Nutrition plays a key role in our overall health, so it’s a great place to start when you’re thinking about having a baby or improving your chances of conception. We are by no means saying that a certain diet will fix all infertility issues, but it is helpful to pay attention to how we are fueling our bodies for conception and pregnancy.
Written by: Jessica Diamond, MPH, RDN
Fertility is a deeply personal process, and there are no two paths that are the same. If you are struggling with infertility, one or multiple miscarriages, infant death, or anything else related to infertility, our heart goes out to you. And please know you’re not alone: it’s estimated that 15-30% of couples in the US are affected by infertility.
Nutrition plays a key role in our overall health, so it’s a great place to start when you’re thinking about having a baby or improving your chances of conception. We are by no means saying that a certain diet will fix all infertility issues, but it is helpful to pay attention to how we are fueling our bodies for conception and pregnancy. For example, research shows that modifying your diet can improve fertility by up to 66-69%. And we shouldn’t only focus on the woman’s health: 25% of US infertility cases are a result of the man’s health, so his nutrition matters too! The takeaway here is that changing both your and your partner’s diet quality can have a significant impact on boosting fertility. So, if you’re looking to optimize your fertility, read on!
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With most things in life, we are firm believers in the 80/20 rule. This means working hard to make meaningful dietary changes 80% of the time, knowing that 20% of the time life gets in the way. It’s all about making changes that we can sustain in the long run. All the recipes on our website fall under a Mediterranean diet, so if you’re looking for some recipe inspo, here you go!
To keep it simple, focus on increasing:
To keep it simple, focus on minimizing:
Here are some easy swaps you can make to reduce these items in your diet:
Here are our top foods to add into your diet to optimize your fertility: (you can shop all our favorite food products here and here)
If you haven’t already, give our favorite guacamole a try! You might also start your day the way we love to by adding an avocado to a morning smoothie or by having some avocado toast on whole grain bread with a sprinkle of our favorite seed blend (flax seeds, chia seeds, and hemp seeds) for some omega-3’s.
No matter how dialed in our nutrition is, there will always be gaps, so taking a prenatal vitamin and other supplements is a good idea. We’ve got more information on supplementing for fertility and during pregnancy in this article, Prenatal Vitamins Explained and check out our podcast episode Fertility, IVF, Egg Freezing: Everything You Need to Know with Dr. Ghadir (renowned reproductive endocrinologist).