Fertility Food Myths: Beneficial and Harmful Fertility Foods

By Danielle Bucco

One of the first things that happens when trying to conceive is a change of diet. Everyone tells you what you should and shouldn’t eat, what is going to help or hinder you from conceiving. This can get overwhelming trying to find what is actually helpful for you to eat. There are many myths surrounding the food that you should eat when you’re trying to conceive. Eat yams if you want to have twins is one of the many myths that people hear. There are foods that can help you with fertility but it is because of their innate health benefits.

veggiesOne thing that is important is to eat a lot of organic fruits and vegetables. If drinking dairy, try to get organic as well or switch to alternative sources such as almond milk or hemp milk. Dairy that is not organic should be avoided due to the added hormones and antibiotics causing hormone levels to be imbalanced. Organic fruits and vegetables lack all the added herbicides and pesticides that can be harmful to the body whether trying to conceive or not. Getting enough Omega 3 is important as well. This can be found in fish, nuts, and seeds. This fatty acid can have a healthy effect on the reproductive system as well as hormone functions.
A_small_cup_of_coffee

Some of the don’ts of fertility foods are anything containing a lot of caffeine. It may be hard to give up that morning coffee but it is important when trying to get pregnant. Soy foods are also something that has been shown to have hormone mimicking properties and should be avoided when trying to conceive. Foods containing high sugar levels should be avoided for health purposes during any point in life but particularly when trying to get pregnant. Artificial sugars can throw off your blood sugar levels, negatively effect your immune system, and hinder your hormone balance.

By leading an all-together healthier lifestyle the chances of conceiving raise higher. Eating healthy is something that will benefit your body no matter what stage of life you are entering into so it can be beneficial to let this healthy eating continue even after the need to become more fertile has stopped.

A Year Without Answers – Guest Blog from Dr. Paul Turek

This is actually a guest post within a guest post! We had the honor of meeting Dr. Paul Turek from The Turek Clinic in Beverly Hills and San Francisco at our event in Calabasas, CA last week. Dr. Turek is passionate about art and we are excited to have him as an ART of Infertility sponsor!
Maria and I are very determined to include the stories of more men in the project and had two fantastic interviews with men while in California. We’re hoping to hear from more men who would like to share their stories and are working on developing ART of IF programming that will strike a bigger chord with men. Stay tuned! This is a two part blog so we’ll run this one today and another in a couple of weeks. Thanks, Dr. Turek for sharing your blog with us! Here’s a link back to Dr. Turek’s blog so you can read more posts from him. 
Elizabeth
A Year Without Answers

Elemental, a painting by A.J. Russell
“Elemental” Courtesy of the Artist: A.J. Russell

This is a guest post from a patient who lives in Europe. He recently recontacted me about his experience with male infertility and how it affected him.  Moved by his story and by his emotional fortitude, I asked him if he could share his remarkable journey with others. 

“The day we met with Dr. Turek was a week filled with hope and happiness. Almost a year earlier, on the same day, I went through a biopsy with the result that there were no sperm. So when we found out about Dr Turek, this really felt like the last chance, the last hope. Therefore the decision to travel across the world to see him was an easy one. The visit and procedure went well, but, again, the result from mapping showed no sperm. And no answer as to why this is.

It has been a year since I spoke with Dr. Turek about these results, a year characterized by disappointment, anger, sadness and worst of all, no answers. There were simply no answers to be found. Why me? Why now? What now? Literally a thousand questions ran through my head interfering with my daily life, keeping me up at night and affecting my relationships. I had never felt anything like this before.

I wanted so badly to not feel alone in this. I wanted someone to understood my plight, without me having to explain every small detail, because you can´t explain this feeling.

I needed to talk about it. I just couldn’t bury it. But, who was I going to talk to? And what would I talk about? I felt isolated as there appeared to be a big taboo regarding this topic. Anyone I spoke to told me focus on other things in life. But how are you supposed to do that when all you think about is the fact that you can’t have your own children? I knew no one with a similar experience who would step forward and talk about his experiences and feelings. Google searches were pointless, as the Internet does not care and information on coping is useless.

That year was best characterized by the feeling of being lost and trying to find my way in darkness without a map or light. I felt that I was in a deep, dark place, especially when I tried to look forward into the future.

Feeling alone, I began suppressing everything. All feelings, thoughts and discussions were avoided. I told my close family that I did not want talk about this matter anymore. It was a buried subject for me, never to see the light of day again.  The reason for this was that talking about this issue within the family only made things worse. One problem with this approach was that the bright spots in my life also suffered along side. The subject became an 800-pound gorilla that, although ignored, never left the room. Maybe the gorilla was bigger than 800-pounds as the family dynamics changed greatly.

Then I became angry, sometimes uncontrollably. This was when I could see that I was approaching rock bottom. The slightest annoyance, comment or action sent me into a furious rage where I often exploded at whomever was next to me. Many times it was my wife, which led us to the brink of divorce. We were both tired of fighting and there appeared to no other solution to end the fighting but dissolving the marriage. This moment was a real eye opener for me.

What helped keep me going to some degree during this time was my job. As a futures trader, my work was very involving and in the moment. Believe it or not, it was also logical and predictable, in a mathematical sort of way. It could be explained and reasoned with and while doing it, I could leave all my troubles behind. But I couldn´t hide in my job forever.

I turned the corner at rock bottom when I realized that if I did not start controlling my emotions and start being honest with myself, my life as I knew it would change dramatically. It was on that day, a very cold one in December, that I realized that I was just too exhausted to continue to fight with myself and others. I couldn’t bear to face another year continuing on the same as the last. So, I stopped lying to myself and began to face the reality of my emotions.”

The second and final part of this guest series will be available Monday, March 19th.

GET HELP TODAY
Schedule a private consultation or second opinion with Dr. Turek to learn more about your treatment options and get all your questions answered.