Interesting Facts About Human Sperm

Though nearly half the population has it, human sperm isn’t talked about often and there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

• Sperm and semen are not the same thing. Human sperm is part of semen, which is the white fluid released from the penis. The average ejaculation contains 200 million sperm.
• A Dutch microscope maker first discovered human sperm in 1674. He decided one day to look at his semen under a microscope and found sperm swimming around.
• Most ejaculated sperm (90%) is deformed. Normal sperm has a head and a long tail, but many sperm have two tails, two heads, defects in the head or neck, etc. This does not mean men are infertile, however.
• The human sperm determines the gender of a baby. Female sperm (with a X chromosome) are actually stronger swimmers than male sperm (with a Y chromosome) – meaning the likelihood of a female baby is stronger.
• Sperm is about 7 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the rest of the body, needing colder temperatures to live.
• Diet and lifestyle choices impact human sperm health. Men who smoke, drink, consume caffeine, or are obese have lower fertility. Oysters, bananas, walnuts, asparagus, lean beef, chocolate, and water (to name a few) will give you healthy sperm. Doctors also seem to think there is some correlation between what mean eat and the taste of their sperm.
• While women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have, men produce sperm throughout their lives. There is a 42-76 day range from the time of sperm production to maturation to ejaculation. As a man ages, sperm health and count can decline, but it will never stop. Sperm can also live inside a woman for two to five days.
• One testicle is enough – a man with just one testicle is just as fertile as a man with two. Though there may be reduced semen production, a missing testicle does not typically affect fertility.
• Human sperm has many health benefits – it is rich in vitamins such as vitamin C, calcium, citric acid, magnesium, vitamin B12, etc. If you ever find yourself without toothpaste, sperm is good for fighting tooth decay.
• It is also said to be an anti-depressant. According to a study on 293 female college students, exposure to semen can lower symptoms of depression.
• Human sperm that aren’t ejaculated are simply reabsorbed by a man’s body.