Infertility affects many people across all genders and ethnicities. If you’re unable to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sex, the best solution is to speak to a fertility specialist. Some women can get pregnant but face difficulty holding on to the pregnancy; fortunately, most cases of infertility are treatable. Here’s an overview of five ways to boost fertility:
1. Choose a Fertility Diet
Eating healthy can protect you from illnesses and conditions that can cause infertility. You can address many ovulatory issues with an adjusted diet. Some foods and nutrients are known to boost fertility. To increase your chances of conceiving, choose nutritional whole foods like leafy greens, fresh organic fruits, healthy fats, and lean protein. Fertility doctors recommend tofu, beans, legumes, full-fat dairy products, yogurt, avocado, and olive oil.
You should also eat eggs, fatty fish like salmon, cod, mackerel, nuts, pumpkins, beets, and tomatoes. Fertility diets seek to deliver essential nutrition, reduce carb intake, eliminate refined carbs and maintain a healthy weight. The diet also provides omega-3 fatty acids, iron, vitamin C and D, zinc, and enough protein. Eating healthy reduces the chances of a miscarriage or erectile dysfunction. Good food also boosts immunity and the development of the reproductive system.
2. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Weight problems can make it more difficult to conceive. Underweight and overweight women will experience various changes in hormone production and may not be able to support a pregnancy. Fertility doctors recommend maintaining a healthy body mass index conducive to getting and keeping a pregnancy. The recommended BMI is 18.5-24.9. Any lower or higher can result in irregular menstrual periods, impacting fertility.
You can still get pregnant with a BMI outside the recommended range but may face various challenges. Being obese, for instance, can cause overproduction of estrogen, which acts as birth control. Excessive estrogen tricks the body into thinking you’re already pregnant, halting the ovulation process. Obesity can also increase the risk of polycystic ovarian syndrome and the likelihood of your baby developing diabetes and heart defects, among other health issues.
3. Avoid Tobacco & Alcohol
Eliminating alcohol, tobacco, and recreational marijuana can positively impact your reproductive health. Excessive drinking involving more than five drinks a day can cause irregular ovulation, making it harder to conceive. Fertility doctors recommend avoiding alcohol, and pregnant and nursing women are usually advised to skip drinking while carrying the baby. Alcohol can have irreversible damage to the fetus and increases the risk of a miscarriage.
Tobacco also contains many harmful carcinogens that reduce the number of eggs you have. Since women are born with all eggs they’ll ever have, reducing the number can impact menstrual cycles. Tobacco smoke disrupts ovulation, ages the eggs, and causes irregular periods and egg-release failure. Recreational marijuana smoking is also not good for your fertility. Staying away from marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol is a sure way to boost fertility.
4. Take Fertility Enhancing Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins and supplements can boost fertility and ensure your body is ready for growing a fetus. Fertility doctors recommend vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin E, acetyl l-carnitine (ALC), CoQ10, and micronutrients. Vitamins are essential for reproductive functions, such as menstruation and ovulation. They also impact energy production, thyroid function, immune function, and egg quality and maturation.
Nutrients like ALC contain antioxidants that are good for a healthy female reproductive system and help with sperm motility. Vitamins and supplements can also improve PCOS symptoms, endometriosis, and amenorrhea (lack of periods). Some vitamins help create sperm and improve their mobility, while others enhance reproductive health and prevent ovulatory infertility. You should talk to an experienced fertility doctor to prescribe the best supplements.
5. Manage Stress & Other Factors
Stress increases the levels of your cortisol hormones, which can disrupt brain communications with your ovaries, causing irregular menstrual cycles. Mental and psychological health issues have significant impacts on your reproductive health. The stress of trying to conceive can shift hormonal functions, preventing you from getting pregnant. Fertility doctors recommend seeking peaceful activities and practices, as well as taking stress-reduction medication, practicing deep breathing exercises, and observing other mindfulness techniques on a routine basis.
Various other factors impact your fertility. Dehydration, lack of exercise, infrequent sexual activity, and douching can make it harder to conceive or increase the likelihood of a miscarriage. Pesticides, herbicides, and other harsh chemicals can negatively affect your reproductive health. Fertility doctors also recommend using sex lubricants with caution since some can prevent the sperm from reaching the egg.
See an Experienced Fertility Specialist
Fertility issues can cause stress and poor quality of life. You should see an expert if you’re having trouble conceiving or sustaining a pregnancy. Leading clinics can offer you expert insights, infertility diagnosis, and treatment. Most women who struggle to get pregnant can be treated through medication, lifestyle adjustment, and other solutions.
Visiting a fertility specialist should be the first step. Your fertility doctor will review your medical history and lifestyle and diagnose underlying conditions that may be preventing you from conceiving. The doctor will then determine a suitable treatment to help you get pregnant.
