How a Healthy Diet is Connected to Fertility: Key Insights

Everybody knows that diet plays a crucial role in maintaining your overall health. But did you know that you can use food as medicine to improve your fertility? Here you will learn about the connection between healthy diet and fertility.

Many people struggle with following a healthy, balance diet despite knowing the benefits of a healthy diet; this can also happen because people may not know what to eat for improved fertility. Keep reading to know why your daily diet matters to fertility health and learn about the list of foods to include in your diet.

Importance of Diet in Fertility

Good nutrition is vital for a healthy body and reproductive system. In fact, studies have shown that eating a nutritious diet and making positive lifestyle changes can help boost fertility and prepare your body for pregnancy. What's more, how you choose to live and eat today will influence sperm and egg quality 90 days from now.

If you're trying to get pregnant, it's important that you begin making healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices today. For women, the best diet to increase fertility will be likely rich in folic acid, iron, and other micronutrients. Men are recommended to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to help improve sperm quality.

Nutritional Requirements for Fertility

In terms of macronutrients, here are some recommendations for women who are trying to conceive:

• Carbohydrates through food sources with a low glycaemic index, such as naturally occurring fats and complex sugars
• Fats through food sources with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like omega-3 fatty acids
• Protein largely through plant-based food sources and moderate consumption of animal protein

Studies show that women who are trying to conceive naturally or with any assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) can include the foods rich in the following micronutrients in their healthy diet to boost fertility:

• Folic acid
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin D
• Calcium
• Selenium
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Iodine
• Phytoestrogens

The inclusion of food rich in the above-mentioned nutrients is linked to a potential increase in the chances of success for women. Oftentimes, the doctor will suggest these in the form of supplements to maximise a woman’s pregnancy rates. However, you are recommended to consult a doctor before you start supplementing these nutrients yourself as they may lead to some complications with your reproductive health.

Nutrition is a delicate matter, excess or lack of any of the nutrients has the potential to negatively impact your fertility or your pregnancy. Thus, it is best to consult with a fertility specialist, such as IVF doctors at Nova IVF Fertility.

Additionally, weighing too much or too little can interrupt normal menstrual cycles, throw off ovulation, or stop it altogether. The best body-mass index (BMI) range for fertility is 20 to 24. Working to move your BMI in that direction by gaining or losing some weight can be helpful in realising your dreams of becoming a parent. If you don't get much physical activity and are above the fertility zone for weight, daily exercise can help improve fertility. But don't overdo it: too much exercise, especially if you are quite lean, can interfere with ovulation.

Best Diet to Boost Fertility

If you have been having trouble getting pregnant, paying attention to your diet is important. Healthy eating sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy and forms the foundation of a healthy eating strategy for motherhood and beyond. That's a winning combination no matter how you look at it.

Healthy food and fertility are closely linked; here’s a list of healthy foods that you can include more of in your diet to improve your fertility:

For unrefined carbohydrates:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Whole-grain breads like roti
• Whole-grain pasta
• Rice
• Cereals
• Grains

For high-quality fats such as MUFAs and PUFAs:

• Olive oil
• cold-water fish such as salmon and sardines
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Plant-based oils
• Avocado

For protein:

• Legumes
• Fish
• Lean meat
• Dairy products (especially fermented ones)
• Low-fat poultry products

For other micronutrients:

• Iodised salt
• Milk
• Seafood
• Green-leafy vegetables
• Poultry
• Egg
• Cheese
• Fresh fruits such as berries
• Vegetables
• Spices like cinnamon
• Pulses
• Plant-based oils

Impact of a Healthy Diet on Fertility

A healthy diet is a balanced meal that supports your body and reproductive functions for successful conception followed by a healthy pregnancy.

A Mediterranean diet is a good example of a healthy diet for fertility. This usually consists of a good amount of MUFAs, PUFAs, dairy, whole grain cereals, poultry, legumes, fresh fruits, and vegetables. The low consumption of simple sugar and moderate consumption of fish in the Mediterranean diet is also linked to a fertility boost. This type of diet also supports ART and may increase your chances of conception if you are taking IVF treatment, for example.

Impact of an Unhealthy Diet on Fertility

If your diet lacks the essential nutrients, your reproductive functions don’t work properly. For example, an unhealthy diet can impair ovulation and increase your risk of conditions like PCOS, insulin resistance, and type-2 diabetes. Such a diet is usually full of processed foods, red meat, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), trans fatty acids (TFAs), and sugar and low in dairy, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and dietary fibre among other things.

A healthy diet is needed to replenish the nutrients in your body to prepare for a successful conception and the healthy development of the foetus that will be dwelling inside you for the next 9 months if plan for pregnancy.

Dietary Tips to Increase Fertility

Here are some recommendations for healthy diet and fertility for women who are trying to get pregnant:

1. Avoid Trans Fats

Trans fats are commonly found in hydrogenated vegetable oils and are usually present in some margarine, fried foods, processed products, and baked goods. One should increase the use of unsaturated vegetable oils instead of consuming trans fats and add in more vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.

2. Choose Slow Carbs, Not No Carbs 

Choosing slowly digested carbohydrates that are rich in fibre, like whole grains, vegetables, whole fruits, and beans, instead of rapidly digested carbs can improve fertility by controlling blood sugar and insulin levels. This is especially useful for people who have PCOS.

3. Consume Antioxidant-Rich Diet 

Foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains are packed full of beneficial antioxidants like vitamins C and E, folate, beta carotene and lutein. Taking an antioxidant supplement or eating antioxidant-rich foods can improve fertility rates, especially among men with infertility.

4. Consult Your Doctor, Take a Multi-Vitamin 

Getting extra folic acid (400 micrograms a day) before you get pregnant could help you start eating for two. Extra iron from plants, including whole-grain cereals, spinach, beans, pumpkin, tomatoes, and beets, appear to promote fertility.

6. Drink to Your Health 

The best beverage for keeping your body hydrated is water. Coffee and tea are okay in moderation, no alcohol, you are advised to skip sugared sodas as they appear to promote ovulatory infertility.

Summing Up

Healthy diet and fertility are closely linked, and you can potentially increase your chances of conception of a natural pregnancy or with the help of ART by enhancing your diet.

Consuming a variety of fruits, vegetables, pulses, and dairy products can improve your fertility. If you don’t know where to start or you might need help, consider talking to a fertility specialist at the Nova IVF centre near you.