there are some that we can control.
So we don't wanna overstress aboutthis because in this modern day and
age, there's just a lot of things thatunfortunately we don't have control in.
So that's why we wanna lowerour toxin burden by controlling

(04:29):
the things that we can.
So everyday toxins can damage sperm.
DNA can decrease the count, itcan reduce motility morphology.
All of these things areso important in, not just.
Fertilizing the egg, but also withthe placenta and the health of the
pregnancy and the health of baby.

(04:50):
It has such a big impact.
So plastics, I feel like we have allheard about BPA at this point, right?
The problem is even if you're buyinga plastic that says it's BPA free.
It is being replaced with some other formof chemical in the plastic that we just

(05:12):
don't know enough about in this time.
There's not enough studies atthis time about whatever it is
that they're using to replace it.
Some at some point down the road,we will then know that, oh, that
was also no good to our health.
So one thing that you couldeasily do is reduce your plastic
water bottle usage, right?

(05:33):
Get a reusable.
Water bottle.
Try to limit or completely eliminateany food in plastic containers.
So if you think about goingout to eat or like ordering.
I don't know.
Even when you get like those ready,all like ready made meals at, even

(05:54):
if it's like a nicer grocery store,like we have Wegman's up here, they're
storing the food in plastic andlikely they're putting the food hot.
In that plastic.
So we wanna reduceplastics as much as we can.
Definitely, definitely, definitely.
No reheating your food inplastic Tupperware at home.

(06:14):
I highly recommend using glass Tupperware.
And if you are using plasticTupperware, just make sure you're
taking the food out and reheating that.
You just don't wanna
reheat your food and plasticpesticides on produce.
So if you go to the ewg.
It's either.org

(06:34):
or.com.
They have something that's calledthe Dirty Dozen, which is the
top 12 fruits and vegetables thathave been tested and found to have
the highest levels of pesticides.
So those things you wanna buy organic.
And then there's anotherlist called the Clean 15.
They have lower levels of pesticidesand you could feel a little bit better.

(06:56):
About buying those conventionallyif you're not in a place where
you can buy everything organic.
But then also think about pesticidesin the outer environment as well.
I had a client call yesterday and theyhave a company come and spray their

(07:16):
yard, so it's not just pesticides.
On our food, it's pesticidesin our environment as well.
I'm pretty sure when we bought our house,the previous owners used pesticides.
They left it in the garage.
The landscaping was so nice and perfect.
We do not use pesticides.
I.
Like the grass and stuff has grown in likewhere there was some stone laid down and

(07:41):
whatnot, and it just, it is what it is.
There are some natural options for weedsand things like that that you can look up.
Household cleaners, colognes, laundrydetergent, all of these things you want
to use cleaner, non-toxic versions.
This is definitely something that I takea deep dive in with my clients, making

(08:05):
sure that they are swapping whatever theymay have for less or non-toxic products.
I've been on this like cleanerliving journey since 2016,
so I know a lot about that.
You can also go to the EWGwebsite and look at their
ratings for different things.
There's a few different apps.

(08:26):
As well that you can scan the barcodeand it will give you a rating.
I personally think that educatingyourself is best because I've seen the
app sometimes and I don't always agreewith the ratings that they give things.
Personal care products, syntheticfragrances, like all of these things.

(08:47):
So the ladies, right?
We might need to help our mena little bit in this area.
Sometimes it just might not be anarea of interest to them, but what
they're putting on and around theirbodies matters just as much as for you.
Okay?
Some things you can dois have a water filter.

(09:08):
Use organic produce when possible.
This includes pasture raised, wild caught.
Animal protein as well swap outpersonal and home products for
cleaner, less toxic options.
Think simple ingredients thatyou can read and understand.
Fragrance-free, sometimesplant-based can be

(09:31):
a healthier option as well.
And then we have nutrient deficiencies.
So making healthy sperm requires alot of micronutrients, including zinc,
selenium, vitamin C, vitamin E, coq 10.
And if your partner is not beingintentional with what they're eating and

(09:52):
they have a poor diet, maybe they drink.
Alcohol or soda or sugary drinks,or they have a high stress job
or something like that, hisnutrient levels could be depleted.
So common causes of depletion couldinclude highly processed diets, so
foods that are processed, alcoholuse over exercising chronic stress.

(10:18):
I like to start all of my clients ona men's fertility focused supplement,
along with a whole foods diet, richand antioxidants and nutrients, and
this can make a huge difference.
And I have seen.
Sperm parameters improve withjust 90 days of targeted support.

(10:40):
I have a few different menprenatals that I recommend, but I
will link below in the show notes.
The top one that I do recommend.
Number four is EMF exposure.
So this is pretty much likeelectromagnetic radiation that is coming
from our phones, wifi, that we are justreally inundated and surrounded with.

(11:05):
If you think about allthe things that we have.
That is connected to Bluetooth, likeour cars, Alexa, if you have Alexa
your phone, if you have any smartwatches or rings and things like that.
And then just other thingsin the house as well.
Like we have cameras here andthose are all connected to wifi.

(11:26):
Like it's just everywhere andwe can't see it, so we don't
even really think about it.
So this is, a newer area of research andstudies are coming out all the time, but
studies are suggesting that long-termexposure to EMFs from cell phones,
laptops, wifi routers, can negativelyimpact sper motility and morphology.

(11:48):
So some tips with that would be toavoid carrying your phone in your front
pocket, in turn, wifi off at nightat possible keeping any electronic
devices away from the pelvic area.
You can turn your phone on airplanemode at night, and then there are.
Some things that you can do as well.

(12:08):
I'm not an affiliate or anythinglike that, but Safe Sleeve has
some things that I personally use.
So there is a it's a little laptop.
I don't even know what you would call it.
It basically sits underneath my laptopand it's supposed to block the radiation
in the EMFs coming from my laptop.

(12:29):
I also have a phone case from SafeSleeve as well do your research.
There's a lot of different onesthat are available at this point
in time to help reduce that impact.
And then number five is unaddressed.
Stress and sleep deprivation.
So men can sometimesdownplay their stress.

(12:51):
Maybe they don't really like to talkabout their emotions or things that are
stressing them out as much as maybe a,a woman would, but it can still have
a negative effect on their hormones.
So chronic stress can increase cortisol,which can suppress testosterone, and
poor sleep can also contribute to arecipe for sluggish, low sperm count.

(13:15):
Okay, so we wanna prioritize stressreduction, whatever that may look like.
For him specifically, it could be havingsomeone that he feels safe to talk to.
Maybe you and him can talk about howto build like a safe space to openly.

(13:35):
Communicate with each other yourthoughts and concerns about things.
Maybe he could have a friend, familymember, counselor, therapist, whatever
it may be to help reduce his stress.
Breath work is amazing.
Walks finding a hobby anythingthat really would, fill his
cup up and feel safe for him.

(13:56):
And then of course, we wanna aim for sevento nine hours of deep uninterrupted sleep.
So I like to recommend to myclients to follow a sleep wake
cycle where you're going to bedand waking up around the same time.
You wanna get that first morningnatural light in your eyes.

(14:17):
That's gonna help set your circadianrhythm, sleeping in a darker
environment, cooler, all of those things.
Here is, the good news is spermregenerates every 72 to 90 days.
So what that means is with justthree months of intentional

(14:38):
changes, that can create a brandnew, healthier batch of sperms.
So how amazing is that?
And I've personally seen my maleclients go from poor morphology.
Poor motility, low counts and highDNA fragmentation to having healthy
sperm parameters with some of theshifts that we discussed today.

(15:02):
Okay.
And another thing that I do wanna mentionspeaking about the 72 to 90 day period is.
A lot of times I'm, I'm seeingin the dms with some of the
conversations that I'm having ispeople saying, yeah, my husband's
sperm looked fine on the analysis.
And then I'll ask them whendid they get that test done?

(15:25):
And they, they'll saytwo to three years ago.
So whatever his spermlooked like even a year ago.
Is different than what hissperm could look like now.
And even if he's fathered a childbefore in the past, does not
guarantee that he can father a childnow, a healthy child in the least.

(15:45):
This is something that like as awoman, you're always constantly
getting your hormones tested and allof these things, like I feel that a
man who is actively trying to conceiveif it's not happening, you wanna
test that about every six months.
Okay?
So just because they had a goodone one time, that doesn't mean

(16:06):
that they're in the clear to notworry about dietary lifestyle,
supplement changes, things like that.
So just remember, fertility isa we thing, not just a me thing.
Okay?
Unless you're a solo parent by choice.
When both partners take ownershipof this journey, your chances of

(16:30):
conceiving either naturally or withassisted help go up dramatically.
And if you think about it,parenthood is a team effort.
So if you are having trouble.
Being a team on this fertility journey,then you may need to ask yourself, what is
the parenthood journey going to look like?

(16:51):
This is something that you're gonnawanna figure out together now.
And just a reminder, you don'thave to figure this out alone.
You have so many resourcesto help you along the way.
I'm here to help you.
Just shoot me a message on Instagram.
More than happy to have a chat withyou and just talk about potential best

(17:16):
steps for your specific situation.
So some things, just to summarizewhat we talked about today,
sperm health is affectedby more than just genetics.
Okay.
Daily habits like heat exposure,EMFs, nutrient depletion, stress,
sleep can have a major impact.

(17:36):
Environmental toxins are silentsaboteurs of male fertility, but
they're fixable with lifestylechanges in sperm regenerate.
Around every 90 days, meaning thereis always a brand new opportunity
to improve the quality and increaseyour chances of conception.

(17:57):
So I just wanna thank you from thebottom of my heart so much for listening.
I hope you found this helpful, and I'llsee you on our Thursday episode where
we will unpack a key nutrient that cannaturally support boosting sperm health.
I'll see you then.