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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.]
In contrast to a lot of other factors when TTC, “the best fertility diet” has been investigated A LOT. The truth is, a lot of studies that have been done provide conflicting results. I have focused on the research and medical journals from 2018 or after — especially the recent 2018 publication (that did all the work for me and reviewed all prior studies :)) that came out from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School.
The short-ish answers:
—Medical research
The best “fertility diet” (according to several different sources) seems to most closely resemble the Mediterranean Diet. Things women were once told to avoid — dairy, soy, and caffeine, among other things — have actually not consistently been shown to decrease fertility. Scroll down for more specific recommendations + information from the research. Or check out my fertility diet meal plan + recipes!
—My experience
I have tried different “fertility diets” I’ve found online (for instance, counting my macros — protein 25% or more, carbs 40% or less) for several months. I haven’t gotten pregnant yet (6 months or so after changing my diet), but honestly I didn’t have to change my diet too much because I already eat relatively healthy. However, I did begin eating many more nuts, beans, and lentils — and less red meat — as sources of protein (which is a focus of the Mediterranean Diet). Regardless of fertility, that has just been proven as a healthier way to live in general.
*Update: My dietician also suggested I try going gluten free (for a trial of 3 weeks, to see if I feel any differently). This is because I have Raynaud’s disease, which may be autoimmune. It’s important to note that the BEST fertility diet for you likely needs to be personalized! I highly recommend trying functional medicine to see what a functional doctor recommends for YOU after doing testing and investigating your health history.
–How to do it
There are a ton of resources, books, and blogs out there with recipes and ideas for the Mediterranean Diet. Here is the meal plan that I created, specifically following this diet plan. There is also a printable PDF version. I also have several recipes on this blog.
Continue reading below if you’re interested in finding out more details (the long answers)…
*Or, click here for more answers to your other TTC questions!
Now, for the long answers…
The medical research
–After reviewing all previous clinical trials and medical studies on diet and fertility, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School came out with this 2018 study with these findings:
–The vitamins and nutrients folic acid, vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, and healthy diets such as the Mediterranean diet had positive effects on fertility.
–Antioxidants, Vitamin D, dairy, soy, caffeine and alcohol had little or no effect on fertility.
–Trans fat and “unhealthy diets” had negative effects on fertility. (Again, common sense, right?)
–(Click to see my blog post investigating caffeine)
Diary
–Another diet recommendation that does seem to consistently show positive effects on fertility is the consumption of high-fat dairy (which doesn’t necessarily follow the Mediterranean Diet). Chavarro found that women who consumed high-fat dairy were much less likely to have anovulatory infertility than women who consumed low-fat dairy. (As a side note, much research is also being done that is showing that the addition of diary to the Mediterranean Diet is not having adverse effects.)
–Chavarro actually wrote this book about the fertility diet that he came up with — that adds certain things to the Mediterranean Diet. (He did this study that showed that women who followed his “Pro-fertility diet” actually had better outcomes of pregnancy than women who just followed the Mediterranean Diet.) His diet adds high levels of folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin D, dairy, soy and low-pesticide produce to the Mediterranean Diet. See this article.
Seafood
–In a study by Gaskins, women and men who ate 8 or more servings of seafood per cycle had 61% shorter time to conception than women and men who ate less.
Protein
—High protein intake in the form of animals was found to be associated with a much higher level of infertility due to ovulatory problems; high protein intake in the form of vegetables had the opposite effect. (This according to Chavarro.)
Other
–A study by Hatch showed that pop and energy drinks (sugar-sweetened drinks) had a negative effect on fertility, while diet pop and fruit juice had no effect.
—Grieger found that high consumption of fast food and low consumption of fruit were related to higher levels of infertility. (Shocking, right?)
My experience + opinion
–Again, I generally eat pretty healthy already. Some experts have debated whether or not the link between these diets and fertility are actually related to the specific diet itself or the weight loss.
–Check out this article that details the 11 recommendations from Chavarro’s pro-fertility diet. Otherwise, I’d give these five basic recommendations:
1. Lose weight if you need to.
2. More plant-based protein (beans, lentils, nuts); less animal-based.
3. Full or high-fat dairy over low-fat.
4. More whole grains for carbs rather than processed.
4. No (very little) junk food (trans fat).
Try these recipes from my fertility diet meal plan!
*Click here to return to the list of TTC Tips: Fact or Fiction?
Hi! I just found your site and I’m devouring all the information you’ve shared about fertility + diet + nutrition. I’m curious if you noticed anything different when you removed gluten for 3 weeks? I also have Raynaud’s disease, and wondered if that plays a factor in my fertility. Thanks for sharing your story so others can learn from you!
Hi! Yes and no — initially I thought I felt no different…but it was actually when I reintroduced gluten back in that I thought I felt just a little bit “off.” It could’ve been my imagination, honestly. My stomach felt fine, but it was actually my breathing that felt a little different. My doctor did mention that oftentimes people with autoimmune-related diseases (like Raynaud’s) may have a slight gluten sensitivity. That said, I have continued now to eat gluten since then and have felt totally fine. I still am not sure if the Raynaud’s thing had anything to do with my fertility (here’s a post that talks about that further if you haven’t read it yet: https://contentmentandchaos.com/the-connection-between-infertility-raynauds-disease-and-l-arginine/), but I do think that partially could’ve been a factor (here’s some more info on all of the factors that I believe contributed to my infertility: https://contentmentandchaos.com/how-i-got-pregnant-naturally-after-2-1-2-years-of-unexplained-infertility/). Thanks for your comment + I hope that all helps!!