Supporting Fertility through Nutrition

 

In a perfect world, men and women who’ve been trying to conceive should start making dietary changes well before pregnancy. Getting a full blood work panel to review your health is an excellent start. Just knowing your Vit D, HbA1C, and Anemia levels are an incredible first step to identifying any potential issues to your fertility. 

For men our first step is to address if they are overweight as this leads to a higher probability of low sperm counts and sperm levels. Getting rid of wheat (many articles now pointing to this food group as a leading cause of fertility issues) and keeping your sugars (all sugars, even fruit) below 40g a day is a great first step! Women, you have some of the same advice, looking at your health before pregnancy and getting blood sugars, weight and stress levels under control leads to a more successful pregnancy. Think of you being the soil in any garden. The healthier you are, the healthier the baby is growing inside you!

 

 

MTHFR is an enzyme that regulates the folate (which is a vitamin B, that is important in red blood cell formation and for healthy cell growth) production. If this is disrupted (a genetic inheritance from parents) your ability to perform methylation is affected. So what is methylation? It is your ability to regulate your response to stress, immunity, especially in regards to viruses, regulation of brain chemistry, and manages your ability to detoxify your body. 

We are finding women and men with MTHFR (there are a wide variety of mutations) can affect fertility through the role in b vitamin synthesis, which affects the folate production (you are familiar with the synthetic version called Folic Acid). With males this can decrease sperm count and mortality in offspring and in females can affect the process due to the methylation’s job in directing fetus development without defects. 

 

 

Strictly speaking, the optimal food choices for fertility is abundant in good healthy fats, fresh organic vegetables, 1-2 ounces of organic meats, low in sugars and eliminate process foods and all wheat products.

 

1. Have the Vitamins and Minerals You Need

 

Before you conceive, there are several food based supplements and minerals that can help enhance sperm quality, egg quality and reduce the risk of congenital defects. 

We love Olprima DHA/EPA which may assist preserve eggs and increase their quality, increase the motility and quality of the sperm. Cataplex B gf are essential for fertility as well as a healthful pregnancy, this satisfies your need for synthetic folic acid (which has been linked to early miscarriages and nausea). Catalyn for your daily vitamin. Calcium Lactate to help boost your immune system and to also help prevent charlie horses later on. Drenamin for adrenal support. All of these are fantastic for both males and females to take, perfectly safe to continue once pregnant.

 

2. Plants, Plants, and Plants 

 

Men and Women who prefer to take additional organic vegetables and greens have greater degrees of fertility than those who do not take the required portions of each, according to research. The more salads with different types of greens you consume the better.

3. Limit your intake of fake foods

 

Review your dietary lifestyle to see if it includes junk food, drinks, processed meats, and processed carbohydrates. Research also concluded that Sugar-sweetened drink intake (such as sodas) is related to decreased fertility. Diet can also affect this, instead of the instant affect of insulin, it becomes a delayed affect. 

 

Furthermore, research has indicated that women who eat a lot of junk food and little vegetables have a harder time getting pregnant than women who eat a healthy diet. Fast-food consumption, which is typically heavy in saturated (unhealthy)  fats, is found associated with ovulation-related reproductive problems, and manufactured foodstuffs  have also been proven to be detrimental to fertility.

 

 

 

We hope this website supports your fertility experience, whether you follow our suggested fertility lifestyle to the letter or just consider it as a resource to learn a little about what you’re consuming, we wish you great success. This is one of our four part series on fertility, I encourage you to review the other three.