Wellness
Checkups
It’s important to maintain a good relationship with your
body. Make sure that you are getting
routine physicals, pap smears, dental and eye exams. Remember that other problems in the body can
correlate with issues somewhere else in the body. Correlation is not always
causation though.
BMI
BMI (Body Mass Index) measures body fat based on height and
weight that applies to both men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 years.
BMI can be used to indicate if you are overweight, obese,
underweight or normal. A healthy BMI score is between 20 and 25. A score below
20 indicates that you may be underweight; a value above 25 indicates that you
may be overweight. The best BMI for
maintaining gestation is 18.5-25.
Lifestyle
What are your habits?
Look closely at your daily routine.
Make sure that you eliminate things from your life that are
stressful. Try and get enough sleep, 8
hours a night. Eliminate things from
your environment that are harmful, start with chemicals in your cleaning
products, and personal care products.
Start an exercise regimen if you do not have one.
Drink plenty of water.
You should drink half your weight in ounces a day. If you are 140 lbs., you should consume 70
oz. of water daily. You can also try
adding or infusing some fresh lemon, lime or other fruit with the water.
Also, increasing the consumption of green tea
(decaffeinated) has been shown to increase overall health. Body health is
essentially the aim of increasing fertility. The healthier the female body, the
better the chances of conceiving.
Diet
The quality of carbohydrates directly correlates with
dietary glycemic load, ovulation and fertility.
If you consume grains, eat whole grains.
Make sure that you are getting fruits and vegetables from
every color of the rainbow. Each color
has a specific health benefit that can help improve your health and thereby
your fertility. You should try to eat at
least two cups of fruit and three cups of vegetables in a variety of colors
every day. In the green category try
kale, spinach, cucumbers, kiwi, and green peppers. To get your daily dose of red try strawberries,
apples, and red peppers. For the blue
and purple hues eat blueberries, plums, black berries, and eggplant. For your dose of yellow and orange eat
squash, bananas, oranges, nectarines, and lemons.
Iron is necessary to improve fertility as well. Some good sources of iron are grass fed
(pastured) meats, beans, and asparagus.
Adequate amounts of iron will also be important once you are pregnant
because of the increased volume of blood.
It is important to have adequate amounts of Omega 3 in your
diet if you want to improve fertility and the best source for this is found in
fish. To limit your exposure to the
mercury eat only fish that have little or no mercury present such as catfish,
salmon, and shrimp.
Omega 3 fatty acids can be found naturally in walnuts, flax
seed, flax seed oil and whole grains. Increasing omega 3 fatty acids can also
be achieved by taking an over the counter omega 3 supplement. Fish oil
supplements will often contain a blend of Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty
acids. Any good fat will help your body
absorb these, such as grass fed butter, cheese and (pastured) eggs.
Try not to add stress to the situation. Find a support group of other women and
couples who are experiencing the same thing you are (http://infertility.supportgroups.com/). You need people who will understand your
point of view and have “been there”. You
are not alone, it’s important to remember that.
SOURCES
The Landmark Nurses’ Health Study
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