Improving your diet can improve your chances.
Once you've decided to try for a baby, a regular sex life is probably all you’ll need to conceive. But if you want to boost your fertility naturally, eating the right foods can help too.
At a glance
- Eat a wide range of fruit and veg
- Increase your intake of nuts, seeds and oily fish
- Take 400mcg of folic acid daily
Replacing nutrients
“The nutrient depletion of much of our food with pesticides and additives has left many of us deficient in the vitamins and minerals that we need in order to conceive,” believes Dr Marilyn Glenville author of Natural Solutions to Infertility. So Glenville suggests putting this healthy dietary advice into practice at least four months before you start trying for a baby.
Diet musts:
- a wide range of fruit and vegetables – this can add essential fibre to your diet, which may reduce excess oestrogen levels
- eat more nuts, seeds and oily fish – essential for Omega 3 and 6 essential fats, which are vital for hormonal balance. They also contain selenium – a great antioxidant for optimum fertility
- eat less meat – the saturated fat in animal products may stimulate oestrogen production, possibly reducing your chance of conceiving
- think zinc - Zinc can boost fertility, so take a supplement or eat zinc- rich foods such Brazil nuts, eggs and seafood.
Eat a pregnancy-friendly diet
While it may help you to conceive, you shouldn't need to go on a special diet while you’re trying to get pregnant – just make sure you eat a variety of different foods every day to get a good balance of nutrients. Then when you do get pregnant, you can give your baby the best start to life with a healthy pregnancy diet.
Don’t forget folic acid
When you start trying to get pregnant, it’s time to start taking a daily 400mcg folic acid supplement as this will reduce the risk of your baby having a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida.