I have had this post in my mind for quite a while now. I have been thinking about the role food plays in fertility, and in preparation for a baby. Undoubtedly there is a connection between eating nutritious food and paving the way forward for conception. I just have had some serious doubts as to how strict one should be, and follow every letter of the law the books and fertility gurus tell you too.
In 2010 I took the strict route. I cut out dairy, gluten, sugar and caffeine. I did this from January till June (when I did the IUI). I felt very good about myself. Coupled with acupuncture my stomach had never looked so flat in my entire life. The downside: I lost 7kg. I landed up really skinny. I got some compliments about how much weight I had lost. I told people it was basically from cutting out caffeine and sugar. And I didn’t get pregnant.
In 2011 I had more resources at my disposal. A fertility clinic will do that for you. My insides got cleaned out in a laparoscopy and all the blood tests and subsequent medication improved my thyroid function. I started with the fertility diet in about April, but I wasn’t as strict as the previous year. If there was a function with sweet foods, I ate them. I did not touch caffeine. I had black rooibos tea without sugar. I had rye bread instead of normal bread to avoid the gluten. But every now and then I did eat some gluten. I largely avoided dairy (I’m not really a big dairy eater) but did have it occasionally.
And I did have junk food now and then. And I got pregnant.
Bear in mind this is just my story.
I have read some powerful stories where diet did get people pregnant. Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed did a series of guest posts from women with PCOS and I was particularly struck by the link to food. Eating low GI foods if you have this condition really seems to make a difference. Read this one from Kristin. The best part here was finding out that rice cakes are actually high GI! Very useful info, since my hubby is a diabetic.
A friend at work got pregnant also got pregnant after going to a dietician. (Although I found out this year she also had a lap).
Cindy Bailey, author of “The Fertile Kitchen”, which I reviewed here, swears that the food made a difference to her getting pregnant. I also ate many of her recipes this year. The ones I really ate on a regular basis were the garbanzo beans (which I did with baked beans instead of the chickpeas, really did not like the taste). I ate them every Sunday night and tried not to fart too much on a Monday! We also ate her Portobello mushroom recipe on Thursdays (except we ate normal white button mushrooms). What happened in the end was I used a combination of her food and that of a South African diabetic cookbook.
We ate sausages on Monday and a stir fry (with lots of pineapple for implantation on Wednesday). B also went through a phase when he wanted chicken salad instead of the normal food so he had that on Tuesday and Thursday while I had a noodle chicken soup on Thursday. I ate vegetables, baked potato and chicken on Tuesdays. I had a bit of a dilemma about the broccoli and cauliflower I love so much (which is supposed to clean up excess estrogen, good for fertility, when I read another article by the same guru saying these vegetables were bad for thyroid function. So I switched to butternuts, gem squashes and carrots. Who knows what the right thing was to do or if it really made a difference but the improvement in my thyroid has been key in my improved health.
It is easy to get confused with all these rules and regulations, but I will make a basic summary for you here of what not to eat: (I’m going with Cindy Bailey’s guidelines from her cookbook and will also insert some links as well from the various guru newsletters I get in my inbox)
- No alcohol. Not a problem for me since I don’t really drink. It is a toxin that disrupts the absorption of nutrients (much like sugar) and makes more work for your body. (Energy it would rather be using to create a baby). It raises prolactin levels which interfere with ovulation. For men it also raises estrogen levels which interfere with sperm development and hormone levels. Alcohol can even kill of sperm generating cells in the testicle.
- No caffeine or coffee. I substituted this with rooibos tea, a popular herbal tea here in SA. It negatively affects fertility and increases the chances of miscarriage. It increases blood pressure. Not what I need, already having this as a problem. It draws blood away from of the uterus, and you want the blood flowing to it. Even decaf is not good because apparently, according to Cindy, it does have some caffeine in it and harsh chemicals are used in the decaffeination process. I had some decaf cappuccino yesterday (B took me out for breakfast) and it tasted horrible. I decided to go back to rooibos after that and I just felt so much better drinking it. By the way for you chocolate addicts – carob is a good alternative, and for those of you in SA Woolworths makes a very nice carob snack bar.
http://natural-fertility-info.
http://natural-fertility-
3. No sugar. It negatively affects the blood sugar and insulin levels leading to hormonal imbalance. Angela says that energetically those sweet and refined foods are both damp and cold. Cindy recommends stevia, a herb, as an alternative. Similar to alcohol, it is a nutrient killer. It takes away from the good stuff you have been eating and the costly vitamins you take as well. Natural sugar in moderation, according to Cindy, is a good option e.g. honey, maple syrup and brown rice sugar. NOT artificial sweeteners.
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http://natural-fertility-
4. No dairy. It has a lot of artificial stuff in it which messes up your hormones. Also, particularly if you are lactose intolerant, your body has to work harder to digest it. Rice milk is an alternative. Calcium substitutes are broccoli, kale, spinach, oranges, black beans, salmon, sesame seeds and almonds.
Exceptions: Cindy permits yoghurt because it is easier to digest. Angela Wu of FertilityWisdom permits low fat cottage cheese (doesn’t generate the overwhelming dampness of other dairy foods). She says this dampness hampers energy flow.
http://natural-fertility-
5. No wheat. Wheat (or gluten) is difficult to digest and many people may have a sensitivity to it and don’t even know it. It may cause inflammation, bloating, digestion problems and general fatigue. It can also adversely affect thyroid function. I was eating rye bread instead of normal bread. And you can find gluten free pasta in a lot of supermarkets now.
http://fertilekitchen.
Out of interest, Angela says the worst thing you can eat when trying to conceive: ice-cream and pizza. Cold+ dairy+ wheat+dairy.
I think I am going to stop there. There is more. Trust me. There’s always more. But this is the basic stuff. Bottom line: go for the fresh stuff and avoid the processed, sweet stuff.
The cold stuff debate (from Angela Wu): Initially this made a lot of sense to me because I am the kind of person who feels the cold easily and I understand the logic of creating a “warm womb” for baby to nest in. Your body temperature drops, circulation slows and your heart must work harder to adjust. Again, this consumes the energy you need for conception.
In my experience I can think of two instances where I had a cold reaction: the one time I had cold milk. My whole body got cold and I froze. Another time I did not dress warmly enough for work. That night I could literally feel my thyroid gland throbbing. Both these incidents actually happened in early pregnancy. Yes, I survived, but I did learn something: to take care of myself and manage my temperature better.
However on the other hand there has to be some balance. In reality I just could not stick to this. When I am boiling hot, I listen to my body and have a cold drink. Angela does not even want us to have hot baths or swims. I love my bath. When SA is having a heat wave over hear, swimming really helps me cool down and cope with whatever I have to do.
The other thing she says we shouldn’t eat is raw food. Again, it takes more energy to digest.
So I think this issue is still open for debate. I’d love to hear your input.
Stay tuned. I just bought “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” so another post will be on what to eat when you are pregnant. (It isn’t that different).
Hi, Heather —
I’m here from Mel’s Wishes post. Thanks for this thoughtful post – I am still trying to get pregnant and have tried and struggled with pieces of the fertile diet over the past few years, along with wheat-and-dairy-free to help control endometriosis. I ran into a difficult time feeling too controlled/restricted as each month passed without sticky pregnancies, but I will take another look through your links. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope all of your wishes come true!
Oh Michele – I really do hope you get your baby. It is so discouraging when you do the diet and still nothing happens.. what really helped for me was to go to an excellent fertility clinic with an experienced doctor and do some testing. I mean all the veggies in the world wasn’t going to help my thyroid problem until I became aware of it and started taking the meds.
I definitely think that food can play an extremely important role for some people, and a less important role for others.
If you think about it, there are plenty of people with awful diets eating all the “bad” foods who still get pregnant without issue and go on to have beautifully perfect pregnancies. Obviously, food isn’t an issue for them. But there are certain conditions where food plays more of a role, and I think that’s important to pay attention to.
I personally went all out my second cycle, and obviously did not get pregnant. I think food can definitely play a role, but I don’t think it’s the whole picture. And I also think that sometimes going too far and stressing yourself about food too much can have an opposite effect – there is something to be said for keeping yourself as calm as possible during the whole trying to conceive roller coaster!
I totally agree with you, SIF. The balanced view!
I too think there is something about radically changing your diet and increasing your stress. I think also it puts the blame that you can’t have a baby totally on you and that also causes stress. Do I think it hurts to make improvements in your diet? No. I think you probably should start to explore more veggies and start cooking with more beans. But do I think that will get you pg by itself? No. I think for a lot of people it is going to take a lot more than that. But I do think you should try to improve your diet. Not for having a baby but for you. For your life—however it turns out. That is the best way to think about it and not causes stress.
I think you make some good points here, Colleen. Thanks. It is true you do feel better when you eat healthy.
This is really interesting. Just over a year ago I went to an Ayurvedic consultation and got a whole list of foods to eat and to avoid. All based on my personal needs (dosha). That was all about diet, and very very strict. I did it for a while but it was too much to keep up in daily life. So I found my own balance.
About cold foods, in Chinese Medicine the worst thing you can eat after a meal is ice-cream because it’s cold. You should stick to warm drinks as much as possible and of course avoid other things you write about like coffee and sugar and such.
I’m in the same place as you and with this round of ivf that got me pregnant I ate more of what I wanted and much less of what the textbook said I should. Only thing I avoided was coffee, regular milk and of course alcohol. And this time I had not one acupuncture session. Go figure!
I’m glad we both found our balance this year and things worked out for us. And I’m glad I found someone who knows what I’m talking about with this cold stuff. 🙂
I have to be honest I am not so sure that cutting out any of the food groups is a good thing. Unless you do make 100% sure that you get it from somewhere else.
On my BFP cycle my DH just came back from Switzerland and I ate chocolote from there every day! I am sure my baby will have a sweet tooth of note 🙂
I think I’m tending to agree with you now particularly about cutting out the dairy and I’m playing catch up to make sure I get my calcium – lots of milk.
A chocolate every day when ttc! Are you mad girl? But maybe if your body was used to it it wasn’t an issue.
Please please keep writing about this. Because I need the biggest push into eating healthier (I’ve kind of got the my-life-sucks-what-does-it-matter thing going that I need to drop asap!)
Hey! You matter, girl! And it DOES matter. No matter what you choose to do, do it for you.
First — congratulations!!! I just thought I’d drop back by to see how your thyroid/cycling/etc. were going and: wow. I have to say … you are far from the first woman I’ve seen who’s struggled with infertility, gotten a thyroid problem diagnosed and treated, and then gotten pregnant without medical assistance (beyond of course the thyroid treatment) … which is a big part of why I am such an advocate for thyroid testing and (if needed, of course) treatment — and it’s wonderful to see you “glowing” over the internet. Your joy comes through so clearly in many of your recent posts.
As for me, I’m not a huge fan of the diet stuff. I will say I went gluten-free (which is a huge commitment to do, as many people don’t realize that e.g. soy sauce usually has gluten in it, at least in the US — one really has to read labels and get informed) about 3 months before my successful IVF cycle, and stayed gluten free throughout almost the duration of my pregnancy, with only a very few small ventures into food containing gluten (I’ve since gone back to eating gluten). I gleefully ate chocolate and ice cream and drank coffee and alcohol throughout that IVF. Honestly, I was just past it … I’d given that stuff up in earlier cycles that hadn’t worked and I figured if doing so was going to help, it would have. I was travelling to (among other things) visit with family and really, quite noticeable amounts of all that stuff, including alcohol (at least by my admittedly modest standards) were consumed. So — eh.
Obviously there are medical conditions, and people, for whom dietary restrictions of various sorts are tremendously important, but one rule of thumb I applied was if you couldn’t say it “in reverse” to someone trying NOT to conceive (as in, “Don’t worry, if you drink a few glasses of wine before you DTD you won’t get pregnant.”) I figure it probably won’t work for those ttc, either. None of which is to say it’s not worth trying nor that a healthy diet is a bad idea … obviously it’s not. But neither, I think, is it (generally) essential nor (often) even useful to getting pregnant.
And all that said … mostly just — congratulations!
Hi Alexicographer! So good to hear again from you! Still waiting for you to write that blog!
I must say I am a total thyroid meds convert now. I know that helped me conceive, but let’s also not discount that lap which def. helped as well.
I see your point about the food, but I think it does help on some level to get some form of control to try something with the food, even if it helps to feel better about the situation.
Thanks for the congratulations. But I need to congratulate you too on your own success for beating infertility and helping me along the way too.
Hello, I’m visiting from ICLW. This is an interesting post and I thank you for the research. However, I am now freaking out a bit about eliminating cold stuff. I drink a pumpkin smoothie pretty much EVERY day for breakfast!!
I also question the no swimming. That is supposed to be a very good form of exercise when pregnant. At least, that is what I’ve always thought….
Hi Amber, please dont freak about the cold stuff. I did have cold drinks esp in hot weather. I love swimming too. I think I waited till the second trimester to swim though. Quite funny as one time when the water was cold I could literally feel his little body jolting from the shock! So I didn’t much after that, but I think it would have been fine if the water had been warmer.