How to improve your fertility?

Fertility issues apparently affect 1 in 6 couples, so is there anything that you can do to improve your chances of conceiving and boost your fertility.

And how important exactly are vitamins and your diet whilst you are pregnant?

One area which has been looked at first is that of antioxidants, and how by increasing them through changes to your diet might actually go a long way to improving your health and fertility.

Antioxidants?

First, we need to understand what antioxidants actually do, and then offer some guidance as to which ones would be the best to take. As increasing various antioxidants can help reduce the damage caused to sperm and egg cells by free radicals.

Free Radicals

Every minute of every day your body is producing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), also referred to as free radicals.?

Research is now clearly demonstrating that free radicals cause a process called oxidative stress, which will lead to sperm and egg cells, as well as your DNA becoming damaged.

There are various foods which will enhance both our “Primary” and “Secondary” antioxidant defence systems.

Our “Primary defence system” is vastly more effective in reducing the effects of free radicals than exogenous (produced outside the body) anti-oxidants, such as dietary vitamins C and E, carotenoids and polyphenols derived from plant foods known as our “Secondary defence system”

Amazingly, our “Primary” anti-oxidants genes/enzymes can neutralise millions of free radicals per minute and will continue to over the coming days until the enzyme is broken down within the cell, and is replaced.

In comparison the “Secondary” anti-oxidants, which we get from our day to day diets such as vitamins C and E etc, have limited activity and can only neutralise free radicals once.

Genetically, some of us will not produce good levels of these antioxidant enzymes and are at risk of increased oxidative damage, which will dramatically affect their fertility levels.?

So, what can you do?

Adding key nutrients to your diet to help enhance the antioxidant genes is obviously the route to go. As well as the specific nutrients which have been heavily researched with regards to having a direct effect on fertility levels.

A foods antioxidant level is derived by its ORAC score, which stands for?Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, and is the method used for measuring antioxidant capacities in nutrients.

So, incorporating foods higher on the ORAC scale would obviously be a good idea, as well as specific foods, nutrients or antioxidants which have had been researched heavily for improving fertility levels.

Selenium

Primary antioxidant gene GPX1 incorporates the mineral selenium and is heavily dependent on there being sufficient levels to work effectively.?

Selenium is an extremely important antioxidant, which prevents cellular and sub-cellular lipids and fats from being pre oxidised, meaning it prevents your body fat from going rancid, and which can be seen externally as “Age and Liver spots”.

The antioxidant protection qualities of selenium have been well publicised and is increasingly recognised as a versatile anti-carcinogen.?

Selenium is also required for the activity of a group of enzymes called?glutathione peroxidases, which plays a critical role in the body’s detoxification pathways. It is also involved in recycling of vitamin C from its used form back to active.

If you have a high intake of polyunsaturated oils such as those found in Sun flower seed or soya bean, salad dressing, and margarine at the same time as having a selenium deficiency, you increase the chances of illness and disease.?

The configuration of these oils when heated or treated with hydrogen (Trans Fat) will cause the oils to go rancid, causing free radical damage to the cell membranes.

Selenium deficiency has a few symptoms to look out for, such as: muscle tenderness, weakness, chronic fatigue, and as previously mentioned “Age Spots”.

It is also extremely important in supporting healthy thyroid function, as selenium-containing enzymes are responsible for transporting T4 less active thyroid hormone into the more active T3.

So, incorporating foods high in antioxidants with a good ORAC score would definitely be wise if you are trying to conceive.

Fertility levels can obviously be affected by a whole variety of lifestyle and environmental factors. Processed and packaged foods, which are virtually void of any real nutritional benefit, as well as the minerals being depleted from our farm soil and that offers no real value in terms of vitamins or minerals.?

Micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals have vital roles at various stages involved in fertility, and can result in a whole variety of health issues in pregnant women, such as pre-eclampsia, pre-term deliveries, neural tube defects of the brain or spinal cord (such as spina bifida), as well as babies who are born small-for-gestational age or with a low birthweight.

If we take a closer look at just 4 vitamins (folate, B6, B12 and vitamin D) that are crucial on various aspects of fertility.

Folate (vitamin B9)

Is a natural nutrient found in food, (hence why its name sounds like foliage and the Latin form of folium, meaning “Leaf”) and is used for methylation, which is a mechanism that is used by our cells to regulate gene expression and function.?

Healthy folate levels are important for oocyte quality, maturation, fertilisation, and implantation.

Low levels of folate have been well published with regards to increasing the chances of birth abnormalities, but unfortunately the modern day and western diet is lacking in fresh vegetables the chances of being deficient in folate is fairly high.

Then as with any micronutrient (vitamins & minerals) we need to see how the body genetically converts and utilises them. Because as much as humans for the most part have roughly the same genes, the way they actually function is completely different.

A simplistic explanation would be envisage your genes as a filter, which can both absorb and excrete a certain percentage from your diet.

Top 5 Folate Foods:

·???????Lentils?????????????????????1 cup????????????????355.00 mcg

·???????Asparagus??????????????1 cup????????????? ???265.00 mcg

·???????Spinach???????????????????1 cup????????????????260.00 mcg

·???????Broccoli??????????????????1 cup????????????????165.00 mcg

·???????Beets???????????????????????1 cup????????????????135.00 mcg

The importance of folate, zinc and antioxidants in the pathogenesis and prevention of sub-fertility?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17099205/

Association between serum folate and vitamin B-12 and outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26354529/

B6?(Pyridoxine)

Is part of a family of 8 vitamins that are all essential to life and all provide us with a variety of health benefits.?Women who are infertile appear to have lower vitamin B6?levels than fertile women and B6?plays a key role in keeping sperm healthy and mobile.

Seminal plasma vitamin B6?levels in men with asthenozoospermia and men with normal sperm motility, a measurement using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32129519/

Folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and homocysteine: impact on pregnancy outcome?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22023381/

Vitamin?B12

Vitamin?B12?can promote many health benefits and has a lot of extremely important roles to play. From supporting DNA synthesis to improved brain health, blood cell production and energy metabolism from the foods we eat.?Insufficient vitamin B12?levels have been reported in more than half of infertile women.

Other studies have also found associations between vitamin B12?deficiency and female sub-fertility.

Vitamin B12 deficiency, infertility and recurrent fetal loss?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11304860/

Folate, homocysteine and selected vitamins and minerals status in infertile women https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27976929/

We have a variety of genes that are crucial for B12 breakdown, absorption then genetic conversion, so knowing which variations you have is the first piece of the puzzle to understanding how well you absorb and convert vitamin B12.

For instance, the FUT2 gene, will either increase or decrease B12 absorption dramatically dependant on your which variant you have. FUT2?(A: G) rs 602662?can reduce your blood B12 reading by 15%.

Vitamin D

Research is clearly demonstrating the importance of Vitamin D on our health; and unfortunately, Vitamin D deficiency affects almost 50% of the world’s population.?

Women may be less likely to conceive if their vitamin D intake is below recommended levels, or if serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are at risk for inadequacy or deficiency. It?is also associated with conditions that decrease fertility, such as PCOS.

We are now coming into autumn and winter, so you will definitely need to supplement with vitamin D.

Association of vitamin D intake and serum levels with fertility: results from the Lifestyle and Fertility Study?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28629584/

Vitamin D and fertility: a systematic review?https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22275473/

We also need to take into account the horrendous amount of sugar and other ingredients such as preservatives that are contained in Western food, which will also have a dramatic effect on our health and fertility.