Underweight and trying to conceive? Unfortunately, yes, being underweight can impact your fertility.
In this episode of Nourish, I'm going to explain why being underweight impacts your
ability to conceive and I'll share my top 3 tips for increasing your weight
for optimising your fertility. Stay tuned!
Hello! If this is our first time connecting, welcome! My name is Melanie McGrice and I'm
a fertility and prenatal dietitian. I help couples boost their fertility and give their
baby's the best start possible with the power of good food. Make sure you connect with me
on my socials... you'll find all the details in the description box below this video.
Regardless of the underlying cause... whether you have disordered eating, whether you
exercise too much for your requirements, whether your weight is low due to stress,
or whether it's your natural body shape, having a low BMI, or Body Mass Index, as it's known,
reduces the concentrations of some key fertility hormones, including LH, or Luteinising Hormone,
FSH, or Follicle Stimulating Hormone, and estradiol, which is a form of estrogen.
This can make it harder to conceive. The most common side effect of being underweight,
with regards to trying to conceive, is not ovulating regularly - if at all! However, being
underweight can also impact the health of your eggs, and rates of implantation of the embryo.
So, what should you do?
For many women, the answer is to gain weight. I know that this is much easier said than done.
So, I'd highly recommend that you get personalised advice from a fertility dietitian.
However, in the interim, try these tips:
Number 1. Replace low kilojoule fluids with kilojoule-containing fluids - When trying
to increase client's kilojoule intakes, I find that they usually fill up quickly. Swapping low
kilojoule fluids, such as water, tea, coffee and diet drinks, with kilojoule-containing fluids
doesn't have too much of an impact on appetite, but provides additional,
much-needed kilojoules. Good choices are fruit juices, smoothies and milk drinks.
Number 2. Snack on a large handful of nuts each day - nuts are a great source of important
nutrients for fertility. They're also rich in calories to help you boost your calorie intake.
I'd recommend checking out my video on which are the best nuts to eat for fertility to help you decide which you'll eat.
Number 3. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over everything - extra virgin olive oil has been
found to be great for boosting fertility. It's rich in vitamin E and polyphenols which are
particularly important. The extra virgin olive oil is also fantastic for adding kilojoules.
Every tablespoon provides approximately 120 calories or 500 kilojoules. Try drizzling
it over veggies, mixing it into pasta or rice and adding it to a smoothie!
Oh, and one more helpful tip! Download my free fertility meal
plan from melaniemcgrice.com/fertility. It will give you a great starting point to
make sure that you're meeting your kilojoule and nutrient requirements.
Boosting your weight and re-commencing ovulation can be difficult. For many women, gaining weight
is harder than they expect as many tend to develop a hyper-metabolism. This means that even when you
eat more food, your body just burns it because you've been unknowingly starving yourself for so long.
Furthermore, it can feel uncomfortable feeling your clothes get tighter,
and you may have a bit of tummy discomfort for a while too, as you can feel uncomfortably full
when eating more than you're used to. Sometimes it can be emotionally challenging, as some women
don't like the idea of gaining weight. But, remember the reason why you're gaining weight,
and the goal of holding your little one in your arms, and it will all be worth it!
Be kind to yourself and feel free to ask any questions in the comments box below.
I'll look forward to seeing you in my next video!