This is a collaborative post
Most women are aware of the impact that their diet can have while they are pregnant, such as avoiding alcohol along eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. However, some women don’t always appreciate or want to accept that making changes to your diet before you conceive can be equally if not more beneficial.
Changing your diet before a child is even conceived can not only improve your chances of becoming pregnant but also lead to fewer complications during the pregnancy itself. It is hugely important if you are having difficulty conceiving and perhaps seeking the assistance of a fertility clinic such as First Fertility Asia. Most would-be parents are aware of the implications that some medical conditions can play when it comes to fertility but far less is understood about how our diet affects fertility. In this article, we will look primarily at the role of food and drink.
Ovulation and your diet
Alarmingly, your diet has the most significant impact on ovulation, arguably the most crucial part of the whole process of conceiving a baby. If the female has problems during ovulation – the period of the menstrual cycle when the egg is available for fertilisation, the chances of her becoming pregnant are significantly reduced, and indeed, this is the cause of 25% of infertility cases that visit fertility clinics.
Hormones, primarily luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH,) which are secreted by the pituitary gland in the brain, are required to functioning normally for successful ovulation. One of the major factors affecting hormonal balance is our diet, and a poor diet can cause ovulation problems. Therefore, if you are trying to become pregnant, you must eat certain foods while avoiding others.
The results that were produced in a study that was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who were experiencing irregular or even absent ovulation and altered their diet reduced their risk of infertility by 80%. Indeed, Walter Willett, a vital member of the study, wrote a book called The Fertility Diet to benefit women. It suggested changing five or more aspects of the diet as well as increasing your levels of regular exercise.
Hormonal imbalances caused by food
Most women are surprised that the most important hormone when it comes to fertility and your diet is insulin. Of course, it would be foolish to dismiss the role played by the hormones that we perhaps more closely associated with pregnancy, oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone but insulin can affect our bodies in so many different ways.
When there are excessive amounts of insulin, it can affect ovulation in two main ways, the first being that it stops the eggs maturing correctly. Secondly, it increases the risk of an ovarian cyst forming. High insulin levels are usually associated with high carbohydrate diets and foods that contain large quantities of sugar and starch. Often these people have a diet that is high in foods such as white rice, potato and white bread. To metabolise these types of food, the pancreas needs to produce more insulin.
What positive changes to your diet can you make?
Making changes to your diet is a lot easy than people think and will not only increase your chances of becoming pregnant but will also improve your general health. The best place to start is by significantly reducing your intake of food and drinks that contain excessive amounts of sugar along with foods high in “trans fats” such as commercially produce snack foods and surprisingly, many kinds of margarine. Consumption of these items will inevitably raise your insulin levels.
Your objective should be to try and focus the majority of your diet around what would be termed “real foods”. These foodstuffs include those that are either grown, such as vegetables or foods that would be classed as farmed such as meat, dairy and eggs. It is advisable that, where possible, you choose organic foods which will be free from potentially harmful pesticides.
Women who are trying to conceive should try to increase their intake of healthy fatty acids including omega-3 which is common in oily fish such as salmon and sardine, nuts such as walnuts and seeds such as flaxseed. Scientists believe that omega-3 contains hormone precursors which can aid and stimulate healthy ovulation.
The fruit is, of course, healthy and is a good source of fibre, vitamins, minerals and indeed water. However, it should be consumed in moderation as it does contain high levels of fructose, a form of sugar known to cause insulin spikes. The consumption of vegetables is far more desirable due to reduced quantities of sugar that they contain while still containing all the positive features.
Naturally, you must maintain a healthy fluid level when you are trying to become pregnant. The best way to achieve this is by consuming water, herbal teas or even full-cream milk. Carbonated drinks such as colas and lemonades along with sports drinks tend to be high in sugar which will cause a spike in insulin levels. Even drinks describing themselves has “diet” or “light” tend to have little nutritional value.
It doesn’t necessarily mean excess
Most people these days appreciate that many processed foods have little nutritional value. It is for this reason that focusing on real foods is so important as “quality” foods are an essential source of vitamins and nutrients. If you are eating plenty of food, but you have been consuming the wrong food, it is very easy to experience deficiencies in vitamins and minerals such as iron, vitamin D, iodine and selenium. Deficiencies in these nutrients are closely linked to lower ovulation rates.
Vitamin supplements are a fantastic way of being exactly that, a supplement; they should never be a substitute for a balanced diet. If you wish your diet to be pregnancy-specific, it would be a good idea to include foods such as spinach, beans, beetroot, tomatoes and pumpkin which are high in the essential nutrients in particular iron. These are far better than relying on supplements alone.
Let’s not forget the man!
Of course, as the old saying goes, “it takes two to tango”, and while men don’t ovulate, healthy sperm are essential and hormones again control this. Men, just like the female, need to maintain a healthy weight, partake in exercise and eat a healthy diet to maintain their hormonal balance. There isn’t a specific diet recommended for men, but following the same guidelines that have been outlined for the female will certainly be beneficial. Naturally, this will increase the couple’s chances of conceiving.