Make These Diet Changes to Improve Your Fertility

The road to parenthood might be more difficult than you and your partner expected. Research tells us that fertility issues affect about 15% of couples. This may cause you to wonder what you can do to boost your fertility. 

Nutrition and body weight have a huge impact on your ability to conceive. While you can’t prevent everything that leads to infertility, you can control your eating habits. 

At the Center for Human Reproduction located in the Upper East Side of New York, New York, our team of infertility specialists led by Norbert Gleicher, MD, FACOG, FACS, and David Barad, MD, MS, FACOG, is passionate about helping couples take control of their fertility. 

Let’s look at diet changes that can improve your fertility. 

Foods to eat for boosted fertility 

Many experts agree that a Mediterranean-style diet is the best for both male and female fertility. This diet isn’t a fad, but rather, it’s a style of eating that’s rich in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, plant-based fats, and lean proteins. 

These are some specific foods to include in your diet:

• Raw, whole fruits and vegetables (avoid juicing or cooking whenever possible)
• Nuts, avocado oil, and grapeseed oil
• Brown rice, quinoa, and millet
• Legumes, seafood, and poultry

Eating this way benefits your health in general, so it makes sense that it can help with fertility as well.  To fill in any nutritional gaps, make sure you’re also taking a multivitamin supplement.

What to avoid to boost fertility 

A diet focused on improving fertility probably should not include the following: 

• More than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day
• Alcohol 
• Sugary foods or beverages or artificial sweeteners
• Saturated fats and oils
• Trans fats
• Low-fat dairy products

Various studies support that these foods and drinks can have a negative impact on fertility.  

How body weight impacts fertility 

Eating a balanced diet can play a tremendous role in helping you achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. Being underweight and overweight can drastically impact your hormonal function which, in turn, impacts your ability to conceive. 

By eating a nutrient-filled diet, your body can get what it needs for optimal hormonal function, giving you the best chance of conceiving. You can also include consistent amounts of moderate exercise to help with healthy weight management. 

For more information on what you can do to boost your fertility, call our office at 626-385-7918 or book an appointment online today.