Increasing fertility: nutrition when you want to have children
What you and your partner eat has a major impact on your fertility. Here you can find out what you should pay attention to in your diet, which foods you should avoid and what can support your fertility.
If your desire to have children has not materialized so far, it can also be because you and your partner are not eating properly. Because diet can have a big impact on whether your body is ready to conceive a child. It is therefore important that you closely monitor your eating habits in everyday life and take some important factors into account.
Index
ToggleA balanced diet when you want to have children increases fertility
- The body is supplied with all important vitamins and minerals. However, it is not true that “a lot helps a lot”, but you should also ensure a healthy dose of individual vitamins and minerals. Because too much can be harmful.
- A balanced diet not only promotes general health and well-being, but also strengthens the immune system. It can thus prevent some organic and hormonal disorders of fertility . It is therefore important to pay more attention to nutrition in the phase when you are planning to have children.
- But you should also pay more attention to nutrition during pregnancy, because you are also taking care of your baby. You can read about what you need to watch out for during pregnancy in our “Nutrition during pregnancy” section.
Why is being overweight or underweight harmful?
A balanced and healthy diet also means that you can prevent both overweight and underweight. Both extremes can have a negative impact on fertility. Being overweight can cause your partner to produce fewer sperm. In your case, it can disrupt egg maturation and an increased insulin level can even cause ovulation to stop completely. Being underweight can also have the same effect on your body, since if the body is undersupplied, the reproductive function is the first to stop and the period can therefore be missed.
Important vitamins and minerals
Some vitamins and nutrients are of particular importance when trying to conceive:
- Your body needs folic acid to produce the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. A sufficient intake of the B vitamin thus increases the willingness to conceive. And also in the long term, it is important that your need for folic acid is covered. If you become pregnant, then your growing child needs sufficient folic acid in the very early development phaseso that his nervous system can develop healthily. There is a lot of folic acid in green leafy vegetables, asparagus, papaya and broccoli. But there is also a lot of folic acid in chicken liver, beef liver or hard-boiled eggs. However, since many women find it difficult to cover their folic acid requirements naturally, gynecologists often advise them to balance the requirement with an appropriate dietary supplement.
- Vitamins : The other vitamins of the B complex, as well as vitamins C and E can also support your fertility considerably. Vitamin E, for example, is necessary so that the egg cell can nest in the uterus and promotes egg maturation. Vitamin C deficiency can, for example, lead to impaired sperm quality in your partner.
- The trace element zinc is another substance that can have a positive effect on your fertility. For you, it supports cycle regularity, which plays a crucial factor in conception. Zinc increases the formation of the male sex hormone testosterone in your partner and thus has a beneficial effect on the production and mobility of sperm. You can get zinc from beef, lamb, seafood or saltwater fish.
Simply add to your menu!
In order to take in the important nutrients, no extreme measures are necessary for many couples. It is often enough to pay more attention to your daily diet and to consciously integrate a few new recipes into your diet. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables provide the body with the necessary vitamins and minerals, but healthy fats from nuts, oils or dairy products should not be missing from your diet either, as they promote the absorption of vitamins by the body. In our article “ Nutrient-rich recipes for the desire to have children ” you will find a few simple and delicious recipes to cook at home that will provide you with the best possible care. Maybe they will help you to enrich your menu.
When to take supplements?
Are you unsure how high your need for different vitamins and minerals is? Or are some of the suggested foods hardly found on your nutrition plan? Then it is best to talk to your gynecologist about your eating habits, analyze your needs together with him or her and develop measures to balance them out either through diet or food supplements.
Drinking properly is also important!
You should also not neglect adequate fluid intake. Drinking 1.5 to 2 liters of water or tea every day ensures proper distribution of nutrients in the body and stimulates metabolism. It is better to avoid excessive consumption of caffeinated or alcoholic beverages. Large amounts of caffeine from coffee, black tea or cola can trigger hormonal imbalances. Alcohol, on the other hand, can affect egg cell maturation or sperm concentration, even in small amounts.
Long term planning
With all plans to change your diet, you should make sure that you make the changes early on, because the body usually needs a few months to store nutrients in sufficient quantities and to create important depots that both you and your unborn child can draw on.