What Is The Role Of Vitamin A In Sperm Production | Ep. 594

Episode 594

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This is the Fertility Friday podcast, episode number 594.
Today I’m sharing a brand new episode in our FAM research series, and I’m going to
be tackling the role of vitamin A in sperm production. I think this topic is really
important and really interesting because the research is astounding, yet it’s not
something that I hear a lot of people talking about, the importance of vitamin A,
especially as it relates to sperm production and fertility in general. So while we’ll
be focusing today on male reproduction, particularly sperm production and testosterone
and the role of vitamin A in that process know that vitamin A plays an equally
significant role in female reproduction and there’s a lot of research through animal
studies that sheds light on why this nutrient is so important. So today we’ll be
going through a paper it’s called the role of retinoic acid in spermatogenesis and
its application in male reproduction.
So this study is a narrative review. It’s not a clinical trial. It pulls together
findings from animal models, cell studies, human data, and it really maps out the
role of retinoic acid, which is the active form of vitamin A in spermatogenesis.
So while this study goes into a lot of detail, it’s really high level. If you were
to pull it and try to read it, there’s a lot of terms, let’s just say, because it
goes into a lot of really specific detail. What we’ll be doing today is just kind
of getting a feel for how essential this nutrient is in this process,
how it works, and we’ll also be talking about then the role of nutrition and the
potential for vitamin A to really support and improve sperm production in men.
So a little bit of background information. I’ve spoken about vitamin A and written
about it in both the fifth vital sign as well as real food for fertility. We
shared some research and some studies and it’s so interesting because there are
animal studies out there that show that essentially vitamin A is kind of like an on
or off switch for sperm production as well as testosterone production in men. So
there are animal studies where if they provide the animals with a vitamin A
deficient diet, so the male animals will, you know, potentially stop making
testosterone or stop making sperm altogether. So it’s really significant and astounding
that, you know, a nutrient that plays such a crucial role to the point that we
could literally say that it could be the on and off switch for sperm production.
It’s astounding that we don’t talk about it more. And to go into that further, like
to lean into that line of thinking further, there are also a variety of studies
that are looking at retinoic acid and the different enzymes that activate it and
looking at depriving the male body of vitamin A in one shape or form as a
contraceptive method. So, they know that it has such a significant implication in
sperm production that they’ve looked at creative ways to potentially shut that down
as an actual contraceptive method for men. So I feel like that gives a really
interesting introduction into this topic and also shows us why it’s so important and
fascinating. So basically this paper breaks it down. It gives us a really good
overview of the role of vitamin A in this process of spermanogenesis. And so I’ll
walk you through the, you know, basically what they’re saying in layman’s terms so
that you can kind of get the picture. So I mean, one of the key things to note
about vitamin A is that we do have to get it through food. And when we talk about
vitamin A, we hear that term a lot. And sometimes when we say vitamin A, you’ll
think of carrots, you’ll think of beta -carotene. But what we’re talking about is
retinol, the preformed vitamin A that is only found in animal foods. So just keep
that in mind when we’re talking through it. The beta -carotene that we bind to
carrots and other vegetables is not what we’re talking about. And while we do get
some vitamin A from eggs and from butter, the most significant source truly is when
we’re eating liver in particular. So with that said, you know, vitamin A, as I’ve
already mentioned, it comes from food. It’s not something our body can make. So in
order for our body to be able to utilize it, break it down and use it, especially
in this process of spermatogenesis, we actually do need to eat it. And as I
mentioned, you know, the richest food sources are liver and potentially cod liver
oil, as well as some of the fatty animal foods. So once we eat the foods that
contain vitamin A, our liver acts like essentially a storage warehouse. That is where
the vitamin A is stored. And once our body needs it, then it’s then transported
from from our liver. So in order for men to make sperm men, once the liver is
transporting the vitamin A to the testicles. The retinol in its original form has to
be converted into retinoic acid. And this process involves special enzymes that
actually break it down and make it into its usable form. So retinoic acid then,
the usable form, is essentially the on switch that actually makes sperm production
possible. As retinoic acid moves into the nucleus, which is the command center of
the cell, that is what is signaling to start to make sperm. And without retinoic
acid, the sperm cells are not able to kind of proceed and differentiate and go
through this process. Interestingly, with retinoic acid, it doesn’t just flow
constantly. It comes in little bursts and waves and these pulses keep sperm
production on a schedule. And this is one of the reasons why men are always making
new sperm every single day. So this is something I’ve talked about a lot. You know,
the myth that women are the ones that are fertile every day. It turns out that
we’re not. We have a fertile window that’s about six days long, which is what the
research tells us. We ovulate on one day per cycle, and then our cervical fluid
keeps the sperm alive for up to five days. So we have for a talmando of about six
days per cycle, whereas men from puberty forward, they’re making sperm every day. And
it’s the retinoic acid and these pulses that make that possible and make it so that
men are always having this supply of sperm. Not only is retinoic acid important, but
just the right amount is important too. So if there’s too little, sperm production
can shut down. If there’s too much, the sperm can be damaged. And so there’s this
ideal amount that our body kind of regulates to ensure that these enzymes are able
to break down the retinol into the form, the retinoic acid, and that this level is
maintained in order to maintain optimal sperm production. So this paper goes into a
whole lot of detail. Like I said, I’m explaining it in a very basic way, but
there’s a lot of different aspects. It’s a very intricate, complicated, incredible
process. And retinoic acid is playing this crucial, crucial role. It’s helping
immature sperm to develop and grow. It plays a role in splitting their DNA through
the process of meiosis to lead to them finally being able to be released as a
mature sperm. And without this process, without retinoic acid, without the enzymes,
without this conversion, and without the raw material, without the retinol in the
first place, this process stalls at every stage. So what this paper does is it
really breaks down like step by step all the different processes that are happening
based on pulling together all the different research that has been done in this area
to help us understand how crucial retinoic acid, so retinol, vitamin A is in the
process of sperm production. And as I mentioned at the top of the episode, in
animal studies, and in human studies, when there is a profound vitamin A deficiency,
it can even affect the size of the testes. It’s affecting testosterone production,
it’s affecting sperm production, so it can even result in, you know, a lower, a
smaller volume in the testicles. So a nicer way to say it can lead to some level
of shrinkage with testicles and can lead to the complete cessation of sperm
production. So it can completely cause it to stop. And then the strange thing about
these studies, as I was mentioning, and you always think, I mean, at least I always
think about how their studies are being done and like, what are they doing to these
animals? But if they give them a vitamin A deficient diet, sperm production stops,
testosterone production stops, and the testicle volume reduces. But then if they put
it back, they give the vitamin A back, then all of a sudden the sperm production
starts to happen again. So I mean, this is the reason why we’re talking about it
today. This is why I thought the study would be a really interesting one to talk
about and to kind of center the discussion. Because a lot of the information that
you’ll see about male fertility is focused on a variety of different nutrients. And
there’s tons of studies on tons of nutrients. And I certainly don’t only talk about
vitamin A, I talk about a lot of different nutrients for sperm production. We talk
about different dietary strategies and go through what the research has to say. And
so there’s certainly not just one thing that we should be looking at, but I think
that we should be able to talk about the nutrient that is essentially the on and
off switch for sperm production. And I don’t think that that’s something that many
of us really think about. And then what are the implications then if you are trying
to conceive and your partner has a diet that is devoid of vitamin A rich foods or
at least, you know, if liver is in a part of your regular diet and maybe you
don’t really eat a lot of eggs or maybe you don’t really consume a lot of foods
that would contain it. And as I mentioned, when we’re eating eggs and butter and
different foods, different animal foods, we’re not getting as concentrated of an
amount. So if we’re not eating, if we’re not consuming liver or cod liver oil on a
regular basis, what are the implications of that. And interestingly, in the study,
it’s not surprising, they’re not recommending people go on each liver, they’re
experimenting with the potential for supplementation, retinoic acid supplementation as a
solution. And they’re talking about some of the challenges, because if they provide
too high of a dose of the retinoic acid, it can have negative effects. So they’re
looking at trying to find the right amounts. But one of the things that we can do,
if we want to have a better understanding of could consuming more liver have an
impact is to look at some of the research. And in real food for fertility, I
shared a study in our sperm chapter. So this is the improving sperm quality chapter,
which is chapter nine of real food for fertility. And I have a section that I talk
about a variety of different dietary strategies. So it’s a section entitled poor
dietary habits and it kind of goes through some of the research. And I found this
study and I’ve talked about this study a few different times because I remember
going through, you know, reading the abstract and essentially the abstract was giving
the impression that, you know, oh, the Mediterranean diet is just the way to go.
And it was talking about the different findings. But then when I actually read
through the data, I found this really significant stat. So I’ll just read a little
excerpt here for you. Conversely, consumption of organ meats, fish, shellfish, and
fruits and vegetables is associated with an overall increase in sperm parameters. One
study found that on average, men who consumed organ meat, including liver, had a 53
% higher total sperm count, a 41 % higher sperm concentration,
and 8 % higher progressive sperm motility compared to non -consumers.
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So when I was reading that study, I mean, that was a really significant finding,
like 53 % higher total sperm count, 41 % higher sperm concentration. So there’s this,
you know, the men that are eating liver in particular and other organ meats have a
lot more sperm available. And I think that those findings are significant enough that
they could have titled the paper that. But interestingly, that result didn’t even
make it to the abstract. So if you were to dig through and find that study and
like, you know, find the abstract, you wouldn’t even see that result on it. So that
in and of itself is interesting. I mean, if something can like increased sperm count
by 53%. I feel like we should be talking about it, right? So it’s very interesting
to think about the implications of this study and one of the things that the
researchers talk about. So as they conclude their research and their description,
the kind of step by step process of how retinol is turned into retinoic acid, the
different enzymes that are involved in this very complicated but incredible process by
which men make sperm. They have a final section that is called the application of
retinoic acid in male reproduction. And they go through some common fertility issues
in men that studies have kind of shown this association with retinoic acid.
So the researchers mentioned two specific conditions. So one is cryptorachidism. And
basically that is a congenital condition where one or both testes failed to descend
into the scrotum at birth. So this is, you know, a significant issue because in
order for sperm production to be optimal, the testes hang outside in the scrotum for
a reason because there to be, you know, a minimum of one to two or more degrees
cooler than the rest of the body. So this congenital issue is obviously very
significant. And what the researchers point out is that in this condition,
when they’re researching and comparing subjects who have it versus those who don’t,
they do find that there’s a significantly lower concentration of retinoic acid.
So they’re finding this correlation. And the researchers share some animal studies
that, you know, when retinoic acid is introduced into the situation,
these animals are then going on to start producing sperm, even when previously this
condition was preventing that from happening. So what they’re saying is that, you
know, there is this link to retinoic acid. And given the essential role of retinoic
acid in sperm production and testosterone production and this whole process,
and when also we look at animal studies that are done in female animals, so when
retinoic acid is deficient or totally devoid in female animals.
What you see is what they call in animals, fetal reabsorption. So what sometimes
what you see is that the pregnancies cannot go forward, they can’t go to term. So
when you have a female rat or mouse or something like that and they give them a
totally retinoic acid deficient diet, even if they’re able to conceive, the
pregnancies don’t go to term. If they’re deficient but not like profoundly deficient,
then you see these a variety of different developmental issues. So you may have mice
born without eyes or born without ears or things like that. That’s only at the tip
of the iceberg. So retinoic acid, vitamin A, retinol, pick the term that you wanna
use. It plays a really significant role in reproduction. So then my question would
be, is it possible that a deficiency in retinoic acid could even contribute to a
condition like that but they were looking at it in terms of this connection between
this condition and a vitamin A deficiency and what potentially happens when we
introduce vitamin A into that situation. So there’s an interesting connection between
varicoseal and retinoic acid and the researchers shared some studies that showed that
the administration of retinoic acid so acid, so vitamin A decreased the oxidative
stress. One of the key factors that when Lily and I wrote Real Food for Fertility
and we’re talking about sperm and egg quality, one of the biggest factors is this
concept of oxidative stress and how it can have a negative impact on the quality,
how it can have a negative impact even on the DNA integrity. And so a lot of the
approaches, supplementation, dietary approaches to supporting egg and sperm quality are
directly related to reducing oxidative stress. That’s why we talk about a lot of
antioxidants for these, this specific area of fertility and supporting egg and sperm
quality. And so this, these researchers are saying that the treatment of, in the
studies that they looked at with retinoic acid reduced the oxidative stress and
protected sperm from this damage. And so for has implications to improve fertility in
men with varicoseal. And the third piece of this puzzle that they talked about was
low sperm count and poor sperm quality. And so they’re saying that some infertile
men have been found to have low levels of an enzyme that is needed to make
retinoic acid. And so they shared a small study where they gave these men oral
retinoids. So they’re giving them a supplement of retinol and they found that it
increased sperm count and morphology. And so again, like the study that I shared
with men who just ate organ meat compared to the men who didn’t. So just looking
at the population data and summarizing it, they were seeing that men who were
consuming liver regularly did have an increased sperm count. So it’s not necessarily
surprising that when they had men with low sperm counts and they You know retinoic
acid knowing the depth of the research on the role of retinoic acid in sperm
production that it did improve it So what does this mean for us? Right? Like what
do we take away from this? I feel like I feel like the results speak for
themselves So again, the reason why I wanted to talk about this is because it’s so
interesting to me that that people don’t necessarily talk about this I think that
there is a significant role here. The research is very, very clear.
And retinol has been found to have this such a profound effect that we could
literally call it like the honor and off switch first burn production and
testosterone production. So the takeaway from my perspective is that it’s a good idea
to consider adding in liver and organ meats into your diet. For both men and women
today we focus primarily on men, but if you’re trying to conceive, if you’re
planning to conceive in the near future, there is kind of an increasing number of
men who have been found to have low testosterone. And of course, that’s a whole
other topic, and there could be many, many reasons. But one thing to consider is
that given that liver contains vitamin A, and vitamin A has been found to
essentially be on and off switch for sperm production and industrial production, it
would make a lot of sense to consider incorporating it and seeing what happens. And
this is something where when you look at the research and they talk about
supplementation, it’s not always so straightforward and they talk about how sometimes
too much could be a problem and things like that. But when we’re consuming these
nutrients and food and they’re coming from these natural sources, our bodies know how
to deal with them, and again, we do have research to show that it can make a good
difference. So the takeaways from today’s episode are that retinol,
vitamin A from animal foods we’re not talking about beta -carotene, has been shown to
have a really crucial role in sperm production to the point that if we’re not
getting vitamin A, men are not able to produce sperm without it, so it plays such
a central role in this process that, without it, sperm are not going to be
produced. And when it’s deficient, it does impair sperm production, so that potential
there is impaired. Research has linked vitamin A to certain conditions that we talked
about. And in a lot of those studies, they’re showing that adding in a supplement
of retinoic acid has improved the sperm production and the output. So this is really
just the tip of the iceberg. I mean, today we literally covered one nutrient. If
you were to have a read through the sperm chapter of real food for fertility, I
mean, we certainly don’t spend all those chapters in over 250 citations talking about
only one nutrient. So I think for couples who are struggling to conceive, while it’s
not always male fertility at the core issue, we do find that 30 % of cases of
infertility are related to male factor. Specifically, male factor infertility is the
cause for 30 % of all infertility cases. And in 50 % of infertility cases,
male factor is a contributing factor. So up to 50 % of the time,
we have, you know, for couples that are struggling with fertility issues, the men
are involved. One of the things that I talk about a lot in the chapter I’ve talked
about in the podcast, we share it with our practitioners and our practitioner program
is that I have yet to work with a female client whose partner has had a sperm
test who is really provided with a detailed breakdown of what it means and their
practitioner has really explained to them what the WHO guidelines say and how that
might compare to optimal and all of the things that we talk about. Because
ultimately the bar for sperm is very low. In 2010, the World Health Organization set
the lower limit for sperm parameters. And it was based on a really interesting
study. So they looked at over 2 ,000 couples. They looked at which couples
successfully conceived within one year of trying, and then they measured the sperm
parameters of all of those men. So all of the men whose partners successfully
conceived within one year of trying, they measured all of their sperm. And out of
that, in the study itself, they plotted on a graph, and I share this information in
Real Food for Fertility. And they looked at the lower fifth centile. So, you know,
if you think back to junior high math class, that means that 95 % of the men would
have better sperm parameters than the lower 5th centile, right? And that is what the
WHO criteria is based on. So in no way, shape or form, does that criteria tell us
what’s optimal? It just provides us with a very low bar below which there’s probably
an issue that needs to be looked at. So when all these women are being told that
their partner sperm is totally fine. It’s all great. There’s usually more of the
story and this represents a really great opportunity for couples who are trying to
conceive. It doesn’t mean it’s always just going to be the perfect solution, but
it’s certainly something that is not being looked at enough. And it’s one of the
very few areas of fertility where you can get like really specific information.
I mean, your partner ejaculates into a cup and they count the sperm and you get
these very definitive numbers. And if you start out, the numbers aren’t so great.
Within four to six months of following a nutritional protocol and incorporating
evidence -based nutrition that has been shown to improve sperm parameters can really
change those numbers. It’s not overnight. Obviously it takes a minimum of three
months or so, 74 days, according to the research for a sperm to go through the
entire process of spermatogenesis from start to finish. So you don’t see the results
in the actual output for at least three to four months. And I would say, four to
six months, give yourself a decent timeframe of consistent application of the changes
that you’re making before you’re starting to really expect big results. But there’s a
lot of potential there. And this is certainly a missed opportunity for many couples
because It’s not something that is always talked about. And because the parameters of
what is considered normal for a sperm test are so low, many couples are just under
the false impression that it’s totally fine. So definitely a lot to think about. So
I am going to leave this here. And if you found today’s episode to be helpful,
if you can think of somebody who really needs this information today, then I I
certainly encourage you to share it. And you’ll find the episode at fertilityfriday
.com /594. And when you jump over to the show notes page,
that’s where you’ll also find the research that we talked about. And this series,
the Fam Research series, has been going on for quite some time. And in the series,
I’m going through interesting papers, interesting research, and just talking it
through. And it’s really a treasure trove of information for those of you who,
like me, are curious about these topics and curious about what the research has to
say about it. And one of the things that I know is that many of our practitioners
absolutely love the series and it often sparks conversations within our programs just
because we’re going through all of this different information in such depth.
So I hope that you enjoyed today’s episode. I hope you have a wonderful week
weekend whenever you’re tuning into the show. And of course, as always, until next
time, be well and happy charting.
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