When it comes to
fertility nutrition, there are a lot of steps you can take to improve your diet and create a healthier lifestyle before you get pregnant. In fact, by avoiding certain foods you can actually increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy.
For proper pregnancy & nutrition protocol, you should focus on avoiding any foods that contain harmful chemicals or substances that can decrease your fertility or cause undue stress to the developing embryo.
When you are trying to conceive, it's wise to severely cut down or eliminate the following foods from your diet:
1.Soy Products
Although soy and soy-based products have long been touted as a healthy protein, especially to those who are vegetarian or vegan, soy has a very troubling effect on fertility and the developing infant. Studies have shown that consuming soy on a regular basis can severely cut down your chances of conceiving as it lengthens your menstrual cycle and cuts down on pregnancy hormones.
In addition, further studies have shown that soy products can inhibit the development of a baby's sex organs. Eliminating soy from your diet is highly recommended as you try to conceive and later after you become pregnant.
2.Artificial Sweeteners
Although artificial sweeteners have been considered "safe" foods for public consumption, they are a troubling mix of chemicals that can have long lasting, detrimental effects on the human body.
Sucralose, saccharine, and aspartame have been linked to physical problems ranging from eczema to headaches, and have been shown to exacerbate the symptoms of chronic illnesses ranging from fibromyalgia to multiple sclerosis.
While you are trying to conceive, it is wise to wean yourself off artificial sweeteners and instead use all-natural sugar substitutes such as xylitol, agave syrup, raw honey, and stevia.
3.Sugar
Sugar seems like an innocuous enough substance, but in reality it poses enough health issues that it should be severely restricted, if not completely eliminated, from a pregnancy diet.
Sugar is the number one cause of pregnancy obesity, so if you are watching your weight gain, it is the first substance you should eliminate from your diet. In addition, too much sugar can contribute to gestational diabetes and can cause the fetus to grow too large.
Both of these issues can cause your pregnancy and labor to be much more difficult than necessary. If you have a big sweet tooth, you should look for the all-natural sugar substitutes mentioned above: xylitol, agave syrup, raw honey, and stevia.
4.Caffeine
Caffeine is an addictive substance and should be almost completely eliminated from your diet during pregnancy. So while you are trying to conceive, it's a good idea to begin weaning yourself off of caffeine, slowly stepping down your consumption to help avoid any severe symptoms of withdrawal.
Ideally, you should get your consumption down to approximately 150mg of caffeine per daythe amount found in a cup of coffee or two cups of black tea. By slowly stepping down to the 150mg limit, you can then wean yourself on to green tea, then white tea, and finally to herbal teas, completely removing caffeine from your diet during pregnancy.
5.Processed Foods
Processed foods contain a troublesome mixture of additives, chemicals, fillers, preservatives, and sodiumall of which can cause side effects and exacerbate the common complaints of pregnancy. As you try to conceive, it's wise to completely eliminate processed foods from your diet, focusing instead on whole, unprocessed foods.
Now is also the best time to switch to organic foods, since the pesticide residues found on non-organic produce can cause harm not only to your developing baby's health, but to yours as well.
Switching to all-natural meats and dairy products will also help you avoid consuming hormones, antibiotics, and other dangerous additives found in regular meat and dairy products.
