Preparing for Pregnancy

Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy - Him and Her

This article focuses on improving hormones, egg health, and sperm health.

You have decided you want children and now you think, “Is there something I should be doing to get ready for this adventure?”

Kudos to you for planning ahead!

The most important thing you can do right now is to focus on preparing your bodies through diet and lifestyle.

Why prepare? And why both of you?

1 in 8 couples experience trouble getting pregnant (this can include hormonal issues, and egg and sperm quality). Many times, these issues can be improved with some changes to both your diets and lifestyles.[i]^,[ii],[iii]
A woman’s health will affect how easy (or difficult) her pregnancy will be (morning sickness, fatigue, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes).
Your health (both of you) will influence the health of your baby (read up on epigenetics if you want to know more).
A woman’s health will affect how her body heals after birth.
These are changes you are going to want to make not only for your health, but for your child’s health too. It will be easier to make these changes now, before you are pregnant, than afterwards, or after the baby comes.

Let’s start with improving hormones (this applies to both men and women).

Add healthy fats (like tallow, butter, and coconut oil) to your diet and using them to replace all the vegetable fats that you are using. Download the Healthy Fats Cooking Guide below.
Start replacing processed sugar with alternatives like honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. Then start cutting back on sugars. This is actually easier than you think because once you are eating plenty of healthy fats, your sugar cravings will start to diminish.
Replace your personal care products like shampoo and lotions.

1. Why start with fats?

Cholesterol is a precursor for all steroid hormones, which include your sex hormones progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Obviously, you need to have healthy sex hormones to have a healthy and successful pregnancy. So back to fats and cholesterol-you must make sure that you are giving your body the types of cholesterol it needs from healthy sources. Putting dirty gasoline into your car will gunk up the works. The same thing happens if you put inappropriate fats (cholesterol) into your body. Your body will struggle to make healthy hormones and will struggle to make enough of them.

Some of the best fats are going to be from healthy animal sources, like beef tallow, lard, duck fat, butter or ghee, dairy products. Other healthy fats are from nuts and seeds, like avocado oil, almond oil, coconut oil, and so forth. Right now, start replacing all the vegetable oils in your pantry. If you like to bake, try using coconut oil instead of oil and lard for shortening.

2. What does sugar have to do with hormones?

Most folks don’t realize that insulin is a hormone. (Insulin is the hormone that helps us regulate our blood sugar levels).

Another interesting fact is that when one hormone system becomes out-of-whack, then it can drive the other ones out-of-whack too as they try to compensate. What does that mean? If you are eating foods that are causing your blood sugars to fluctuate too much, then you may eventually end up with thyroid or other hormone problems. They are all inter-related and inter-connected.

PCOS is one case in point. In many instances, women with PCOS also have insulin resistance. Rebalancing blood sugars usually helps relieve symptoms in those women.[iv]

Testosterone production in men can also be affected by blood sugars that are out-of-control.

So you can see, blood sugars regulation is important for both men and women when it comes to their hormones and their fertility.

3. Why do I need to replace my personal care products?

It is well documented that many of the chemicals used in personal care products in the United States are known to be endocrine disruptors. This means that they cause problems with your hormone systems. In European countries, many of these chemicals are banned from use. Makes you think, huh!

So, what can you do? I like to use the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website to search for products and ingredients. Another, simpler option is to shop at stores that screen they products they carry. For example, you will find safer products at a store like Natural Grocers. (Not all the products are fantastic, but they are better than what you find at Wal-Mart.) Click here to see more->> Thursall’s Favs

Next, let’s talk about how you can improve the quality of your eggs and sperm as you are getting ready for pregnancy.

There is a window of time as your eggs are preparing for ovulation during which you can affect their health. Surprisingly, this actually starts about 90 days before ovulation.

This is also true for men. Few people are aware that sperm take 2-3 months to mature and you can influence their quality and number during this time. And, men can influence the health and number of sperm they produce through diet and lifestyle.

SO, you both should start preparing now, and expect it to take about 3 months for the best results.

What can you do to improve egg health?

The number one thing you can do to help improve the quality of your eggs is to eat foods high in antioxidants. Antioxidants protect your cells and your eggs from damage. You want to make sure you are eating foods high in antioxidants like vitamins A, C and E.

Some foods for that are high in antioxidants – good for women or men

Berries-all kinds
Kale and other dark green veggies
Red Cabbage
Orange foods like sweet potatoes and butternut squash
Colorful foods-the more color the better

What can you do to improve sperm quality?

Foods that have been found to have a positive impact on sperm quality are omega-3s, probably because they reduce inflammation, and various vitamins and minerals. (Keep reading for the research behind these nutrients).

Omega-3s from fish and cod liver oil
Brazil nuts-for selenium
Sunflower seeds and almonds-for vitamin E
Guavas and bell peppers-for vitamin C
Oysters and beef-for zinc
Liver and mackerel-for vitamin A

Antioxidants are also important for men as they help protect the DNA of the sperm. Some antioxidants are vitamins A, C, D, E; the amino acid L-carnitine; and the antioxidant Co-Q10. Selenium has also been shown to be helpful. Another very important anti-oxidant component of semen is zinc. Low zinc levels are closely associated with male infertility. Supplementing with zinc has been shown to improve sperm health.[v] It is the second most abundant metal in the human body after iron. If you talk with holistic nutrition practitioners, they will tell you that most of their clients test for zinc deficiencies.

Here are some studies that talk about specific nutrients or diets that improved sperm form and function:

Based on a recent Cochrane review, a man could improve his fertility (sperm) fourfold by taking antioxidants.[vi]
In one study of 690 infertile men, they found that Selenium and vitamin E improved sperm form and function in over 50% of the men.[vii]
There is another study of 225 men who were part of couple attending a fertility clinic. In this study, the men who most closely followed a Mediterranean type diet had around 30% better score of their semen parameters (sperm count, shape, and motility).[viii]
In a review of 35 studies, they found that healthy diets rich in omega-3s, vitamin E, C, Beta-carotene, selenium, zinc, and other nutrients usually resulted in better semen quality parameters.[ix]

Need Help Making Changes?

We hope this article inspires you to make changes to your diet. Make sure to download the Healthy Fats Cooking Guide below!

If you are ready for a more in-depth fertility focused approach we offer several options for working with us 1 on 1. Check them out on our services page: