What food increases fertility?
It is easy to get lost in the minefield of which foods to eat to boost your fertility.
General consensus is that a Mediterranean style diet is best to improve your chances of getting pregnant. However, this advice still doesn’t get down to the core of how to shop and decide on which foods are better than others. I want you to be able to buy your groceries and eat your food with confidence.
Here are my three quick steps to get you on track with your nutrition:
Consider the human interference index: When looking at a food think about the number of processes that have gone into the production of this food. Foods closer to its natural state are low in human interference, those are the foods you want to eat plenty of. Some examples: An apple has been picked, stored, shipped to the store before you buy it - low human interference. An apple pie required the same processes plus cooking the apples, making the crust, adding in other ingredients, getting it ready for sale - high human interference. A chicken breast has been produced by butchering the chicken - low human interference, whereas a chicken nugget required the chicken meat to be minced, other ingredients added to it, crumbed - high human interference.
Consider the ingredients in packaged foods: When reading the ingredient list, do you know what each ingredient is? Does the product contain additives, stabilisers, or numbers? Does the ingredient list include added sugar, corn syrup, fructose, sucrose, coconut sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, etc.? Avoid foods that contain added sugars and ingredients you cannot pronounce or identify exactly what they are.
Consider the number of ingredients: Count up how many ingredients are listed on the food label. Any food containing more than five ingredients is likely highly processed. Aim for foods with less than five ingredients.
Do these three steps first before implementing other dietary strategies. Things like cutting out entire food groups or changing your eating window are often not required to improve your nutrition for fertility. Depending on your root cause of (in)fertility struggles, some advanced dietary approaches may help you improve your menstrual cycle, egg quality, energy levels, and overall well-being, however these are case specific and best implemented under guidance of a trained professional like myself.
Still feeling stuck on what to eat? Download my ‘Empower Your Fertility: Three Daily Practices for Health, Hope, and Vitality’ Guide which contains some quick and simple breakfast recipes to get you started with eating better.
