Fertility and Nutrition

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates 431 B.C.

As I have touched on in previous posts, infertility can be a hard road to walk. There are things we can do as far as charting and working with a NaPro doctor. But it has been found changing your diet can also work well to help improve your fertility and even your gynecological health.

There are certain things in our diets that can actually prohibit good fertility. There are a lot of irritants in the food we consume and it can cause so many issues in our bodies. When we take in these irritants our bodies can respond by becoming inflamed. Inflammation can truly wreak havoc on our bodies, especially our reproductive system.

I never thought about having problems or sensitivities to food. My whole life I have generally been a healthy eater. When I struggled with my infertility issues it never crossed my mind that food would be part of my complications. After having two late term losses I knew I might have to do something drastic to overcome the obstacles I was facing. This is when I looked into an anti-inflammatory diet.

For me and my specific issues I found gluten and dairy were the main foods causing inflammation in my body. Some of the top foods that become irritants for people are sugar, artificial trans fats, vegetable and seed oils, refined or enriched carbohydrates, excessive alcohol, and processed meat. So really when you think of an anti-inflammatory diet it is fresh, whole, unprocessed, and chemical free. Trying a Paleo diet, going Keto, or even as far as Vegetarian have shown to be helpful. It has been found when we eliminate these foods from our diets it can help with PCOS, hormone issues, endometriosis, and other fertility issues. They are not a cure all but implementing an anti-inflammatory diet in your life can really be healing for your body. In fact most NaPro doctors do tend to use an anti-inflammatory diet as a first line treatment for infertility and other gynecological issues.

When I am meeting with clients who are struggling with infertility there can be a lot going on. Meeting with doctors, charting to look for issues, it can feel very consuming and overwhelming. Making decisions about your diet can be the one piece of control you feel like you have in the game. Do your research and find what works best for you, there are a lot of really good resources out there. Additionally, discuss these diets with your doctors to make a plan. It can take a little experimenting and patience, as with all things when it comes to our bodies. But it can be a big step in improving your overall health.