There have been numerous studies that have confirmed the health benefit of Bitter Leaf (Vernonia amygdalina). The latest study published by the Internal Journal of Reproductive Medicine reveals that Bitter Leaf can improve sperm quality. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7142312/
For this recent study, a total of 30 male adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups (n = 5/each). Group A served as a control and were given distilled water in addition to normal feeds, group B received 2 mg/kg PRED for 14 days and served as the standard immunosuppressed group, and groups C-F were immunosuppressed as in B but in addition received 50 mg/kg levamisole, low-dose (250 mg/kg) BL, high-dose (375 mg/kg) BL, and low-dose BL + levamisole, respectively. The CD4 counts, hematological parameters, and sperm parameters were analyzed and compared.
Recently an American company; Nature Herbal Life https://www.natureherballife.com/choose-your-supply-of-bitter-leaf-capsules/ developed Bitter Leaf into Capsules and Tea and has made the use and acceptance of African Herbs more popular in the Western world.
Results
There were significant decreases in sperm motility, progressive motility, morphology, and life/death ratio in the animals given PRED only compared to the controls (p = 0.002, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.01, respectively). These were significantly increased in the treated groups, and animals were given levamisole and 250 mg/kg BL showed significantly increased sperm counts compared to the controls (p = 0.04 and p = 0.04, respectively).
