Hidden food factors have been shown to decrease fertility and defeat any efforts toward achieving proper nutrition for pregnancy . Eating for two before pregnancy has many benefits. Expectant mothers often replace unhealthy eating habits with excellent diets during pregnancy, making this shift prior to a positive pregnancy test can hasten its arrival.
Heavy Metals and Babies don't Mix
The process of fertility treatments can be long and fraught with stressful disappointments. Some heartbroken couples are handed a conclusive diagnosis as to the cause of their infertility. Others for reasons unknown to medical teams are unable to conceive even when everything seems to be healthily in order.
No matter the cause of infertility, dietary components could be the underlying cause. Many couples have found higher than normal levels of certain mineral nutrients are undermining their reproductive system's normal function.
One food source that is often the culprit for an accumulation of too many heavy minerals is seafood. Pregnant women have long been counseled to limit seafood meals to once a week as part of nutrition for pregnancy. Couples endeavoring to conceive should follow suit.
Sugars, Sweeteners and Carbs
Diabetics during pregnancy are on an even more stringent diet. Often diabetic mothers cut out all of their usual "sweet" treats because of the known harmful effects of artificial sweeteners on gestation.
This means no sugar candies and diet drink pregnancy treats are sacrificed for the baby's wellbeing.
Women wishing to become pregnant need to follow suit. Artificial sweeteners are no more healthy for reproductive efforts then they are for gestating babies.
Hormone Foods
Many foods naturally contain plant hormones. These plant-based hormones have been promoted as a natural option for hormone replacement therapy. Somehow some of these foods, like soy, have made the jump from quasi-medicine to super food.
Soy and other foods high in naturally occurring hormones are not healthy for daily consumption. These hormones disrupt the otherwise normal function of male and female reproductive hormones.
This disruption can diminish fertility and impact normal gestation.
The Right Fats
Fats are no longer the villainous food factor they once were considered to be thanks to the hugely popular fad diets of the late 70s and 80s. It is now a well known fact that the body needs healthy fats included as part of nutrition for pregnancy and any other time.
The trick is to get the right kind of fats. The most recent buzzword in "bad fats" is trans fat. These fats are found abundantly in junk foods like chips, deep fried foods and processed prepackaged foods.
Expectant mothers regularly weed these kinds of food out of their regular meal plans because they don't offer much nutrition in exchange for their caloric input. Newest research also shows a relationship between diets high in trans fats and infertility.