Trying for a baby? Improve your diet and boost your chances
Want to hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet? We all know we shouldn’t smoke when trying to conceive, but diet is also crucial. Making small changes to what you eat can help boost your fertility.
Eat more of these
Selenium
This mineral helps boost sperm production and improves their mobility. It can be found in pumpkin seeds, liver and Brazil nuts. Eating just four Brazil nuts a day is enough to meet your daily needs.
Tomatoes
These are rich in lycopene, which has been found to promote fertility in men. Cooking tomatoes releases up to 2.5 times the lycopene.
Fresh and healthy foods
Nutritionists agree that couples trying to conceive should eat the freshest and most wholesome food they can afford. Reducing additives, chemicals and processed foods will help improve your health, and, consequently, your reproductive system, too. Eat a balanced diet that includes five helpings of fruit and vegetables a day (frozen, tinned and dried count, too), protein including lean meat and pulses, dairy foods, plus two helpings of oily fish a week (don’t exceed this because of the mercury content).
Essential fatty acids
Make sure you get your fill of these, which are found in nuts, seeds and oily fish. They are beneficial for both men and women, and in men they help produce prostaglandins, important for sperm manufacture.
Vitamins
Vitamin B6 increases fertility in women, and in men vitamin B12 improves low sperm count. Zinc, known for increasing sperm count, is also necessary for women – it helps the body utilise the reproductive hormones, oestrogen and progesterone. Make sure you take a supplement containing 400 microgram (mcg) folic acid from the time you start trying to conceive as this helps prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
Avoid the following
Alcohol
Research has shown that drinking alcohol affects sperm count and quality. It also reduces the body’s absorption of nutrients, in particular minerals such as zinc, which is vital for fertility. The government’s Food Standards Agency recommends giving up alcohol completely when trying for a baby, or if that’s too much to bear, only drinking one or two units of alcohol, once or twice a week.