Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : May 12, 2020 9:18 AM IST
Not just a well-balanced eating plan can boost your fertility but lead to a healthy pregnancy.
Eating a healthy diet, including lots of vegetables and fruits, is the best way to keep diseases at bay and stay fit. Vegetables are an excellent source of the many nutrients your body needs to function properly. If you are planning a baby, it becomes more important to include plenty of vegetables in your diet. This is because a new study has revealed that eating more vegetables prior to pregnancy may help lower your risk of preterm birth.
Traditional vegetables including broccoli, cabbage and green beans are rich in antioxidants or anti-inflammatory nutrients, which play a significant role in reducing the risk of adverse birth outcomes, the study authors said. The study conducted by a group of researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
After adjusting for lifestyle factors, such as alcohol intake and physical activity, and pregnancy complications, like gestational diabetes, they found that the risk for preterm birth was lower among women with the highest adherence to a traditional vegetable diet prior to pregnancy compared to those with the lowest adherence. However, they did not identify a significant association between a traditional vegetable diet and low birth weight.
Certain nutrients such as calcium and iron are critical for placenta and fetus tissue development. Thus, storing these nutrients before conception is essential for women planning a baby. Starting a healthier diet after the baby has been conceived may be too late, because babies are fully formed by the end of the first trimester, the researchers noted.
Not just a well-balanced eating plan can boost your fertility but lead to a healthy pregnancy. If you're trying to conceive, you need to eat foods rich in folic acid/folate, calcium, iodine, iron, fatty acids, etc. These nutrients are essential for a healthy pregnancy. Here are some foods for where you can get these nutrients -
Women who are trying to conceive are recommended to take 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid at least one month before getting pregnant. This nutrient is crucial for forming healthy cells and helps prevent birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly. Foods like leafy green vegetables, fortified cereals, oranges and strawberries, beans and nuts, are good sources of folic acid.
Your reproductive system needs calcium to function smoothly. Experts say it may even help you conceive faster. If you don't get enough calcium during pregnancy, your body will extract it from your bones and give it to the developing fetus. This may increase your risk of osteoporosis (brittle bones) in the future. You need about 1,000 mg of calcium each day to have a healthy pregnancy. Foods rich in calcium include milk, yogurt, cheese, kale and broccoli.
Iron deficiency may cause difficulty in getting pregnant as this mineral helps supply oxygen throughout the body. Iron is also very important during pregnancy as its deficiency could increase your baby's risk of being underweight or premature. Women who are trying to conceive or are pregnant need about 18 mg iron per day. Foods rich in iron include fortified breakfast cereals, spinach, and spinach.
Omega-3 fatty acids help regulate key ovulation-inducing hormones and increase blood flow to the reproductive organs. They are found in seafood, grass-fed beef, nuts and seeds. Fish such as salmon, anchovies, sardines and herring, are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
