When I have new patients coming in wanting some extra support to increase fertility, I always direct them to the following information- it is all lifestyle advice that is free to integrate into your life, and it can help to increase your chances of a successful conception!
Ideally it would be wonderful for you to be doing these things for a good three to six months prior to you wanting to start trying, but there is no time like the present- so if you are already actively trying, try to integrate these helpful hints straight away.
The best bit?
You likely know you should be doing the majority of these things already, but they feel to simple/easy- Please don’t dismiss them, all the little things you do add up to increase your ovar all health!!
1. Stay Warm!
You will notice that I talk a lot about warmth and staying away from the cold. When you are pregnant you are naturally slightly warmer than when you aren’t (hence the expression “Bun in the oven”). In order to help to encourage pregnancy and increase fertility it is good to prepare a great “oven” first! Cold in general tends to have a “sinking” energy- which means that it is harder for the body to hold things up, when you are pregnant you want that holding energy to be strong. Just another reason to stay away from cold as much as you can when you are trying to get or are pregnant!
There are a few things to consider when it comes to staying warm.
The areas that I recommend focusing on are:
– Keep your feet warm. No walking around on tiles or floor boards with bare feet
– Keep your lower back warm, layers are great- especially singlets that you can tuck in
Both of these areas have a strong connection to the Kidney’s which help to provide the fire and Yang (warm energy) for the whole body- so you want to protect those areas from being cold!!
– If it is cold and/or windy, wear a scarf!
There are a series of points along the base of your skull which are all called “Wind gate” or similar- that is because they let the wind in, which can then give you a cold.
Best to avoid as it is so easy to do! The other aspect of keeping warm is being aware of what you is not only going ONTO your body, but what is going INTO your body.
Your digestive system is like a little bubbling pot, you want to keep it simmering away nicely so that it can transform the food into blood and energy (baby is made from blood energy)- so you don’t want to make the job harder for your body.
Be aware of reducing (preferably avoiding) foods that:
– Are colder than room temperature
– Raw fruit and vegetables
Rather than having juices, instead go for broths and soups. If you are wanting fruits have them stewed! Too many raw foods are cooling for the digestive system which makes it so much harder for it to do its job.
2. Building Blood Energy/ Increasing Protein
As mentioned earlier, baby is made from blood energy, as is your endometrial lining- so you want to make sure you are creating a welcoming environment by having an abundance of blood energy.
One of the most simple ways of building that blood energy is by having lots of broths, and stews with beef- this also helps to increase your hydration (win win!)
In general increasing your protein is a great idea. If you eat meat then beef is best (especially if slow cooked, or in stews, soups and casseroles), chicken is still helpful, but beef is best when it comes to increase fertility.
If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is really important to make sure you are getting enough protein- you may need to supplement with a protein powder (hemp is wonderful).
Other foods that are fantastic at helping to build blood to improve fertility include:
Soups in general (NOT spicy*)
Lentils
Root vegetables
Cooked green vegetables (NOT bitter greens**)
Dark green leafy veg (again, NOT bitter greens**)
White rice
Millet
Sweet potato
Butternut pumpkin
Zuchinni
Beetroot
Berries
*Spicy foods can encourage lots of movement of energy, which when you are trying to get pregnant you don’t want. You want the energy to be stable so it can hold onto the pregnancy
**Bitter greens include Dandelion, radicchio, endive broccoli rabe
3. Make sure you are eating enough Fat and Protein– The delicious way to increase fertility!
When you are preparing for pregnancy, or trying to concieve, you are wanting your body to have the ability to easily create the hormones needed.
The building blocks for all of our hormones to be created are fats and proteins- so it is really important to make sure you are eating a good variety of healthy fats.
Your diet should ideally consist of 50% protein, and 20% fats, the other 30% should be Low GI Carbohydrates (see 4. below)
Some of the best sources of good fats include:
Avocado
Coconut Oil/Milk/Cream
Oily Fish (salmon, mackeral)
Nuts
Butter
Fatty meat
Full fat milk
Protein is also super important as it helps to build that Blood energy!
Great sources of protein include:
Meats
Eggs
Cottage Cheese
Greek Yoghurt
Nuts
Legumes
Bone Broths/Collagen
4. High Quality, Low GI Carbohydrates
What is a high or low GI carbohydrate you ask? GI stands for Glycemic Index, and it is an indicator of how quickly a food will raise the glucose levels in the blood- the faster the higher the GI, the slower, the lower.
In general the more refined a food is, the higher the GI will be, as each time you refine a food the faster it will be digested/broken down. So, as a really easy way to ensure you are getting lower GI foods, have foods that are in as close to their natural state as possible- whole grain foods rather than white for example. Or you can reduce refined foods significantly and have all whole foods- this is ideal, though it can be time consuming, so not always practical.
When we eat high GI foods/highly refined foods regularly it leads to higher levels of insulin in the blood (which the body releases to process the glucose), the body converts the high GI foods/sugars to fat as it can then store the fat to protect itself from any damage it can do. You can see why we have such a huge incidence of Type 2 diabetes (diet induced) when we continuously put such a huge strain on our system and increased insulin demands all the time!
Foods to avoid include- breads, pastas, white rice, cakes/baked sweets
Foods to increase- whole grains, brown rice
5. Eat regularly and Stay hydrated
One of the easiest ways to increase fertility, is making small changes to what we do every day anyway- eating and drinking! When you eat and drink regularly, your body knows what to expect and is less likely to go into a state of possible starvation.
If you regularly have long periods of time between eating/drinking your body learnsthat it doesn’t know when to expect it’s next meal, so instead of processing the foods as it should, it stores a lot of energy as fat to use during periods of starvation.
This is not ideal, and not how our bodies were designed!
As you are trying to get pregnant you are wanting to make sure your body knows that you are taking in adequate supplies to sustain you, and having left overs to sustain a pregnancy as well!
With water it is really important to make sure you are drinking at least 2L/day (or eating a diet with lots of hydration that includes lots of soups/broths that include lots of hydration).
In Chinese Medicine Yin/Blood is the building blocks for growing a baby- if you don’t have enough of the yin/blood it places a large strain no your body and it is a lot harder for your body to do what it needs. As well as hydrating you, water also is the easiest pathway for the body to eliminate toxins or waste that it doesn’t need, if you aren’t drinking enough water it is harder for the body to get rid of these.
Make sure the water you are drinking is filtered/purified!
6. High quality Sleep
Sleep is where our body rests, recuperates, and allows our body to relax.
Without adequate sleep we are tired- which is a warning sign that our body is lacking what it needs!
Ideally you should be sleeping a minimum of 8hrs a night, from 10pm. The natural rhythm of the day/night is active through the day, and calm/rest/sleep through the night. If we do too much of the active through the time when we naturally should be sleeping it also puts strain on the system- so you may be getting the full 8hrs, but it is at the wrong time, so your body isn’t able to get full benefit from it- as according to the day it is then active time (so you still won’t feel rested).
It is important to help reduce stimulation before bed time- low light, soft/quiet/relaxing sounds, and calm help your body prepare for bed. If you are using lots of screens before bed they can be quite stimulating and make it hard for the brain to switch off.
So not only will you have more energy, and feel better in general, but you will increase fertility too!
7. Increase Feritility by Reducing Stress
When you are under prolonged periods of stress it creates a lot of strain on the body, causing release of lots of adrenalin as your brain is telling you that you are under threat.
Stress has been shown to reduce fertility by up to 50%!
So, if you can reduce your stress you can then increase your fertility!
By reducing stress your whole body is able to relax and work more optimally.
You may want to think about introducing one or more of these into your daily life:
– Meditation
– Exercise
– Counselling/Psychology support
– Painting/writing/creating
– Reading
8. Reduce/eliminate alcohol, smoking, and coffee
While the guidelines change all the time around what the recommended amount is of each of these are safe, ultimately they are all drugs that impact our bodies ability to function as it was intended.
So my advice- if you are serious about getting pregnant cut them all!
A few things that play into this:
Alcohol decreases the bodies ability absorb zinc, zinc is foundational for sperm production- if there is less zinc in a mans body there will be less sperm.
Alcohol also has an impact on your hormones- not only getting pregnant, but also holding/maintaining pregnancy.
There is so much research around now that shows smoking increases the risk of many diseases- it puts additional strain on your whole body, not to mention introducing a number of harmful chemicals directly into your body. Best to avoid full stop, regardless of whether you are looking after your fertility or not!
With coffee it is best to keep it to a minimum- it is a very moving herb (it gets YOU moving, but also you have probably noticed it gets your bowel moving too!), as such you should only have a small amount. If possible it is best to keep it to one every few days rather than daily- as remember you don’t want TOO much movement in your lower belly.
There are also studies that indicate an increased intake of caffeine for males can increase the risk of miscarriage in their partners- so best to significantly/remove it together (if in a female/male relationship) for both of you!
9. Regular sex
It may seem obvious- but when you are preparing for pregnancy regular sex has a number of benefits.
Often when you have been trying to conceive for a period of time sex can become monotonous, laborious and resentment can start to creep in.
Try not to restrict sex to only your fertile window, the more sex you have the better. It seems silly, but try to make sex fun again- try new positions, or new locations!
The more sex you have the better blood flow to both of your reproductive organs, the more blood flow, the healthier they will be in general which will help to increase fertility!
If men have lower semen health (number, morphology etc), then this is a great (and fun) way to help increase his sperm health.
If you are having more regular sex, it also helps to reduce missing when you actually ovulate- as you will be having sex all month!
I generally recommend having sex at an absolute minimum every 2 days through the whole middle two weeks of your cycle.
If you are embarking on parenting on your own, then same goes- lots of stimulation to the area (and orgasms) will increase blood flow thus reproductive organ health.