Good nutrition is a hugely important element of your health that needs consideration when you are trying to conceive. We always recommend you ‘eat the rainbow’ when it comes to good nutrition (and we don’t mean sweets!) The good news is that Christmas provides a fantastic opportunity to readily boost your fertility.

Read on to find out how you can optimise your fertility this festive season, with our list of the best festive fayre to get feasting on to obtain the nutritional benefits your body needs to get you fit and healthy ready for pregnancy.

 

The Nice List:

Good Old Traditional Turkey

A Christmas staple - Turkey is a great festive fayre to boost fertility. It is an excellent source of protein, iron, selenium and zinc, which many women lack and are essential to support fertility and maintain a healthy reproductive system. Zinc and Selenium are fantastic for promoting healthy sperm formation and production too.

Turkey also contains an abundance of Vitamin B6 which is beneficial for correcting low progesterone levels in women and balancing out hormone levels.

For vegetarians – a nut-roast is a definite winner at Christmas as it’s packed to the brim with all the nutritious goodness of fertility boosting foods.

 

Load up on the Brussel Sprouts

A bit like marmite, people tend to either love or hate sprouts. They are incredibly rich in folates, an essential vitamin for boosting fertility in both men and women. Sprouts are a vitamin rich source of folic acid that not only increases sperm levels but also helps line the womb with the right amount of nutrients, improving sperm survival rates and therefore sustaining the journey of sperm to reach the egg.

Folic rich foods are known to help reduce the risk of miscarriage and are also important for preventing the risk of developing birth defects during pregnancy. It is for this reason that women are recommended to take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily when they are trying to conceive and during the first trimester of pregnancy. What better way to boost your folate levels than with nature's leafy greens.  

You can also get folate and other essential vitamins such as Vitamin C from other greens such as kale, broccoli, spinach and asparagus, so load up on the green vegetables this Christmas.

Break out the Beetroot! 

Beetroot is another festive super food so why not indulge and roast some with your carrots and parsnips or add cold chopped beets to a side-salad or starter?

Beets increase the production of nitric oxide in the body which helps to keep your blood pressure healthy. Nitric oxide does this by dilating the blood vessels – allowing a great supply of oxygenated blood to flow to the uterus and ovaries, and the penis. The uterus needs a great supply of blood to build a lining ready for implantation.

Beets are also rich in folates and betalains (the pigment which creates their gorgeous reddy-purple colour), which have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to detoxify your body and protect the health of your eggs and sperm too.

 

Carrots 

Carrots are packed with beta-carotene, Vitamin C and carotenoids which give the carrots their colour (even if they’re white or purple), so they are a great vegetable for boosting conception chances. Researchers also found that carotenoids help to improve sperm quality and quantity.  

Parsnips 

Parsnips are a great source of the antioxidant, Vitamin C, and they are also incredibly rich in the B complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B6, thiamin, and pantothenic acid, as well as Vitamin K and Vitamin E. They are also rich in sulphur which helps to create essential amino acids to detoxify the body and support a healthy immune system.

Butternut Squash 

Very much a winter vegetable and staple in soups, Squash can be a tasty addition when used in salads and roast dinners too. They are packed with beta carotene, antioxidants, Vitamins C and E and other nutrients that all support improved fertility.

 

Lashings of Cranberries – a Seasonal Super Food 

Cranberries contain another great source of antioxidants, which contribute to excellent fertility health and they are also chock full of Vitamin C, E, K1 and manganese, which makes them the jewel in the Christmas crown in our book!

They provide a combination of compounds including Type-A proanthocyanins which prevent bacteria from sticking and are great if you suffer from UTI’s, which can be common when trying to conceive with vigour, shall we say. Recurrent cystitis is not a woman’s best friend.

Cranberries, eaten raw on a salad, as a (preferably) home-made sauce (much less sugar than shop bought) for the turkey, snacked on as a healthy treat when dried – feel free to feast on these small, yet mighty ruby gems!

 

Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire 

Christmas-time in the grocery stores often arrives with a plentiful and wide-ranging selection of nuts and of course, the festive favourite – chestnuts.

All nuts are packed full of natural healthy proteins and have fabulous fertility boosting properties. Great to snack on, or to add to a salad or chestnuts for the sprout dish, seeds and nuts also provide a great source of zinc and have powerful antioxidant properties too contributing to better egg and sperm health.

Chestnuts (closely followed by Walnuts) provide one of the best sources of beta-carotene, crucial for egg fertilisation and essential for the growth and development of a healthy foetus. They’re also rich in Vitamin C, so great for optimising sperm health, vitality and quality – leading to a greater chance of natural conception.

Add to Shopping List: sunflower, hemp and pumpkin seeds, cashews, almonds, pecans and brazil nuts. Natural, unprocessed nuts are best, but we won’t tell Santa if you pop a packet of KP in your basket. You only live once and it is Christmas after all.

Other foods to enjoy 

Oily fish like salmon, protein packed cheeses and eggs, satsumas, legumes and pulses.

 

The Naughty List 

We’re not going to suggest you abstain from all the goodies this Christmas, but would recommend you be a bit more mindful when you indulge. As the saying goes, everything in moderation.

Try to be careful with your consumption of alcohol, coffee, raw meats and refrain from anything that you’re not sure about. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Ultimately, a healthy and happy mindset is of the utmost importance when trying to conceive, so allow yourself smaller servings of the festive treats you like. By all means, have the mince pie, that glass of wine with dinner, some Christmas Cake or a dark chocolate from the tin in the office, but if you feel you might have over-indulged, don’t be too hard on yourself either.

 

Enjoy the festivities, immerse yourself in the spirit of the seasons with the company of friends and loved ones. January is for the resolutions.

 

We wish you a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year.

 

Enjoy the festivities, immerse yourself in the spirit of the seasons with the company of friends and loved ones. January is for the resolutions.

 

We wish you a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year.

 

Speak with our Fertility Nutritionists

IVF Matters offer support to all fertility patients, even if you are undergoing treatment elsewhere and are seeking some additional advice. Book a consultation with a member of our Nutritionist Team.