Eating Healthy During Fertility Treatment

A variety of lifestyle factors affect the fertility potential of individuals. Since infertility is a physical problem, a healthy diet plays a vital role in enhancing fertility. Studies have shown that certain foods can regulate the hormones that affect the production of eggs and sperm. A good diet also helps in maintaining a healthy weight, which can greatly impact fertility. Women who are underweight or overweight may have a harder time becoming pregnant because body fat levels do have an impact on the production of sex hormones. It is imperative that in the course of infertility treatment, a healthy diet and lifestyle is maintained.

Tips for Healthy Eating During Infertility Treatment

What you put into your body has a huge effect on the functioning of your reproductive system. A well balanced, nutritious diet is therefore essential for the formation of a healthy embryo especially while undergoing infertility treatment. Below are some natural approaches and lifestyle adaptations that should be followed in the course of fertility treatment, and maintained throughout pregnancy and thereafter:

• Eat a variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, eggs and nuts to get all the different kinds of essential nutrients
• Choose foods that are high in fiber
• Include enough vitamins and minerals in your daily diet
• It is absolutely essential to have lots of water since it’s an important fertility food
• Intake of calcium-rich foods to get 1000-1300 mg of calcium in your daily diet
• Eat enough servings of iron-rich foods everyday to get 27 mg of iron daily
• Choose at least one good source of vitamin C every day, such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, etc. to get the daily dose of 70 mg of vitamin C
• Choose at least one good source of folic acid every day, like dark green leafy vegetables, veal, and legumes such as lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas
• Choose at least one source of vitamin A every other day such as carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, spinach, water squash, turnip greens, beet greens, apricots, and cantaloupe.

Foods to be Avoided During Infertility Treatment

• Alcohol should be avoided since it can decrease sperm count and increase the production of abnormal sperm. Alcohol may cause premature delivery, mental retardation and birth defects.
• Caffeine intake should be limited. Try and substitute your daily cup of coffee with green tea that has antioxidants, which aid in healthy immune systems.
• The use of sweeteners should also be limited
• The intake of trans fats from margarine, doughnuts and other processed foods should be limited
• It is recommended to replace processed foods with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables
• Avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish as they have high levels of mercury
• Avoid soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style cheese. These cheeses are often unpasteurized and may cause Listeria infection.
• Avoid raw fish, like oysters and clams
• Avoid acidic foods

Ensure that raw vegetables and fruits are washed thoroughly and cook ready-to-eat meats (like hot dogs) and leftovers until steaming hot.

Exercise

Along with a balanced and nutritious diet, it is important to undertake a moderate exercise regimen to improve the chances of conception. Exercise helps to burn off excess body fat, allowing hormone levels to return to normal. However over exercising can actually impair fertility. Exercises like swimming, walking and cycling are recommended.
It’s important to eat right at all times and especially if you are trying to conceive. Eating right does play a major part in improving fertility along with maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and keeping stress under control.

California based East Bay Fertility Center (www.ebfertility.com) provides expert medical counseling and different infertility treatment options. Our medical staff headed by Dr. Ellen U. Snowden, Medical Director and physician provide personalized and comprehensive services for infertility and reproductive endocrine issues. Infertility can be attributed to the male or the female or to both. East Bay Fertility Center conducts tests to determine the exact fertility problem and suitable fertility treatments are then recommended.

For free initial consultation please call us at 925.828.9235 or visit our website at http://www.ebfertility.com for more details about infertility support, treatment and more.

How Fibroids Can be a Cause of Infertility

One of the commonly occurring medical conditions generally overlooked as a cause of infertility is the presence of uterine fibroids. It is possible for a woman with a fibroid to conceive and carry the baby to term. If left untreated, it is likely that the fibroid will continue to grow. When the woman decides she wants to add to her family, the increased size of the fibroid may be a factor in her inability to conceive.

Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that develop in and around the uterus. Fibroids are a common occurrence and it is estimated that around 25 percent of women in their childbearing years have signs of fibroids. A woman may have a single fibroid or multiple fibroids which may be located on the exterior or interior uterine surfaces or within the wall of the uterus. Fibroids are generally detected by a pelvic examination or an ultrasound.

The exact cause of fibroids is still unknown but it seems to be related to a gene that controls cell growth. When this gene is not functioning properly, cells grow and divide at an accelerated rate leading to a mass of cells or fibroid. Other causes for development of fibroids are the abnormalities in the blood vessels around the uterus and changes in chemicals in the body that cause tissue to grow.

Fibroids sometimes interfere with fertility and create complications while trying to conceive because of the growths. The symptoms of fibroids include heavy menstrual flow, pelvic pressure and bladder or bowel problems.

How Fibroids can lead to infertility

Fibroids can lead to fertility problems in a number of ways. Though uterine fibroids are considered harmless they sometimes affect fertility by blocking or distorting the fallopian tubes or by affecting the passage of sperm from the cervix to the fallopian tubes. Submucosal fibroids are the type most likely to cause fertility problems or miscarriages because of their location inside the uterine cavity. Sometimes they grow into the uterus, filling it and even growing out of the cervix. They project into the womb cavity and greatly disrupt its shape. These fibroids ultimately act as a foreign body and make the uterine environment hostile for an embryo to implant correctly. It may affect the proper growth and development of the embryo thus increasing the risk of an embryo to miscarry.

Treatment includes medications, which can help shrink the fibroids and surgery to remove the fibroids. There are two types of surgery options for the treatment of fibroids: Myomectomy in which fibroids are removed from the uterus and hysterectomy which involves removal of the uterus.

Myomectomy is the treatment of choice for women who want to have children, because it usually can preserve fertility, enabling her to retain her child-bearing ability. But this treatment is at the expense of increased risk of fibroid recurrence. Hysterectomy is commonly performed when large fibroids are the problem. By removing the uterus during hysterectomy, the possibility of fibroids returning is eliminated.

An entirely new approach to treating fibroids is by uterine artery embolisation (UAE). This involves a radiologist passing a very thin catheter into a blood vessel in the groin and guiding it toward one of the arteries that lead to the fibroid. The small artery is blocked off leading to shrinkage of the fibroid. This procedure, if proven effective, would be a welcome alternative to hysterectomy, which removes the uterus. However, because of newness of this procedure, long-term effects are still not known and it is not generally recommended for women wishing to preserve their fertility.

Doctors are working on less invasive measures and on drugs to treat fibroids. For those who face fertility issues, one of the initial tests that are recommended to be done is to test for fibroids.

East Bay fertility Center Dublin California, (www.ebfertility.com) specializes in the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of infertility, providing a complete mind-body experience for fertility couples. At East Bay Fertility Center, skilled fertility specialists treat fibroids and other obstructions before starting with fertility treatment, including IVF. East Bay’s experienced medical staff is headed by Dr. Ellen U. Snowden, Medical Director and physician. Dr Snowden is Board Certified in Obstetric, Gynecology, and Reproductive Endocrinology with advanced Fellowship training in the treatment of infertility, recurrent miscarriages and hormonal disorders in women.