Sperm are tadpole-shaped male sex cells that carry the genetic information necessary for reproduction. When a sperm combines with a female gamete, or egg, it results in a human embryo.
A healthy male has been shown to produce 1500 sperm in one single second, that’s 90 000 sperm a minute, 5.4 million sperm an hour, 130 million sperm a day and almost 50 billion sperm a year![1]
While this is great news, sperm count is only part of the healthy sperm equation. Sperm also need to have good motility, or movement as well as good morphology, or shape, to be at their best.
Sperm motility
There are two kinds of sperm motility, which refers to the way individual sperm swim. Progressive motility, which means sperm are swimming in a mostly straight line or large circles, or non-progressive motility, a term used to describe sperm that don’t travel in straight lines or that swim in very tight circles. If you think of the microscopic size of an individual sperm, and the distance it needs to travel through the female uterus and cervical mucous to reach an egg, good motility is important for sperm to make the very long distance!
Sperm morphology
Morphology refers to the shape of the sperm. Specifically, the shape of the sperm head and the size of the sperm tail. The head shape is important because it affects the sperm’s ability to dissolve the outer surface of an egg and fertilise it, and the quality and length of the sperm tail affect the sperm’s ability to “swim” the distance through the uterus.
Nutrients for sperm health
While there are a few important nutrients to support sperm health, including but not limited to zinc and selenium, another nutrient you need to consider adding to your list is ubiquinol.
Ubiquinol is the active form of CoQ10, which is also often referred to as ubiquinone. Ubiquinone and ubiquinol are converted from one form back to the other in the body as they are needed.
As the active form, ubiquinol is more easily absorbed in the body, with studies showing ubiquinol is more than 4 times better absorbed than ubiquinone[2].
Ubiquinol, as found in both Herbs of Gold Ubiquinol 100mg and Herbs of Gold Ubiquinol 150mg, supports both sperm health and sperm motility.
Ubiquinol also supports energy production as well as acts as an antioxidant. As healthy sperm cells require a lot of energy, ubiquinol is an important component of providing healthy sperm cells with the energy they require, while also acting as an antioxidant, reducing free radicals formed in the body.
Herbs of Gold Ubiquinol 100mg and Herbs of Gold Ubiquinol 150mg use ubiquinol from worldwide ubiquinol specialists Kaneka.
Kaneka, headquartered in Japan, is a world leader in the manufacture of ubiquinol using patented manufacturing technology in a highly controlled quality environment. Kaneka ubiquinol is backed by more than 10 years of research, development, and testing and is considered the global premium ubiquinol ingredient.
[1] Moore, L. J. (2009). Killer sperm: Masculinity and the essence of male hierarchies. Reconceiving the Second Sex: Men, Masculinity and Reproduction, 45-71.
[2] Evans, M., Baisley, J., Barss, S., & Guthrie, N. A. (2009). Randomised, double-blind trial on the bioavailability of two CoQ10 formulations. Journal of Functional Foods, 1(1), 65-73.
