Fertility Diet Tips
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help put your body in the best possible shape for conceiving.
You and your partner’s health can have a significant effect on your chances of conceiving. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help put your body in the best possible shape for conceiving.
Improving your diet is just one way you can start living a healthier lifestyle. With a balanced and nutritional diet, you can drastically improve your fertility health and chances of becoming pregnant.
To help guide you along the way to improved fertility health, we’ve created a list of beneficial foods along with additional dietary advice. Think of this as your new fertility diet shopping list.
Check your kitchen today and see how many of these ingredients you’ve already stocked up on.
Fresh fruit and vegetables
Eat these in abundance! Carrots, pumpkin, kale and beetroot, tomatoes, cherries, and oranges all include essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Red meat
Eat this type of meat with extreme moderation. Instead, you should favour white meats like fish, especially those rich in omega 3 fatty acids.
Whole grains
Get to know exactly what carbs you’re eating. Try substituting white bread with whole grain varieties instead. Choose them wisely and don’t overdo it.
Plant-based proteins
Plant-based foods like chickpeas, pulses, and tofu are rich in protein but easier for your body to break down and digest.
Egg
That’s right, not “eggs”. Try not to go overboard with your consumption of eggs. Aim for a maximum of one per day.
Nuts
Nuts make for great snacks that you can have on a daily basis. A small handful per day can boost your energy levels and prevent you from making less healthier snack choices.
Dairy
Natural dairy is often more beneficial than low-fat options you find on the supermarket shelf. Enjoy in moderation.
Things to avoid
Saturated fats, refined sugars, preservatives. As difficult as it may be, try to avoid overly processed foods that tend to contain all three of these problematic ingredients.
What about coffee?
Drinking one coffee a day is okay. Keep it on your list if you like it. There should be no harm in consuming this on a daily basis.
Plastics
Avoid plastic food containers, including water bottles and takeaway containers whenever possible. It’s strongly advised that you don’t use them to reheat food. Plastics contain endocrine disrupting chemicals which may be associated with infertility.
Written by Dr Raelia Lew
RANZCOG Board Certified CREI Fertility specialist, Gynaecologist and the Director of Women’s Health Melbourne.
Co-host of the Knocked Up Podcast, Co-founder of Lovers intimate wellness solutions. Raelia has a PhD in Preconception Health Promotion and Genetic Screening. Raelia is a leading Australian expert in IVF and egg freezing, pioneering a bespoke model of care.