Having an optimistic attitude and a healthy body are probably very
important for fertility. Being healthy and eating nutritious food may
well enhance your chances of a happy pregnancy. Our reproductive system
is literally fed by what we eat. If you choose poor quality food, it
would not be surprising that you may have poor quality fertility. Yet,
many women are eating to the best of their ability, but as their
digestion is compromised they are just not absorbing nutrients from
their food effectively. We know from the vast amounts of indigestion
tablets and laxatives sold each year that many people have digestion
problems. The 52 essential nutrients are crucial for the endocrine
system to work, and it would appear that you might have to correct the
digestive system first.
In the UK 722.500, 000 babies were born in 2005. The largest number
of births was in 1920 when 1,126,800 babies were born (1). We know from
research that approximately 1:20 men are sub-fertile and 1:15 women are
sub-fertile. The miscarriage rate averages are 23.6 per cent in women
with normal ovaries and 35.8 per cent in women with polycystic ovaries.
Hundreds of babies are born prematurely. But every prospective mother
and father want a healthy baby, not a baby who will be ill. Women get
pregnant naturally up to the age of 52 years, all over the world. The
average age of first time mothers in the UK is around 27 years of age.
Making Healthy Babies
We know that it takes 9 -months gestation for the baby to be
created. Both sperm and ova must be healthy before they join together
and form the blastocyst or embryo. Then the embryo implants into a lush
nutrient rich endometrium the baby develops. The endocrine glands,
ovaries, testes, uterus, pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands all
require nutrients to function. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadol axis
is very sensitive to B vitamin intake (2). The hormonal messages from
the pituitary have to pass to the ovary. If the hormonal messages are
garbled the glands will not work properly.
A diet of too many manufactured foods and too few fruits and
vegetables, hydrogenated trans fats and oils, excess refined sugars and
fluffy white refined carbohydrates will be deficient in nutrients
required by the mother and foetus. Fast foods are often low in B
vitamins and essential minerals and trace elements such as zinc,
manganese, magnesium, selenium and iodine.
Men continually make a fresh supply of sperm so food choice is vital
to their formation. It takes three months to build a healthy sperm with
a rich nutrient supply. Furthermore, it takes 120 days for sperm to
recover if harmful chemicals (mutagenic substances like drugs, alcohol,
nicotine) have damaged sperm production (3).
Women are thought to be born with a supply of ova in their ovaries,
and by puberty 400,000 are present. Though new research in mammals
suggests that we may be able to make fresh eggs too. The health of
these eggs depends upon how healthy their own mother was during her
pregnancy. If their mother smoked or drank heavily throughout their
pregnancy, ovary development may have been damaged, thus their
daughter’s fertility may have been compromised (4,5). Certainly
research shows that if the mother smoked during pregnancy their
daughter’s ovaries may be damaged, and they may miscarry more
frequently.
Feeding The Ovary
Protein foods and cold pressed oils from nuts, seeds, olives and
oily fish are the starting nutrients for hormone and enzyme production.
Eating a supply of protein at each meal and cold pressed olive oil may
aid fertility. A low protein diet causes far fewer ova to ripen or be
released.
The pituitary gland in the brain requires all the B vitamins for it
to work correctly and send the right hormone signals to the ovaries
(6). Other research suggests that the ovaries require vitamin E and C,
the minerals, iodine, selenium, zinc, magnesium and essential fatty
acids. Most of these nutrients are found in a diet of lean meat, fish,
fruits and vegetables, pulses, berries and some dairy food s.
Testes Needs
Testes produce seminal fluid, which is high in vitamin C to protect
the sperm from damage and improve motility and mobility. Vitamin E
enhances the ability of sperm to fertilize the ova in test tubes. Zinc
is critical in male reproduction (zinc and vitamin E increase
testosterone levels, which is responsible for sperm production) and low
zinc status may contribute to infertility. (7) The head and tail for
sperm are rich in zinc. Vitamin B12 improves sperm count and motility.
Deficiencies of vitamin A in the diet may cause sperm abnormalities.
Selenium, iodine, manganese, magnesium deficiencies are linked to low
sperm count and testicular degeneration. Manganese deficiency is linked
to mutagenic changes and infertility. Research suggests that ‘manganese
deficiency causes testicular degeneration’. (8). The amino acids L
arginine and L carnitine are also plentiful in sperm. Good quality oils
and proteins from oily fish, nuts and seeds are important for cell
membrane integrity.
Feed Your Womb
The womb produces many enzymes and prostaglandins. The lush
endometrium lining nurtures the fertilized ova after implantation. The
placenta is built from this nutrient rich layer. A healthy placenta
will ensure a baby is able to gather the maternal hormones and
nutrients to feed itself via the mother’s bloodstream. If the mother’s
nutrition stores are inadequate then the baby will have poor
nourishment and may not develop properly (9).
Vegetables were the most important contributor of magnesium,
required to build healthy cell membranes, with dairy products in second
place and they were more important than dairy produce as a source of B
vitamins. (10). Low intakes of B vitamins may also slow down the
ripening of the egg before conception and be affecting fertility. The
hypothalamus in other mammals reacts to a severe deficiency of any of
these B vitamins (particularly riboflavin [B2] by inhibiting GnRH
secretion and so causing infertility (11).
Eating well for 3 months before conception will ensure that you are
providing the ova, endometrium and pituitary gland with adequate
nutrients are available to the developing baby.
It takes a year to make a baby!
Everyone wants a healthy bouncing baby. In order to increase your
chances of conception and pregnancy, a diet rich in vitamins and
minerals, phytochemicals, proteins, complex carbohydrates and natural
cis fatty acids is essential.
This is not difficult. It means eating the freshest healthiest food
you can afford for 3 months before conception and for the nine months
of pregnancy and whilst you breast feed. Fresh vegetables and fruits,
olives, nuts, seeds, peas, beans, lentils, organic lean meat, white and
oily fish, some organic dairy products and eggs are suggested.
Eat as your great grandparents ate – fresh foods untainted with
chemicals and cooked carefully without additives. After all, many
people from that generation are now living long and healthy lives into
their nineties. We all want all our children to live a long healthy
life.
Healthy Eating Suggestions
a) Drink one litre of fresh filtered water each day (8 glasses).
b) Eat two servings of green leafy vegetables per day, two servings
of red-orange vegetables, some salad and two pieces of fresh fruits.
(Avoid citrus fruits if they trigger irritable bowel). Berry fruits are
anti-inflammatory and rich in anti-oxidants and act as diuretics.
c) Eat two to three servings of wholegrain cereals such as barley
oats, rye, each day. If you are gluten sensitive then use corn, rice,
millet, quinoa, tapioca, and arrowroot as fibre. Many people (1:100)
now react to wheat so note carefully what happens when you eat it. If
you bloat or have abdominal pains stop eating wheat.
d) Eat 30 gm of fibre foods each day, including vegetables, fruits, wholegrain cereals, nuts, seeds, peas, beans and lentils.
e) Eat complex carbohydrate foods daily such as root vegetables
(turnip, Swede, parsnip, carrot, celeriac, potato), pulse vegetables
(peas, beans, lentils); they supply slow-releasing sugars into the body
to sustain energy levels.
f) Consume one tablespoon of fresh cold-pressed oils each day such
as olive, sesame, walnut or linseed oils; or use one tablespoon of
ground or whole linseeds with breakfast muesli. Avoid trans-fats in
manufactured foods.
g) Eat 50-75gm of protein foods per day, choosing from a variety of
sources. This ensures a wide range of amino acids that are available in
peas, beans, lentils, wholegrain cereals, nuts, seeds, tofu, eggs,
organic dairy foods (from goat, sheep, buffalo only if pasteurized),
and fresh organic lean meat and deep sea fish.
h) Avoid edible things that are not nutritious. A developing baby
needs nutrients not empty calories. It does not require food additives,
pesticides, refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, xeno-oestrogens,
phthalates, street drugs, pharmaceutical drugs and trans fats. A
pregnant woman can eat up to 9lbs of food additives over nine months!
Nutritional Supplements
Nutritional supplements are tools to improve body biochemistry and
to correct biochemical imbalances in the short term whilst diet is
corrected. Dietary nutrients from fresh food are crucial long term. A
good mutli-vitamin-mineral capsule, along with a gentle vitamin C
(magnesium ascorbate) and essential fatty acids – omega 3-6-9 oils may
help to restore the body’s natural balance.
We know from McCance and Widowson data (comparing fruit and
vegetables from 1939 to 1991) that the mineral levels in many plants
that are down by a third or three-quarters from the levels our
grandparents ate (12). Therefore, we need to eat more fruit and
vegetables than they did in order to obtain the same level of
nutrients. The Harvard School of Public Health new food pyramid, from
professors of epidemiology and nutrition, suggests that everyone should
take a daily mutli-vitamin-mineral to correct this loss (13).
Of course all the nutritional supplements should be free from
allergens, wheat, dairy, sugars, yeasts and unnecessary excipients,
which is why capsule form is usually suggested. Some vitamin and
mineral tablets are full of excipients, (which bind the ingredients
together), but are upsetting to many people. Always buy a good quality
one, not the cheap useless versions.
Nutritional supplements will be useless however, unless the
digestive tract is working efficiently. Use acidophilus, digestive
enzymes and gut membrane healing substances (such as slippery elm) to
improve your digestion, and anti-yeast supplements may be required
before pregnancy is attempted.
What you choose to eat plays a major role in your fertility and the
birth of healthy babies. Burke et al, looked at mothers who had eaten
good/excellent diets, they gave birth to babies judged to be in
good/superior health 94 per cent of the time. Contrasted with mother’s
whose diets were classified as poor and whose infants had good health
only 8 per cent of the time (14).
Three regular meals each day and two healthy snacks are essential to
bring vital nutrients into the body. Research has shown that a
nutritious breakfast is key. Remember what our grandmother taught us –
“eat right, exercise and reflect”. “Things which matter most must never
be at the mercy of things which matter least” Goethe.
© Dian Shepperson Mills 2007
- Office for National Population Statistics, general register Office
for Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 24th August 2006
• 2. Wynn AHA, Wynn M, The Need for Nutritional Assessment in the
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• 3. Whorton MD and Milby TH, “Recovery of testicular function among DSCP workers” in J Occup Med 22:177-9, 1980
4. Ellis R, ‘Alcohol trebles the risk of miscarriage’, in The Mail on Sunday 10 February 2002
5. Van Voorhis BJ, et al, ‘The effects of smoking on ovarian
function and fertility during assisted reproduction cycles’ in Obstret
Gynecol, 88(5): 785-91. 1996
6. Doyle W, Crawford MA, Wynn AHA, Wynn M, ‘The association of maternal diet and birth dimensions’. J Nutri Med: !: 9-16. 1990
7. Prasad AS, ‘Is infertility linked to zinc deficiency?’ in Better Nutrition Magazine, 8: 13-62, 1982
8. Tuormaa TE, ‘Adverse effects of manganese deficiency on reproduction and health’ in J Orthomol Med, 11; 3, 1996
9.Hackman E, ‘Maternal birth weight and subsequent pregnancy outcome’, in J Am Med Assoc, 250: 2016-19, 1983
10. Doyle W, Crawford MA, Wynn AHA, Wynn M, ‘The association of maternal diet and birth dimensions’. J Nutri Med: !: 9-16. 1990
11. Watteville H, Jurgens R and Pfalz H, ‘Einfluss von Vitaminagel
auf Fruschbarkeit, Schwangerschaaaaaft und Nachkommen’ in Scheiz Med
Wochenschr, 84:875-82, 1954
12. McCance X, and Widdowson A, Comparison of Foods 1939 and 1991,
in Endometriosis: a key to healing and Fertility, D, Shepperson Mills,
MW Vernon. Thorsons.pp184, 2002
13. Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, ‘Rebuilding the Food Pyramid’,
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16; number 4, pp13. 2006.
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