Fertility

What is Fertility?

Fertility is the natural ability of a man and woman to produce offspring. Preconception health is the overall health status of a man and woman before becoming pregnant. Factors affecting fertility may be genetic, environmental or behavioural. There are multiple treatments that can help to increase the chance of fertility however, these can be invasive and expensive. Nutrition and diet is a simple yet effective approach to increase fertility in both men and women.

What causes issues with pre-conception/fertility?

Having difficulties conceiving is relatively common; 1 in 6 couples experience difficulties conceiving. Infertility is usually defined as the absence of conception after 1 year of regular unprotected intercourse. However, there are modifiable lifestyle factors that can have an impact on your fertility. These include diet (both maternal and paternal diets play a role here!), lifestyle habits (activity levels, smoking and drinking alcohol), maternal weight, history of STIs, pharmaceutical and medical treatments. Environmental factors which may be impacting fertility include, exposure to chemicals, radiation, air pollution and heavy metals.

How can Bites Dietitians help?

Both men and women can use nutrition to improve their fertility and chances of becoming pregnant. There are different aspects of diet that men and women should focus on. Men should focus on the components of their diet that impact their sperm quality. Women can focus on consuming adequate nutrients and healthy weight management. Maintaining a healthy weight prior to conception helps to regulate hormones associated with ovulation and pregnancy, this is inclusive of whether your weight falls under and over the healthy weight range.
Men
Bites Dietitians can assist you in eating a nutrient rich diet. We will focus on nutrients that have been proven to improve sperm quality e.g. zinc and folate. Zinc is required for spermatogenesis and sperm motility and folate is required for synthesising genetic information or DNA that is found in sperm. Spermatogenesis is the process of developing and increasing sperm counts, this process takes 90 days. Therefore, 3 months of a good quality diet is needed before conception. Once sperm quality has improved it is important to maintain this quality. Sperm are easily damaged by free radicals that are in the body. Antioxidant rich foods can help protect against damage by neutralising the free radicals. Bites Dietitians can provide you with a meal plan that is high in the macro and micronutrients that are associated with higher sperm quality. We can also assess lifestyle factors that may be inhibiting optimum sperm quality which can affect fertility. Through this assessment we can alter aspects that could potentially be reducing fertility.
Women

Bites Dietitians can assist you in eating a nutrient rich diet. We will focus on nutrients that have been proven to improve sperm quality e.g. zinc and folate. Zinc is required for spermatogenesis and sperm motility and folate is required for synthesising genetic information or DNA that is found in sperm. Spermatogenesis is the process of developing and increasing sperm counts, this process takes 90 days. Therefore, 3 months of a good quality diet is needed before conception. Once sperm quality has improved it is important to maintain this quality. Sperm are easily damaged by free radicals that are in the body. Antioxidant rich foods can help protect against damage by neutralising the free radicals. Bites Dietitians can provide you with a meal plan that is high in the macro and micronutrients that are associated with higher sperm quality. We can also assess lifestyle factors that may be inhibiting optimum sperm quality which can affect fertility. Through this assessment we can alter aspects that could potentially be reducing fertility.

At Bites Health Clinic our Dietitians know that fertility is the equal product of both maternal and paternal health so we encourage both members of the couple to come to appointments together and work on their nutrition as a team!

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An interesting fact about diet and fertility?

Healthy body weight is important for both men and women when trying to conceive. If overweight, losing 5-10% of body weight can help to regulate hormones related to sperm production and ovulation. Simultaneously if you are underweight, increasing your weight to within the healthy weight range can improve your body’s ability to function and create the necessary hormones for a healthy menstrual cycle. Healthy body weight for both men and women are important to encourage a healthy pregnancy.

How can Bites Exercise Physiologists help?

Exercise is an important aspect of life and there is no doubt that exercise can also help to improve fertility.
Male
Evidence has shown that men who participated in longer hours of physical activity had 73% more sperm concentration and total count whilst men who were more sedentary for longer hours per week had 44% less sperm concentrations and total count. It has also been found that men who participated in moderate amounts of physical activity (3 x 1-hour sessions per week) had better sperm quality. Factors such as stress impact the endocrine, immune and autonomic nervous systems. For men, stress has been shown to reduce testosterone levels and spermatogenesis. A resistance training program can help to increase testosterone production and improve stamina. This can help to reduce stress levels therefore, limiting these negative effects. Bites Exercise Physiologists can provide an exercise prescription that suits your personal goals but also will help to improve fertility.
Women

Physical activity has many benefits for general health but more specifically in exerting preventative effects at various stages of cancer. In the initiation phase of tumour formation, exercise can reduce damage to cells through increasing the amount of antioxidant (good) enzymes within the body which attack these cells. Exercise also enhances the DNA repair systems meaning that constantly dividing cells are less likely to turn cancerous.

An interesting fact about exercise and fertility

Studies have shown that vigorous exercise reduces problems with ovulation and moderate exercise decreases the risk of miscarriage and increases the chance of conceiving in women.

What improvement can you expect for a tailored exercise and diet prescription?

Depending on your personal circumstances and health conditions expected improvements in weight for both men and women will be evident within 1-2 weeks. For women with PCOS, improvements in fasting insulin and androgen levels can become evident within 1 – 2 months of following a targeted diet and exercise prescription. For men improvements in sperm quality will be evident in 3 months due to the time taken for spermatogenesis to occur. For women who have irregular menstrual cycles, it may take 3 – 12 months of diet/exercise therapy before cycles become regular again.

How will you know it’s working/you’re improving?

The following can be used as some indicators:
  • Improvements in weight; reaching a healthy weight range.
  • Overall sperm quality and count will increase.
  • Biochemical markers such as Cortisol, glucose and Insulin levels will improve
  • If menstrual cycles were irregular, they will become more regular
  • Confirmation of conception (But just to be clear, there’s no sure bet that following a tailored diet and exercise regime is going to result in this outcome as there are a myriad of other factors that can influence this!)

Helpful things to bring/remember before your first appointment

  • Referral from your GP and or specialist
  • Any scans or reports from treating professionals
  • Pathology test results

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