Optimizing fertility: The role nutrition and lifestyle play by Alexis Brooks
In the journey towards conception, nutrition and lifestyle play pivotal roles, influencing not only fertility but also the overall health of both partners. The truth is optimizing health and fertility should not simply start when a woman wants to get pregnant, but at least 3 months prior. This is because egg and sperm each have a cycle of production before reaching the maturation of what we know them to be. For example, it takes 3 moths for a follicle to mature to be released during ovulation. Similarly, it takes somewhere between 2 and 3 months for sperm to develop. This means that the current diet and lifestyle the couple adopts today will impact their egg and sperm in 3 months. Considering these egg and sperm ultimately becoming the cells of a future embryo really puts into perspective how important diet and lifestyle are in the fertility journey for not just women, but men as well. This article will discuss a holistic approach to achieving optimal fertility.
Nutrition and fertility
In my practice as a women’s health dietitian, I see many women are not properly nourished, which can be a result of a variety of factors. Most commonly, it is not intentional. They are in a hurry in the morning, so they rush out the house without eating breakfast and just drink coffee instead. Or work is hectic, so lunch ends up being more like a quick snack (or selection of snacks) as opposed to a balanced meal. While I hold lots of empathy and understanding for ending up in this scenario, I must acknowledge this does not support optimal health. Conception, when it comes down to it, becomes increasingly challenging when we have not yet laid down a solid foundation. The foundations are the basics such as eating enough food, consistently throughout the day and with variety.
A method to lean on to support nourishing your body is PFF, which stands for protein, fat, and fiber. Each meal should have these three components to support adrenals, thyroid, blood sugar balance, and hormone health, all of which are crucial for fertility. Healthy protein sources include organic poultry, wild caught fish, grass fed beef, tofu, legumes, eggs, nuts and seeds. Nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil, and fatty fish are examples of healthy fats. Fiber can be found in an abundance of plant foods including fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds. It is particularly important that a variety of plants are eaten throughout the week as we know the gut microbiome governs much of our overall health. Aim to eat 30 different kinds of plants throughout the day.
PCOS and endometriosis
For women living with conditions like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis, these factors become even more critical. PCOS is a condition characterized by insulin resistance, irregular menstrual cycles and often elevated androgens. Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the endometrial tissue lining the uterus grows outside of the uterus causing pain, systemic inflammation, and menstrual cycle abnormalities. While each condition presents differently, both can impact fertility and overall health if not addressed and there is much overlap in treatment. Each benefit greatly from prioritizing blood sugar balance, inflammation reduction, a healthy gut, and balancing hormones. This approach can help those with PCOS achieve regular cycles with healthy ovulation, while women with endometriosis can see a reduction in pain and endometriosis lesions.
Lifestyle Factors and Fertility
Beyond nutrition, lifestyle choices significantly impact fertility outcomes. When using a holistic approach towards fertility, there’s no leaving out stress, movement, and sleep as key factors. While it is difficult not to stress out when trying to conceive, especially if you’ve been trying for a while or have not had a successful attempt yet, stress can become a barrier. When we have stress, namely the type that is chronic, our body responds adversely by sending our cortisol up, driving up inflammation and potentially stopping ovulation. Find something that relieves your stress and try to do it most days. Joyful movement like dancing or taking a walk can be helpful as well. Speaking of movement, aim to move your body throughout the week in ways you enjoy. This will help balance blood sugars, support your thyroid, and improve blood flow. Careful not to overdo it though. Overexercising can cause you to not ovulate and can negatively impact your thyroid. Lastly, sleep is probably the single most underrated area. Getting a good quality night’s rest will help protect against oxidative stress that can damage egg and sperm, supports blood sugar balance, and promotes hormone balance.
Furthermore, environmental factors such as exposure to toxins and pollutants can affect fertility. Minimizing exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in plastics, pesticides, and personal care products can help support reproductive health. Ingredients to avoid include BPA, phthalates, parabens, and dioxins. A simple switch to get you moving in the right direction is to move towards products that are unscented or scented using only essential oils. Apps such as Think Dirty and EWG Skin Deep are not perfect but can absolutely help guide you as you make healthier choices for your home. Don’t allow this part to overwhelm you, make swaps at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Here’s 5 things you can start doing today that will improve your chances of conceiving:
1. Bump up your intake of plants to encourage a diverse microbiome and lower inflammation. This can mean having mixed greens versus spinach or mixed berries in place of blueberries.
2. Limit or avoid alcohol altogether. More and more research show it is not great for our health and can negatively affect hormone levels.
3. Take a high quality prenatal that is 3rd party tested. It should include nutrients such as iron, choline, zinc, selenium, vitamin D, and folate. Choose a prenatal with folate in the form of methylfolate to ensure your body can use it in case you have a MFTHR gene mutation. If your prenatal does not contain Omega 3, you may take it separately or ensure you’re eating fatty fish 2-3 times per week.
4. Add joyful movement into your day. It will help you relieve stress, improve mood, promote healthy blood flow and circulation, and support restorative sleep.
5. Switch to glass from plastic for food storage to reduce your exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals that can affect the reproductive system.
Alexis Brooks, founder of Alexis Brooks Nutrition, is an integrative and functional women’s health dietitian. She holds her master’s degree in nutritional science and has received advanced training to become an integrative and functional nutrition credentialed practitioner. Her experience over the 10+ years as a registered dietitian is comprised of work in both clinical and outpatient settings. These experiences helped to shape Alexis ‘expertise in her current role of providing individualized nutrition counseling to women of diverse backgrounds. In her virtual private practice, Alexis particularly works with women struggling with hormonal imbalances, PCOS, endometriosis, and fibroids. Her passion is helping individuals to make healthy lifestyle changes by translating science into easy to digest evidenced based recommendations. Aside from nutrition research, Alexis also enjoys traveling to new destinations to explore different cultures and traditions.
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