Can Food Affect My Fertility – When trying to boost fertility, both men and women can benefit from making changes to their diet. Avoiding foods such as refined sugar can limit damage for both sexes, while including those high in nutrients can improve sperm quality and regulate a woman’s menstrual cycle. In this post we explore the role food has in improving one’s chances to conceive and those recommended by a private fertility clinic that you may want to include in your own.
Can Food Affect My Fertility?
Limiting Damage as a Woman
The reproductive system works differently for men and women. To improve their chances of conceiving, women must take care of their ovarian reserve as they are born with all the eggs that they will have throughout their lifetime. Unlike men, women can’t produce more of their sex cells. They diminish with time which means that with age a woman’s chances to get pregnant decrease which is why age is the most important factor facing their fertility.
At birth a woman is believed to have around 1 million eggs, which decreases to 300,000 by puberty and by a further 1,000 eggs a month thereafter. While there’s no getting around this, women may reduce damage to their eggs by limiting their refined sugar consumption as high sugar levels can damage eggs. It also has the potential to interfere with egg maturation and ovulation which are key events needed for conception to be possible.
How Sugar Affects Men
High sugar levels also affect men as it can lead to higher levels of sperm DNA damage, reduce the chance of conception and a greater chance of miscarriage. As men can continue to produce sperm, this can improve within months of consuming a healthy diet.
Red and Processed Meats
Red and processed meats contain a high amount of trans fats and saturated fats which can lower fertility and create ovulation issues for women.
Food to Include
Gut health can have a huge effect on a person’s overall well-being and reproductive health. Poor gut health can lead to hormonal imbalances affecting ovulation in women and testosterone in men. Foods that are good for the gut which can help are Kimchi, Kefir, Miso, Sauerkraut and Sourdough. Also look for foods rich in antioxidants as they reduce oxidative stress and its negative effects on fertility.
These are just a few of the things you can do to improve your chances. We’d also recommend speaking to a professional who can advise you further on your own fertility.
*Collaborative post
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