Thin men, such as marathon runners, may have low sperm counts, while obese men have low testosterone levels and high estrogen levels, which impede sperm production, Dr. Bates says. Thin women need to gain enough weight to normalize their menstrual cycles, he says. While overweight women don't need to become svelte, they do need to lose enough weight to allow their periods to normalize. This is something every doctor should address before beginning hormone treatment. Lay off the hard stuff.
Experts agree that alcohol is a reproductive tract toxin for both men and women.
And the more you drink, and the longer you drink, the greater the impairment of fertility may be. A study by Harvard University researchers found that women who had more than seven drinks a week were 60 percent more likely to be infertile because of ovulation problems than women who did not drink. But not one of those eager swimmers is ever going to fertilize an egg if your penis can't deliver the goods. We're talking here about potency, or the ability to maintain an erection for intercourse. The same fatty deposits that clog up the arteries to your heart can build up in the tiny arteries to your penis.