Seven Ways to Optimize Your Fertility
The road to parenthood can sometimes be a challenging journey. According to the World Health Organization, one in six people globally experience fertility struggles. Luckily, a few simple lifestyle changes may improve your reproductive health.
Read on to discover seven science-backed ways to optimize your fertility.
What is healthy fertility?
Fertility refers to an individual or couple's ability to conceive and successfully carry a pregnancy to term. It encompasses both male and female reproductive health, including factors like sperm quality and count, ovulation, hormonal balance, and overall reproductive function. While fertility can vary among individuals, certain lifestyle factors, genetics, and underlying health conditions can influence it.
Strategies that help one person improve their fertility may not work for another. The following tips provide an excellent base for improving your reproductive health, but if you're interested in growing your family, we suggest talking with a fertility doctor.
1. Reduce Stress
Whether you’re pursuing fertility treatments or trying to conceive naturally, growing your family can feel stressful. While stress and infertility appear to be linked, we aren’t entirely sure how they impact one another. However, we do know that reducing stress can help improve your quality of life throughout your conception journey.
While reducing stress may or may not result in conception, it will most certainly make the process less daunting. Popular stress-reduction techniques often recommended to fertility patients include:
Meditation
Massage Therapy
Mindfulness
Support Groups
Yoga
Gentle Exercise
Not every stress reduction strategy is suitable for everyone. For example, acupuncture may help one person relax while the needles involved give another person anxiety. Choosing a technique you actually look forward to implementing will help you find your zen better than a technique you dread.
2. Maintain a Healthy Weight
An unhealthy weight can negatively impact fertility in both men and women. While many underweight and overweight individuals have no problems conceiving, others may experience health challenges.
In women, weighing too little (a BMI of 18.5 or less) can cause irregular periods or stop ovulation altogether. On the flip side, a BMI in the obese range (30.0 and above) can also cause period and ovulation irregularity. Furthermore, obese women with regular ovulation have lower pregnancy rates than women who are a healthy weight.
In men, obesity may cause imbalances in essential reproductive hormones like testosterone. This can lead to disturbances in sperm production and quality, potentially reducing fertility.
3. Supplement Your Diet
Maintaining a healthy body is essential when you're trying to conceive. However, getting all the nutrients you need from diet alone can be challenging. Prospective parents should consider optimizing their diet by adding vitamins and supplements to their daily wellness routine.
The Cleveland Clinic advises women to begin taking prenatal vitamins as soon as they start trying to conceive (ideally at least three months before conception). Prenatal vitamins play a vital role in reducing the risk of birth defects and complications for both mother and baby. They provide essential nutrients like folic acid and iron, which are crucial for fetal development and maternal health during pregnancy.
Some medical professionals speculate that oxidative stress (imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants) may reduce fertility in some people. Diets rich in antioxidants may help improve fertility in both men and women. To ensure you're consuming enough antioxidants, consider taking a coQ10 supplement.
4. Quit Smoking
You likely already understand the numerous ways smoking negatively affects your health. But you may not be aware of its impacts on fertility. Smoking can lead to fertility challenges in both men and women, so we suggest kicking the habit before you start trying to conceive.
Chemicals in cigarette smoke, like nicotine and carbon monoxide, accelerate the loss of eggs in women, leading to an earlier onset of menopause. For men, smoking is linked to lower sperm counts, reduced motility, and an increased number of abnormally shaped sperm, diminishing the sperm's ability to fertilize eggs. These effects can cause decreased fertility rates in both genders, with smokers experiencing infertility at about twice the rate of nonsmokers.
5. Cut Back on Alcohol
If you’re trying to conceive, you may want to hold off on the tequila shots. Heavy drinking may negatively impact fertility for both men and women.
According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the effect of alcohol on female fertility is still murky. Some studies suggest that moderate alcohol intake may either enhance or impair fertility in women. However, higher levels of alcohol consumption, particularly more than two drinks per day, are likely best avoided when attempting to conceive.
For men, chronic alcohol dependence is associated with lower sperm counts, motility, seminal fluid volume, and testosterone levels, which can affect fertility. However, there is limited evidence to suggest that moderate alcohol consumption has a significant effect on male fertility.
So, how much is too much? Doctors recommend that women drink no more than two units (think a standard pour of red wine) of alcohol twice a week and that men consume no more than three units (think a pint of strong beer) of alcohol per day.
6. Quit Marijuana
Recreational marijuana use is on the rise as more U.S. states legalize the substance. Smoking a joint or taking an edible may help you relax, but that chill feeling comes at a price.
One study found that women who use cannabis experience higher rates of infertility than those who don't. Other research shows that men who smoke cannabis have 29% lower sperm counts than men who have never smoked cannabis.
7. Get Your Fertility Tested
Whether you’re ready to grow your family now or in the future, testing your fertility may be beneficial. Positive results can help put your mind at ease, making the conception journey more enjoyable.
On the other hand, identifying a problem early on gives you time to make lifestyle changes that may improve your fertility. If your doctor identifies a problem that can’t be addressed by lifestyle changes alone, you can explore other options together, such as fertility treatments or assisted reproductive technologies, to help you achieve your family planning goals. Beverly Hills Reproductive Center offers personalized fertility assessments to help you identify your chances of conceiving.
The Next Step in Your Fertility Journey
At Beverly Hills Reproductive Center, we provide personalized care for all families. If you want to learn more about our services, please contact us. We're eager to help you build your family.