Is Sperm Really Good For Your Skin?
Semen contains many nutrients, including proteins, vitamins A and D, minerals like calcium and iron, amino acids (the building blocks of muscle), cholesterol and fatty acids. These are all essential for healthy skin. However, most men don’t get enough of these nutrients from their diet or they’re not getting them in sufficient amounts through sexual activity.
Men need to consume between 0.5 grams and 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight every day.
Men generally get less than this amount from their diets, which means they must supplement with foods rich in protein such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Some supplements contain higher levels of protein but others do not; therefore it is best to obtain your daily requirement from food sources alone.
In addition to providing essential nutrients, ejaculate contains other substances that may have beneficial effects on skin. Ejaculation contains free radicals, which are unstable molecules made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
Free radicals cause damage when they come into contact with other substances in the air. They can cause cell death and inflammation of cells. In the short term, this can have a notable effect on the skin’s appearance. In the long term, free radicals can lead to aging and serious medical conditions like cancer.
However, free radical damage may be prevented by antioxidants in the ejaculate. Antioxidants are a type of molecule that combats free radicals and stops them from damaging other cells.
The antioxidant activity ofsemen may also have health benefits for women such as protecting against certain cancers and regulating hormone levels.
Semen also has a skin-hydrating effect that persists for several hours. This is because it contains sugars and compounds similar to those found in skin lotions.
Seminal plasma is an alkaline solution, which means it has a high pH value. The female reproductive tract is also alkaline so the seminal plasma does not break down the vaginal wall due to acidity, which can happen with some other fluids.
Zinc is an essential trace element in the human diet. It’s an antioxidant and plays a role in the proper functioning of the immune system.
Seminal plasma contains between 3 and 7 milligrams of zinc per ejaculate, which is about a sixth of a man’s daily zinc requirement. Men who have extremely low zinc levels may have reduced fertility or be infertile. It’s possible that they could also have a reduction in sexual desire and lower levels of testosterone.
Sources & references used in this article:
The effects of human skin fibroblast monolayers on human sperm motility and mouse zygote development by AMM Wetzels, APEMPV Zalm, BA Bastiaans… – Human …, 1992 – academic.oup.com
‘One of the good guys’: sperm donor masculinity and the falling Danish sperm count discourse by A Wheatley – Culture, health & sexuality, 2019 – Taylor & Francis
Sperm counts: Overcome by man’s most precious fluid by LJ Moore – 2008 – books.google.com
Issues affecting commercialization of sexed sperm by RP Amann – Theriogenology, 1999 – Elsevier
Human sperm competition by J Quirk – 2008 – Hachette UK
Does enriched rearing during early life affect sperm quality or skin colouration in the adult brown trout? by R Baker – 2014 – books.google.com
Is sperm really so cheap? Costs of reproduction in male adders, Vipera berus by S Yaripour, J Kekäläinen, P Hyvärinen, S Kaunisto… – Aquaculture, 2020 – Elsevier
Effect of Cr (VI) exposure on sperm quality by M Olsson, T Madsen, R Shine – Proceedings of the …, 1997 – royalsocietypublishing.org
cells of the skin);(4) body fluids discharged by the body (eg, urine, sweat, tears, milk, sperm). by JH DUFFUS – Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2002 – academic.oup.com
