This is the ultimate content guide to the health benefits of guava leaves and fertility (for both males and females).
In this guide, we are going to look at the myths and facts about the role guava leaf tea plays in the management of infertility.
The short answer about guava leaves and fertility: Guava leaves proves itself as an excellent herb for managing the problems associated with fertility. Thanks to its abundant fibers and nutrients content such as folate, vitamins, and minerals, which studies proved to help increase sperm count, egg and sperm viability, and control of hormonal imbalance.
Read on for a step-by-step in-depth guide.
Important: experts recommend this fertility supplement. You can check it here. It is found to quickly boost both women and men fertility and also increase chances of getting pregnancy.
Overview
Guava is an incredible plant that is blessed with so many health benefits, which were enjoyed long before our generation.
It was popularised that Asians traditionally used the leaves for the management of stomach problems and it was also one of the popular herbs in Brazilian folk medicine.
On the other hand, scientific studies in this generation explored the numerous health benefits of guava and also reaffirmed the usefulness of guava in the management of cancer and brain disorders.
Learn more about the health benefits of guava here
All these benefits can be attributed to the rich phytochemical compounds, soluble fibers, and water that are parked in both guava fruits and leaves.
Learn more about the nutritional value of guava here
But, before we jump right into the main points, it is important to shed light on the important parts that lie between fertility and infertility, which include the meaning of infertility, causes, symptoms, and foods that contribute to infertility.
What are Fertility and Infertility?
Fertility can simply be defined as the ability to conceive whereas infertility is a condition where a female is not being able to conceive despite having unprotected sex and frequent sexual intercourse for at least one year.
Infertility may be a result of a husband or wife. If the woman is infertile, it will be hard for her to get pregnant. And if it is a male that is infertile, it is hard for him to impregnate the woman.
What are the Causes of Male Infertility?
Causes of infertility can be categorized into three main groups.
These include:
- Environmental causes
- Medical causes
- Lifestyle changes
The environmental causes of male infertility include:
- Industrial chemicals
- Heavy metal exposure
- Radiations
- Overheating the testicles
The medical causes of male infertility include:
- Infection
- Tumors
- Varicocele
- Ejaculation issues
- Hormonal imbalance
- Prior surgeries
- Chromosomes defects
- Undescended testicles
- Certain medications
- Defects of tubules that transport sperm
- Problem with sexual intercourse
The lifestyle changes that cause male infertility include:
- Depression
- Weight gain
- Tobacco smoking
- Alcohol use
- Drug abuse
- Emotional stress
Symptoms of Male Infertility
- Reduced sexual desire
- Inability to smell
- Erectile dysfunction
- Pain and swelling in the testicles area
- Recurrent respiratory infections
- Abnormal breast growth
- Decreased facial and body hair
- A sperm count lower than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen
Learn more about male infertility
Causes of Female Infertility
Loss of fertility in females can also be categorized into three main causes.
- Medical causes
- Environmental causes
- Lifestyle changes
The medical factors responsible for female infertility include:
- Failure to ovulate
- Infections
- Endometriosis
- Uterine fibroids
- Implantation failure
- Menstrual cycle problems
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Defects in the reproductive system
- Primary ovary insufficiency
- Autoimmune disorders
- Failure of the female egg to mature properly
Learn more about the causes of female infertility
The environmental causes of female infertility include:
- Industrial chemicals
- Heavy metal exposure
- Radiations
- Overheating the testicles
The lifestyle changes that cause female infertility include:
- Depression
- Weight gain
- Tobacco smoking
- Alcohol use
- Drug abuse
- Emotional stress
Symptoms of Female Infertility
- Inability to get pregnant after one year of unprotected sex
- A very long menstrual cycle usually 35 days
- Irregular menses
- Absent of menses
Foods that Causes Infertility
- High mercury fish
- Trans fats
- Foods with high glycemic load
- Low-fat dairy
- Heavy alcoholic drinks
- Refined meat
- Red meat
- Raw animal products
- Refined carbohydrates
Guava Leaves and Male Fertility
Guava leaves tea and extract may help prevent and control male infertility.
Several in vitro and in vivo studies made on animals have shown that guava leaves extract can improve male fertility.
For instance, according to this study, guava leaves extract enhanced sperm count in rats with gossypol-induced sperm toxicity.
What happened in this study was that 24 wister rats were selected and divided into 4 groups with each group containing 6 wister rats.
1, 2, and 3 groups were given 14mg/kg daily of free gossypol for 53 days through oral administration.
The rats in groups 1 and 2 were treated orally with 250mg/kg/d and 500mg/kg of guava leaves extract respectively.
The rats in group 4 were treated with normal saline to serve as a control.
Analysis of the result showed that there is no significant difference between groups 1 and 4 in sperm count.
However, a significant increase in sperm count was observed in group 2 when compared with rats in group 3.
Moreover, the result analysis also showed that mean sperm motility for groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 are 78%, 82%, 30%, and 65% respectively.
Additionally, in a different study, it was also showed that the aqueous extract of guava leaves prevented Albino rats from the effects of caffeine-induced sperm toxicity.
Unlike the previous study we cited above, this study recruited 30 matured and healthy albino rats into an experimental model.
Albino rats are animals that show some similar reproductive characteristics to humans.
These rats were divided into 5 groups with each group containing 6 albino rats.
The rats in group 5 were designated as control while the remaining groups were labeled as C, A200, C+A250, and C+A500.
The control group contains rats that are neither treated with caffeine nor with aqueous guava leaves extract.
Group C contains rats that are treated orally with 200mg/kg caffeine while the A250 group contains rats that are treated orally with 250mg/kg of aqueous guava leaves extract.
The C+A250 group is made up of rats that received 200mg/kg caffeine and 250mg/kg of aqueous guava leaves extract.
And the C+A500 contains rats that were treated orally with 200mg/kg of caffeine and 500mg/kg of aqueous guava leaves extract.
The experiment was carried out within 65 days of oral treatment with both caffeine and aqueous guava leaves extract.
Analysis of the result showed that caffeine-induced Albino rats who received treatment with aqueous guava leaves extract were prevented by the aqueous extract of the guava leaves from the effects of caffeine-induced sperm toxicity.
However, albino rats who were left without guava leaves extract supplementation showed a significant decreased in sperm viability, sperm count, and sperm motility.
The result showed an increased abnormality of sperm head in caffeine treated albino rats when compared with the rats within a control group.
Main points: despite these two studies were made on animals, the studies can still provide promising data with regard to the health benefits of guava leaves for male infertility.
Guava Leaves and Female Fertility
The safety of guava leaves tea or extract in women is not well studied.
However, it was found that most Asians and tropical Americans take guava leaves tea to reduce pain associated with period cramps.
And according to the Journal of Diabetes.co.uk, diabetes types 1 and 2 may contribute to women’s infertility.
Moreover, one study also suggests that women with type1 diabetes are at risk of reduced fertility.
Several studies have highlighted the role of guava in the management of glucose levels in the body.
For instance, one study like this showed that guava fruits are effective in lowering sugar levels and total serum cholesterol.
Another study also showed that guava leaf extract reduced the elevation of blood glucose levels.
This will be good information for those women who are suffering from infertility due to diabetes.
But, we are not recommending you (woman) to take guava leaves tea without guidance from your doctor. We may recommend taking guava fruits without the peels.
This is because the leaves of guava contain a slight amount of steroids and when taken in excess or accumulated in the body of a woman, it may lead to cessation of the period.
In summary, guava leaves and fertility in woman are correlated by the presence of high folate and vitamins in guava leaves, where these nutrients were shown by studies to help boost woman fertility through increasing blood flow to the uterus, controlling hormonal imbalance, and increase of eggs health.
Main points: guava leaves and fruits can improve female fertility but the leaves should not be taken without advice from your personal doctor.
Conclusion
In this article, you will learn the different causes and symptoms of both males’ and females’ infertility. We also discussed the various foods that contribute to infertility and the roles guava leaves and fruits play in the management of both females’ and males’ fertility.
We will like to listen to your views and questions in the comments section below.
Related: Guava DNA Tea Health Benefits
References
Akinola OB, Oladosu OS, Dosumu OO. Spermatoprotective activity of the leaf extract of Psidium guajava Linn. Niger Postgrad Med J. 2007;14(4):273‐276.
U.B. Ekaluo, E.V. Ikpeme, U.U. Uno, S.O. Umeh and F.A. Erem, 2016. Protective Role of Aqueous Guava Leaf Extract Against Caffeine Induced Spermatotoxicity in Albino Rats. Research Journal of Medicinal Plants, 10: 98-105.
“What are some possible causes of female infertility?“
Ruder EH, Hartman TJ, Reindollar RH, Goldman MB. Female dietary antioxidant intake and time to pregnancy among couples treated for unexplained infertility. Fertil Steril. 2014;101(3):759‐766.
Ruder EH, Hartman TJ, Reindollar RH, Goldman MB. Female dietary antioxidant intake and time to pregnancy among couples treated for unexplained infertility. Fertil Steril. 2014;101(3):759‐766.
Junmei Miao Jonasson, Kerstin Brismar, Pär Sparén, Mats Lambe, Olof Nyrén, Claes-Göran Östenson, Weimin Ye, 2007. Fertility in Women With Type 1 Diabetes.
Kumari, Suchitra et al. “Effect of Guava in Blood Glucose and Lipid Profile in Healthy Human Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Study.” Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR vol. 10,9 (2016): BC04-BC07.
Deguchi Y, Miyazaki K. Anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of guava leaf extract. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2010;7:9. Published 2010 Feb 2.
Comments
Is there any side effect?
Author
Guava leaf tea is generally considered safe. But, you may constipate if you drink too much and hot.