Sperm quality sucks. Fertility is plummeting. Let’s talk about it.
Sperm quality sucks. Fertility is plummeting.
Let’s talk about it.
There’s an epidemic occurring for men around the world, and although it has consequences for all of us, no one seems to be talking about it. Testosterone is declining — and not only is this harming men’s lives on an individual, day-to-day basis, but it also brings daunting consequences for society as a whole. Let’s break it down.
The decrease in testosterone is bad news
Testosterone declining is a proven phenomenon around the world — and stats exist to back it up. In the US, male testosterone levels have been declining at approximately 1% every year since 1982. Another study conducted between 1999 and 2016 showed a 25% drop in mean free testosterone levels across males aged 15 to 39 (Lokeshwar et al., 2020). And in the rest of the world? Between 1973 and 2011, sperm concentration declined by over 52% in men from various Western countries (Levine et al., 2017). That’s about 1% per year. Further to that, a new study has shown that this decline is only increasing - since 2000 the decrease in sperm count is now up to 2.6% per year (Levine et al., 2022). This is alarmingly bad news.
So how low is low? According to the WHO, 15 million sperm per millimetre of semen is considered low. But anything less than 40 million will significantly affect fertility. Back in the early 1970’s, the average man had a count of 99 million sperm per millimetre compared to 49 million per millimetre today. Our grandfathers had twice the amount of sperm we do today.
Fertility isn’t the only thing damaged by male testosterone declining. A healthy dose of testosterone in our bodies:
Promotes muscle growth and development
Builds stronger bones
Reduces abdominal fat
Increases energy levels
Improves focus and mood
Fights mental health issues like depression
Improves sexual performance, erection quality and libido
Increases sperm production
Simply put, testosterone is critical for men and our ability to thrive. It is something that we cannot go without — but the decline is real.
Why are men's testosterone levels dropping?
The answer is complex but not complicated, and the good news is that it is a problem that can be rectified — particularly on a personal level. You can take action now to increase your testosterone and improve your sperm quality, and the benefits will help you across all facets of life. Take a look at three major factors contributing to testosterone declining.
1. Lifestyle
Many health and wellbeing issues come down to one simple, yet understandably complex, thing: your lifestyle. Compromised lifestyle habits contribute to testosterone levels dropping, among many other consequences to mental and physical health. The following factors are proven to contribute to male testosterone dropping:
Obesity and sedentary lifestyle
Chronic and/or excessive alcohol consumption
Smoking (cigarettes, marijuana, vaping)
Poor diet including processed, high sugar and artificially sweetened foods
Soy foods rich in estrogenic compounds
Chronic stress
Pain medications
SSRIs
Steroids
Interestingly, testosterone replacement therapies
It’s time to start taking accountability for the role our lifestyle plays in our health.
2. Laziness
I’m calling it what it is. Men are lazier than ever. Most of us are no longer working manual labour jobs. Instead, we’re sitting in the comfort of heated offices, staring at screens, playing video games all day. Many of us aren’t lifting weights, playing sport or competing. Some men aren’t even exercising at all. We’re more content sitting around watching other men playing professional sports, chasing their dreams, while we’re wasting away on the couch. It’s a dangerous lifestyle that has harmful consequences if we’re not careful.
3. Lurking threats
Silent, ubiquitous threats to our testosterone and sperm health exist in our environments, lurking and threatening our testosterone levels. Chemicals in plastics including BPAs (bisphenol A), phthalates and phenols, heavy metals, herbicides and pesticides are everywhere in our modern world.
These chemicals act as endocrine disruptors, completely messing with the body’s natural hormonal system and function. They act as impostor hormones binding to receptor sites, tricking our bodies into thinking they are real hormones — either slowing down or increasing natural production. This leads to profound effects on the developing brain and body, affecting reproductive organs as well as sexual and behavioural development of the brain.
A 2005 study showed that prenatal exposure to phthalates at environmental levels can adversely affect male reproductive development, shortening the anogenital distance (AGD) - the distance from the anus to the base of the penis. This correlates with decreases in testosterone, lower sperm counts and smaller penis size (Swan et al., 2005).
The demographic time bomb
So your male hormones dropping has made you feel like shit, but does this phenomenon have consequences on a global scale? Unfortunately, it does, and that consequence comes in the form of fertility.
People are having kids too late in life, sperm quality sucks, and couples are having issues conceiving. Population rates are plummeting. Worldwide fertility has dropped by a whopping 49 percent between 1960 and 2017. In this time period, Canada’s birth rate dropped from 3.8 kids to just 1.5. Hong Kong and South Korea saw a similar decrease from 5.0 and 6.0 respectively, down to 1.1 in 2017 (GBD 2017 Population and Fertility Collaborators, 2017).
Those levels are simply not enough to replace the population — and that’s scary stuff, because it signals an incoming demographic time bomb. The world requires every couple to have an average of 2.1 children to sustain a population through new births alone. So what happens when we don’t have enough kids?
Take a look at what’s happening in Asian countries like Hong Kong and South Korea with a low birth rate of 1.1. Eventually, there will be no one left to work the labour intensive jobs, as the population becomes too old and frail. The young population won’t be able to sustain the old. An aging populace means society will be slowly falling apart. I don’t know about you, but I want to do my part to ensure we don’t live in a world like that.
Men’s health is more important than ever
Can male testosterone be increased? Yes, it can — and it should, because it’s one of the most pressing issues affecting men’s health today.
There’s a pathway to optimising your testosterone, increasing your sexual performance, and enhancing your fertility for your future children. It’s called Optimise Sex, and it’s a six-step game plan to increasing testosterone and improving sperm quality — which has incredible benefits for your fertility and beyond.
Taking action starts with a free discovery call, so if you’re concerned about your own testosterone levels, let’s talk about it.
ANDY LUCAS
MEN’S HEALTH + WELLBEING COACH
From naturopathic services to men’s health coaching, Andy Lucas is on a mission to improve the lives of men, starting with the foundations of health and wellbeing. Utilising a no-BS framework titled The Healthy Man Method, Andy guides men to optimise their wellbeing through six steps that bring it back to the foundations of health — cutting through fads with an action plan that works. A certificated Naturopath (Bachelor of Health Sciences – Naturopathy) and Personal Trainer (Certificate III & IV - Personal Training), Andy helps men become free of physical challenges and limitations, so they can better succeed in their experience of life. Find out more here.