Save Up on your Well-Being Investment: Going Beyond Eating and Stepping into Nourishment

The road to pregnancy in recent times has been met with some challenges for a lot of couples. Many are confused and frustrated as to why it’s much harder for some to achieve positive outcomes and why things aren’t moving as seamlessly as others. It is a challenging journey but there are some things that can be done to increase chances of conceiving. 

Usual causes of female and male infertility can be linked to reproductive imbalances like irregular menstrual cycles, having no eggs to fertilize due to a problem in the ovaries, and a low sperm count. Infertility treatments are plenty, but they can also become costly if conception is not successful the first time around. While it may seem like a dead end, one simple way in which we can start to shift out of dysfunction and imbalance is through nutrition.  

“Eating is one thing, nourishing our bodies with nutrient dense foods is going a step further.” 

Most people are aware that eating a balanced diet is an important part of being healthy. But beyond this how else can we look at food and the process of eating?  

Shifting our mindset from eating anything and everything to nourishing our way to fertility is one way we can reevaluate what goes inside our bodies. Eating is one thing, nourishing our bodies with nutrient dense foods is going a step further. And when it comes to increasing your chances of getting pregnant, having adequate amounts of whole and nutrient dense foods is essential not only for the moving parts of fertilization, but also in preparing our bodies to carry the pregnancy through with vitality. Being nourished also means having the strength and energy to recover after giving birth. 

“Food items that are unnatural (such as sugar, additives, and preservatives) and heavily processed are notorious for reducing fertility by confusing your hormones.” 

So how can we start nourishing our bodies when trying to conceive? 

Think of color and composition. Food items that are unnatural (such as sugar, additives, and preservatives) and heavily processed are notorious for reducing fertility by confusing your hormones. A brown and white dominant plate is not enough to sustain blood sugar and provide raw materials to build cells but filling just half of your plate with the colors of the rainbow will. Phytonutrients coming from a variety of vegetables and fruits can protect egg and sperm cells by decreasing cellular and organ damage and rebalance hormones, which can lead to “higher embryo yield”¹ while in the process of in vitro fertilization. Having the right amounts of amino acids coming from good quality proteins can help DNA formation and prevent birth defects.  

Incorporating more good fats has been “associated with an increased probability of conceiving following IVF.”² Taking in food is important, but it requires more active participation on our end if we are to give ourselves the best chance to achieve our goals.  

Infertility can be a challenging road, but there are many ways to redirect and recalibrate to improve outcomes. It doesn’t have to be an overhaul of our whole life; we can get curious and start with our plates.