Men trying to conceive should avoid alcohol for at least 3 months, research shows

Planning on trying to conceive (TTC)? Make sure your guy avoids alcohol for at least three months before you do in order to prevent developmental issues, the author of a recent study says, adding to the mounting evidence showing the importance of male health in fertility. 

Researchers know that paternal drinking habits can have a negative effect on a baby’s development. Men who drink regularly can have semen that affects the development of the placenta; drinking can also lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)-associated brain and facial defects. It can also affect IVF outcomes.

In a study published in Andrology, Michael Golding, PhD, a professor at Texas A&M University, said clinicians formerly believed it took about a month for the effects of alcohol to clear from the body. Now, they posit that men should avoid alcohol when TTC for longer than previously thought.

“When someone is consuming alcohol on a regular basis and then stops, their body goes through withdrawal, where it has to learn how to operate without the chemical present,” Golding said. “What we discovered is that a father’s sperm are still negatively impacted by drinking even during the withdrawal process, meaning it takes much longer than we previously thought for the sperm to return to normal.”

The team wanted to see how long it would take for the effects of alcohol on sperm to wear off.

“We thought it would be a relatively quick change back to normal, but it wasn’t. The withdrawal process took over a month,” he said.

Understanding the effects of drinking on male fertility

When drinking alcohol, an individual’s liver experiences oxidative stress. This causes the body to make more of certain chemicals, which interrupts normal cellular activity.

Golding’s team discovered that withdrawal causes the same kind of oxidative stress that occurs when a person drinks. This makes the duration of alcohol’s effects on the body beyond what was previously thought.

“During withdrawal, the liver experiences perpetual oxidative stress and sends a signal throughout the male body,” Golding said.

“The reproductive system interprets that signal and says, ‘Oh, we are living in an environment that has a really strong oxidative stressor in it. I need to program the offspring to be able to adapt to that kind of environment,’” he said.

The three-month wait

Golding says that fathers shouldn’t drink at least three months prior to conceiving.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done to get a hard answer, but we know that sperm are made over the course of 60 days, and the withdrawal process takes at least one month,” he said. “So, my estimate would be to wait at least three months.