Are you one of those couples looking forward to entering the journey of parenting and have concerns related to fertility and diet? If yes, we are here to help you out in detailing how fertility and diet are connected.
Although it’s subjective, pregnancy has always been connected to a healthy diet. However, little do we all know is the fact that fertility also depends on the foods we eat. Certain nutritious foods when added to the regular diet can act as a booster to improve the reproductive health of women as well as men.
At the same time, avoiding certain foods help in improving fertility. However, it has to be kept in mind that diet changes might not help in some cases causing infertility in both women and men.
Fertility and Diet – How are they connected?
Past studies done by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School suggests that consumption of Folic acid, Vitamin B12, Omega-3 fatty acids, healthy diets like Mediterranean diet have a positive impact on fertility while intake of Trans fat and other foods such as processed meats, potatoes, sweets, sweetened beverages negatively impacted fertility in case of women trying to conceive naturally.
Speaking about men, healthy diets improve their sperm quality whereas it is the opposite with the intake of diets high in saturated or trans-fat.
Dr. Aswati Nair, Fertility Consultant, Nova IVF Fertility, New Delhi says, “If you’re going through infertility issues, experts suggest eating as if you’re already pregnant can actually help prime your body for conception”.
Fertility and Diet – Know the Right Diet
In the case of a couple going through reproductive technologies, folic acid supplements or a diet rich in isoflavones can help women in conceiving whereas antioxidants can be of help for men’s fertility.
Another observation to be noticed is that women with a higher intake of fast food and little fruit intake had to wait for a bit longer period to conceive when compared to those with healthy food intake. Consumption of carbonated beverages, hard drinks, sodas, and even energy drinks is said to hurt fertility for both men and women. However, intake of diet soda and fruit juice does not affect fertility.
One more noteworthy thing for better fertility is to avoid packaged and processed foods having preservatives.
Men’s fertility can be impacted adversely with Papaya seed extract as it can reduce the sperm count thereby affecting sperm mobility. Similarly, intake of pineapple has to be avoided as well because it contains an anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulation agent which is not good for the immune system.
Few other foods that can be included in the diet to boost fertility are Citrus fruits, Sunflower seeds, Cooked Tomatoes, Beans, Lentils, Asparagus, Oysters, Walnuts, Cinnamon.
Hope this article gave you some clarity on how Fertility and Diet are connected. Stay tuned!
