8 Ways to Eat for your Fertility
For men and women in developed countries, infertility is on the rise. According to an article in the Guardian, scientists have found that “sperm counts among men in the west have more than halved in the past 40 years and are currently falling by an average of 1.4% a year.” And the American Society for Reproductive Medicine states that infertility affects about 10% of the population.
The struggle with infertility can be debilitating for many couples, and often allopathic medicine doctors don’t offer up much in the way of a solution. Whether you are struggling with hormone issues like PCOS or endometriosis, or you’re just trying to ensure a healthy reproductive system, there are some basic dietary changes that could make all the difference in your current or future fertility.
So why worry about doing a hormone enhancing diet if you’re not yet struggling with conception?
* The foods you eat today impact the health of your eggs and sperm for up to 90 days.
* One of the biggest causes of infertility is a lack of ovulation caused by any number of hormonal factors, including undiagnosed PCOS. Often the easiest and most effective remedy for these is diet.
* Certain nutrients like folate, are vital to a healthy pregnancy even before pregnancy is detected, and a deficiency in these causes serious birth defects.
* Eating for hormone health BEFORE pregnancy builds up nutrient stores in the body and helps promote long-term energy and vitality.
A team of Harvard researchers published a study in 2007, called the "Fertility Diet". It found that women following this diet had a 66% lower risk of infertility. This includes:
1. Less trans fat, which is found in fried foods and all processed foods like potato chips and most crackers. The oils used to cook these kinds of foods is toxic and the body doesn't know how to break them down.
2. More monounsaturated fats from sources like olive oil and avocados. Less animal protein and more low fat plant protein with high iron content. Large amounts of animal proteins are known to cause heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol.
3. Limit your simple carbohydrates like white breads and juices. These cause your blood sugar to be erratic, which taxes your liver and adrenal systems, eventually causing breakdown in the endocrine system.
4. Lots of sources of high fiber fruits, vegetables and other whole grains. Fiber regulates blood sugar and helps rid the body of any excess toxins.
5. High fat dairy as opposed to low fat. It may seem counter-intuitive to go for the full-fat content, but grass fed animal fats are a rich source of vitamin K and other fat soluble vitamins and these high quality fats encourage hormone production. That is, if you choose to consume dairy at all, which for many people is inflammatory.
Here are a few more tips that weren’t part of the study but are excellent to consider when eating for your fertility.
* For animal proteins choose cold water fish, like wild Atlantic salmon, cod or halibut. Small fish like sardines and mackeral are also a great choice as they contain high levels of omega-three fatty acids and low levels of mercur. They are also a more sustainable choice!
* Avoid sources of endocrine disrupting chemicals, like Hops is a source of phytoestrogen, as well as tofu, so any soy that is not fermented should be minimal as well as beer containing high levels of hops.
* All of these should be ORGANIC so that you don’t have hormones added into your dairy and glysophates coating your produce!
Because we live in an environment with high levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals and estrogen mimicking foods, most of us could do with undergoing a fertility cleanse that focuses on supporting detoxification organs like the liver, kidneys and digestive system. However, fads like juice cleansing are not the way to go. Juice cleansing can disrupt blood sugar levels and enzymes in the liver and pancreas. Gentle detoxification however, will absolutely help to rid your body of excess hormones and chemicals that could negatively impact health and fertility.
I always recommend finding a balanced way to nourish the body before cleansing. This way you have a baseline of health and nutrition and detoxification won’t throw your body into a state of stress and depletion. Following the guidelines above is a great place to start!
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/29/infertility-crisis-sperm-counts-halved
https://www.eatright.org/health/pregnancy/fertility-and-reproduction/fertility-foods