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[Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical practitioner. Any medical information is strictly my opinion based on research and personal experience, and not to be taken as advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed physician for your medical needs. Read my full disclaimer here.]
I consider myself a fairly healthy, well-informed individual. (Just patting myself on the back here.) But as I began to read the studies on infertility, talk with my functional medicine doctor and dietician, and check out books and research on fertility diets, there were a few fertility diet mistakes that I had no idea I was making.
I’m not talking about “surprising” diet tips like “eat avocados” (which is actually legit, by the way) or “eat pineapple” (not actually legit) — let’s just be honest, those things are on all the fertility and TTC blogs everywhere.
I’m talking about actual surprising things I genuinely thought I was doing right…that turns out I was not.
Here are four of the biggest fertility diet mistakes I had no idea I was making:
1. Eating/drinking low-fat dairy
This was the biggest “Huh? Really?” moment for me as I began to investigate the effects of diet on fertility.
Growing up, my mom used to always buy 2% milk. As I got older, however, our family switched to 1%…and then 1/2%…and then skim. Common sense says that “low fat” options are always better, right?
Not in this case, it turns out. As I began to do more research and talk with my functional doctor/dietician, I heard the same recommendation over and over again: high fat or full fat dairy is best.
Admittedly, the effect of dairy in general on fertility is still somewhat debated and inconclusive. However, there have been several studies comparing the effect of low fat and full fat dairy on fertility (most notably this one), and they have found that full fat dairy is best.
To do: Switch to 2% or whole milk. Also try a greek yogurt like Siggi’s with 2% or 4% milkfat.
2. Not getting enough choline (eggs)
This was another shocker for me. I had always believed a lot of eggs = a lot of cholesterol…which is what I didn’t want. Turns out a lot of eggs = a lot of choline…which is exactly what you want.
When I talked to my doctor, she declared that choline was just as important as folate when talking about TTC and pregnancy. Why aren’t we talking more about choline? she wondered. It has been found to reduce the chances of neural tube defects and improve brain development, among many other things. It does seem to have similar effects as folate, but no one talks about it. (Check out some research about choline here, here, and here.)
To do: Eat more eggs! Try an egg casserole for breakfast or make a few hard boiled eggs to have on hand for a snack. In addition, some prenatals have choline in them; some do not. I actually take this additional choline supplement.
3. Taking the wrong prenatal vitamin
Speaking of prenatal vitamins: I thought they all were created equal.
They’re not.
I had previously been taking a generic, free one that my previous OB had given to me. But my new functional doctor immediately discontinued that one and gave me a different one — one with folate, not folic acid.
Without even realizing it, you may be part of a group of women who have a mutation on the MTHFR gene, which is the gene responsible for the conversion of folic acid to folate. (The chance of having the mutation varies greatly depending on your ethnicity.)
Folate is the nutrient found naturally in foods; folic acid is the manmade version that is generally added to foods. So when people talk about the importance of folic acid on pregnancy, what they really mean is the importance of folate.
Although I was tested for the MTHFR gene mutation and found not to have it, my doctor still insisted I take a prenatal with folate instead of folic acid. She argued that this natural version was still better and would help prevent miscarriage. Admittedly, I didn’t do the research on it — but at this point everything else she had suggested was confirmed by my personal research, so I took her word for it.
To do: Double check what’s in your prenatal. Then find one with folate — and ideally choline, too. I personally take one created by my functional doctor, but she also said the SmartyPants prenatal was not a bad option.
4. Not eating seafood
This is probably the most obvious of my “surprising” diet mistakes. While I know that seafood and fish are good for you, I didn’t realize they were good specifically for fertility.
There have been several studies showing the benefits of seafood on fertility — like this one and this one.
To do: If you’re not big on seafood (like me), try some not-super-fishy recipes like this grilled salmon (that has become our favorite) or this thai salmon + veggies.
One last note
Lastly, if you’re looking for more research-based information about fertility diet mistakes you could be making, I highly recommend the book Real Food for Pregnancy. Although I bought this book after finding out I was pregnant, I really wish I had had it when I was TTC too. It backed up and solidified everything my functional medicine doctor and dietician had told me about fertility diets. It also gave me some additional ideas and tips about different vitamins and foods, as well as some recipes too.
Also be sure to check out:
—My Fertility Diet Meal Plan + Recipes
—Fertility Diet Shopping List
—Fertility Diet Meal Ideas List
—More Research on the Best Fertility Diet
Hi! I’ve just discovered your blog while searching for a connection between Reynauds and infertility. I’m curious if you continued to see a difference in your Reynauds symptoms with continued use of L-arginine. Also, I’m highly suspicious of my thyroid (my TSH test was 3.36) being the cause of my infertility but I’m not sure how to get help for it. I confess to not feeling like I can afford a functioning doctor. I do know of a chiropractor who may be willing to check some of these things out for me without doing the whole panel of screening (I don’t know if that’s wise or not).
Hi Lani!
Thanks for checking out my blog! I did feel like I noticed a difference with the L-Arginine — but I was also doing so many different things that it’s hard to know what was really making the difference. That’s so hard when your TSH is 3.36 (similar to what mine was). I don’t think a lot of doctors would give you medication with that level, even though, like you, I think that was the cause of my infertility. Yes, a functional doctor is so expensive. My best advice would be to ask your doctor to keep checking your thyroid levels — mine seemed to fluctuate a decent amount, and my guess is that if it starts to get much higher at any point, they would eventually give you medication for it. You could also try a different OB who might be more willing to help you try different things.