Natural Fertility Boosters
Natural fertility boosters can offer you a helping hand if you’re planning a baby or are trying to conceive.
According to recent research, fifty years ago we got a lot more nutrients from our commercially grown food than we get today. Analysis of food nutrient content found we need to eat five apples today to get the same nutrient content of one apple fifty years ago.
Why is this so?
Modern farming, constant use of chemicals and little or no crop rotation has depleted our soil of nutrients. In other areas deforestation also plays a role. When trees are cut down, the roots die, making the area more prone to land slides. Increased soil erosion means the soil loses minerals and nutrients as the top soil is washed away into the rivers and oceans. Almost all fruit and vegetables are picked before they’re ripe – once picked the fruit can no longer receive new nutrients from the tree. This is to prevent them from rotting before they reach the supermarket shelves. Sometimes they will also be gassed to speed up the ripening in the storage or will be treated with chemicals to extend their shelf life. This processing further reduces the nutrient content of the food.
Our nutrient requirement hasn’t decreased in the last 50 years
In fact one could argue it increased because of wide-spread pollution and stressful modern living. Pregnancy is one of the most nutrient demanding stages in life. So what should you do to ensure you’re getting enough building blocks to have a healthy pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby?
Your baby’s health begins with the egg and the sperm
Almost all women start looking after their nutrition and health once they are pregnant. This approach is not ideal as the health of your baby begins long before conception – in your eggs and sperm. So rather than waiting until you are pregnant, start optimizing your egg and sperm health today.
Natural Fertility Boosters
What should you eat and drink to boost your egg and sperm health and provide your body with enough building blocks for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby?
- Eat organically grown food. It is more nutrient dense than non organically grown food. This is because organic farming uses crop rotation (this doesn’t deplete the soil of nutrients) and doesn’t spray crops with pesticides and other chemicals. Organically grown fruit and veg are not treated with wax and gassed to extend shelf life. Which is why it often rots faster and needs to be eaten asap. All animal products should also be organically grown, because of the chemicals, hormones and drugs found in non-organic farming.
- Eat a predominantly raw food diet (the exception is meat and eggs). This means 80% of your diet should be as fresh as possible: big salads with fresh nuts, seeds and sprouts, cold pressed oils such as olive, linseed and sesame seed oil, big fruit salads with as many fruits in season as possible and lots of fresh berries. 20% of your diet can be cooked: whole grains and legumes and if you are not vegetarian you can add some lean organic meat and wild fish (not farmed) in moderation once or twice a week.
- Drink water for optimal hydration: Pure water is the elixir of life. Aim to drink 2 L of purified fresh water a day. Water hydrates the cells, washes away toxins and waste material, improves your focus, keeps your skin soft, supple and young looking (dehydrated skin = wrinkles!) AND it improves the quality of your cervical mucus, making it wetter and therefore more lubricating which is what sperm needs.
- Eat fertility superfoods such as: Maca is a Peruvian plant shown to boost fertility in men and women. You can get it in powdered form from you health food store. It tastes great and can be added to smoothies and drinks. Linseed meal, has been shown to boost ovulation and lengthen short luteal phase. You can buy it in your health food store, or you can make it yourself by grinding linseeds in a coffee grinder and storing them in your fridge. Add to your smoothies, cereal, porridge or sprinkle on your salad. Royal jelly, is rich source of all key fertility nutrients. You can add it to your smoothie or use it in place of honey in your tea or on a whole grain toast. Green micro-algae such as spirulina and chlorella are rich in minerals including iodine (good for hypothyroidism). Make a veggie juice with carrots, celery, baby spinach, parsley, wheat grass and one apple and stir in couple of teaspoons of spirulina and chlorella (you can buy them in your health food store in powder form). And voila, a super fertility boost in one drink. Micro-algae also absorb radiation so they are great if you work in front of your mac (or pc) all day!
- Stay positive and focus on your goals and not the problems. Use the following proven all time favorite affirmation: ‘Every day in every way I’m getting better’. You can adjust this affirmation for your fertility like so: ‘Every day in every way my fertility is getting better’.
What are your favorite natural fertility boosters? Do you have recipes you’d like to share? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
© 2010 Iva Keene and Natural Fertility Prescription
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