More and more people are waiting to have children later on in life, but the longer they wait, the fewer chances they have for viable pregnancies. This can be quite heartbreaking, even more so if they’ve been trying for a while.
But this doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for them. Before heading to the nearest fertility clinic, there are other options that should be considered first. Here are a number of ways to naturally boost your fertility to increase your chances of having a baby.
- Increasing Antioxidants
Eating foods that are rich in antioxidants is one way you can start increasing your fertility, for both men and women. This is because antioxidants are responsible for removing free radicals from the body, which are known to cause damage to the body’s cells.
This include the sperm and egg cells as well. Several studies have shown that eating antioxidant rich foods like walnuts every day can increase sperm quality in men, and couples who took antioxidant supplements while undergoing invitro fertilization had greater chances of conception.
Many foods to consider including in your diet on a more regular basis include grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables that are rich in betacarotene, lutein, and vitamins C and E.
- Packing In At the Start of the Day
For women who have fertility problems, the answer may be to start eating bigger breakfasts in the morning. This is because some women may suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome, which is a major cause of infertility.
So how does a big breakfast fix this? It can improve the hormonal effects of the syndrome by reducing insulin and testosterone levels. Higher rates in these two chemicals can contribute to infertility. Women who ate larger breakfasts also tended to ovulate 30% more than women who ate a smaller breakfast.
Be aware that you have to exercise balance, however. Eating a larger breakfast means that you should shrink the size of your other meals accordingly in order to avoid weight gain. However, if you’re still not seeing results after trying this tip, then you may want to visit the MCRM Fertility.
- Reducing Caffeine Intake
Caffeine has been proven to had an adverse effect on women’s fertility so if you’re a coffee hound, it’s time to go on a break. Women who consume more than 500 mg of caffeine per day take at least nine months or more to get pregnant. Having an increased intake rate of caffeine can also increase your chances for a miscarriage so it may be time to put the coffee, black tea, and colas away.
- Reducing Trans Fats in the Diet
Although everyone should be eating less trans fats overall, it’s especially important if you want to conceive. Trans fats are also associated with infertility in women as they have a negative effect on the amount of insulin being produced by the body.
If you’re trying to figure out what to cut out of your diet, then you should get rid of any food that’s been cooked in hydrogenated vegetable oils. This includes fried and baked goods, margarine, and processed products. Instead, choose monounsaturated fats in order to increase your fertility, and they’re much healthier for you as well, which you can find in olive oil, certain nuts, and avocados.
- Eating Better Carbohydrates
A lower-carb diet is generally more healthy overall, but it’s especially helpful for women who have polycystic ovary syndrome. Reducing your intake will reduce insulin levels within the body and encourage weight loss. As with the other suggestions mentioned above, reducing your carb intake can increase your fertility.
But if it’s unavoidable, you can always matter choices about the kinds of carbs you have in your diet. Refined carbohydrates are definitely worse for you, because there is no nutritional value outside of the sugar. Unrefined carbs, such as sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta and bread, and whole grain rice, are better for you since they also come with fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals. Fiber content helps the body to digest the sugars present more slowly, leading to less sugar spikes and crashes.
- Choosing Better Proteins
There are alternatives to animal proteins that are much healthier for you, like vegetable protein sources. Beans, nuts, and certain seeds are said to be better for reversing fertility problems, so you should definitely include more of them in your diet. This doesn’t mean you have to go full vegan and replace all of your protein with plant sources, but it’s a good idea to decrease the amount of meat you’re actually eating on a regular basis if you’re trying to conceive.
- More Fiber In Your Diet
Fiber helps your body to get rid of excess hormones and reduces your blood sugar to a more balanced level. Some of the best high-fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Fiber also binds excess estrogen to the intestines so that they can be digested and removed from the body more easily, thereby increase infertility.
However, there are other studies that suggest that women between 18 and 44 who were eating at least 20-35 grams of fiber every day seemed to have a higher risk of abnormal ovulation cycles, which can drastically effect planning the best days to try conception.
- High Fat Dairy is Better
Studies have shown that consuming low-fat dairy can actually have a detriment on your fertility rates, while high-fat dairy sources can increase it, making it easier for you to conceive. Having at least one or two servings per day or at least once a week has proven to provide great benefits for those who are trying to get pregnant.
- Being Active
Exercise is key to maintaining a healthy weight but did you know that it can also increase your fertility? Getting at least one hour of exercise every week provides rich benefits if you’re trying to conceive. It balances out your hormone levels, removes any excess weight, and gets the blood moving so that it’s more oxygenated.
However, it’s a good idea to exercise in moderation and to not overdo it. Doing too much high-intensity exercises can actually lead to decreased fertility in women, as these exercises can have a negative impact on the reproductive system.
- Reducing Stress
Everyone knows that having too much stress is not a good thing. It can interfere with the natural functions of the body. Stress can make you lose sleep, interfere with your appetite, and disrupt the normal workings of your inner organs. And this means that it can interfere with your hormone levels as well.
That means that stress can affect your fertility, making it more difficult for you to become pregnant. Having a stressful job, working long hours, and constantly worrying can greatly affect how your sexual organs work. So take the time to give yourself some self-love: put the cellphone away, put on some peaceful music, and relax, even if it’s just for 30 minutes every day. Your body will definitely thank you for it and repay you in kind.
- Iron Intake is Key
Iron is the mineral that is responsible for the normal functioning of the red blood cells. This helps them to carry oxygen around the body more easily, which includes the brain.
A lack of iron not only leads to hemophilia and exhaustion, but it can also affect fertility rates. Consuming iron supplements or increasing your intake of green, leafy vegetables will help to prevent this problem and keep your hormone levels more balanced.
Liver is one of the most iron-rich foods you can ingest, but iron from animal sources has shown to have no effect on fertility levels so it would be a bad idea to rely wholly on liver alone to help you fix the problem.
- Decreasing Alcohol Intake
Alcohol can be a good way to relax on the weekend and at social events, but consumption can actually negatively affect fertility. Drinking 8 drinks per week or more made it more difficult for couples who were trying to get pregnant. In fact, it actually took much longer for them to get pregnant than couples who didn’t drink at all.
The actual results of this are still mixed, as some studies say there is an increase in infertility while others state that there is no correlation between moderate drinking and fertility. However, it’s still a good idea to reduce your alcohol consumption to about 5 drinks per week, since most alcoholic drink do have a lot of sugar in them.
It can be a struggle for a new couple to try and try to have a baby, only to be met with no results. It can feel like they’re failing at creating your perfect little family, but there’s no reason for them to feel that way. With just a few adjustment to one’s normal lifestyle and taking a healthier approach to their diet, they may be able to see results in no time and finally have that bundle of joy they’ve been waiting for.
