For your fertility to flourish it needs a healthy body  which means having the right balance in nutrition.  In this section we highlight the importance of good nutrition to fertility and Emma Leavens of Nutritional Therapy  will be providing hints, tips and recipes to help you keep healthy and naturally fertile.

You can visit Emma at www.nutritionaltherapy.co.nz or contact her by email on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fertility and Diet

A good diet plays a vital role in increasing fertility, as well as helping to ensure a happy, healthy baby and mum. Using food to bring all the different parts of the body into balance, allows you to produce strong eggs (ova) to be fertilised, and allows the fertilised egg (embryo) to grow in a well-supplied and vibrant uterus. Being adequately nourished and hydrated requires you to have enough water, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to support every single system, organ, tissue and cell within your body.

Fats in particular are essential to fertility. Oestrogen and progesterone, the sex hormones needed for successful conception and pregnancy are made of fat. There are good fats and bad fats.

The good fats keep your hormonal system balanced and full of vitality and strength, so eat plenty of these. Foods like unheated olive oil sprinkled over any meal, unheated flaxseed oil, avocados, oily fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines), raw nuts, seeds, coconut oil, and butter.

Bad fats however do not work properly in your body, they block the uptake of good fats, can cause disease and without a doubt promote infertility. Bad fats are: trans fats, hydrogenated fats or fats that have been tampered with in any way. For example, the majority of vegetable oils found in supermarkets have been deodorised, refined and bleached, so avoid these. Hydrogenated fats are those which have their physical structure altered and most commercially made margarines, cakes, biscuits, cereal bars, flapjacks, chocolate, crisps and pastries are bursting with these types of fats. Trans fat occur mainly when oil is heated too high, whether that be commercially or at home in the kitchen, like for example deep fried fish and chips or a packet of roasted nuts.

Good quality protein is also vital to promote fertility. Insulin and thyroid hormones are made from protein, and an imbalance in these can lead to difficulty in conceiving. Protein is needed for cell growth, repair and immune function. Good quality protein includes fish, chicken, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and tempeh.

A range of carbohydrates will provide your body with a constant supply of energy. Good carbohydrates, ones that will promote a balanced hormonal system as well as providing you with more sustained energy, are vegetables, fruit, lentils, brown rice, wholegrain breads, oats and beans.

Refined carbohydrates though, like white bread, pasta and rice, biscuits, cakes and crisps will cause an imbalance in your hormonal system, they are too high in refined sugar.

And not to be underestimated are the vitamins and minerals your body needs. If certain nutrients are missing from your diet, conceiving can become extremely hard. Just one example is the hormone LHRH (luteinising hormone releasing hormone), which causes your pituitary gland to stimulate the development of an egg (ovum). A deficiency in the mineral zinc or the vitamin B6 causes a deficiency in LHRH, so your fertility decreases. Vitamins and minerals can be obtained from a wide range of fresh whole foods, especially fruit and vegetables, aim for at least 4 portions of vegetables and 2 portions of fruit per day.

Ensuring optimal fertility is not just about what you do eat, what you don’t consume is just as important. Some foods and drinks are ‘anti-nutrients’. When you eat or drink them, they provide no nourishment, but instead your body actually has to use up minerals and vitamins just to process them, leaving you nutrient deficient. Anti-nutrients are sugar and anything that contains it, caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, fizzy drinks and even fresh foods that have been sprayed with lots of pesticides.

So all in all, a varied wholesome diet is necessary to maintain your fertility.  You are made up from what you eat and your body will respond positively to healthy living and eating options. Not only that, but once you begin to eat healthily and drink ample water, you’ll see how much you’ll enjoy the good food, your positive mood and your glowing body.