Fertility Foods to Eat While TTC naturally or with IVF
If you are trying to get pregnant, you are likely trying to eliminate fertility killers, like aspartame and caffeine, and add in foods that will enhance your fertility on every level. Staying away from things that are overly processed, and cutting out toxins is a must. Studies show cutting back on caffeine and alcohol can increase your chances of conception.
And we all know fruits and veggies have tons of nutrients to offer. So what other super foods can you incorporate that might help you get pregnant with a healthy baby? More and more nutritionists are discussing high protein and high fat diets. Weston Price, of the infamous Weston A. Price Foundation, did research on a global level on nutrition. Dr. Price’s research showed that humans all over the world have a much higher level of health and wellness when they consume nutrient-dense, whole foods that have the vital fat-soluble activators, often found in animal products. Dr. Price saw that organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock and honest & informative labeling all together helped to create high quality, nutrient-dense foods for people, and that in addition to eating fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds for health, some traditional foods thought to be terrible for us were actually having beneficial effects on people throughout the world, including health fats, such as avocado, and animal fats, including eggs,butter, fish, and even pasture raised pork products such as bacon, all full of Vitamin D.
Women who are trying to conceive (TTC) and who may be going through fertility treatments such as IVF are often deficient in Vitamin D and other required nutrients that help one’s immunity, fertility and hormonal production. However, blindly taking a bunch of Vitamin D “just in case” is not a good idea. Get your Vitamin D levels tested by your doctor, and take the prescribed dosage given to you if you have Vitamin D deficiency. If you want to naturally support your own production of Vitamin D, then make sure to get some daily sunshine and include foods that support Vitamin D production, like certain dairy products or fortified milk, fish & fish oils, certain mushrooms, liver, and if you are desperate and can’t stomach those, try some fortified cereals (even ultraviolet lamps, but use at your own risk).
Eggs, butter and beef are other foods that have gotten a bad rap, but that can be very helpful if you are trying to get pregnant. These three power foods are chocked full of vitamins and minerals (like Iron and Vitamin K) necessary to get pregnant (and for baby-to-be) and contain omega-3 fatty acids as well as some of the good kinds of cholesterol that we make hormones from, all of which are necessary to get pregnant. With all of these, try to go with grass-fed and pasture-raised animal products – and although they can be pricier, one way of looking at it is that you are eating your medicine instead of buying it and taking it in pill-form, or injection.
Attention vegetarians: if eating eggs or all of this animal-based food makes you squeamish, try fish eggs (caviar or roe) at your local sushi bar, if you’re open to that. Fish roe are loaded with protein and omega-3’s, and have been considered a delicacy for centuries, often eaten by couples TTC in other cultures for preconception care. Legumes are also a great fertility food – lentils have lots of folic acid in them, which helps to prevent miscarriage and helps to create healthy babies.
Overall, avoiding foods that have spent a long time in a factory, and increasing fresh foods that your grandparents might’ve eaten is a good idea. Avoiding sugars and neurotoxins such as alcohol is of utmost importance, and keeping a variety of foods in your diet can be helpful. If you have any questions about what to eat while you’re trying to get pregnant, or in order to boost your chances of conception during IVF, feel free to call us anytime – we are always happy to help you on your path to parenthood!
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