10 Foods to Boost Fertility
Fertility is our natural ability to reproduce. In female bodies, your period is the best vital sign to tell the state of your sex hormones and understanding your cycle. It is important to note that ovulation is crucial no matter what your health goals are. When trying to conceive it is important to be getting certain nutrients that aid in the health of your reproductive organs, decrease stress, and regulate hormones. Here we discuss the 10 best foods to boost fertility.
Here are 10 foods to boost fertility:
1. Salmon
Salmon is one of the great foods to boost fertility. Salmon contains omega 3s which have anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce oxidative stress. Two types of polyunsaturated fats are omega 3 and omega 6. Most western diets consume a ratio of 1:20 of omega 3 to omega 6 when it should be 1:3. This evidence is correlated with inflammation incidence in women showing that omega 6s are pro-inflammatory while omega 3s have protective effects that are anti-inflammatory which will boost fertility. Oxidative stress is important to prevent because studies have shown that it can damage ovarian follicles (the sac that holds the eggs), which will decrease egg quality. This is why salmon is one of the foods to boost fertility.
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2. Leafy Greens
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, arugula, bok choy and many others contain a B vitamin called folate which is a benefit in these foods to boost fertility. Folate intake in women was associated with a decline in ovulatory infertility. It is also a vital coenzyme in many metabolic functions which can assist with fertility. Folate consumption can also decrease the risk of neural tube defects.
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3. Bone Broth
Another one of the foods to boost fertility is bone broth. Might sound odd, but bone broth contains a component called glycine. It is a conditionally essential amino acid so this means that our body can make it normally on its own though this process may be lacking based on physiological limitations, so it is recommended to consume in the diet. Glycine is one of the more important amino acids because it combines with cysteine and glutamine (other amino acids) to form glutathione which is our most powerful antioxidant. We need this antioxidant to eliminate oxidative stress from reactive oxygen species because this can damage the egg follicles if they are not eliminated. In addition, glycine supports full egg development and during maturation of the egg, glycine’s transporter is activated so that glycine can enter the cell to help volume regulation. This is why bone broth is one of the foods to boost fertility.
4. Avocado
Healthy fats are in avocados which are one of the foods to boost fertility. Healthy fats are unsaturated which means they have at least one double bond in the fatty acid chain. Unsaturated comes from the fact that the chain is ‘unsaturated’ in hydrogen bonds. Polyunsaturated fats are fatty acids that contain at least 2 double bonds in the structure. It has been shown that healthy fat consumption, specifically polyunsaturated fats were associated with increased progesterone and decreased anovulation. This means that avocados are one of the foods to boost fertility because progesterone is an important hormone to promote pregnancy.
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5. Eggs
Choline is a very important mineral and should be consumed on a daily basis especially for fertility. Eggs are one of the most abundant sources of it per weight. This is why eggs are one of the foods to boost fertility. Studies show that large amounts of choline are needed in fetal development to promote rapid cell division and brain development. In the placenta, eggs are also great foods to boost fertility because choline has been shown to promote angiogenesis which is the building of new blood vessels from older ones. Finally, choline can also protect egg quality.
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6. Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are very high in vitamin A, a nutrient you may have only associated with carrots. Possibly to your surprise, sweet potatoes contain more Vitamin A than carrots per weight which is why they are one of the foods to boost fertility. Sufficient Vitamin A has been found to boost egg quality and to promote ovarian cell division growth in the early stages of conception. Additionally, they found that vitamin A may be compulsory to initiate the cell division due to a study that found that vitamin A deficient women had low levels of a certain gene that acts in meiosis (cell division).
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7. Ginger
Another one of the foods to boost fertility is ginger. It has been found that ginger can support women with nausea and reduce symptoms of vomiting and nausea in pregnancy. This is important because nausea and vomiting in pregnancy are typically caused by a rise in estrogen that your body is not used to. In a rat study, ginger also has positive effects on antral follicle count and vascular endothelial growth factor in the ovaries. Improvements in positive follicle count is important to increase fertility, which shows that ginger is one of the foods to boost fertility.
8. Berries
Berries contain a host of antioxidants which is why they are one of the foods to boost fertility. Oxidative stress damages cells and reduces their ability to function, especially when trying to conceive. Reactive oxygen species or ROS enter the body on a daily basis through many different avenues, these ROS have very high energy levels and can damage cell functionality. Our body responds by sending antioxidants to get rid of the ROS. Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance in this system, either too many ROS or not enough antioxidants. Our body can make certain antioxidants on its own, but if we consume them through the diet this makes the antioxidants more readily available to get rid of the ROS and decrease oxidative stress.
9. Nuts & Seeds
Nuts and seeds are excellent sources of magnesium and zinc, both of which are foods to boost fertility. Magnesium is in foods to boost fertility by increasing progesterone. A study found an inverse relationship with magnesium and estrogen, showing that as magnesium levels increased and estrogen decreased. Estrogen and progesterone work in a balance so when estrogen levels are low this means that there will be an increase in progesterone naturally.
Zinc is important in foods to boost fertility too. A study found that zinc is able to increase the number of binding sites on a progesterone receptor in order to increase progesterone naturally.
10. Liver or Organ Meats
Iron is another very important nutrient to consume on a daily basis. It is highly abundant in liver or organ meats making them foods to boost fertility. If you are vegetarian or organ meat does not sound appealing, they make capsules of them as a supplement that you can order online too. Iron acts in foods to boost fertility because its job is to help carry oxygen throughout the body to all the cells. When you become pregnant there is going to be a surge of red blood cell volume increased in the body to support the fetus, and one of the nutrients for fertility to support this is iron. Studies have shown that iron consumption is very important in promoting fertility rates in women.
