Fertility and Nutrition: Four Things You Need to Know

Reviewed by Dr. Lisa Czanko, MD, MPH

If you’re thinking about getting pregnant, you’ve probably wondered about how to prepare for the upcoming journey, including whether your supplements need to be altered in order to achieve and maintain a healthy pregnancy. Or maybe, what's the best diet for trying to conceive?

The answer is yes – what you eat does impact your fertility, and certain diets may be better for trying to conceive.

Both micro- and macro-nutrients play a role in health around conception and pregnancy, and, if possible, should be incorporated into your lifestyle before pregnancy. Here are four things you need to know about fertility and nutrition, plus what to know about your diet when trying to conceive.

1. Take that prenatal multivitamin

Doctors frequently recommend taking a prenatal multivitamin that contains folic acid 6 months to one year prior to conception in order to help prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. 

Folic acid has also been shown to increase embryo quality, to improve the odds of getting pregnant, and is associated with less infertility due to ovulatory dysfunction.

There is also evidence to suggest lower miscarriage among people taking folate supplements.   

2. Add in healthy fats

A balanced diet, including healthy fats, has an important role in health before and during pregnancy. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (healthy fats) have been shown to improve egg quality and ovulation.  

Additionally, people taking omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, and linoleic acid were able to achieve pregnancy at higher rates than people not taking these! So consider healthy fats an essential part in any diet for trying to conceive.

3. Follow the Mediterranean Diet for fertility

The Mediterranean diet could be considered one of the best diets for trying to conceive. It focuses on eating fish, legumes, fruits, vegetables, unprocessed grains, and olive oil, as well as limiting the amount of meat eaten.

Eating according to these guidelines has been shown to improve pregnancy rates and live birth rates, especially for people under 35.

In another study, people following this diet had 66% less infertility related to ovulation and 27% less infertility related to other causes compared to people following other dietary patterns.  

For patients being treated for infertility, keeping a Mediterranean diet increased successful treatments by 40%. So, adopting the Mediterranean diet for fertility could help you conceive.

4. Cut down on caffeine and alcohol

Many studies have shown increased miscarriage rates when people consume more than 300 mg of coffee per day or drink moderate alcohol regularly. 

Caffeine may interrupt normal ovulation, or cause problems in early fetal development by constricting blood vessels, so it’s best to limit your morning coffee to 300 mg a day (2-3 cups) when it comes to optimizing your fertility.

Alcohol can cause problems with ovulation, in addition to causing birth defects and miscarriage. No amount of alcohol is safe once you start trying to get pregnant.  

Citations:

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Gaskins, AJ and Chavarro JE.  Diet and fertility: a review. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018 April ; 218(4): 379–389. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2017.08.010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5826784/pdf/nihms909364.pdf

Lyngsø J, Ramlau-Hansen CH, Bay B, Ingerslev HJ, Hulman A, Kesmodel US. Association between coffee or caffeine consumption and fecundity and fertility: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Clin Epidemiol. 2017;9:699-719. Published 2017 Dec 15. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S146496 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5733907/pdf/clep-9-699.pdf 

Nehra D, Le HD, Fallon EM, et al. Prolonging the female reproductive lifespan and improving egg quality with dietary omega-3 fatty acids. Aging Cell. 2012;11(6):1046-1054. doi:10.1111/acel.12006 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5624332/pdf/nihms907329.pdf

Oostingh EC, Hall J, Koster MPH, Grace B, Jauniaux E, Steegers-Theunissen RPM. The impact of maternal lifestyle factors on periconception outcomes: a systematic review of observational studies. Reprod Biomed Online. 2019 Jan;38(1):77-94. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2018.09.015. Epub 2018 Oct 26. PMID: 30424937. https://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(18)30519-4/fulltext 

Panth N, Gavarkovs A, Tamez M, Mattei J. The Influence of Diet on Fertility and the Implications for Public Health Nutrition in the United States. Front Public Health. 2018;6:211. Published 2018 Jul 31. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2018.00211. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6079277/pdf/fpubh-06-00211.pdf

Silvestris E, Lovero D and Palmirotta R (2019) Nutrition and Female Fertility: An Interdependent Correlation. Front. Endocrinol. 10:346. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00346. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6568019/pdf/fendo-10-00346.pdf