The Fertility Diet That May Help You Conceive

Preparing your body for conception is important, but is not often focused on. If you’re trying to get pregnant, you might want to try a fertility diet to support optimal nutrition. Research suggests that diets high in things like whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and fish are associated with improved fertility. Fertility-boosting foods can also help you start your pregnancy on a healthy note.

“Eating as if you’re already pregnant can actually help prime your body for conception,” says Sarah Krieger, RD, a nutritionist based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Learn how to create your own fertility diet by embracing fertility-friendly foods, which can increase your chances of conception.

Foods To Include in a Fertility Diet

While there aren’t any magic foods for getting pregnant, one simple way to support your fertility is to ensure your diet includes healthy choices from the following food groups.

Fruits and vegetables

Load your plate with fruits and veggies. Research shows a higher incidence of ovulatory disorders in people who eat more trans fats and animal proteins. On the other hand, people who consumed more iron, fiber, and protein from vegetables had higher fertility diet scores.

What does this mean for people trying to conceive? Aim for half your plate to be made up of fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal.

“Watermelon and asparagus, in addition to other raw fruits and vegetables, give the body a rich supply of glutathione, which is important for egg quality,” says Alisa Vitti, an integrative nutritionist, author of WomanCode, and founder of Flo Living. “Kale is another powerhouse vegetable because it contains elements necessary for estrogen metabolism.”

Though consuming the whole fruit or vegetable is best, Vitti suggests juicing kale and other greens if you’re not a fan of raw veggies. “I love recommending patients make fresh, mostly-vegetable juices with a few fruits like goji berries, which contain phytochemicals that are beneficial for fertility,” she says.

Healthy fats

Healthy, plant-based fats are an essential part of any balanced diet. Nuts, avocados, olive oil, and grapeseed oil can help reduce inflammation in the body, and studies have shown that an anti-inflammatory diet can lead to improved fertility.

Some fats may even assist people who struggle with infertility. “Studies have shown that consuming a certain quantity of monounsaturated fats during the IVF cycle increased the success rate by three and a half times,” says Vitti.

Foods high in monounsaturated fat include:

• Avocados
• Nuts
• Oils like olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil

Complex carbohydrates

To increase fertility, try to incorporate more complex (“slow”) carbs and limit highly processed ones. Your body digests refined carbs (such as cookies, cakes, white bread, and white rice) quickly and converts them into blood sugar. To drive down the blood-sugar spike, the pancreas releases insulin into the bloodstream, and studies have found that high insulin levels may inhibit ovulation.

Complex carbohydrates (those containing fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains) are digested more slowly and have a more gradual effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. Barely refined grains are also superb sources of fertility-friendly B vitamins, vitamin E, and fiber. “Some of my favorites are buckwheat, which contains d-chiro-inositol, a compound that improves ovulation,” says Krieger.

Fill one-quarter of your plate with more complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice. It may also pay to break out of your rice and pasta rut and sample more diverse whole grains like amaranth, millet, and quinoa. They’ll help keep you full longer and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Protein

Protein is a crucial building block for healthy pregnancy. Incorporate these foods into your fertility diet as much as possible.

• Lean animal proteins: Chicken, turkey, pork, and beef trimmed of excess fat are great sources of protein, zinc, and iron. Excess saturated fat found in animal protein, on the other hand, may be linked to fertility issues, according to one study on nutrition and fertility.
• Fish: Coldwater fish like salmon, canned light tuna, and sardines are excellent sources of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and other omega-3 fatty acids, which are especially important before and during pregnancy as they help develop the baby’s nervous system and cut your risk of premature birth.
• Eggs: Eggs are another potent protein source in a fertility diet. “They get a bad rap from cholesterol, but the yolk has excellent stores of protein and choline, a vitamin that helps develop brain function in babies,” says Krieger.
• Plant-based proteins: Research has found that the risk of ovulatory disorders is cut in half when 5% of your total calorie intake is derived from plant proteins. Beans are super sources of plant-based protein, as are nuts, seeds, and other legumes, such as lentils and chickpeas.

Dairy

Lactose-tolerant people should reach for whole milk or other full-fat dairy foods (such as yogurt) instead of non-fat and low-fat dairy to support fertility. That’s because a high intake of low-fat dairy has been shown to raise the risk of ovulatory infertility compared to high-fat dairy.

On the flip side, if you’re having continued trouble conceiving, your doctor may suggest limiting dairy in your fertility diet plan. “We’re being exposed to dairy in mass quantities that’s more hormonally-driven, meaning the production of cow dairy has become very chemically manipulated,” says Vitti. “These excess hormones may disrupt the conversation that the brain is trying to have with the endocrine system, particularly your ovaries.”

If you decide to eliminate dairy from your diet temporarily, be sure to consult with your health care provider about the best ways to supplement your calcium intake.

Things To Limit or Avoid in a Fertility Diet

Everyone’s fertility diet will look different, and it’s important to always listen to your body when it comes to nutrition. But if you’re looking to get pregnant, it may be helpful to know how the following foods can impact your fertility so you can make the food choices that are best for you.

Caffeine

If you’re a java lover, you don’t have to eliminate your daily brew, but it may be helpful to consume caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, and energy drinks in moderation when trying to get pregnant. Caffeine doesn’t cause ovulation problems, but it can cause dehydration.

“Our morning cup of coffee is the worst thing we can do from the dehydration standpoint,” says Angela Chaudhari, MD, a gynecologic surgeon and assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Caffeine is a diuretic that can cause your mucus membranes to dry out, potentially affecting the consistency of your cervical mucus. The more fertile cervical mucus you have, the better chances the sperm have of “sticking” to it and reaching the egg.

Consider replacing some of your daily caffeine with decaffeinated, low-caf, or no-caf beverages. Green tea may be a good option, and it may help improve fertility. While green tea isn’t completely caffeine-free (an 8-ounce cup of brewed green tea has between 30–50 milligrams of caffeine on average), it contains less than an equivalent cup of coffee or brewed black tea. Other options include herbal brews such as chamomile, hibiscus, and ginger teas.

Alcohol

Most experts recommend that couples looking to get pregnant avoid alcohol. Not only can it lead to dehydration, but heavy alcohol use has been associated with reduced fertility. Additionally, if you’re regularly drinking and get pregnant without realizing it, there may be some risks to the fetus as well.

It’s also important to note that the benefits of abstaining don’t just apply to the person getting pregnant. Research shows that alcohol use can impair sperm health and may have lasting effects on the fetus, too. Bottom line? If you’re looking to get pregnant, it might be best for you and your partner to limit alcohol for now.

Sugary drinks and processed sweeteners

A balanced diet allows for occasional treats. But if you have any issues with unstable blood sugar levels (for instance, if you have diabetes or PCOS), it might be helpful to reduce your intake of added sugars to help boost fertility. Concentrated doses of the sweet stuff can throw your blood sugar totally out of whack, creating issues with insulin and your hormonal balance.

Consume candies and desserts in moderation for your fertility diet plan, but don’t forget about other high-sugar items like fruit juice, energy drinks, and sweet teas. Sodas and soft drinks, in particular, have been associated with ovulatory infertility.

Limiting added sugar intake doesn’t mean you should use artificial sweeteners instead. “Artificial sweeteners are stressors on your system; they create a cortisol response, which inhibits ovulation,” says Vitti. If you’re craving something sweet, choose less-processed sweeteners with lower glycemic loads, such as agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, or stevia, a natural zero-calorie sweetener.

Processed soy

It may be helpful to avoid forms of processed soy in your fertility diet, particularly powders and energy bars, because research suggests that diets high in soy may have a negative effect on ovarian function. Some experts believe that large quantities of soy protein isolate in these products contain estrogen-mimicking properties that can disrupt your hormonal balance.

Note that whole soy products like edamame and tempeh are fine in moderation, as are fermented versions of soy such as miso paste or natto. “When we’re eating soy in its most natural form, like in other cultures like Japan and China, it’s healthy for the body,” says Krieger.

Trans fats

It can also be helpful to avoid trans fats (the kind found in processed snacks like French fries and many packaged foods) since trans fats are known to increase insulin resistance. Insulin helps move glucose (sugar) from your bloodstream to your body’s cells.

When you have insulin resistance, that means your body struggles to move glucose into your cells. As a result, your pancreas continues to produce more insulin, and high insulin levels can negatively affect ovulation.

Tips for a Successful Fertility Diet

In addition to the specific types of foods you’re eating, incorporating other nutrition tips into your daily habits can also be helpful when trying to conceive. Healthy eating sets the stage for a healthy body, which is key for a successful pregnancy.

• Choose whole foods over processed options as often as possible. Consider getting inspiration from the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes whole grains and vegetables while deemphasizing processed meat, which may help protect against ovulatory dysfunction. Research has shown a relationship between the Mediterranean diet and fertility health.
• Take your vitamins. Take a daily multivitamin that contains at least 400 micrograms of folic acid/folate and 40 to 80 milligrams of iron. Folate promotes the development of the baby’s neural tube and reduces the risk of certain brain and spine birth defects. Some experts recommend starting a prenatal vitamin as soon as you begin trying to conceive.
• Mix up your plate. Too much of anything is never good for the body. Now’s the time to break free from food fads and round out your plate with a variety of foods from different parts of the country, and even the world. “The more variety you have, the more likely you’re able to complete the nutrient gaps you may be lacking,” says Krieger.
• Know your fertile window. Adapting a fertility diet can help you conceive, but it’s also important to time your baby-making sex properly. You can only conceive during a short timeframe each month—the day of ovulation and the five days beforehand—which is why many couples track their fertile window. Consider using our ovulation calculator below to figure out when your odds of getting pregnant are the highest. But always seek help from your health care provider, too.