Deciding to start a family is one of life’s most exciting chapters, but before that bump grows, conception isn’t as easy as it seems. There are instances when you may have been trying for so long, yet each pregnancy test you take still comes out negative. Not only can this feel troublesome and problematic, but it can also bring in a lot of anxiety. There begins the fear that you may have to undergo other medical treatments to try and conceive.
However, before going for that route, most doctors recommend a simple switch in lifestyle choices. This is a combination of physical exercise, letting go of any vice, and choosing a healthier diet. If you’re lucky, a lifestyle change is all that’s needed for you to finally see those magical two lines pop up.
Conceive with confidence with our fertility kits, along with these lifestyle choices, to help you succeed.
1. Use The Right Lubricant
Couples who use lubricants during sex must be very careful about what ingredients are there in their lubricants. Unfortunately, many lubricants contain spermicide, which kills sperm. Because your goal this time is to finally conceive, be sure you’re using a lubricant conducive to conception.
2. Eat Food Rich in Antioxidants
Antioxidants like folate and zinc improve fertility both for men and women. Antioxidants kill the free radicals in the body, which, if given a chance to multiply and grow, could otherwise damage both sperm and egg cells. Look at your current diet and see if there’s any room for improvement, especially if you’ve been consuming a lot of junk food lately.
Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains contain beneficial antioxidants like folate and zinc, as well as Vitamins C and E, lutein, and beta-carotene. It doesn’t hurt to include eating more of these foods in your effort to conceive.
3. Exercise More
Engaging in physical exercise and activity, even if it’s only half an hour to an hour per day, can reduce the risk of infertility and improve sperm quality. The latter is an issue that not only makes conception itself a lot harder but also heightens the chances of a miscarriage.
Extreme exercise, however, may also cause infertility. Be sure to strike the right balance. The only way to get this right is to consult your fertility doctor, OB-GYN, and sports or fitness coach.
Exercising is also one of the most effective ways to achieve a healthy body weight. For women, obesity may reduce the odds of getting pregnant. Too much fat produces more estrogen hormone, which, in turn, interferes with ovulation. Male obesity, on the one hand, disrupts the male endocrine system as well as sperm concentration and viability.
4. Track Your Cycle
Lucky for women today, technology is on their side to help make matters like tracking their monthly cycle possible. There are so many mobile phone apps for this, so there’s no reason for women not to be able to do this.
Tracking when your cycle starts and ends every month gives you a precise timeline of when you’re ovulating and most fertile. That way, you can also ‘time’ your intercourse better to improve your chances of conceiving.
5. Eat A Bigger Breakfast
For women with confirmed fertility problems, eating a bigger and heartier breakfast is another pivotal solution. For instance, a bigger breakfast consisting of healthy food may improve the hormonal effects of women suffering from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a major cause of infertility.
Note that this increase in breakfast size should also be paired with a reduction in dinner size. Otherwise, weight gain comes as a result. This is to be avoided as weight gain can also contribute to why some women experience difficulty conceiving.
6. Stay Away From Smoking and Alcohol
It’s a given fact that smoking and alcoholism have dire effects on one’s health. But did you know that these activities also decrease fertility to a large extent?
When patients come for a consultation, one of fertility doctors’ first questions is whether or not they’re alcoholics. The reason is that reproductive hormones and semen parameters were consistently lower for men who smoked and consumed alcohol.
The Bottomline
As you may now gather, improving one’s fertility likelihood of conceiving combines different lifestyle changes. This is one of the best starting points, as a lifestyle change is often all it takes to finally conceive.
The list above contains medically proven suggestions, you can also decide which doctor is guiding you through the process. Discuss this with them, so you can have sound advice on which lifestyle change fits your body’s condition and health needs the most. Be patient; soon enough, you may receive an influx of congratulatory cheer for a baby on the way.