Fertility Friday: Stop Bad Habits

We all have some bad habits that we need reminding every once in a while to cut out of our life.  It takes 21 days to form and break habits, so encourage yourself to try something for 3 weeks before you completely disregard it. Some major bad habits we need to come clean about relating to fertility are:

• Smoking. No amount of smoking is ok when trying to conceive or have good overall menstrual health.  Nicotine and the preservatives in cigarette smoke can interfere with egg quality and hormone levels.
• Caffeine. Caffeine is moderation is ok. One cup of coffee and one other source from chocolate or tea is ok, but a double extra grande with an extra shot may be pushing it. Be mindful of how much caffeine you consume.
• Sedentary lifestyle. If you have no exercise in your life, think about setting a realist goal and getting something going.
• Drink plenty of water.

Fertility Friday: Diet Matters

Our diet is our medicine. When trying to conceive or even just trying to maintain overall excellent femninine health, diet is the foundation of good health. Some quick tricks include:

• Eat like a Mediterranean. See Mediterranean Diet
• Eat whole foods, avoid processed junk
• Limit Red Meat
• Eat oils, nuts and olives as opposed to animal fats
• Drink water, avoid sugared drinks
• Eat leafy greens, the darker the better
• Eat beans and legumes, the oft forgotten items. Add them to food you enjoy often like pastas, rice, and other grains

Essential Lifestyle Changes to Enchance Fertility

There are a lot of simple lifestyle modifications women, AND men can do to enhance their natural fertility, whether they've been trying for 1 month or 1 year.  A few good ones a reviewed below.

SMOKING - stop smoking
Seems like common sense, but some may not have an exact understanding of how smoking effects fertilty. Smoking can causes changes in the health of a woman's fallopian tubes (which is the place where natural fertilization takes place).  It can also be harmful to cervical mucous, which is what enhances a sperm's ability to reach the egg during ovulation. In addition, smoking is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage.  Smoking is also thought to prematurely age the ovaries by up to 4 years and can decrease the quality of sperm.


WEIGHT - maintain a health weight
Another way to enchance fertility is by maintaining a healthy weight.  Women who fall into weight extremes underweight or overweight are less likely to conceive naturally. Fat stores estrogen and estrogen is what is in birth control pills, so too much estrogen (stored in fat) can be like taking a birth control pill.  Birth control pills are 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.  Another concern with weight is an increased insulin level in the blood. Insulin is the hormone that the pancreas produces to absorb glucose (or sugar) into the blood stream. A high level of insulin in the blood can effect other sex hormones decreasing overall fertility.

ALCOHOL

Women are attempting pregnancy should avoid drinking. Women who drink 4 or more drinks a week tend to take longer to achieve a pregnancy and are at higher risk of undergoing an infertility evaluation. Investigators have used the concept of a "standardized alcoholic drink" in most studies of ethanol and infertility. A standardized drink is typically defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits, which is the equivalent of 12 grams of ethanol.

CAFFEINE

It is unclear whether high caffeine consumption affects female fertility, but the thought is that it does. Especially caffeine from coffee.  I usually recommend to switch a morning cup of joe with green or white tea. Green tea has polyphenols and is very high in antioxidants and green tea has been thought to increase fertility by as much as 50%. Great.