People often wonder how they choose food to eat and avoid that affects their ability to have a child. On every ten couples there suffer from infertility. In India, approximately 40% of men and women have fertility issues. There are many factors that affect fertility in men and women both and some of them are age, medical condition, genetics, lifestyle, obesity, etc. The kind of diet you take is the one factor that can be controlled by an individual. Following healthy fertility, the diet requires no medical intervention that balances your health along with improving fertility.

The male and female reproductive systems depend on a balance of hormones to function properly. During stress it results in low or high body weight, their natural chemical pattern begins to break down. When it comes to obesity in both genders, the main culprit in most of the cases is a sedentary lifestyle. In females, it leads to the irregular menstrual cycle, failure to ovulate, endometriosis, and sometimes micronutrient deficiencies. Whereas in males, it leads to poor sperm motility and low sperm count. Being obese or underweight can have a marked effect on their fertility. Much researches have been done in this area and the best foods that promote fertility are being identified. When it comes to a fertility-boosting diet, load up your diet with colorful fruits & vegetables that contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Let’s have a look at what is the best diet that improves your fertility:

• Eat Complex Carbohydrates: It is very important to eat healthily and let your body get essential nutrients. Eating complex carbohydrates and whole grain such as whole wheat, quinoa, barley, oats, brown rice, etc makes people more fertile and helps in lowering the rate of birth defects. Another benefit of eating healthy is that you may shed extra pounds. It also helps in regulating the body’s insulin levels that is very good for women who have PCOS and men who have low sperm counts. Eating complex carbohydrates and whole grain keeps obesity and related issues at bay.
• Load your diet with fruits & vegetables: Including green leafy vegetables that contain non-heme iron is very helpful for people who are struggling for their fertility and women who consume fruits regularly have been able to conceive.
• Consume Omega 3 fatty acid: Consuming long chain omega 3 improves female fertility to a certain level and better semen quality in men. Fish, Flaxseeds, Walnuts are foods that contain omega 3 fatty acids.
• Eat soy and its products: Eating soy and soy supplements are beneficial among women undergoing infertility stress. Soy has isoflavones, which are plant-based molecules with similar function as estrogen (female hormone).
• Supplement your diet with Vitamins: Fertility can be improved with the consumption of many vitamins and decreased fetal abnormalities. Vitamin B and Folic acids are important for fertility. Consuming multivitamins help females to get a menstrual flow on time and have many benefits with men’s health also.

Personalized Diet Plan as per your body type can help to balance a healthy weight. 

Keeping in mind these foods a person should incorporate some sort of lifestyle changes also so as to become fertile. Balancing a healthy weight, being regular with some physical exercise, and meditation to keep you stress-free would help to boost your fertility and health.

The consumption of alcohol, too much caffeine, saturated fats, and sugar is associated with poorer fertility outcomes in women and men.