Your fertility depends on more than desire to have a baby. Your overall health and the functioning of your reproductive system are clearly entwined. What you eat on a regular basis influences different fertility factors, for both women and men.
The Basics
Your fertility depends on the functioning of your sex organs and your entire endocrine system, which is located throughout your body. These glands and organs work together, like a cascade, or domino effect, triggering and responding to each other. A problem with one part of the system can result in your entire reproductive system working less efficiently. No magic foods or menu plans will boost your overall fertility, but the basis for good health and optimal fertility factors is a healthy diet.
Diet
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" is a reputable source for guidance on what to eat and how much. The USDA's guidelines are also backed by the American Dietetic Association. The latest guidelines call for plentiful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free dairy. They advise that you eat meats, especially red meat, in portions more closely resembling side dishes than the traditional American meal, which has been centered around a large meat entree. The impact of diet on your reproductive system is generally of a preventive nature; that is, if your fertility factors are in good shape, then a basic healthy diet should help you keep things that way. However, some specific situations can be corrected and improved with dietary changes.
Male Fertility
Recent studies are zeroing in on how diet impacts male fertility. The first recommendation is to maintain moderate body weight. Body fat is measured by body mass index, or BMI, and men who measure in the obese range tend to have lower levels of testosterone, the primary male reproductive hormone. Use the link in Resources to calculate your BMI. Studies presented at the 2010 meeting of the American Society For Reproductive Medicine also point to how a diet low in antioxidants and high in meat products or milk can negatively affect sperm factors such as count, shape and movement.
Female Fertility
Weight has a similar impact on your fertility if you're a woman, at both extremes. Too little or too much body fat can result in imbalances of your reproductive hormones, so again, aim for a moderate BMI. One contradictory piece of advice is specifically for women: While low-fat dairy is advised for most adults who want to lose weight or stay at a healthy weight, women who are trying to conceive might want to stick with whole fat dairy products. Based on data from the Harvard Nurses' Health Study, one daily serving of full-fat dairy statistically increased the odds of participants getting pregnant. The study authors believe a connection exists with ovulatory disorders, a particular and common type of female infertility.
Making Fertile Ground
Though not specifically related to your ability to get pregnant, the first nutrient that all women of child-bearing age should be including in their diet, either through certain foods or supplements, is folic acid, or folate, one of the B vitamins. The need for folate is mostly because pregnant women's low levels of this vitamin are directly linked to incidence of certain neural tube defects in their children. You can find folate in fortified cereals, dark leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, and dried beans and peas. If you choose to use a supplement, you should be taking 400 mcg daily.
Dietary Guidance
If you're not sure that your daily diet is the best for enhancing your fertility, you can consult a number of books and a variety of health care and nutrition practitioners for education, recipe ideas and meal plans. You can find registered dietitians through the American Dietetic Association's Eatright.org website. Traditional Chinese Medicine physicians, such as Dr. Randine Lewis, typically utilize more nutritional therapies in their approach to enhancing fertility than conventional Western medicine doctors. The book, "The Fertility Diet," is based on the Harvard study that concluded whole fat dairy is best for pregnancy-minded women. "The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook" was written by a couple who experienced infertility and remedied their situation with the husband's chef expertise. One of the first books written on the topic of diet and fertility is "The Infertility Diet" by Fern Reiss. Infertility specialist physicians should be able to advise you, but if you're in your 20s or 30s, of at least average health, and with no fertility factor "red flags" -- such as trying to conceive for more than a year without success -- you might want to first see how eating the right foods impacts your natural fertility.
References
- American Society For Reproductive Medicine: Highlights from the 66th Annual Meeting -- Fat and Fertility in Men
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Folate
- "Human Reproduction"; "A prospective study of dairy foods intake and anovulatory infertility"; J.E. Chavarro et al; January 2007
- American Dietetic Association: Find a Registered Dietitian
Member Comments