Why is diet so important in fertility?
Diet is the main energy source of the body giving you the fuel you need to survive.
And as you might imagine, you not only need to fuel your own body but also for the growth of your baby. During pregnancy, it is super important to focus on your diet and health to nourish both yourself and your baby.
When looking into what is the best diet for fertility, we know there are many vitamins and supplements that are needed to enhance or support the hormones and cells, which are essential in the nourishment of reproductive cells.
These nutrients are very important, and it is part of our job as your team of health professionals, to help educate you on what will and won’t support you through a healthy conception and pregnancy.
We hope you find this fertility foods guide helpful, with lots of yummy suggestions to help you along your fertility journey!
To get started here are some key pointers about diet and nutrition in relation to fertility. I have split this into three sections for ease of understanding. It is not only important in what you do and don’t consume but equally as important, is how you consume it.
What is the best diet for fertility?
Eating healthy foods should be the number one priority, and your body absorbs its nutrients best from whole foods (that is whole, not processed, like a whole apple or the whole oat grain).
Organic and hormone-free vegetables and meats. These are respectively, always best as they contain a higher amount of nutrients and are free from artificial fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. This means staying away from processed foods, junk foods, and fast foods to avoid unwanted toxic chemicals.
More specifically, we suggest…
- Nuts and seeds which are highly important for they contain the fertilised germ cells and nutritional requirements for a potential new plant which can help to boost fertility.
- Organic eggs are the complete protein food package. Eggs are naturally an environment that creates and supports the start of life, which can benefit your fertility.
- Adapting natural uncooked fats into your diet as they are necessary for the creation of specific hormones. So include; avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds, and oily fish.
Can stress impact fertility? Here’s our expert opinion.
Coping with junk food cravings
Do you get junk food cravings? These might seem annoying as they could make us eat things that we know aren’t healthy for us, but there is more to cravings than we may think, and it is actually quite important as it is our body letting us know what it needs for nourishment.
However, with the food that is available today, what tends to happen is we give our body a flavour that may soothe our craving for a short period but then it occurs again.
This is because, when we crave sugar, we eat chocolate but foods such as chocolate is a processed sweet that doesn’t actually nourish the body. Therefore, our body asks for more, hence eating a whole block of chocolate (yes, we’re all guilty of this one). In this instance, we should be filling our plates full of sweet potato, pumpkin, sweet corn and other naturally sweet whole foods to help reduce our cravings whilst nourishing the body.
If it is salty/savoury foods and flavours that you are craving, try not going for the packet of chips, instead, try seaweeds that are found in miso soup. Salt is the flavour of the Kidneys, which can also be nourished through beans or bone broth.
These are just the two main flavours that we see clients crave, but if you find yourself craving another flavour, (such as spicy or sour), then let us know and we can have a chat about it in our next appointment!
Water intake for fertility health
Making sure you drink enough water to stay hydrated will help to produce more fertile cervical mucus at ovulation and boost male’s semen production. But not just any water, filtered water is quite important due to the fact that our tap water contains many chemicals.
Food and drink we recommend you avoid
Coffee affects fertility
As coffee is a natural stimulant, this peps up your nervous system. Drinking coffee on a daily basis will throw off your natural blood sugar levels as well as actually creating an energy deficiency.
This overstimulation of the adrenal glands and nervous system from coffee prohibits the proper functioning of the many imperative fertility pathways, in short, creating a suppressive effect on the female hormones. Stick to a maximum of one single shot coffee per day, if you absolutely have to!
Alcohol affects fertility
Alcohol primarily affects the liver and due to the liver has a very close relationship with both male and female hormones, alcohol disturbs this negatively. In females, this is seen in irregular ovulation disturbing the natural cycles of fertility.
In males, it can be directly harmful to the sperm, making sperm weak, slow and damaging to the DNA and structure of sperm.
How to best consume fertility foods.
These points a look into metabolism, energy and the impact of technology.
Eat cooked foods.
The metabolism, unless it is super strong, takes a lot of energy to break down raw food. This is great for the people who have a strong metabolism, but in a lot of us, our digestion is a little weak.
This manifests as bloating, nausea, loose bowels, and so on. So if you are one that has weaker digestion, your body is not going to have the energy to break down the food for itself, and therefore, you won’t be getting all the nutrition out of raw food anyway.
Cooking food is using an external energy source to break down the food, and will slowly build up your metabolism to be able to eat what you like. So, yes, this means staying away from the salads. As well as foods that are physically cold.
Don’t consume anything cold
Especially ice. No iced water or ice-creams! as mentioned previously, ice has the negative ability to weaken our digestion. And our digestion is important in fertility as it is where we get our nutrients for a healthy body and a healthy baby.
Don’t watch TV or look at your phone whilst eating
For example, when you are distracted, especially by technology, we tend to be clumsy and unfocused to our surroundings or our body. Our body only has a certain amount of energy that it sends to the part of the body that it is using at the time. So, if you are infatuated by the show that you are watching or scrolling through social media, all the energy is spent focusing on what you are emotionally engaged with, which means that there is less energy to digest the food.
This leads to weaker digestion and food sitting in the stomach for longer and not able to properly process and converted into our fuel.
How can we help you with your fertility?
Our team of experts here at Qi Medicine can work with you and your deity needs, as well as suggesting supplements and herbs to give you the best health outcomes possible. Utilising acupuncture to reduce stress along with your healthy diet may help in creating your own perfect environment for fertility to grow.
Bookings
Book online here or phone the clinic on (03) 8394 7665 to book your acupuncture treatment today.
Are we easy to get to?
Find us on Google maps here: Qi Medicine acupuncture in Moonee Ponds
The clinic is located at Suite 4, Level 1, 151 Pascoe Vale Rd, Moonee Ponds. (Please ensure you take the ground floor elevator to reach us or level one.)
We provide acupuncture to the North-Western suburbs of Melbourne and are close to Highpoint.
Qi Medicine acupuncture is minutes away from Ascot Vale, Essendon, Avondale Heights, Maribyrnong, and Brunswick West. We also service many clients with acupuncture and Chinese medicine in Travancore, Flemington, Aberfeldie, Maidstone, and we are just 10 km from Melbourne city.
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