If you think that nutrition only matters after you conceive, think again. Fertility specialist Dr. Rachel McConnell at Nevada Fertility C.A.R.E.S. in Las Vegas is a reproductive specialist, who explains to us why it is so important to both women and men watch what foods and vitamins they put in their bodies if they hope to conceive now or in the future.
Nutrition can do a lot to impact a couple’s chances of getting pregnant, and that of course starts long before the woman conceives. I think it is important for women to be as healthy as possible when they are trying to conceive, as well as throughout the pregnancy itself.
Part of being healthy involves eating healthy and making sure to get the proper nutrients in your body. Throughout the pregnancy, what a woman eats impacts her and the health of her future child. But even before then, before the child has even been conceived, her overall nutrition and health still matters.
In fact, it is just as important — not more, or less — to maintain a proper diet with good nutrition before you are pregnant and while you are try to conceive as it is while you are pregnant with a child.
For instance, take the topic of folate. It is really common that women will not think about getting enough folate, either through vitamins or through their diet, before getting pregnant. And then once they conceive, they will start taking prenatal vitamins with folate and try to get healthy all of a sudden.
However, the truth is that to prevent some neural tube defects, it is actually more important that the folate is already in your system before you even conceive. So that means that women who could possibly conceive should be taking precautions and making sure to get the right amount of vitamins and nutrients in their system — including enough folate — well before they ever actually get pregnant.
Of course, women aren’t the only ones whose diet is important to fertility. For men as well, I think nutrition is important to consider.
What is important for men, I believe, is that they take enough antioxidants or get enough antioxidants into their diet. Antioxidants are important for a number of reasons, one of which is because they can be beneficial for sperm quality. And men certainly care about that.
Whether you are a man or a woman, and whether you are currently pregnant or considering it in the future, it is important to maintain a proper nutritional balance with your diet in order to have the best chances of conceiving and giving birth to a healthy child.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
