Fertility and Diet

Whenever they come out with new things like, your diet affects your fertility and likelihood of getting pregnant, you can't help but think: Did I not get pregnant or stay pregnant because of the choices I made in my diet??? If you're like me, the stress of it all was one of the things that drove me to eat a lot of innocent things that it now seems I probably shouldn't have eaten, and not just for the added calories.

It can drive you crazy, thinking about what might have been. Thinking about how easily you might have helped your fertility. How easily you might have become pregnant and actually delivered a baby. For those of you still trying and praying and spending money on doctors, this could be Good News!

Newsweek Magazine, Dec. 10, 2007 (http://www.newsweek.com/id/73354) :
The Nurse's Health Study shows that over the course of 8 years all the women (the 18,000 taking part in the 8 year study) trying to get pregnant did, but 1 in 6 had trouble conceiving right away. For those with ovulatory infertility, they claim,

"The Fertility Diet, although not guaranteeing a pregnancy, sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy and forms the foundation of a healthy eating strategy for motherhood and beyond. It's virtually free, is available to everyone and has no side effects ... Eating lots of fast carbs such as white bread, potatoes and sugared sodas increases the odds that you'll find yourself struggling with ovulatory infertility." Eating slow carbs, such as beans, whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes, helps keep insulin levels and inflammation down and contribute more than has been thought in the past to increasing fertility.

This diet sounds just like most of the "newer" healthy diets that everyone should be following. My wellness doctor suggested a book called Ultrametabolism which I have been trying to follow. It is a comprehensive approach to optimum health, not just dieting. I also might have gluten allergies or celiac disease (my sister has it), and if you stay on top of it, it's not too hard. Recently I bought a gluten-free bread mix and used it in my bread machine and it was delicious, really! I have been scouring the aisles of my local Earthfare store and have found rice pastas that cook up just like wheat and egg pastas, among other things.

You can't deny that it is a healthy thing to do, not just for getting pregnant, but continuing on with a healthy pregnancy (keeping gestational diabetes at bay, for one). And, even further, for when you nurse your baby and also, keeping your child growing up on a healthier diet than pizza, hot dogs and donuts.

So, what struggles are you having with your diet while you are trying to get pregnant? Let's share tips and encouraging stories. We need all the help we can get.