Sunday June 30, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new report released in Seminars in Reproductive Medicine suggests that taking antioxidants as nutrition supplements can improve male fertility drastically.

The report cited a recent review published in Cochrane as determining that men taking antioxidants had a significant increase in both live birth rates and pregnancy rates.

The beneficial effect of antioxidants is even more significant for those undergoing assisted reproduction.  According to the report, some studies proved that antioxidant use increased the pregnancy rate by 4-fold and the live birth rate by nearly 5-fold.

Antioxidants can neutralize the oxidative stress, which would otherwise damage the sperm in a process called spermatogennesis, in severe cases, leading to male infertility.

Antioxidants tested for their effectiveness in improving semen parameters  and pregnancy rates include carnitine, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, carotenoids, glutathione, N-acetylcysteine, zinc, folic acid, and coenzyme Q10.

The report was authored by C. Mora-Esteves and D. Shin from New Jersey Medical School University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey. (reporting by Jimmy Downs)