Nutritionist reveals the foods that will improve your fertility (and being too thin IS a problem)
It is a big decision to start a family and it can be heartbreaking when it becomes a struggle to conceive.
A new survey by Public Health England published on Tuesday revealed that finding it difficult to fall pregnant is the sixth biggest reproductive fear for women.
However leading nutritionist Dr Marilyn Glenville, author of Getting Pregnant Faster, has said that what you eat can improve your changes of having a baby.
Eating more wholegrains, healthy fats, and oily fish can make it more likely that a woman can become pregnant, she says, especially if you also cut out damaging substances like cigarettes and alcohol.
She also reveals that being too fat or too thin will also hamper your chances of conceiving.
Changing your diet to include plenty of healthy fats, as well as fruit and vegetables, can increase your chances of getting pregnant, according to Dr Marilyn Glenville
Dr Glenville said that while you can't increase the number of eggs you have, you can improve their quality - and it only takes three months.
'It takes approximately that long for the follicles on your ovaries to develop before one is mature enough to release an egg at ovulation.
Maintaining an average body fat percentage is crucial for ovulation, she said - and if it's too low, or too high, you will have trouble conceiving.
What to eat if you want to get pregnant
Plenty of fruit and vegetables
Wholegrains like brown rice, oats and wholemeal bread
Organic foods where possible
Oily foods such as fish, nuts, seeds and oils
Reduced intake of saturated fats from dairy products
Increased intake of fibre
What not to eat if you want to get pregnant
Additives, preservatives and chemicals, such as artificial sweeteners
Sugar, both on its own and hidden in food
Caffeine, in coffee and tea for example
Alcohol
Cigarettes and any type of smoking
Fast and processed foods
Healthy fats such as seeds (left), avocado (back), nuts (front and right), olives and olive oil (back) can improve your fertility, according to Dr Glenville
Dr Glenville stated: 'Women are most fertile when they are neither too thin nor too heavy.
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