Fertility and Food Considerations

Fertility: Food Considerations

Fertility issues can be complicated and can make one feel out of control, working on diet is one way to feel like you have some control and some say in how you are proceeding forward in managing your fertility issues.

There are 3 main things you can think about in regards to foods that can help your chances at conception:

  1. Going gluten free: Undiagnosed celiac disease may be the reason for “all cause” infertility in 3.5% of women, and unexplained infertility in 5.9% of women. I see clinically, a higher rate of success with women AND men who remove gluten from their diet. Celiac disease is often under diagnosed, as is gluten sensitivity. This makes a huge impact of chances of conception.
  1. Avoid food sensitivities: As with gluten, undiagnosed food sensitivities can be problematic. The reason that both gluten and food sensitivities can harm your chances is two fold. Both cause significant inflammation in the body, which tells the body that it’s in danger. When the body is under stress, it’s not thinking about conception, it’s thinking about repair. Food sensitivities also can create malabsorption, which leads to nutrient deficiencies. An inflamed gut is not going to lead to proper digestion and absorption of nutrients, which makes you less likely to conceive, or maintain a pregnancy.
  1. Get rid of the bad bugs! (manage gut dysbiosis- Candida and SIBO): Both Candida (yeast) and SIBO (Bacterial overgrowth) can affect the methylation pathway in the body. This in turn will affect ability to conceive. Folic acid is not converted properly which is needed for proper cell division in females. In males this often manifests as sperm DNA fragmentation. This means the genetic information that is given to the egg is not intact, often leading to a non-viable embryo.

All the above may sound doom and gloom, but the good news is, with a little effort on changing dietary habits, eliminating any bad bugs in the gut, your success rates will likely go up!

 

 

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