Even with a well-intentioned diet to increase your chances of fertility when you're TTC, you may need to boost your diet with a few key vitamins and supplements for higher chances of pregnancy.
Vitamins and minerals are key to making sure your body has the proper nutrients to function at the cellular level. There are lots of factors such as lack of sunlight, poor food quality, and depleted soil that might contribute to falling short of meeting your needs, so it's important that you take the proper measures and fill in where you might be lacking.
I've recommended a few key vitamins & supplements below for increased fertility. Before you go running to your health food store and grabbing the first things you see, make sure to carefully consider the brand's manufacturing process and efficacy to ensure the top quality free of fillers and synthetics. If you're skeptical, consider pharmaceutical-grade testing to ensure the bioavailability of your supplements.
Also, always seek advice from a physician if you have questions or concerns about making changes to your diet.
Vitamins for Increased Fertility: Vitamin D3/K2
Did you know over 1 billion people worldwide are deficient in vitamin D? Some studies have also linked infertility and repeated miscarriage with a vitamin D deficiency. Make sure this vitamin stays a consistent part of your intake. It regulates 2000 genes in your body every day, including improving ovarian stimulation and semen quality.
Omega-3 fats are essential fatty acids that help reduce inflammation in the body, which improves sperm mobility and increases the chances of fertility. Your body can't make them, so you need to get them through your diet or with a supplement. Enjoy short-chain omega-3 fatty acids in foods like almonds, flax, and chia. Find long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Avoid any supplements with flax oil or ALA as their source of omega-3 as your body can only convert small amounts of ALA to EPA and DHA.
Minerals like zinc, selenium, folate, and manganese are critical for maintaining cellular health and decreasing metabolic syndrome. Zinc especially can help increase fertility and egg development. Be sure to take the recommended amount to not risk causing a deficiency in other minerals.
Magnesium plays an important role in your body, helping over 300 enzymatic processes like protein synthesis, blood pressure regulation, nerve function, and blood glucose regulation. Though the effects on eggs themselves are unclear, researchers have studied there's a link between magnesium deficiency and infertility, where magnesium can increase progesterone production, maintain good blood supply to the womb, and reduce stress.
Also known as CoQ10, Coenzyme Q10 plays an integral part in cell production. It can improve ovarian response during IVF and improve sperm mobility. Look for a supplement form of CoQ10 as "Ubiquinol", a more active form of this antioxidant that's more bioavailable than conventional CoQ10.
The vitamins and supplements you take while TTC will vary from person to person. Before you go looking for bottled supplements, first take a look at your diet. My recommendation is to have a greater perspective on what you're eating. I've recommended 7 foods that increase your fertility, so take a look and see what you might be missing.
Vitamins in their whole food form can't quite be replicated in supplement form, so it's preferable to first make changes in your diet. Find my recommended supplements on my Amazon Shop and reach out to me for your free discovery call to learn how we can take the next steps in your fertility journey.