A Harvard Medical school study on 18,000 women has shown that taking vitamins supplements, especially folic acid, can improve chances of pregnancy.
The Importance of Prenatal Vitamins and Supplements:
Vitamins play an important role in allowing healthy fertility and ability to be pregnant, and then to have a healthy pregnancy. This is due to their impact on ovulation, hormonal balances, ova health, and much more. Any deficiency in levels of those vitamins or iron in your body may contribute to lack of ovulation.
What Are the Important Nutrients for Fertility? And What Are Their Natural Sources?
Vitamins
- Vitamin D is a necessity for healthy sex hormones which have positive effects on ovulation.You can find it in mushroomsand in fish like tuna, salmon and sardines.
- Vitamin E is important to improve sperm health and mobility in men. It has a similar role for women as it helps to protect sperm until one of them can unite with an egg.
- Sunflower oil, broccoli, sweet potato, mango, tomatoes, and kiwi are all rich in Vitamin E.
- Vitamin C improves hormone levels and increases fertility in women. It can also improve sperm quality and protect it from DNA damage. Finally, it helps to decrease the risk of miscarriage.
- Vitamin C is present in almost all we eat; citrus fruits, strawberry, kiwi, pineapple, the melon family, carrot, apple, cherry, broccoli, peach, liver, milk, and many others.
- Vitamin B6 is a regulator for hormone and blood sugar rates. It is very good for morning sickness in the early pregnancy.
- Good sources include meats, whole grain products, vegetables, nuts and bananas.
- Vitamin B12 improves the production and quality of sperm and ova. Deficiency of it can lead to miscarriage and in some severe cases it can lead to premature ceasing of ovulation.
- Examples of B12 foods include breakfast cereals, soy products, and nutritional yeast.
- Folic Acid is one of the most important vitamins for pregnancy. It is necessary to prevent neural defects, congenital heart defects, cleft lips, limb defects, and urinary tract anomalies in developing babies.
- For folic acid, natural sources include: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, citrus fruits, dairy products, poultry and meat, eggs, seafood, grains, spinach, liver, and yeast.
Minerals
- Iron anaemia or lack of iron in body may cause anovulation (lack of ovulation) or possibly poor egg health. cereals.
- Rich sources of dietary iron include red meat, lentils, beans, poultry, fish, leaf vegetables, watercress, tofu, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, blackstrap molasses, and fortified breakfast
- Zinc works with more than 300 different enzymes in a woman’s body to keep things working well. It has a very important role on your estrogen and progesterone levels which are the key for your reproductive system balance. Deficiency of it has been directly linked to miscarriage in the early stages of a pregnancy.
- Oysters, lobster and red meats, especially beef, lamb and liver have some of the highest concentrations of zinc in food.
- Calcium is also important for a pregnant woman. It can prevent loss of bone density in the mother, and help the bone growth of her baby.
- Milk, egg, soya milk, fish, and cabbages are good sources for calcium.
Prenatal Vitamins
The Center of Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (CDC) recommends every woman to take prenatal vitamins to reduce the risk of birth defects in babies. Before and during pregnancy you should get at least 800 mg of Folic Acid daily. Consult your health care professional as individual needs vary.
Possible Side effects
Headaches, stomach upsets, and even abdominal pain are examples of possible side effects of prenatal vitamins.
Each individual will have different needs nutritionally so it is advisable to discuss what prenatal vitamins you should be taking with your doctor who can take your overall health and wellbeing into consideration.
