Fertile Foods: The Integrative Science Approach to Fertility: What You Should Know by Nicole McCray
Different methods have been scientifically proven to help in boosting fertility and aiding women who are ready to conceive. They feature natural and artificial methods that help you achieve your goals. One of the most natural and accessible ways to boost fertility is eating the right foods.
Fertile foods are easily accessible and sustainable over time with incredible results. You can rely on these foods when looking to get pregnant to boost your fertility for success. To get a deeper understanding of the kind of fertile foods you should be taking, here’s what you should know.
Eat Antioxidant Foods
Antioxidants are essential in helping to get rid of free radicals that may be found in your body. These free radicals can damage both sperm and egg cells harming the chances of getting pregnant. However, antioxidant foods rich in Folates, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Vitamin E will help eradicate the free radicals.
Studies show that an increase in Folates intake results in higher implantation rates and live birth. Therefore, eating antioxidant foods will help boost fertility and should be prioritized. Here are some foods that are rich in antioxidant properties.
Fruits
Vegetables
Nuts
Grains
Add More Fiber to Your Diet
An increase in fiber intake will help boost fertility by eliminating excess hormones that may hinder implantation. In addition, studies show that increasing your daily fiber intake results in decreased hormone concentrations.
Fiber gets rid of excess hormones by binding excess estrogen to the intestines that is then removed as waste leaving your hormones balanced. Therefore, adding foods that will provide fiber to your diet is essential to boost fertility and increase your chances of getting pregnant. Some of the foods that are high in fiber include:
Fruits
Avocados
Sweet Potatoes
Oats
Vegetables
Whole Grains
Choose Your Protein Sources Wisely
When it comes to adding more protein sources to your diet, you’ll need to be a bit cautious to avoid adding more problems. First, consider if you have any allergic reactions to some protein sources to ensure you stay safe. Rahav Wellness Kinesiology experts emphasis on getting a wellness check to find out about your inner harmony, including food allergies. Once you can identify the protein sources that are safe for you, you’ll need to add them to your diet to help boost fertility.
However, with proteins, aim to replace red meat with white meat like fish or chicken and always remove excess fat from any meat sources. Animal protein is a great option, but you can also substitute it for plant protein. When choosing your protein sources, you’ll need to consider what will help boost your fertility and not harm your progress.
Add in Healthy Fats
When we talk of adding fats, most people will immediately shy away and associate it with health problems and weight gain. However, in this case, when looking to boost your fertility, healthy fats will be an essential component in your meals.
Note that we are not referring to trans fats. Trans fats cause most health problems that make people avoid healthy fats. Trans fats have also been linked with infertility in men and women, showing that you should avoid them.
On the other hand, healthy fats help reduce inflammation in the body, which aids in regular ovulation and boosts fertility. Therefore, you should aim to include these healthy fats in your meals with moderation to help increase your fertility. Some examples of healthy fat sources include:
Avocado
Greek yogurt
Olive oil
Nuts
Grapeseed oil
Eat Complex Carbs
Complex carbs are a great addition to your diet when boosting your fertility. Adding more carbs to your diet helps balance your hormones and results in regular ovulation and easier implantation.
However, with refined carbs like white bread, white rice, and cookies, among others, you find that your fertility is inhibited. Refined carbs have a high Glycemic Index and result in a spike of insulin after the body breaks them down.
High insulin levels interfere with ovulation which harms your chances to boost fertility. Therefore, add more complex carbs to your diet that are not processed to reap great benefits. Some complex carbs to add to your diet include:
Peas
Whole grains
Beans
Whole wheat bread
Quinoa
Sweet potatoes
Complex carbs are essential, but if you have any hormonal conditions like PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), you’ll need to examine your choices closely. Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you have in a day to ensure that you are on the right path to boosting your fertility. In addition, avoiding carbohydrates with gluten will help reduce inflammation and encourage regular menstrual cycles.
Increase Your Dairy Intake
Add high-fat dairy into your diet to help boost your fertility and avoid consuming low-fat dairy products. Low-fat dairy may cause ovulatory infertility and hinder your efforts to get pregnant. To help you make the switch, take it one step at a time and try to sneak high-fat dairy into your diet slowly.
High-fat dairy products feature probiotic microbes that boost fertility and aid your unborn baby's health. If you find that adding dairy doesn’t help you conceive, consider cutting it off. First, however, ensure that you consult with your doctor to get a sustainable way to supplement Calcium and meet your needs.
Avoid Caffeine and Soy
To boost your fertility, avoid caffeine from coffee and tea. It may interfere with the consistency of your cervical fluid. Therefore, limit your intake to under 200 mg per day. If you have access to herbal teas, you can swap them for regular coffee and tea. Herbal teas boost fertility and would be a great addition to your diet.
Soy is also one food that should be avoided when trying to get pregnant. This is because it contains soy protein isolate that features properties similar to estrogen.
These estrogen-mimicking properties result in hormonal imbalance, which interferes with your goal to boost fertility. Therefore, staying clear of soy products when trying to conceive is essential to help you meet your goal.
Nicole McCray is a music teacher. Before she discovered her passion for teaching students how to play their first instrument, Nicole was pinching pennies in her 20s while singing at dive bars across the country. Nowadays, she spends her days contributing to music blogs, parenting forums, and education websites when she’s not providing private music lessons. She finds joy in sharing her insight with musicians, fellow teachers, and parents of musicians-in-training!