India's male infertility burden has risen sharply over the past three decades - prevalence is up nearly 59%, according to Global Burden of Disease data, with men in their late twenties among the worst affected. Diet is only one piece of that puzzle, but it's one of the few pieces a man can actually control.
We spoke to Dr Shikha Malik, Fertility Specialist, Nova IVF Fertility, Kalyan, Mumbai, who explained that sperm production takes close to 90 days from start to finish, which is exactly why nutrition matters so much. "What a man eats today doesn't affect the sperm he has now - it affects the batch his body is building for the next three months," she said, adding that a nutrient-rich diet, combined with a healthy lifestyle, can meaningfully support sperm count, quality, and motility.
There's no single miracle food, Dr Malik was clear on that. But a diet built around vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and healthy fats gives sperm production the raw material it needs. Since the process runs on a 90-day cycle, changes made today may only show up in results three months down the line - which means starting early matters more than most men realise.