Just a few simple changes to your diet can make a big difference in your fertility.
EAT AS MUCH UNPROCESSED FOOD AS YOU CAN
In Chinese medicine, we believe food contains qi, or vital energy, so an ear of corn receives energy from the sun, which it uses to grow and passes on to you when you eat it. By the time it’s been broken down and extruded into a cornflake it’s lost some of that energy. Processed foods contain fewer nutrients and more chemicals than foods that are in their natural state.
FILL YOUR PLATE WITH COLORFUL FRUITS, VEGGIES, AND LEAFY GREENS
Yellow and orange vegetables contain lots of beta carotene, an antioxidant, which has been shown to maintain hormone balance and prevent miscarriage.
Red vegetables such as tomatoes contain lycopene, a carotenoid, which has been shown to increase sperm counts.
Leafy green vegetables contain folic acid which is important for preventing birth defects and is a vital ingredient for healthy sperm and eggs.
Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage can help with estrogen metabolism and prevents fibroids and endometriosis. In fact, a 2004 study found that women who ate the most fruits and veggies had the lowest rates of endometriosis.
FATS
A lot of people don’t realize that you do need some fat in your diet in order to create certain hormones. In fact, it can be common for people on low-fat diets who have hormone deficiencies. So it’s important to include healthy sources of fat in your diet such as olive oil nuts, seeds, avocado, and oily fish.
PROTEIN
Some people don’t get enough protein which is unfortunate because the amino acids in protein are vital for egg and sperm production, and for making LH and FSH which are important fertility hormones.
You can get your protein from meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, of course, but there are plenty of vegetarian sources of protein too, including beans, lentils, brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains, nuts and seeds (especially sunflower seeds)
There are also people who to get too much protein. People who follow special high protein diets often get too much animal protein and could benefit from replacing some of the animal products they are eating with vegetable proteins. In fact, one of the largest long term studies of women’s health ever undertaken demonstrated that women who got more of their protein from plants and less from animal sources had fewer ovulatory fertility problems.
WATER
Sometimes it is something as simple as dehydration that is keeping a couple from getting pregnant. So make sure you drink 6 – 8 oz of water a day. Dehydration can lead to lower production of the fertile cervical fluid needed at ovulation and can lower semen volume.
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