Nutrition for Fertility

Before I had kids I could eat a small breakfast or skip breakfast completely and it really wasn’t a big deal.  Somehow, I could sustain the morning on a single piece of toast or my café late.  The rules completely changed when I was pregnant.  I absolutely had to eat every 2 hours and I had to start my day with high protein or I was doomed with nausea and light headedness.  After the babies were born and I was breast feeding, not only did I have to eat but I wanted to eat.  I could down three pieces of French toast, a fried egg and a few slices of bacon in three minutes flat and still need more.

When I was trying to get pregnant I weighed about 125 pounds and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of just under 20.  I read that the optimal fertility BMI was between 20 and 25 so I decided that I would try to gain some weight.  I continued to exercise but started eating healthier breakfasts and more “steak and potato” type meals.  I gained a few pounds and got pregnant a few months later.  After my nutritional needs changed during pregnancy I had one of those “Aha” moments.  I realized that it was important to incorporate all of those things we did so naturally during pregnancy before pregnancy if we wanted to optimize our fertility.   It is interesting how the presence of a small being inside of us makes us want to eat well but when it is just us, we tend to forget the important aspects of nutrition. I really try to stress this with my clients who are having trouble getting pregnant.

I recently read a quote from a famous person whose doctor advised her to gain weight to enhance her fertility. She said, “The doctor told me, ‘Gain five pounds.’ I gained seven. I didn’t get pregnant. And I got mad at the doctor. I did everything he wanted me to do.”  This statement really triggered me.  When people say it is important to gain weight to help with fertility, it is not about some extra fettuccine alfredo and a scale.  It is about making long-term, sustainable changes to your diet.  When you make dietary changes, it takes about three months to affect your menstrual cycles and your fertility.  If you have made changes that you cannot sustain, that is a sign that you might be doing something too extreme.

Nourishing yourself for fertility does not equate with removing multiple things from your diet.  Anytime someone is doing something extreme when it comes to nutrition, it is not healthy.  So many fertility books out there say that you should cut out this and cut out that.  How healthy can that be to deprive oneself of all of these things? And why isn’t anyone telling you what to put back in to replace those things?

So what is the right answer? The truth is, what is right for you is different from what is right for someone else*.  But, for the sake of this blog article, here are some general fertile rules:

1. FATS: Embrace healthy fats in your diet. Fats are needed for critical hormone metabolism in your body.  Introduce eggs, whole milk kefir or yoghurt, flax seed oils, coconut oil, ghee, avocado, almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, goat milk products, “safe” fish, and hormone-free organic meat.  Do not get sucked in to our societal “non-fat” craziness.  If you are trying to lose weight (research shows that a 10% loss of body weight enhances fertility in overweight females), still incorporate these “good” fats that your body can use in a healthy way, and decrease saturated fats that your body has a harder time digesting and utilizing.

2. E XTREMES are not good in either direction.  Instead of deprivation, think nourishment. Ask yourself, what can I add in to my diet to nourish myself and make myself healthier?

3. R EDUCE: Yes, you do need to cut out alcohol, cigarettes, coffee (decaf and regular), marijuana, environmental estrogen and anything that is creating a toxic environment within your body.  That being said and referring to number #2 above- and #7 below.

4. TAKE TIME to nourish yourself in multiple ways.  Whether you are overweight or underweight, we are all human and we all need to fill ourselves with positive things which make us feel good in the long term.  For example, take a walk outside, get a massage or acupuncture, connect with others in your community, confide in someone that you have known for a while, etc.

5. INCLUDE Breakfast: I cannot stress the importance of this enough.  And a granola bar does not count as breakfast.  Here are three breakfasts I love for fertility: 1. Free range eggs and organic breakfast sausage on sprouted wheat bread and goat chevre (fancy!); 2. Steel cut oats with almond milk, honey and crushed nuts; 3. Sprouted grain bread and almond butter with a side of whole milk yogurt and fruit.

6. LOAD up on whole foods.  What is a whole food?  If you know what is in it when you look at it, then it is a whole food.  This includes unlimited vegetables, whole grains like quinoa & millet, and complex carbs like yams & potatoes.

7. ENJOY your food!  Sharing meals with others is one of the greatest pleasures in life.  Depriving yourself of that pleasure will make for an unhappy person.  We want you to be happy.  As my Italian relatives say, “Manga, Manga!”

Liz Richards is a practitioner or Oriental Medicine specializing in fertility and pregnancy.  During the last ten years of practice she has birthed and nursed two sweet boys while simultaneously growing a successful acupuncture practice.  *To contact Liz, please call 5032870886 or send an email to theblossomclinic@gmail.com. Happy Eating!

For more reading on Pre-Conception Health, click here.

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