Women have been blessed with the ability to conceive a biological child. This is known as female fertility. You and your partner might have made the decision to start a family. With this, there might have been certain thoughts around improving one's fertility. The possibility is there. In this article, we will provide you with a few tips on how to improve your fertility by focusing on The Fertility Diet.
Bottom Line:
Female fertility is the ability to fall pregnant. Here you will find nutritional tips on how to improve fertility in women.
What Is The Fertility Diet?
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School has recently published a review on the impact one's diet has on fertility. Evidence has shown that there are a few key vitamins and nutrients that are linked to boosting a woman's fertility. This review also stated the food that had little to no effect on fertility, as well as foods that have a negative effect.
Before we break down the different dos and don'ts concerning nutrition, first let us take a look at what The Fertility Diet is. This change in diet, in combination with a healthy weight and regular exercise, aims to boost ovulation, thus improve fertility in order to help you get pregnant faster. This diet is not the quick fix for falling pregnant, however, it is backed by research to help boost the process. This diet consists of 10 steps. To see results, you do not have to follow all the steps.
Bottom Line:
The Fertility Diet aims to help improve a woman's fertility and ultimately help you fall pregnant faster. The diet is filled with nutritional do's and don'ts that will help you on your journey to conceive a biological child.
10 Easy Steps To Boost Fertility In A Woman
1. Avoid Trans Fats
Trans fats are seen as bad fats. It is found in pie crusts, refrigerated cakes, biscuits, crackers, frozen pizza, doughnuts, margarine, and ready-to-use frosting. Basically, it is found in most processed and fried foods. Read the nutritional label on the product to ensure you are not filling your body with these fats. It is also noteworthy that trans fats not only reduce your chance of falling pregnant, it also clogs the arteries which is a general health issue.
2. Consume More Unsaturated Vegetable Oils
Following from step one, it is best to rather choose unsaturated vegetable oils, which are seen as good and healthy fats. Good sources include canola oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds, and also cold water fish. The best choices would be salmon and sardines.
3. Add More Protein From Vegetables
Take one meal every day and replace the meat portion (which includes chicken, beef, pork, or mutton) with a vegetable protein. Examples to choose from include beans, soybeans, peas, nuts, or tofu. It is said that when 5 percent of your total calories come from eating vegetable proteins, the risk of not ovulating drops by 50 percent. This is a very healthy general guideline to follow.
4. Choose Whole Grains And Less Refined Carbohydrates
This step is quite an interesting one. To start off, good carbohydrates include oats, beans, and vegetables (such as broccoli, bell peppers, and asparagus). On the other hand, bad carbohydrates are usually those that are refined - meaning it has been processed and much of the fiber has been removed. These include white bread, rice, pasta, pies, cookies, and candy. Here it is best to choose the whole wheat options.
Nonetheless, the interesting part about this step is the fact that the body takes bad carbohydrates and turns it into sugar quicker than less-refined options. Thus, there is more sugar in the bloodstream which is turn requires more insulin to be released. Because insulin is a hormone, overproducing it means the levels of other hormones in your body will be changing as well. These include the sex hormones required for menstruation and ovulation. In this case, extra insulin will trigger and an increase in testosterone production which can lead to stopping ovulation.
The good news is that this can be reversed by choosing the right carbs to bring down your insulin levels.
5. Include High-Fat Dairy Products
This is a step all women will be happy to see, however, it is not a ticket to justify late night overindulging. Why do we say this? Because one of the options to choose from is ice-cream. Studies have shown that women who enjoy a scoop of full-fat ice-cream at least two times a week had a higher rate of ovulation than women who did not eat ice-cream. Other options include a glass of whole milk or a small amount of full-fat yogurt. It is best to replace one low-fat or skimmed fat serving for a high-fat serving per day.
6. Take A Multivitamin
It is wise to take a multivitamin every day. This will not only help boost fertility but also benefit your overall health and well-being. It is recommended that women of childbearing age take at least 400 micrograms of Folic Acid per day, in addition to other food sources containing Folic Acid. Vitamin B is also an important nutrient that could increase your chances of falling pregnant.
7. Improve Iron Intake
Studies show that women who take an iron supplement or multivitamin containing iron has a 40 percent lower chance of not falling pregnant. If you rather wish to consume iron-rich foods, you can choose between different fruits, vegetables, and beans. The best source of iron will come from spinach, pumpkin, tomatoes, and beets.
8. Drink Water
Drinking water is the best way to keep the body hydrated. It is also best to avoid sugary drinks as these may reduce your chances of becoming pregnant.
9. Maintaining A Healthy Body Mass Index
When a woman weighs too much or too little, it may disrupt the normal menstrual cycle and throw the ovulation time off course. It is best to stay within the Body Mass Index (BMI) range of 20 and 24. Other sources indicate a BMI between 19 and 25. Nonetheless, it is important to maintain healthy eating habits and to exercise regularly.
10. Exercising Regularly
The last step in this diet is to start exercising. This will support your new eating habits and help you stay in the correct fertility weight zone. Just remember, you do not have to overdo it as this will also negatively affect your chances.
Bottom Line:
There are 10 steps you can follow to help improve your chances of falling pregnant. A few include foods that you should consume, foods you should not consume, exercising, drinking water, and taking a multivitamin.
The Ultimate Take Home Message For All Women
In this review, it is clear that The Fertility Diet is backed by research. A great thing about this diet is the fact that it will also help you improve your overall health in addition to boosting your fertility levels. It is also wise to keep up a healthy diet whilst you are pregnant to ensure you stay healthy and your baby can grow and develop optimally. Thus, if you are thinking about pregnancy and want to increase your chances the healthy way, trying out the steps above can help you reach your goals.