Transcription
One of the most common questions that I am frequently asked is “what can I do in order to increase my chances of getting pregnant” and I would say that depends on your general state of health at this point in time. If you are technically overweight, then the process of losing weight to a BMI of about 25 or less, between 20-25 is most optimal, that will help tremendously because estrogen and other hormones are stored in the fat cells and sometimes when you have excess fat cells, these hormones can inhibit the process of ovulation and therefore cause you to be infertile.
If you are a man and you’re trying to increase your ability to be fertile, what you would need to do is keep constant track that the testicles are in a cooler environment. Heat is very dangerous to sperm. That is why the testicles hang outside of the body because your sperm does not need to be at your actual body temperature. That can change the shape of the sperm or cause them not to move as efficiently.
Keeping the testicles cool, avoiding hot baths, not wearing tight underwear, not doing mountain biking or anything where the testicles are compressed for a long period of time. Those things are very important. Also with men, the diet is a very important aspect of the sperm. Keep in mind that the sperm is just a reflection of your generalized health so therefore you want to eat a diet high in antioxidants and protein so I always encourage my male patients to eat a lot of broccoli, spinach and asparagus. All of those are high in folic acid and then to eat blueberries, raspberries and pomegranates – all of these fruits which are very high in antioxidants.
If there is any process going on inside the body that is causing the sperm to be abnormal, then that is usually a result of oxygen free radicals so antioxidants are able to mop up those oxygen free radicals and help repair some of the injury that is occurring, or keep injury from occurring. That is why it is very important to eat high protein, high oxidant diets during the time when you are trying to conceive.
