Unlike women, who are born with all their eggs, men produce sperm continuously. Each cycle of spermatogenesis (production of a new batch of sperm) takes about 72 days—which means the diet and lifestyle choices you make today show up in your sperm in just three months.
The catch: you can’t binge on sugary drinks, live on processed food, and drink heavily for years, then suddenly “clean up” for 90 days before sperm freezing, IVF or trying to conceive and expect a full reset. Long-term sugar and alcohol use can drive insulin resistance, oxidative stress (when reactive oxygen species, a natural byproduct of metabolism, overwhelm your antioxidant defenses), and even lasting DNA damage in sperm that three months of good habits won’t always erase. The earlier and longer you live well, the stronger the foundation you’ll be freezing or passing on.