We always hear about ways you can boost your fertility, but what about the things that may be hurting you? Here is a list of the top things that every person who is TTC should take care of and avoid.
1) Smoking
It’s not just bad during pregnancy – smoking or vaping while you are trying to conceive can also have drastic implications for your fertility and your chances of getting pregnant quickly. Cigarettes and vapes are loaded with various chemicals, and these chemicals can seriously interfere with your health, including damaging the genetic material in eggs and sperm.
2) Binge drinking (alcohol, that is)
Another thing to avoid when trying to conceive, is binge drinking. Doing this while TTC may make getting pregnant more difficult. Although the exact link between alcohol and fertility remains under investigation, the statistics don’t lie: one 2009 study from doctors at Harvard found that women undergoing IVF were 18% less likely to conceive if they had more than six alcoholic drinks a week. This isn’t to say that you have to abstain from alcohol completely. Still, given the unknown effects of alcohol on fertility and the known risks during pregnancy, cutting down on alcohol can have some major benefits.
3) Excess Caffeine
Excess consumption of caffeine is linked to impaired fertility. Studies in mice show that too much daily caffeine can prevent eggs from maturing properly, which makes conception much more difficult. Because the suggested safe limit for caffeine in pregnancy is about 1 cup of coffee per day, it’s definitely a good idea to cut back on your caffeine intake while TTC.
4) Calorie restriction
Keeping healthy is important for conceiving, but if you are losing weight, it’s better to do so in a balanced way, as opposed to restricting calorie intake dramatically. Your body needs enough energy to ovulate and have a regular cycle. Not enough eating could throw off your body’s ability to ovulate regularly or at all.
5) Over-exercising
Going hand in hand with eating enough is number 5. Although it’s great to get plenty of exercise when trying to conceive, there is definitely such a thing as too much. Physical activity without enough fuel (think Olympic-level workouts, not morning runs) or a lack of body fat can disrupt the body’s normal hormonal functioning, resulting in irregular or absent ovulation. So, if your workouts are intense enough that your cycles are irregular, you should check with your healthcare provider or scale back.
6) Fish high in mercury
Bigger fish like shark, swordfish, and tilefish, among others, are high in the heavy metal mercury. Mercury can be devastating for a baby’s neurological development in the womb, so you should make sure that any fish you eat before or during pregnancy doesn’t contain high levels of it.
7) Water-based lubricants
Many people use lubrication, but for those who are TTC, it’s important to choose the right one. Many types of lubrication, particularly water-based ones, are not sperm-friendly, so look for FDA-approved lube that’s fertility-friendly!
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Sources
- M Munafo, M Murphy, D Whiteman, K Hey. “Does Cigarette Smoking Increase Time to Conception.” Journal of Biosocial Science. Volume 34 / Issue 01, Pp 65-73. Web. 1/2/2015.
- Rossi BV, Berry KF, Hornstein MD, Cramer DW, Ehrlich S, Missmer SA. “Effect of alcohol consumption on in vitro fertilization.” Obstetrics & Gynecology. 117(1):136-42. Web. 1/11/2015.
- “Nutrition During Pregnancy: FAQ001.” ACOG. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 4/15/2015. Web.
- Midori Yoshizama, Satoshi Nakamoto, Emiko Fukui, Takashi Muramatsu, Akira Okamoto. “Chromosomal Analysis of First-Cleavage Mouse Eggs Fertilized in Caffeine-Containing Medium.” Journal of Reproduction and Development. 38(2):107-113. Web. Jan-92.
- Choy CM, Lam CW, Cheung LT, Briton-Jones CM, Cheung LP, Haines CJ. “Infertility, blood mercury concentrations and dietary seafood consumption: a case-control study.” British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 109(10):1121-5. Web. 10/1/2002.
- Wise LA, Rothman KJ, Mikkelsen EM, Sørensen HT, Riis AH, Hatch EE. “A prospective cohort study of physical activity and time to pregnancy.” Fertility & Sterility. 97(5):1136-42.e1-4. Web. 5/12/2015.
- Kutteh WH, Chao CH, Ritter JO, Byrd W. “Vaginal lubricants for the infertile couple: effect on sperm activity.” International Journal of Fertility and Menopausal Stories. 41(4):400-4. Web. July-August 1996.
