Good nutrition is essential for optimising fertility in both men and women. One of the
best ways to make sure you're eating a variety of nutrients every day is to include lots of
different coloured plant foods in your diet. In today's video I'll be talking
about "eating the rainbow" for boosting fertility. You see, fresh fruits and vegetables are abundant
in antioxidants which help protect cells against damage from free radicals. Given that egg and
sperm are cells, they help protect them too! Eating a wide variety of coloured foods will
ensure you get a variety of antioxidants that each play differing roles in cell protection.
It's not just antioxidants either that are known for boosting fertility, many other nutrients
found in brightly coloured plant foods can also help. So, what are these nutrients? Stay tuned
to find out!
Hello! My name is Melanie McGrice and I'm a dietitian who specialises in nutrition
for fertility. I work with parents to-be and guide them on how to increase their chances of
conception through the power of food. If you haven't already, download our free fertility
meal plan melaniemcgrice.com/fertility First up, let's talk about green veggies.
Folate is one of the most important nutrients for boosting fertility. Although, it's found in many
different coloured foods, green vegetables such as spinach, kale, arugula or rocket, broccoli,
brussels sprouts and asparagus are good sources of this vitamin. For women struggling to conceive,
ensuring adequate folate in your diet is important to help prevent neural tube defects that have the
potential to lead to miscarriage early on in pregnancy. For women going through IVF,
research has shown that folate supplementation and subsequent increases in folate levels in
follicular fluid (the fluid that nourishes the developing eggs), was associated with a
3.3 times greater chance of becoming pregnant. If you're wanting to add more greens and folate
to your diet, maybe give my 'Fertility Juice' a go. I'll link to it in the description box below.
Next, let's talk about carotenoids. Carotenoids are pigments in plants that give them their red,
orange and yellow colours. Think sweet potatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, pumpkin, carrots,
and mangoes. Not only are carotenoids great for boosting fertility in women, but also in men. For
women, particularly those struggling with excess body weight, increased intakes of beta-carotene
(which is a type of carotenoid) was associated with a shorter time to pregnancy. Again,
women going through IVF, ensuring you're getting enough beta-carotene in your diet might also
benefit you as low levels have been associated with decreased IVF success. For men, there is a
carotenoid called lycopene, which is found in more of the bright red coloured fruits and vegetables.
Research has shown it can help improve sperm motility and quality. Tomatoes are an excellent
source of lycopene! To take advantage of the lycopene in tomatoes, cooking them in olive
greatly increases its absorption, so it's a great reason to enjoy those tomato-based pasta sauces!
Ok, so we've talked about green, orange, red and yellow coloured foods. That leaves us
with purple and blue! Purple and blue fruits and vegetables contain a compound called anthocyanin.
Examples of these foods include blackberries, blueberries, black grapes and plums and purple
cabbage. The antioxidant power of anthocyanins help protect cells from free radical damage and
as I mentioned, this includes egg and sperm cells. But these foods mentioned also contain
another essential nutrient researched for boosting fertility and that's Vitamin C!
Optimal levels of vitamin C within the ovary is important for the development and maturation
of the egg. There is some evidence to suggest that vitamin C can improve fertility in women
with luteal phase defect which affects between 3-10% of women with subfertility.
So, to boost your fertility, focusing on eating a wide variety of coloured plant foods every day
will help optimise your chances of conception. I hope you enjoyed this video and if you haven't
done so already, make sure you subscribe and check out some of my other fertility videos,
such as boosting fertility with antioxidants where I talk more in depth about the role of
antioxidants and how they work. I'll see you in my next video!