How Does Alcohol Affects your Sperm as a Man?

This article will be answering a very crucial question on how alcohol affects your sperm cell as a man. We will be discussing how much alcohol you are allowed to consume as a man. Also, we will explain how alcohol affects male fertility.

Some research has it that alcohol can be both harmful and beneficial. The effect of alcohol on the body depends on the quantity consumed. However, the active ingredient in alcohol, which is ethanol, has made the substance more harmful than beneficial.

Ethanol directly affects the organs in the body. It reduces the effectiveness of hormones and is even capable of killing an unborn child.

Some say moderate drinking is good for the heart and circulatory system, and probably protects against gallstones. But among alcohol researchers, there is no universally accepted standard for alcohol consumption. Some research say ‘moderate drinking’ is less than 1 bottle per day while some agreed to 3-4 bottles per day.

Also, not everyone who likes to drink alcohol stops at just one bottle. While many people drink in moderation, most people do not.

Continue to read to understand the effect of alcohol on your sperm and your ability to father a child.

How much Alcohol does it take to affect your Sperm?

The Centre for Disease Control defines excessive drinking as follows:

	Binge drinking	Heavy drinking	Underage drinking
Males	5 or more drinks on one occasion (within 2 to 3 hours)	15 or more drinks per week	any alcohol used under age 21

Excessive drinking, binge drinking, or consumption of more than five bottles in men in a two-hour time frame reduces sperm quantity, motility, and morphology.

How Does Alcohol Affect your Male Fertility?

For men, heavy drinking can cause impotence, reduce their sex drive (libido) and their sexual performance. Also there is a negative effect on the quality of their sperm.

In addition to the above point, researchers have found that alcohol consumption causes a great reduction in semen quality. There is a direct adverse effect of alcohol both on the production of testosterone and sperm formation.

Alcohol consumption affects men in the following ways by;

Lowering male reproductive hormones levels such as testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and raising estrogen levels. All of these which reduce sperm production
It shrinks the testes, which can cause impotence or infertility
Changing gonadotropin release which impacts sperm production
Causing early ejaculation or decreased ejaculation
Changing the shape, size, and movement of healthy sperm

In conclusion

A healthy lifestyle is very important in boosting fertility. Excessive drinking, stress, anxiety, being overweight, and smoking can all endanger your health and fertility. Also alcohol can affect fertility by altering sperm count, size, shape, and motility. However, the effect of alcohol is reversible when you quite drinking. A study showed it took three months for the return of healthy sperm production once alcohol consumption stops.

The little benefit alcohol has can be achieved by having good dietary practices and living an healthy lifestyle. If you are not already drinking alcohol there is no need to start now.

Hope you find this article very educating

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