Fertility Diets
A lot of couples who are either trying to conceive naturally and undergoing IVF seek naturopathic advice to learn about how they can improve their diet. While there is no evidence based ‘fertility diet’ that exists, we know that reducing inflammation, balancing blood sugar, improving circulation and consuming nutrients that improve egg and sperm quality are all key areas that we can work on to improve fertility. Therefore we can design diets for our patients that are built on these concepts! This article briefly goes over how we can achieve these diet changes with our patients. Remember that if you are having fertility issues, it is important to speak to a professional before making any changes to your diet or starting any supplements.
Reducing inflammation
Inflammation in our bodies can affect egg quality, sperm quality, and the ability of fertilized embryos to implant and grow.
A well known diet that I direct my fertility patients to is the Mediterranean Diet. INHH’s nutritionist Jemma has written an in-depth article about this diet. The Mediterranean diet has been shown in clinical research to have anti-inflammatory effects. It is recommended widely to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.
If there is a lot of inflammation present in the health picture of either the female or the male- for example if the female has endometriosis or either of them have any autoimmune conditions- then a more low-reactive diet approach is needed. In cases like this reducing gluten, dairy and sugar in the diet becomes very important.
Balancing blood sugar
Balancing blood sugar is important as this can high blood sugar levels can increase inflammation, affect hormonal balance and ovulation, and increase miscarriage risk.
The key to balancing blood sugar is to ensure a good balance of carbohydrate, protein and good fats in every thing that you consume! All carbohydrates should be swapped to low GI options. My patients always leave with handouts on how to increase protein and good fats in their diet, and easy swaps from high to low GI carbohydrates.
Balancing blood sugar levels is especially important if our patients suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, as they often also have been diagnosed with insulin resistance. This means that their insulin levels are constantly elevated, and this can lead to high levels of androgens, which can affect ovulation. High insulin levels can also increase miscarriage risk.
Improving circulation
Improving circulation to the ovaries and uterus can be very useful, especially during IVF treatment, if there is low ovarian response or a thin lining in the uterus. Often, it’s the easiest things like ginger and cinnamon that are effective. Drink lemon and ginger tea, and sprinkle cinnamon onto your breakfast or into a smoothie!
There is also a group of foods that increase nitric oxide in your body, and this dilates blood vessels to improve circulation as well! I usually give my patients the list of these foods if I think that it is safe to do so, depending on what type of treatment they are currently receiving.
Nutrients for egg and sperm quality, and foods to consider
This is by far not a comprehensive list of nutrients and foods, but it’s a good start! It is important to note that for some nutrients, high doses are needed to have the therapeutic effect of improving egg and sperm health, and this can only be achieved through supplementation.
Protein- meat, fish, eggs, legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans), quinoa, tofu, greek yoghurt, white cheeses (fetta, ricotta, cottage)
Omega 3- small fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel), flaxseeds, walnuts, chia seeds
Zinc- pumpkin seeds
Magnesium- almonds
Selenium- Brazil nuts
Vitamin C- fresh berries, citrus fruit, leafy greens, dried goji berries (organic)
Vitamin D- egg yolks, daily sunshine
And it goes without saying, but generally eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables will ensure that you get a good dose of the above nutrients and other antioxidants needed for egg and sperm health. With fruit, keep it to 2 servings a day, and eat low sugar options like berries and citrus. Try to eat vegetables of all colours- green, yellow, red, orange and purple- as this means that you get a range of different types of nutrients from your diet.
Appointments for fertility support
When you have an appointment with a naturopath at INHH for fertility support, we will go through your diet with a fine-toothed comb, discuss the types of food that you like, and design a diet for you based on your preferences, your daily activity level, and also taking any other health condition that you may have into consideration. Meal plans can be written up to assist you as well if needed. And of course, we will prescribe the supplements that you require.