Diet and fertility – foods to avoid
If you want to get pregnant, one of the first things you need to make sure is your nutrition intake. Sufficient and quality nutrition is vital for general health as well as fertility. Diet and fertility has a close association; your hormonal system, and thus fertility, can be affected by the types and quality of food you eat, and how your meals are prepared.
Here we’ll take a look at which foods are generally bad for health and can adversely impact on your fertility level.
Learn what foods to eat to reverse infertility and increase your chances of getting conceived – all in Pregnancy Miracle
Refined starches and simple sugars
Refined starches and simple sugars (such as found in bread, processed breakfast cereals, pastries, biscuits, cakes, packed-foods, soft drinks, honey, table sugar, tinned fruits, etc) cause blood sugar levels to fluctuate dramatically. This can lead to hormonal imbalance and affects your fertility. Blood sugar imbalance may also cause daytime panic attacks, waking up in the middle of the night, sweating and heart racing. You’ll also feel lack of energy during the day.
Diet and fertility tips: Avoid sugar in your foods, including honey. Eat plenty of fresh fruits instead if you need something sweet.
Bad fats
Bad fats are saturated fats, which are mostly found in dairy products (e.g. butter), animal fats (e.g. lard), fatty beef, palm oil and coconut oil. Trans-fats (i.e. hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils), such as found in margarine, packaged foods, fast food, toppings and dips, are also bad fats.
Diet and fertility tips: To replace bad fats, use in small amounts polyunsaturated oils, such as canola and sesame oil, for cooking. Use olive oil, a monounsaturated oil, for salads. Flaxseed oil can also be used as a salad dressing. These are good fats because they absorb and store the right amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K that are beneficial for reproductive health.
Coffee
Some studies reported that drinking one or two cups of coffee every day is not likely to hamper your fertility. But it was also found that if you consume 300 mg or more caffeine a day, it may take you longer to conceive, and at the same time increase your risk of miscarriage. In men, on the other hand, moderate coffee consumption seems to improve sperm function.
Diet and fertility tips: Replace coffee with green or black tea. It is suspected that there may be other ingredients besides caffeine in the coffee that are affecting fertility.
Carbonated sodas
Packed with sugar or artificial sweeteners, high amount of phosphates and sometimes caffeine, carbonated sodas can interfere with calcium absorption. Caffeinated sodas also stimulate your body to produce more stress hormone that will worsen fatigue and anxiety and causing hormonal imbalance.
Diet and fertility tips: Avoid carbonated sodas completely. If you’re thirsty, the best thirst quencher is water. Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day to prevent dehydration.
Alcohol
While red wine is known for its benefit of lowering cholesterol level, women with fertility-impairing hormone imbalance conditions should avoid excessive alcohol consumption due to its potential detrimental effects on the body.
Diet and fertility tips: If you must have a drink, choose wine over liquor or beer; go for red wine instead of white wine, because red wine is rich in antioxidants.