Health and fitness for every body
Thinking about starting a family? If you’re in the process of trying for a baby, you will know that fertility can be quite the mind field. It can take couples a while before they’re able to fall pregnant. Around 84% of couples will fall pregnant naturally within a year of trying whilst 1 in 7 will experience some difficulty. There are a range of reasons that this could be down to, as well as being completely unexplained. To give yourself the best chance of getting pregnant, here are some lifestyle changes that were recommended to us by an IVF treatment clinic which you can implement.
Here in the UK, we consume high levels of sugar, which is not only bad for our overall health, but for fertility too. According to research refined sugar has the potential to damage egg and sperm cells which can put individuals at a disadvantage when trying to conceive. Women are born with all their eggs and their reserve then diminishes with age. At birth it is believed that females have around 1,000,000 eggs which drops to approximately 300,000 by the age of puberty. Thereafter their egg reserve depletes by around 1,000 eggs per month. Sugar speeds up this process and can reduce a woman’s chances to conceive. For men, studies have found that sugar can reduce sperm mobility.
Smoking can also reduce your chances to conceive. As mentioned earlier, a woman’s chances of conceiving reduce with age as her egg reserve depletes. Smoking is another factor which can exacerbate the process. The toxic chemicals that are found in cigarettes can damage egg cells and reduce egg reserve. As women cannot produce more eggs, like men can sperm, this reduces their chances to conceive. It is thought that smoking can bring menopause forward by between 1 and 4 years.
Exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle. It can help offset obesity and the health-related problems that come along with it, like type 2 diabetes that have been linked to increased fertility problems. By incorporating exercise into your daily routine, you can also improve your BMI and thus increase your chances of getting pregnant. The problem is that now many of us lead very sedentary lifestyles, either working from home or from an office desk where we’re not able to get our recommended number of steps. If you can’t head down to a gym or fit exercise around your existing lifestyle, consider walking where possible. It’s an effective way to get moving without necessarily exhausting yourself.
Going back to diet, a Mediterranean diet is also linked to higher levels of fertility. It’s a diet which consists of healthy fats, proteins, and minimal processed foods. Studies comparing two groups, one who followed the diet and one who did so loosely, found that those who did in fact had a higher chance of getting pregnant.
As you will know, our bodies need vitamins and minerals for healthy function, a lack of any in particular and your body will suffer. Water is the same. Roughly 50% to 70% of our bodies are water and we rely on it for general bodily function, as well as fertility. If you feel that you are deficient in any of your nutrients, consider taking multivitamins. Please note, these should not be taken in place of a healthy diet and should only be taken to supplement a healthy diet. Vitamins that are good for fertility specifically are:
There’s no harm in men taking them either as the above have a range of benefits for male sperm such as improved sperm morphology and mobility.
This is a collaborative post.
