Nutrition, Sperm Health, And The 12-Week Turnaround

We bring male fertility to the forefront with dietitian Alex Hardy, breaking down the 12-week window where nutrition, lifestyle, and environment can meaningfully improve sperm health and DNA integrity. Clear steps, simple swaps, and evidence-backed supplements show men how to contribute actively to conception and long-term child health.

• Male factor as half the fertility equation
• Oxidative stress and why sperm are vulnerable
• Zinc, DHA, antioxidants, and CoQ10 explained
• Mediterranean pattern with practical food swaps
• Environmental toxins, microplastics, and high-impact swaps
• New Australian male fertility guidelines and access to care
• Epigenetics and lifelong child health implications

Alex Hardy is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and founder of Axis Dietetics, specialising exclusively in men’s fertility and sperm health. With over a decade of clinical experience across acute and chronic care, Alex now helps men and couples improve reproductive outcomes through evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle strategies. His work focuses on sperm health, metabolic wellbeing, preconception nutrition, and supporting men through the often-overlooked male side of fertility. Alex is passionate about making fertility science clear, practical, and achievable for everyday men and their partners.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome to the Home of Fertility, a space for real conversation and expert insights about fertility, healing and creating family. I'm Liz Walton.

SPEAKER_04 0:17

And I'm Helen Z. We are two mums who've walked this path and are passionate about supporting you on your journey, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

We talk about it all. Fertility treatment, holistic support, relationships, mindset, and the emotional highs and lows.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Because sometimes the missing piece lies in someone else's story, in the quiet wisdom of the body, or in a breakthrough that's finally made for you.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

We are so glad you are here. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_04 1:05

Today we are joined by Alex Hardy, who is an accredited practiced practicing dietitian and founder of Access Dietetics, who specializes exclusively in male fertility and sperm health. His work focuses on sperm health, including metabolic well-being, preconception nutrition, and supporting males through the often overlooked male side of fertility. Alex is passionate about making fertility science clear, practical, and achievable for men and their partners. Welcome to this very important conversation, Alex. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Thanks so much for having me, Helen. It's great to be here and to speak about the male side of the equation.

Male Factor: Half The Fertility Picture

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Yeah. Let's dive right in based on your experience through your clinical experience. Tell us about your client, tell, clearly not specific information, but about the important elements of um looking and diving deeper into male fertility.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Yeah, look, I think Helen, it's male fertility is becoming more and more part of the picture in fertility. We know that, you know, for centuries we've had this belief that most of the complexity when it comes to fertility is due to the female side. And when pregnancy doesn't come as easily, it's generally assumed that the issue does fly on the female side. But in reality, we know that male factors contribute to around half of all fertility challenges. But despite being, you know, half the picture, often men are the last to be investigated or you know, even left out of the process altogether, which is a real missed opportunity to understand the full picture.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

And would you say, based on the work that you do, um, through the lens of uh nutrition, dietetics, that you you do see a difference in sperm health and male factor?

Diet, Oxidative Stress, And Sperm Health

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Absolutely. I think diet and lifestyle has uh a really important role to play for men's fertility. You know, it's one of the things that men can control. We know that there are a lot of a lot of levers that nutrition can impact. So things like protecting against the oxidative stress, providing the raw materials for the sperm to develop, and really just helping to create more of a you know um a healthy environment in an internal environment for where the for the sperm to develop in.

Pilot Program Results And Miscarriage Links

Food First And The Four Key Jobs

SPEAKER_04 3:42

And we're finding that that is uh there has been a lot more research that has been taking place on male fertility um in recent years, and it's wonderful. I've got a Bachelor of Science background and I've been in the field for about 20 years. Uh, one thing that we didn't get to have a little chat offline was I was invited to do a pilot program with a leading IVF clinic, and it was basically based on lifestyle factors. So I'm just going to reiterate what you just said now. So for not just male fertility, but for female fertility as well. And I was using exercise principles as well as diet and mindset, and I was turning this IVF clinic into a little fitness studio a couple of times a week and training the patients. And that was all part of a pilot study. And we found over that two-year period, because then some of them worked with me personally as well, that we had about a 70% success rate in people getting pregnant. But not only that, recurring miscarriages started to um decline as well. And that was about 17 years ago. And in recent times, there have been studies that have come out that talk about male fatal male factor uh infertility as well as DNA fragmentation that are the contributing factor to recurring miscarriages, which means that the conversation gets turned on its head. And one, females aren't carrying the load of something is wrong with them, but also what can we do now through diet lifestyle? Because there's no IVF or hormonal treatment for male fertility, but we because we know that diet and lifestyle plays such a huge part, well, what can we do to be able to lower oxidative stress and bring a pregnancy to full term, right? And this is the exciting times that are here for us and what I love educating people on when we are speaking about male health. So, Alex, on that one, based on your clinical experience, which nutrient supplements genuinely support um the motility, morphology, and DNA fragmentation? And if you in that answer, if you can also talk about uh sperm, uh bit of science with sperm versus semen and also the effect and oxidative um effect. And then the nutrients and supplements, when you mention them, I know are going to make a lot of sense to our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Yeah, so this is this is often an area that people are really curious about, which nutrients and which supplements are you know are the are the important ones for men's fertility. And look, before we get into specifics about the nutrients, I always like to emphasize that as a dietitian, my philosophy is always food first. I think that most of the key nutrients are very achievable through a healthy, balanced diet. Um, I certainly see supplements as playing a useful role as well, but I I definitely see them there as being to support and not replace good nutrition.

SPEAKER_04 7:16

Beautiful.

Zinc, Omega-3s, And Antioxidants

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And yeah, look, when we look at the research, the nutrients that really stand out are the ones that are involved in four key jobs. So building the sperm structure, making the DNA, generating the energy for the sperm to move, and protecting against that oxidative stress. So, you know, I think one of the key nutrients for men's fertility is zinc. It's involved in DNA synthesis, in cell division, in making testosterone, and it's linked to you know all the major sperm parameters. So improved sperm count, improved motility, improved morphology, and DNA integrity. We know that men do lose more sperm, more zinc through the semen. So we actually have higher dietary requirements than women. And look, I think another key nutrient as well is the omega-3 fats, particularly DHA. So DHA is literally built into the sperm membrane. It's thought to help it give it more flexibility and resilience, and it's linked with better movement and shape. And of course, the antioxidants, very important, things like vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium. So they're they're there, they work in different ways to help to protect the sperm from oxidative stress and that DNA damage. And that's really important in today's environment where you know where we have things like pollution, low physical activity levels, and poor diets.

SPEAKER_04 8:47

And also, just also men's testes being so close to their body all the time through sitting down and sedenary lifestyle does affect the environment and does affect the quality of the sperm. There is a reason why the testes are away from the body. It needs to be two degrees cooler from the rest of the body. This is evolution, it's not going to change overnight, nor do we want it to. So, how can we support ourselves again, as you said, purely through lifestyle, really good diet, and then supplement as necessary?

CoQ10 And Effective Dosing

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, yep. And look, I think another really um important nutrient to mention to Helen is the CoQ10. So enzyme CoQ10. So it's really important for supporting the energy so that so that sperm can move. And it's a really good example of where supplements can be useful because you know we can get CoQ10 through food, but you know, the effective dose is generally between 200 to 600 milligrams per day. Put that in context, to get that from food, we'd need to be eating about six kilograms of sardines every day. Now, I quite enjoy sardines, but I'll be lucky to eat six kilograms this year. So, you know, clearly when it comes to CoQ10, that's an example of a nutrient where supplementation is really the only viable option.

Mediterranean Diet Made Practical

SPEAKER_04 10:20

Good information to know. What practical changes can men make today to improve their fertility as well as those that have partners going through the IVF journey?

Veg Variety, Fiber, And Simple Swaps

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah, look, I think there's so much that men can do here. And like the good news is that most men might need a complete overhaul of their diet. Some small changes done consistently can go a long way. So I really like to focus on you know the high impact changes that give the best return for the least complexity. And look, the Mediterranean diet consistently comes out on top for both men's and women's fertility. And that's essentially eating more whole foods, more healthy fats, uh, more plant variety, nuts, whole grains, legumes, that type of thing, and trying to reduce our ultra-processed foods. And I think putting that in practical terms, like some really practical things that men could do is to swap out some of their red meat and processed meats for oily fish like salmon, sardines, tuna, um, those sorts of things to get those omega-3 fats in. And another core concept of the um or core element of the Mediterranean diet is extravagant olive oil. It's, you know, it's thought to be responsible for a lot of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. It's got really powerful antioxidants named oleocanthol that help to keep the inflammation down. That Mediterranean diet is just great for really helping to control the inflammation in the body and protect against oxidative stress. I think another really good win for men is to try and cover half the plate with different colored vegetables at mealtimes and try to eat a couple of pieces of fruit every day. It really doesn't matter which veg, as long as you're getting a good variety and a lot of different colours, really packing in a lot of those antioxidants to protect against the oxidative stress.

SPEAKER_04 12:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:25

Yeah. I I say to my clients when I look at their food diaries, I say eating a potato four different ways is not eating the potato as a vegetable four times. Like whether you mash it, whether you chip it, whether you bake it, whether you fry it, it is still a potato.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

A potato is a potato is a potato.

Sperm Takes 70–90 Days To Mature

SPEAKER_04 12:48

A potato is a potato is a potato, absolutely. And you know, we've got to go for texture, like you said. We've got to go for crunch, we've got to go for um for color. This is nature's bounty, and this is what we need to be having in our plate, on our plate regularly, and also fiber in most meals of the day to actually help the elimination process as well is um very useful. Where you also mentioned about the supplements um or the key nutrients, I should say, they are the same nutrients that females are uh asked to take and make sure that we're getting really good um doses of the very same um nutrients for egg quality as well. So if you're in a couple and you know, and together you're actually working towards wanting to have a child, shouldn't be that different that your food needs to be so different in trying to get a little bit more zinc or a little bit more um uh selenium in there because we actually need it for the production of our eggs and our sperm. Alex, talk to us about. I know that there is this myth that many people have that for men they produce sperm daily or on demand. But we actually know, well, you and I know, but we're about to talk about it. We actually know that sperm just doesn't get produced in 24 hours. It goes through a process of about 84 days before it becomes that mature sperm that is seen in an ejaculate.

Microplastics, Toxins, And Everyday Exposures

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Right? Exactly right, Helen. So, yeah, sperm production does occur over about 70 to 90 days. So that's really important. That's a really important thing to understand because what you're doing now shows up in about 12 weeks' time. It's actually one of the clearest intervention windows we have in human biology. And it's a real opportunity for us to, you know, implement some healthy diet strategies and improve our outcomes. And I think the second thing to point out there is that sperm, they're the smallest cells in the body, and they don't have the same protective systems as other cells, and that's why they're so vulnerable to that oxidative stress.

unknown 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

So, you know, our lifestyle is really important there to help balance the oxidative stress, you know, cutting out too much things like too much alcohol, smoking, too many highly processed foods can increase the oxidative stress in our body. So, you know, we've got that real opportunity to put these lifestyle measures in place in that preconception period, and ultimately that leads to healthier sperm.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Yeah. Yeah. And I read a study just a few weeks ago about the microplastics that are found in seminal fluid as well as ovarian fluid. And so that just goes to show that through a culture of where we have our takeaway coffee cups with our plastic lids that we sip and go for convenience is actually affecting our seminal fluid as well as ovarian fluid. Like 55% was found to be microplastics. And that's also drinking from plastic bottles that have been sitting in the sun. And you may think that you've taken your plastic bottle from a supermarket and put it in a in a bag, but if that's been sitting on the tarmac, that's been sitting somewhere else in a heat-induced room, you just do not know how much uh microdosing we are actually taking in from those microplastics. And so these are some other changes that I feel that our listeners can make, not just, you know, if you're a male, but males and females, is making these habits and stacking habit stacking over a period of time allows for the big wins, like you said, I call it the 80-20, right? The 20% that's going to give you, you know, the 20% of making something different, it's going to give you bigger gains in the end of the day.

High-Impact Environmental Changes

SPEAKER_00 17:30

That's right. And we're learning so much more about how those environmental chemicals affect women's and men's fertility. And, you know, it's things like the plastics, pesticides, personal care products. There's so many potential sources of these chemicals. But, you know, we can't control everything, but focusing on some high-impact strategies, you know, avoiding heating foods in plastic, trying to store your foods in stainless steel or glass where possible, um, you know, trying to wash your fruit and veg really well, um, and try and choose fragrance-free uh personal care products where you can, even the um non-stick pans as well. A really good swap there is to change over to something like a uh cast iron pan, for example. So, you know, we can't control everything, but it's important to focus on what we can control.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

And those small consistent changes really add up to make a big difference.

SPEAKER_04 18:25

I'm glad you mentioned the non-stick because that's getting a lot of airwaves recently as well, in what we call forever chemicals. So there are chemicals that are being created in the industry and across a lot of different manufacturing industries where it is now proven that they are sitting in the tissues and building in the tissues, known as loosely as forever chemicals. And for our listeners that are listening, even if you just look it up on your Google search, you'll actually be very, very surprised at all the different um products that we have got in our kitchen, in our bathroom, in our cupboards, in our cars that actually contribute to these forever chemicals that come in and are actually known as being endocrine disruptors. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, absolutely.

New Australian Male Fertility Guidelines

SPEAKER_04 19:26

Yeah. Um, I also want to mention that there are now Australia, yay, Go Australia, and Australian researchers have developed the very first, world first, male guidelines to infertility and healthy fertility and standardizing care for our species, really, our species, our male species. And that was um brought out on the 30th of November. 2025, which was only a few weeks ago, from this recording, as well via SBS News. And that is an exciting time in our industry where we are taking male health a lot more seriously. And the equation of there is a lot that the men can do which will lead to successful pregnancy outcome and potentially start to flip this extraordinary statistic of one in six who are struggling to conceive.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Yes, yeah. And that's right. Those new guidelines from Healthy Mail, they really highlight, you know, that men's fertility is becoming more and more recognized. It's half the equation. And those guidelines are fantastic. They're going to help standardize care across fertility for men. And yeah, it's great to see that sort of thing happening happening as well. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 20:56

And based on what you do, you're open, you've got your clinic space that is open for consultations for being able to help men on their fertility journey.

Accessing Care And Telehealth Support

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Absolutely. Yeah. So I support men and couples. Um it's as a uh online clinic. So it's via telehealth and it's yeah, helping men and couples to improve their fertility through personalized nutrition.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

Yeah, beautiful, beautiful. Alex, is there anything else that you want to add to the conversation?

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Look, I think um I'd just like to touch on so why men are really often left out of these conversations.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

I think it gets back to, you know, that fertility has been traditionally framed as a woman's issue. And look, fair enough. Women play the leading role. They carry the pregnancy, they have the ultrasounds, deliver the baby. So naturally, the whole system has been built around their needs. But unfortunately, I just think it often leaves men on the sidelines and there aren't always that many male-friendly entry points. And I really think awareness is a big issue as well. A lot of men still don't realize that their health affects conception and pre pregnancy outcomes. And, you know, if men don't understand their role, they're going to be far less far less likely to step into the process. So, you know, I think it's great that we're doing what we're doing today. We're having this conversation and talking about it, um, making it a normal part of the fertility conversation and really trying to get them the message out there that men's fertility matters too and help is available.

Donor Standards, IVF, And Three-Month Plan

Epigenetics And Lifelong Child Health

SPEAKER_04 22:34

Yeah, great, great. I'd love to add to that because you just sparked something in me as well as we're as you were chatting. And that is when a person is going through the donor path and trying to choose a donor sperm donor or a male donor, there is rigorous testing that takes place, right? And so we know from that perspective, when we go into that selection criteria, we are looking at a lot of health factors regarding that sperm before you know a person decides to take it on as a donor. That doesn't change. That doesn't change if you are naturally trying to conceive, if you're going through IVF, IVF start to go down the barrel of um uh microscope to try and choose the best morphology DNA able to have a successful pregnancy. And so this has got to drum at home that if you're just starting out with preconception healthcare, give yourself three months because it also takes three months for eggs um to be matured and um come out into that ovulation window. So you're we're pretty much on the same timeline as males and females. So it's not just what you put in your plate, but everything that you can do in that three-month minimum preconception plan will send you a really, really long way. And the other thing is, if the our listeners don't know this, the epigenetics and the genome of male DNA helps determine the health of the baby. It is really, really important from diabetes to you know, studies being done on autism now, uh, ADHD, and a lot of other things as well. So the healthier that the male is, you've got less chance of our babies uh being diagnosed with um conditions, health conditions that are prevalent in our society today.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Absolutely. And that's one of the things that really sparked my interest in in fertility nutrition was those those epigenetic messages that we pass on to our child. You know, I was really, really struck to learn about the role of men's fertility in that space and what we do before conception could, you know, it could it could have impacts not just for the chances of fertility, or uh sorry, the chances of conception, but also the lifelong health of the future child. So and and like um just getting back to what you said before, Helen, um we tend to see that most people seeking help for diet and nutrition in fertility are those that are having struck that are having um fertility struggles. But I agree, I'd love to see a world where everybody, uh whether you're having fertility challenges or not, is really aware in those months prior to conception on what we can do to optimize our egg and sperm health for the lifelong health of our future children. It's a real opportunity and there's there's so much we can influence when we know where to start.

Closing Gratitude And Listener CTA

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Yeah, absolutely. Wonderful. Thank you very much for your time and your sharing today. We really, really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Thank you so much for having me, Helen. I really enjoyed that chat and really appreciate the opportunity to shine a light on the men's side of the equation. Great.

SPEAKER_04 26:23

Thanks for joining us at the Homer Fertility. We hope today's episode brought you clarity, comfort, and connection.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

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SPEAKER_04 26:42

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SPEAKER_03 26:51

Remember the missing piece might be waiting in a story, your body's wisdom, or something new just made for you. Take good care and we'll see you next time.