SHELF LIFE:IN THEORY, the energy cost of pregnancy is around 77,000 calories. But long before a pregnancy occurs, what goes into your mouth goes a long way to determine whether a couple will actually conceive a child.
About one in six Irish couples experiences fertility problems and this number is set to increase in the next decade. Aside from medical reasons such as lack of ovulation or endometriosis, a surprising amount of difficulties couples have in conceiving are down to “unexplained infertility”.
What we didn’t know until recently was the huge effect simple changes to diet and lifestyle can have on boosting chances of conception, particularly with couples who have unexplained fertility. A study by the University of Surrey found that couples could achieve a remarkable 80 per cent success rate if they altered their lifestyle, diet and took nutritional supplements.
Foods to boost fertility such as grains are plentiful, but modern processing has taken many of the powerful ingredients out of the end product. Grains are refined into white carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta. These spike insulin levels and can lead to irregular ovulation, especially in cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Next time you’re in the supermarket look out for more wholegrain foods; there’s much more available than brown pasta. Spelt breads, wild rice, and the vogueish barley – a staple in Irish stews now making a comeback in risottos and soups.
For an easy change, swap your lunchtime wrap to a wholewheat naan or pitta filled with curried chicken, peppers, coriander leaves and a squeeze of lemon juice – all have great elements to feed fertility.
If you’re planning a pregnancy, it’s also recommended to eat more protein from vegetable than animal sources. Dairy products are still important to build calcium stores. Red meat such as minced beef in home-made burgers will boost iron – an important part in the diet of anyone who is considering pregnancy.
A steak provides plenty of iron but so does a few slices of cold roast beef. Switching from sliced ham to sliced beef products is a worthwhile dietary change for all of us. It ups your iron levels while cutting your intake of nitrates (salts) from processed hams.
Vitamin C has many health benefits but also helps the absorption of iron. Oranges, grapefruits, lemons, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes and green leafy vegetables are all good sources of vitamin C. If you’re eating a breakfast cereal fortified with iron, have an orange juice as tea and coffee can reduce iron absorption.
It may be worth cutting out coffee, tea, alcohol and transfats if you’re trying to get pregnant. Transfats are found in many processed foods. Look in your trolley, if there’s lots of packaged, processed foods, take them out and put in more vegetables.
A wide variety of vegetables provide the building blocks for the female body to manufacture eggs. Try a baked potato at lunch with cherry tomatoes, anchovies and flat leaf parsley, or a salmon salad with bulgar wheat, mangetout, chickpeas and coriander.
Dietary and lifestyle changes can also vastly improve the quality of sperm which has taken a hit in recent years. Foods rich in zinc and selenium have been shown to help improve sperm size, shape and tail length and boost pregnancy rates. Lamb, roast beef and peanuts have high levels of zinc, with brazil nuts, poultry, eggs and mushrooms great sources of selenium.
For women, zinc is necessary for the body to utilise oestrogen and progesterone, so it may be worth taking a zinc supplement. But overuse of zinc can lead to malabsorption of other nutrients, so it’s better taken in your diet.
Next time:Foods to help build and retain bone mass
