Fish oil is a great supplement for improving your fertility, especially if you suffer from inflammatory conditions such as PCOS. And as an added benefit you’ll improve your cervical mucus which is necessary for the sperm to reach the egg when you ovulate.
But fish oil isn’t just good for women, it’s also good for men too as it can improve sperm motility. Many male infertility issues that relate to sperm can be corrected by taking an omega 3 supplement.
So why is fish oil so good?
Our bodies need essential fatty acids (EFA’s) for optimum health. EFA’s are made up of Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. These help many conditions including inflammatory conditions, they lower cholesterol and improve mood disorders. If you have a hormone imbalance, they can correct this too – which is why they are considered a super food.
In fact fish oil can help with many different fertility issues. Women who take a fish oil supplement have reported things like clearer charts (for those who are charting), decreased menstrual cramps, improved egg white cervical mucus and less PMS symptoms.
By improving their menstrual cycles, some women who had previously had trouble conceiving , were able to get pregnant within a few months of taking a fish oil supplement.
Helping women with PCOS get pregnant with fish oil
One of the main causes of infertility in women is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Fish oil has been shown to help regulate PCOS conditions by decreasing inflammation in the ovaries and also balancing the hormones associated with ovulation. By doing this, as well as helping to make their menstrual cycles more regular, it can help enough to be able to conceive.
If you choose to try fish oil to improve your fertility, then make sure you take a high dose supplement (around the same dosage that arthritis sufferers take) for the best results.
Does Iron Help with Fertility?
In a nutshell, yes.
In a recent study, a group of women who had no history of infertility were given iron supplements to determine the effect on their fertility.
The results were that those women who took around 41 milligrams of iron, significantly lowered their risk of ovulatory infertility (the condition where women cannot product healthy eggs or ovulate infrequently).
Most good multivitamins do contain iron so check with your doctor to make sure you are getting the correct dosage.
Symptoms of low iron include tiredness, headaches, shortness of breath and weak brittle nails.
You might have already heard that iron can help improve your fertility, and it’s true that it can. Studies have shown that women who take an iron supplement have 40% less chance of having ovulatory infertility compared to women who didn’t take a supplement. And by increasing the dosage to over 40 mg they have lowered their risk even further by 62%.
That’s good news for women trying to conceive! Most good prenatal vitamins usually have around 40 mg included anyway, but you can increase your iron levels through food as well.
Foods that are high in iron include fortified breakfast cereals, beans and pulses, and of course meat (particularly red meat) and eggs.
It’s also a good idea to take a Vitamin C supplement or take your iron vitamin with a glass of orange juice because vitamin C helps the iron to be absorbed more readily into your body.
As an added benefit, iron will help improve your energy levels but don’t take too much, because too much iron can make you constipated.
What the study found:
The study found that a low iron intake in women led to ovulatory infertility which is where the body can’t product healthy eggs. If your eggs are unhealthy they are unlikely to result in a pregnancy no matter how good your timing is.
The women in the study had no previous history of infertility and ranged in age, weight and other lifestyle factors. Each woman was prescribed either a different dosage of iron supplement or asked to increase their iron levels through food in order to test how it affected their fertility.
The women in the study that took 41 mg or more iron per day showed the best results as it decreased their risk of ovulatory infertility by 62%. Those getting their iron from food (non-heme iron) had the best results.
Good sources of non-heme iron are:
• bread (both white and whole wheat)
• broccoli
• prune juice
• spinach
• beans
• lentils
• apricots
So can caffeine affect your fertility? Yes it can. Studies have shown that a high caffeine consumption (that’s around 5 cups per day of coffee) can contribute to decreased fertility in women. While the findings are not exactly clear on why this is the case, it’s worthwhile to lower your intake of coffee, tea, cola drinks and even chocolate while trying to conceive.
One particular study found that women who had more than 300 mg of caffeine per day had lowered their chances of getting pregnant by 27% compared to women who didn’t have any at all. However some other studies have shown no correlation at all between caffeine and fertility so it can be confusing to know who to believe.
You are going to have to decrease your caffeine levels anyway when you do get pregnant as it can affect the baby (and in some cases has been linked to miscarriage), so starting now is worthwhile for your health anyway.
So how much is too much when it comes to how much caffeine you can have when trying to conceive?
You should aim to consume no more than 200 mg per day. That’s the level that is linked to raising the chances of miscarriage.
To put that into perspective, a regular cup of coffee contains 100 mg, a soda drink has 50 mg and energy drinks usually have around 80 mg per can. That means that even if you can’t live without your morning coffee, as long as you limit yourself to no more than two cups per day then you’ll be fine.
If you do currently have more than that, don’t go cold turkey as this can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as headaches. Instead wean yourself off gradually by lowering your intake by a small amount every few days. You can alternate with decaffeinated drinks or add more milk to your coffee.
Below are some tables of the caffeine levels of certain regular drinks and foods:
Caffeine Charts
Coffee
coffee, generic brewed 8 oz 102-200 mg
coffee, Starbucks brewed 16 oz (grande) 330 mg
coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts brewed 16 oz 206 mg
caffÉ latte or cappuccino, Starbucks 16 oz (grande) 150 mg
caffÉ latte or cappuccino, Starbucks 12 oz (tall) 75 mg
espresso, Starbucks 1 oz (1 shot ) 75 mg
espresso, generic 1 oz (1 shot) 30-90 mg
coffee, generic instant 8 oz 27-173 mg
coffee, generic decaffeinated 8 oz 3-26 mg
Tea
black tea, brewed 8 oz 40-120 mg
green tea, brewed 8 oz 30-50 mg
decaffeinated black tea 8 oz 2 mg
Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea latte 16 oz (grande) 100 mg
Nestea 12 oz 26 mg
Snapple 16 oz 42 mg
Lipton Brisk iced tea 12 oz 10 mg
Soft drinks
Coke 12 oz 35 mg
Pepsi 12 oz 38 mg
Jolt Cola 12 oz 72 mg
Mountain Dew 12 oz 54 mg
7-Up 12 oz 0 mg
Sierra Mist 12 oz 0 mg
Sprite 12 oz 0 mg
Energy drinks
Red Bull 8.3 oz 80 mg
SoBe Essential Energy, berry or orange 8 oz 48 mg
SoBe No Fear 8 oz 83 mg
Desserts
dark chocolate 1.45-oz bar 31 mg
milk chocolate 1.45-oz bar 11 mg
coffee ice cream or frozen yogurt 8 oz 50-60 mg
hot cocoa 8 oz 3-13 mg
Supplements That Help Fertility
What are the Best Prenatal Vitamins to Take Before You Get Pregnant?
If you are thinking about having a baby, then one of the first things that you can do, before you even conceive is start taking a good prenatal vitamin.
Not only will it help give you and your baby the best start in life, but it can also improve your fertility! So what should you look for when choosing a prenatal vitamin supplement?
What to look for in a good prenatal vitamin supplement
Folic Acid (Folate)
While including folic acid is usually standard in prenatal vitamins (and even some regular multi vitamins) you need to make sure that they include the correct dosage so that you are getting enough of this important nutrient. Make sure that your supplement includes at least 400 mcg of folic acid. This will help protect your baby against neural tube defects like spina bifida. For the best way to lower your risk of your baby getting it, then you should be taking folate BEFORE you get pregnant.
Calcium
You’ll need extra calcium to help you grow a healthy baby when you are pregnant, so look for a supplement that has 1,000 mg per day. You can also get your daily calcium needs by eating foods that are high in it such as milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Iron
Iron is especially important when you are pregnant because it will help to combat fatigue and prevent anaemia. A good prenatal vitamin will have around 30 to 40 mg per day.
Vitamins that help improve fertility
If you are taking a prenatal vitamin to help improve your fertility you should also make sure it contains vitamin B6, manganese and zinc.
Other factors to consider when choosing a prenatal vitamin
You also need to take into account other factors such as the size of the supplement (smaller vitamins are easier to swallow than large ones – especially if you do get pregnant and are suffering from morning sickness). If you can’t stomach swallowing your supplement you might even prefer one that you can chew or dissolve in water as an alternative.
Price might also be a contributing factor to which brand you purchase. Don’t always assume that the most expensive brand is going to be the best – most supplements are quite similar in composition, so read the labels carefully to decide.
There are many great prenatal vitamins that are available at your health food or grocery store that will not only help improve your fertility but also put you in your best shape when you do conceive.
Supplements That Help Fertility
Eating for Fertility – How Diet & Food Can Help Get You Pregnant
Yes, it’s true – food can help improve your fertility so much so, that previously infertile couples are making babies just by changing their diets.
The reason being that food and diet play an important role in the balance of hormones for both men and women and works as a sort of internal medicine for improving your health. Using food for health is nothing new, we have been told for years that eating right will improve certain conditions, help us lose weight and even cure diseases, so it makes sense that fertility diets can also help us get pregnant.
The food pH levels itself will not affect you getting pregnant or not, but it can influence the gender of your child.
So what sort of foods should you be eating to make sure that you conceive a healthy baby?
First let’s cover what you shouldn’t be eating – and that’s junk food (refined sugars and saturated fats), caffeine and artificial substances (preservatives, colours & flavours).
These foods not only make you unhealthy, they are widely known for their effect on the hormones of your body, particularly ones like oestrogen which are needed for a healthy menstrual cycle. Have too much oestrogen and not enough progesterone and it will be difficult for you to conceive (you’ll likely have a short luteal phase if this is your problem).
People with PCOS are particularly sensitive to foods that cause hormonal imbalances.
Instead you should be eating a variety of healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Good sources of whole grain’s include brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat breads. The best vegetables are the green leafy vegies and also fruits and vegetables that have lots of colour such as carrots, mango, berries, peppers and more. The more colour it has, the higher in nutrients it is.
You’ll probably also hear that you should or shouldn’t eat dairy or meat. The reason being that these foods can affect your hormone levels either for the positive or negative depending on your condition.
If you suffer from any sort of ovulatory infertility such as PCOS, then full fat dairy is your friend, and can actually help you get pregnant. If that isn’t your problem then you should decrease the amount of dairy you eat and stick to low fat.
Meat can affect some people’s fertility but not all. That’s why some fertility diet books recommend going vegan or vegetarian when trying to get pregnant. It’s definitely worth a try if you’ve ruled out everything else – you can always start eating meat again once you know there is a baby on the way.
It usually takes around two to three months to see any real changes in your body and menstrual cycle when starting a diet aimed at improving your fertility so stick with it because you just never know if that apple is going to help you finally get that baby you want.
The two week wait can be a frustrating wait, especially if you have been actively trying to conceive. It’s during this time that many of us start to analyse our bodies in case it gives us some clues as to the early pregnancy signs and symptoms that we might be experiencing.
This blog post will go over some of the early signs of pregnancy (even some very early signs) so that you can see if you have some of these symptoms too.
‘Feeling’ Pregnant
Some women just claim to know when they are pregnant, long before they ever take a pregnancy test. If your intuition is buzzing that there is a bun in the oven then you just might be correct.
Tender Breasts
One of the very early signs of pregnancy is sore and tender breasts. When your body is preparing for pregnancy one of the first things it does is release hormones which in turn can make your breasts swell in preparation for milk production later down the track.
So you might start to notice that your breasts look bigger, have some bluish veins appear or the nipples could darken in color.
This is especially noticeable at night-time if you sleep on your side or your stomach, as your breasts become uncomfortable in those positions.
Tiredness
Tiredness and fatigue is another early pregnancy sign and if you are feeling like you just want to lie down and take a nap all day, it could be because the hormones that your body is releasing are causing this.
Nausea
While nausea and morning sickness doesn’t usually appear until you are 5 or 6 weeks pregnant, many women are extra sensitive to the pregnancy hormones and start to feel sick very early on. If you are feeling a little queasy and it isn’t from your greasy lunch, then it might be due to pregnancy.
A Final Note
I must admit that when I was trying to conceive I waited for every little sign or symptom that I could and because many symptoms are the same or similar to what you get before your period is due anyway so it can be confusing.
In fact, most months I was convinced I was pregnant when in fact I wasn’t. (Ironically the two times that I was pregnant, I didn’t have nearly any signs and was convinced that AF was arriving – both times I even wore a pad because I kept thinking I would need it because I felt crampy (another pregnancy sign by the way)).
Anyway, the only real way to be sure that you are pregnant is by taking a home pregnancy test or getting a blood test by the doctor which will confirm it.
In the meantime, don’t stress too much and enjoy the two week wait.
So you have a feeling that this month just might be the one. You’re in the dreaded two week wait (that seems like an eternity) and you have a pregnancy test in your hands just counting down the days to when you can pee on a stick and find out once and for all if you really are pregnant this month or not.
Whoa, slow down sister – I know it’s tempting (I’ve been there myself), but you really need to wait if you want to get a accurate answer.
If you take the test too early it might give you a false negative (you might be pregnant but just don’t have enough pregnancy hormone for the test to show a positive result) and seeing a negative test can be heart breaking and disappointing, especially if you have been trying to conceive for some time.
So when should you take a pregnancy test?
According to FertilityFriend.com most people started to get a positive result around 12 DPO when using a early pregnancy test.
While some women will show a positive result before this, most will not. So save yourself some heartache (and money) and wait a few more days until at least 12 DPO or even longer if you can hold out.
The reason is that home pregnancy tests (HPT) measure the amount of hCG in your urine and it needs to be at a certain level before the test will show positive. While sensitive tests can detect small amounts of hCG a few days before your period is due most require you to wait around two weeks after ovulation (about when AF is due).
What about a blood pregnancy test?
Ok, so we’ve established when you should take a home pregnancy test, but what about a blood test from your doctor, will that show up earlier?
In theory yes, because a blood test can often pick up smaller amounts of hCG than a home pregnancy test. However that isn’t always the case with many women going to the doctor after a positive HPT but it not showing up with the blood test.
I guess the only real option therefore is to wait a few days, until around the time you expect your period and then take the test to be sure.
Good luck and baby dust.
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