Top Five Fats for Fertility
Fertility & Pregnancy, Men, Nutrition, Women | Dr. Nishant Rao | August 5, 2009 at 12:58 am
Photo by genue luben.
If you’re googoo for gaga, preparing your body for pregnancy or trying to conceive, you want to get your hormonal system in tip top shape and give your fertility a boost.
Your ability to get pregnant relies partly on the hormonal clockwork that pops out an egg once a month, and partly on the skill and strength of your suitors sperm. Your endocrine/hormonal system is a complex cascade of messages and signals sent from your brain to the ovaries and adrenal glands to produce estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol and more. A healthy and balanced hormonal system is vital to getting pregnant and staying pregnant.
Cholesterol is the basic building material for your sex hormones, which are responsible for ovulation. Without sufficient cholesterol intake, your endocrine system will be running on empty. That’s why including healthy fats in your diet can boost fertility, while eating a low fat diet may promote infertility.
Foods high in healthy fats are also essential as they deliver fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are often lacking in low fat diets and are essential to a healthy body and a healthy pregnancy!
Here are the top 5 nourishing fats for optimal fertility and a healthy pregnancy:
- Full-fat dairy products like whole milk, full-fat yoghurt, keifer, cheese, cream, and butter. A prospective study of dairy foods and fertility done by Harvard researchers concluded that a high intake of low-fat dairy foods may increase the risk of anovulatory infertility whereas intake of high-fat dairy foods may decrease this risk. Choose raw, unpasteurized, and grass-fed whenever possible.
- Eggs...ovaries, ovulation, get it? It seems that eggs are a perfectly packaged fertility superfood! The yolks of free range eggs are full of vitamins A,D, and E, along with EPA, DHA and choline which are critical nutrients for your babies brain development!
- Fish/cod-liver oil. Wild salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, shellfish, and fish eggs. These foods contains essential fatty acids which can be helpful for female infertility due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Fish oil is also highly beneficial for maintaining a healthy pregnancy and the DHA found in fish oil is crucial to building your baby’s brain.
- Cold pressed olive oil is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory.
- Coconut oil is great for cooking and can withstand high heat without oxidizing. Contains lauric acid which provides anti-viral properties, and is metabolized quickly for energy, hence it is beneficial for weight loss. Some other healthy fat choices that are beneficial to fertility, pregnancy and overall health include nuts, seeds, avocado, and flax seed/flax oil.
Unhealthy fats that can increase risk of infertility:
- Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils- read your labels, hydrogenated oils are everywhere.
- Trans-fats- deep fried, fast foods, processed foods.
- Margarine, packaged cake mixes, commercial baked goods.
Good fats are not only important before conception, but also during your pregnancy, so find you favorite nourishing foods off this list, and hopefully you’ll be able to keep some of it down during your first trimester!
PS There are some great fertility tips from Amy Chitwood Burslem LAc. in Acupuncture and Fertility
Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.
Lovely article, and for a person who struggles with infertility this is always a good reminder. also those same fats are essential once pregnant for the health and growth of the baby in-utero and after birth through momma’s milk, or if bottle is necessary goats milk and rice syrup for the first six months and then goats milk (goats milk is natures’ ultimate milk substitute!)
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