What's best to eat
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Getting your five-a-day is important for your overall health but when you're trying to get pregnant it's even more important for you and the health of your baby. It doesn't need to be a chore though, we've got loads of easy recipes for you to follow and you won't even notice how healthy they are.
Following a balanced diet is also very important. This means getting your five-a-day, swapping your white flour foods, such as pasta and bread for the brown/wholegrain variety and eating low-fat dairy products, which are rich in calcium. However, one study into foods and fertility found that there may be a link between full-fat dairy products, like ice cream and increased fertility. So, the good news is, you can eat ice cream! But the experts don't recommend that you start eating lots of full-fat dairy foods, such as cheese or cream, but there's no harm in having a little bit of what you fancy now and then.
Try to eat more foods that are rich in zinc, folic acid and iron as all of these help your fertility and the health of your baby. Also, some pregnant women can become deficient in iron so it's a good idea to eat iron-rich foods to build up your iron stores.
Your new fertility-boosting shopping list
Iron-rich foods:
- Eggs
- Wholemeal bread
- Baked beans
- Fortified cereal
- Dried fruit such as apricots and figs
- Green vegetables
Zinc-rich foods:
- Brown rice
- Fruit
Vegetables - Beans and pulses
- Low-fat dairy products
Folate-rich foods (folates are the natural form of folic acid):
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Strawberries
- Green vegetables
- Brown fortified bread and cereals
- Beans and pulses
- Shellfish - but stop eating shellfish once you are pregnant
And don't forget to exercise too, you don't need to go over the top but research suggests that women who do light exercise regularly are less likely to experience fertility problems.
So what are you waiting for? Get into the kitchen and start cooking - see our Fertility diet breakfast next - then move into the bedroom!
By Louise O'Connell
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