When it comes to your fertility you need all the support you can find. For roughly 9% of men and 11% of women, starting a family isn’t an easy endeavor. Infertility can be a difficult and costly issue to treat. Many factors may contribute to your inability to conceive, and ensuring your body is in it’s best health is crucial to the success of your treatment.
Good nutrition is important when you are trying to conceive, and it’s your responsibility to provide the healthiest beginnings for your future baby. It’s not always easy to get all that you need from the modern American diet, no matter how well you try to eat. Supplements are often necessary to ensure that you’re getting enough of the nutritional support you need to conceive, carry, and deliver a healthy baby.
What Supplements Support a Woman’s Fertility?
Experts in fertility stress the need for women to focus on their nutrition while trying to conceive. There are specific vitamins and minerals that are necessary this time. Here are the vitamins you should be taking:
- Folic Acid: By now you’ve no doubt heard that folic acid is essential to a healthy pregnancy, before and after conception. So just what is folic acid and how does it help? Folate is a B-complex vitamin necessary for the creation of red blood cells. During pregnancy, folic acid enables your body to make your baby’s blood. Deficiencies in this necessary B-complex vitamin have been linked to neuro tube defects (spinal cord) in newborns. Folic acid is the supplement version of this essential vitamin and taking this supplement is completely safe, and, moreover, essential to the health of your developing baby. Ensuring you’re getting enough folic acid before becoming pregnant is a wise decision.
- Zinc: Taking a zinc supplement is excellent for the fertility of both you and your partner. Zinc aids in sperm production as well as ovulation. The American Pregnancy Association has found a direct link between impaired production of sperm and zinc deficiencies. Paired with folic acid, zinc supplementation can aid in fertility.
- Multivitamins: Infertility can cause you to feel stressed. Stress robs us of certain vitamins we all need to stay healthy. When you’re undergoing treatment for fertility you should protect your overall health from the effects of stress by taking a multivitamin.
- Omega 3: It’s impossible to get this essential fatty acid unless you consume fish oil and nut oil. Your body doesn’t make Omega 3. This essential fatty acid has been shown to improve the quality of your reproductive organs by improving blood flow, increase mucus in the cervix, regulate your hormones, and promote healthy ovulation.
- Iron: Your need for iron, once you become pregnant, increases by half-again, going from an RDA of 18 mg daily to 27 mg. Iron is necessary to make hemoglobin, which feeds oxygen to your red blood cells. When going through fertility treatment your organs need to receive oxygen in order to promote healthy ovulation and conception.
- Calcium: Women who are attempting to get pregnant should greatly increase their calcium intake. By taking a calcium supplement you’ll protect your bones, and your baby’s, for years to come.
- B-6: Vitamin B-6 is very important to women trying to become pregnant. B-6 has a direct link to the luteal phase in a woman’s cycle, which occurs in the time between ovulation and menstruation. A B-6 supplement can promote uterine health and aid in cell formation, both necessary to sustain a healthy pregnancy.
- Vitamin D-3: Vitamin D-3 is one vitamin that no one seems to get enough of. For women who are trying to promote conception, D-3 is very important in creating sex hormones. A deficiency in D-3 can result in reduction of those hormones necessary to achieve pregnancy.
Men Need Supplements Also
Although there are supplements you share a need for, there are also some specific supplements to aid and support sperm and semen production. Zinc, multivitamins, and Omega 3 are necessary for the father’s overall reproductive health, but dad will also need to supplement with:
Antioxidants C and E: Antioxidants are necessary for overall good health, especially during cold and flu season. These particular vitamins have also been linked to semen quality and motility of sperm. Antioxidants C and E, taken in supplement form, can ensure men they’re getting the right amount.
Supplements Help Avoid Deficiencies
Although maintaining a healthy diet is essential to fertility and pregnancy support, it’s not always possible to get all of the nutrients you need. Taking a supplement to ensure you are getting the recommended amounts of those vitamins and minerals is easy. Many of these necessary vitamin supplements work in tandem to aid in fertility and healthy pregnancy. Find a supplement formula that’s an all-in-one for both you and your partner.
Consult Your Physician
Always consult with your physician before you begin any supplement regimen. The specialists at LAIVF are focused on your fertility and offer all the medical support you’ll need. Contact the fertility specialists at LAIVF to find out more.