Anyone with a vegetarian husband with low SA?

[happy2bamama]

Hi all,

I just wanted to share something with you, in case it might help. My husband and I have been TTC #2 for about two years. We got tested this last summer and his SA came back below average - not terrible, but not good. Per the doctor's orders, he started taking vitamins - L Carnatine, Zinc and Vitamin D3 - and his numbers got up to the just normal range. His count was fine, it was his morphology and motility that were sub-par.

This was our second month of IUIs - we decided to give his swimmers a leg up by putting them as close to the target as possible! The first month, I had three eggs (was on Clomid), two IUIs and it didn't work. This month, I had two eggs (and vowed to never take Clomid again as it made me feel like life was over) and two IUIs and it WORKED! But there's a piece of the puzzle that I wanted to share.

My husband is a vegetarian - has been for over 10 years. I got him to start going to acupuncture a few months back. Our acupuncturist told him that in Chinese Medicine, red meat (quality red meat) has a huge affect on male virility and sperm quality (which apparently Chinese Medicine is obsessed with, or so she said). She said that there is something about the energy and warming quality of the meat that helps the sperm do their job and makes a man with sperm issues more virile. She said that if he wanted to see a significant change, that he needed to be eating red meat 3-4 times per week. I told her good luck with getting him to do that! But he did!! He started slow and only ate beef jerky and steak tacos. 

Cut to just a few weeks later and we got his SA numbers for the two IUIs last month and his motility had gone from 50% being motile to 80%!! That was a huge shift! 

Now, we will never know what did it for us - maybe it was just our time, maybe it was us having sex before I ovulated, maybe it was the IUIs, maybe it was the meat, maybe it was the acupuncture - who knows. But what I do know is that he saw an improvement in his sperm quality in a few short weeks. 

I just wanted to throw it out there in case there are others who may be in the same boat :)

P.S. After eating meat, my husband noticed quite a few health improvements (and he is a healthy guy who takes tons of supplements) - so much so that he may continue to eat it here and there. I thought that would never happen! He was a happy vegetarian and now he's a healthy, happy flexitarian with a baby on the way!

Edited by happy2bamama - 2/4/13 at 1:43pm

[orangekoolaid]

yes, I am in the same situation, though haven't been as lucky as you.  poor count and poor morphology.  My partner takes the following each day:

Vitamin C 1000mg

Beta-Carotene 25,000 IU

Zinc 50 mg

Vitamin E 1,000 IU

Selenium 200 mcg

and "essential beginnings XY physician's formula" that my chinese medicine practitioner recommended.  He takes 6 of those each day.  

[happy2bamama]

Oh yes, I forgot about the Vitamin C and E. Is your DH a vegetarian too?

[orangekoolaid]

yes.  lacto-ovo.  

[happy2bamama]

Would he consider adding meat and seeing if his sperm got better? I know there are plenty of vegetarians out there who would say no way. But it would be interesting to see what happened :)

[granolamommie]

I think if is a protein issue (which I really doubt) then eggs or beans or tofu or whatever would help increase it.  If you are moral vegetarians then adding meat would be difficult.  We are vegetarians- have moved back and forth from veganism to octo lavo to pescatarians.  It is a hard road to figure out.  But I really doubt that the non eating of meat has anything to do with it.  Vegans have babies all the time....

[Alenushka]

I was a vegetarian and then even vegan for a while. I ate super healthy diet. I calculated all the RDA's with software. Organic local you name it.  I felt like crap all the time. I developed issues with thyroid. I was underweright.

So, I saw Chinese doctor who told me to stop being vegetarian and starts eating meat , chicken and fish in moderation .

I felt so much better.  That year I got pregnant. 

This obviously anekdata but I hear of other cases like that. I do not think  everyone has constitution for e vegetarian dies.
 

[happy2bamama]

Originally Posted by granolamommie 

I think if is a protein issue (which I really doubt) then eggs or beans or tofu or whatever would help increase it.  If you are moral vegetarians then adding meat would be difficult.  We are vegetarians- have moved back and forth from veganism to octo lavo to pescatarians.  It is a hard road to figure out.  But I really doubt that the non eating of meat has anything to do with it.  Vegans have babies all the time....

It wasn't a protein issue. The acupuncturist was talking about the energy of the food (meat) - some foods are warming, some are cooling and he was apparently in need of some kidney warming food and meat was the most concentrated form of what he needed (according to her). My husband was a moral vegetarian, so it was hard for him. I honestly didn't think he'd do it. But he was willing to do what it took to see if this would help :) And, of course, vegans have babies all the time. My point was not that vegans can't have babies or that veganism or vegetarianism is unhealthy - I just wanted to point out that there may be other cases where vegetarian men whom also have sperm quality issues might benefit from meat for a short while. And, it may be less costly and invasive than IVF! Just something to try if someone is behooved to do so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alenushka 

I was a vegetarian and then even vegan for a while. I ate super healthy diet. I calculated all the RDA's with software. Organic local you name it.  I felt like crap all the time. I developed issues with thyroid. I was underweright.

So, I saw Chinese doctor who told me to stop being vegetarian and starts eating meat , chicken and fish in moderation .

I felt so much better.  That year I got pregnant. 

This obviously anekdata but I hear of other cases like that. I do not think  everyone has constitution for e vegetarian dies.
 

Yeah, it depends on the person. Some people are suited for vegetarianism and some are not. It's interesting that Chinese Medicine believes that meat (quality meat) has such healthy properties. When our acupuncturist told us for him to try meat to help his sperm, I said something like, "Wow, I would've thought Chinese Medicine would've promoted vegetarianism..." and she replied with something like, "Yeah, we were all vegans before we went to acupuncture school and now we all eat a little meat!" Just interesting. 

[granolamommie]

Naturopaths are the same way.