Fertility Foods for Women

By: Taylor Shaw

If you are trying to get pregnant it can be a stressful time, especially if you have been trying for some time or know that you have less chance of conceiving due to age or health issues. One way to boost your chances is to eat the right foods to ensure your body is at optimal health. So what are the best fertility foods for women?

First, use your common sense. In order to achieve the best health you know you need to have a good balanced diet and focus on healthy, whole foods including fresh fruit and vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates, and good protein sources. Avoid refined sugar, bad fats and food preservatives. Try to eat as many organic foods as possible to avoid the toxins that are in non-organic and processed foods. Organic fruit and vegetables are also richer in nutrients so you need to eat less of them to absorb the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly. Avoid caffeine and alcohol; both have negative effects on the body and will reduce your body's natural balance.

As well as following a sensible eating plan, there are some foods that the body really needs to encourage conception.

• Whole grains are important for fertility because they release energy slowly and don't cause sugar and insulin spikes. Healthy insulin levels are good for fertility so stick to wholegrain bread, oats and brown rice instead of refined carbohydrates like white rice and anything containing white or bleached flour.

• Folic Acid is one nutrient that we hear about a lot when it comes to getting pregnant and maintaining a healthy pregnancy. Also known as vitamin B9, it is vital for producing red blood cells and key components for the nervous system, as well as creating genetic material and normalizing brain function. Your body can't store Folic Acid so it needs to be replenished regularly. Good natural sources of Folic Acid include leafy green vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, broccoli, wheat germ, apricots, avocados and liver. Leafy vegetables are also a good source of Iron, which is vital for the production of red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.

• Vitamins B6 and B12 are also important; in fact, Folic Acid needs Vitamin B12 to create genetic material. Again, these B vitamins need to be replenished regularly because they are not retained by the body. Good sources of B6 include bell peppers, spinach, garlic and bananas, while B12 can be found in fish, milk products, meat and eggs.

• Zinc is a vital mineral for healthy cell division and genetic material and, as a result, is important for fertility in both men and women. You can obtain zinc naturally from rye, oats, pumpkin seeds and almonds.

• Plant protein is usually considered better for fertility than protein from animal sources. That means cutting back on your meat intake and choosing beans, lentils, nuts and grains (like Quinoa and Buckwheat).

• We've already mentioned eating the right kinds of fats. Good fats (monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and Omega-3 fatty acids) help maintain healthy hormone levels and reduce inflammation. Good sources of essential fatty acids include avocados, salmon, sardines, and sesame and pumpkin seeds, although many women prefer to take a high quality fish oil supplement as well.

• Other vitamins that are considered vital to fertility are: Vitamin E, found in leafy green vegeatables, plus wheatgerm and sunflower seeds; Vitamin C, found in citrus fruits, blackcurrants, strawberries and kiwi fruit; and Vitamin A, found in carrots, spinach, cabbage and tomatoes.

As you can see, eating a healthy, balanced diet is essential to improve your fertility, and some foods stand out more than others. Focus on eating carbohydrates that release the energy slowly, good fats, protein from a mixture of sources, and plenty of different fresh fruit and vegetables, and you will give yourself the best chance of conceiving.

About the Author
You may feel like you are never going to conceive, but there are many natural ways you can improve your fertility. It isn't impossible for most couples to have children; it can just take more time for some. Fertility treatments can be hugely expensive and invasive, so consider natural methods for increasing fertility first. My name is Taylor Shaw and want to help women like you to achieve optimal health for conception. Find out more about getting pregnant naturally at: http://www.increasing-fertility.info

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Herbs to Help Increase Fertility

A Look At Fertility Herbs
By Lee Dobbins

Today the alternative approaches to treating fertility have taken a step back from the mechanics of fertilization and instead are looking at addressing the overall state of the body. Today there are fertility herbs around which provide an excellent way of strengthening the organ systems as well as improving their function without harmful side effects.

Once the organs have begun to work well it is useful to apply herbs which increase a body’s ability to utilize estrogen which enhances the production of eggs in the ovary. So not only will a woman’s body be in better shape for fertilization but it will also be well prepared for the actual pregnancy. In fact herbs which are recommended for fertility purposes are also useful during the actual pregnancy itself.

The following herbs listed below should be either taken as a water based infusion or as a strong tea. For preparing an infusion you will need to fill a clean wide mouthed jar a third full with dried herbs and then fill the jar up to the top with boiling water, place on the cap and then let the herbs seep in the water for no less than 4 hours. After the 4 hours strain and drink a cup of this per day. Refrigerate what you have not used and do not reheat or allow the infusion to boil.

Red Clover Blossoms and Leaves

This supplies calcium, protein, B Vitamins to the body as well as clearing toxins from the blood. The alkalinizing effect will lengthen the survival time of sperm. However you should not use this before or after surgery as its blood thinning properties will impair the clotting of your blood.

Nettle Leaf

This is high in iron and calcium and is good for treating anemia as it strengthens the kidneys as well as building blood and enriches and thickens the uterine lining. This enables implantation of the fertilized egg to occur. However people who either suffer from high blood pressure or fibroids should not use this herb.

Raspberry Leaf

This will strengthen the reproductive organs as well as supporting a person’s digestive system. It contains a wide array of vitamins and minerals.

It is important that you rotate the use of these 3 herbs and drink one cup of infusion per day (so Monday, Raspberry Leaf, Tuesday Nettle Leaf, Wednesday Red Clover Leaf and Blossoms and so on). After using these for about 3-6 months (all depending on the condition of your body in the beginning) your body should then be ready for the 2nd phase.

However it is important that the following herbs are NOT used during the pregnancy itself as they can stimulate uterine contractions. Add one of these to your regime of infusions and if you are not getting the required results within a few months then try another. Normally these herbs can be taken in the form of a tincture by just putting drops into a little water and then drinking.

Dong Quai (Tang Kwei) Root

This is a Chinese herb which is commonly used to help build up the female system and enhance the utilization of estrogen. It is important that you take 20-30 drops of this tincture three times a day.

False Unicorn Root

As this is an endangered species it should only be used when absolutely necessary. This has been used for a long time as a fertility herb and opens up the estrogen receptor sites in the ovaries. You should have 10 drops of this in water each morning.

So when next considering fertility herbs than look no further than the ones whose details have been provided above.

Lee Dobbins write for http://www.herbs-home-remedies.com/ where you can learn more about herbs and natural remedies.

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Peak Of Fertility

Understanding the Basics of Human Fertility
By Mel Ng

Fertility is the state of being fertile and capable of producing offspring. Initially the term fertility was associated only with females but with better understanding of the reproductive mechanisms and the importance of the role that men play in reproduction, it is now equally associated with men as well. Many oriental philosophies argue that reproduction is the primary motive behind existence.

Humans have a natural tendency to seek information and knowledge about whatever concerns them. And fertility is an area most of us are eager to understand since conception and childbirth are instrumental in bringing about a metamorphosis of great magnitude in women. Men also are fairly concerned about their partner’s ability to conceive or their inability to do so. Understanding the basics of human fertility goes a long way in allaying any concerns that may arise in the minds of couples who want to start a family.

All humans have hormonal cycles that determine when a woman can conceive and when a man is most fertile. The female fertility cycle is usually 28 days but this may vary depending on the individual and may be more or less by a few days. The male cycle, however, is totally variable.

Female fertility
Among women, fertility is the ability to conceive and give birth to a child. The reproductive years of a woman begin when her she attains puberty with the first menstrual cycle. This usually happens around the age of thirteen and lasts till about the age of forty five. This range is only indicative and women are known to have conceived and delivered till menopause, which is the cessation of her periods.

At the time of birth, a baby girl already has four hundred thousand eggs which are immature and stored in her ovaries in small sacs called follicles. The follicles are filled with fluid that protects the immature cells. At puberty the eggs start to mature one at a time. During each menstrual cycle the ovary releases one egg (in rare cases it releases more than one) in the process called ovulation. The delicate balance of hormones released by the ovaries and the hypothalamus and pituitary in the brain dictates how the egg will develop and when it shall be released.

Ovulation sometimes happens with a small but sharp pain and the egg is released. This egg travels up the fallopian tubes and may get fertilized by a male sperm if available. Successful fertilization results in conception. If the egg is not fertilized, it bursts and breaks down within 24 hours and the proteins that it is made up off get reabsorbed by the body. The lining of the uterus that has been prepared in anticipation of the fertilized egg breaks down and is removed from the body during the menstrual period.

For women the chances of pregnancy are directly related to age. Women are most fertile in their early twenties and their fertility often starts ebbing after they reach 30. The use of fertility drugs or in-vitro fertilization can change this and it has been known that the use of these methods can result in pregnancies even at the age of 67.

Male fertility
Fertility in men is mostly about ability to make a woman pregnant. Men need to produce, and store sperm in their bodies. This stored sperm needs to then be transported outside the body into the reproductive tract of a woman.

Sperms develop in seminiferous tubules in testicles that are housed in a sac called the scrotum that is located just behind the penis. Men can produce and ejaculate sperm anytime during the month. The stock of sperms is refreshed every 72 days. This ability to produce fresh sperm lasts a lifetime till the organs are functioning properly.

However, their sexual urge and desire can dip occasionally. Scientists refer to this swing in the sexual urge as the internal cycle of men. Some studies suggest that the internal cycle of men may be related to the partner’s monthly cycle.

Fertility Facts Offers extensive articles and resources on fertility, infertility, fertility treatments, getting pregnant and pregnancy.

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Optimal Fertility Conditions

Fertility Conditions
By

Nicholas Jones

To be fertile, for both men and women, is such a condition that enables the partners having unprotected intercourse to conceive. To gain such a condition for both men and women means achieving some characteristics that they achieve by reaching puberty. It means that now men can produce sperms and women can produce eggs. Its, however, not so easy as to get fertile by means of getting puberty as there are several other factors that controls the reproductive ability.

First of all there the hypothalamus must work properly to generate appropriate amount of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) to stimulate pituitary gland. If the gland properly responses then it will produce Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH). For men the two FSH and LH will stimulate the testicles and in women it'll have effect on ovary. By that way male and female will produce sperms and eggs respectively, which, if united properly will create chances of conception.

Again, producing sperms is not enough, as the number of sperms produced must meet the requirement in the process of getting pregnant. If the sperms are not capable of swimming through the cervical mucus to reach the matured egg, there will be less chance proving fertility. It happens because the vaginal fluid is basically acidic whereas the sperms require alkaline environment to stay alive. If the sperms can run to save themselves the chances will increase. With females it's all about proper responses from glands and balance of created hormones and a perfect calculation to know exact ovulation period. Thus if everything goes following the right pavement the fertility conditions are proved and much waited baby is very near to your lap.

For more information about infertility treatment, visit: www.ovulex.com

Nicholas Jones, an infertility expert and researcher

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Fertility and Smoking

Fertility and the Adverse Effects of Tobacco
By Chelsea Aubin

Effect of Smoking Tobacco on Reproduction and Fertility

Comparing to males, smoking may adversely affect the reproductive organs in females and a woman's ability to conceive.

Smoking may also create complexities during pregnancy, which can hurt both mother and a baby. Women smokers also possess higher risk of growing of the placenta too close to the opening of the uterus. Premature membrane ruptures and placentas may also separate from uterus before actual time. All these problems may in turn lead to bleeding, premature delivery and even emergency Caesarean.

It has been found that women who smoke and use oral contraceptives like birth control pills are more likely to develop severe cardiovascular side effects like blood clots and may suffer heart attack or stroke.

Women smokers may have problems in conceiving whereas women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have miscarriage or premature birth comparing to non-smokers pregnant women.

Besides this, smoking may affect menstruation in women irrespective of age. Supply of eggs reportedly may decrease even in young women due to smoking. Also women smoker are likely to face menopause early, thus their ability to conceive may terminate at an earlier age.

Causes of Impairment

Researches have yet not been completely successful in finding out the mechanism by which smoking affects reproductive capacity of a woman. However, it may be any; from a temporary general disruption of uterine function to mutagenic damage of the egg. According to the medical experts, all these factors clearly indicate long-term damage to fetuses from smoking even before conceiving.

Like Lupron, smoking has also been considered as a cause to increase the risk for osteoporosis in women.

Impact of Smoking Tobacco on Fertility Treatments

Women smokers often require about twice IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) attempts to conceive than nonsmokers. It has been reported by the studies of IVF that higher doses of gonadotropins are needed by the women smokers to stimulate their ovaries. Besides these, women reportedly have lower peak estardiol levels, more canceled implantation rates and also they need to undergo more cycles with failed utilization than nonsmokers do.

However, it may not be possible to overcome the reduction in natural fertility caused by smoking by assisted reproductive technologies. Thus, smoking tobacco must be discouraged by women. Both male and female partners in couples, who have a history of infertility or miscarriage, must avoid smoking. Smoking cessation may result in the improved natural fertility and may assist in infertility treatment.

If you need more Fertility Help, Tips and Guidance or are looking for products like Ovulation Kits visit us at http://www.fertility-help.com/

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Vitamin A for Natural Fertility

Vitamin A: A Vital Ingredient for Your Natural Fertility
By Kristen Hart

Fertility is tied to your health and nutrition in suprising ways. I'm sure you know that you need to be eating well to have peak fertility. But are there some nutrients that have a more powerful impact on fertility than others?

Ancient cultures emphasized certain foods for women trying to conceive, and today science proves that there are nutrients in these same foods that are vital to female fertility. The fat soluble vitamins are taking center stage in fertility enhancement, and vitamin A is a star in the show.

Vitamin A has wide-ranging effects on female fertility. One exciting way it boosts fertility is by promoting better cervical fluid. Getting adequate vitamin A in your diet helps to assure you that your cervical fluid will be a sperm-nourishing, fertile consistency. It also increases the amount of fertile fluid.

As you know, the cervical fluid is what helps sperm travel up to meet your egg during the time you are trying to conceive. Because vitamin A deficiency can lead to little fertile fluid, getting enough vitamin A is vital to your reproductive health.

Vitamin A also helps ensure that your follicles develop properly. The follicles each hold an egg, and one follicle releases an egg every month. The follicle then produces hormones that aid the egg in implanting in your uterus. Without enough vitamin A, the follicle does not mature properly.

Traditional cultures did not know exactly how vitamin A-rich foods ensured the fertility of their women, but they did instinctively pick foods high in pure, natural vitamin A to feed to women who wanted to conceive.

Dr. Weston A. Price, for whom the Weston A. Price Foundation is named, studied cultures all over the world and found those with fertile women and vigorous, healthy babies gave special foods to couples trying to conceive. These foods included fish roe, organ meats, deep yellow butter, and shellfish – all rich sources of vitamin A!

Today vitamin A can be gained from these sources as well as through a daily cod liver oil supplement. Plant sources of vitamin A are not as well absorbed and converted as the body needs them to be. If you have heard that vitamin A leads to birth defects, a careful study of the medical literature will reveal that these are caused by synthetic vitamin A – stay away from it.

Ensuring that you get all the fat-soluble vitamins that you need (and enough healthy fats to absorb them!) will speed your journey on the road to maximum fertility. Vitamin A is especially vital for all parts of your reproductive cycle. Be sure that you are including vitamin A rich foods in your diet every week. Consider a supplement for every day - especially if you don’t have enough cervical fluid or you’re not sure you’re ovulating!

Kristen Hart is the owner of http://www.getting-pregnant.com. Visit Getting-Pregnant.com now and sign up for a newsletter packed with information to help you get pregnant naturally.

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Fertility with Less Fuss

Fertility with Less Fuss
By Kwang Yul Cha

Now the number of women suffering from infertility amounts to 15 percent of married women, up from 10 percent a few years ago, according to Kwang Yul Cha, a South Korean medical doctor, an internationally known fertility specialist at obstetrics and gynecology clinics. Kwang Yul Cha said this is because women are marrying later, and environmental pollution and endometrial cancers that can hinder pregnancy have increased. However, at the same time, the possibility for seemingly sterile women to succeed in getting pregnant has increased. Solutions to infertility, such as in-vitro fertilization, have been developed and improved, so that almost nine out of every 10 infertile women can succeed in becoming pregnant.

Most women who fail to conceive suffer chronic stress, according to fertility doctor, "Quitting a job doesn't help an infertile women become pregnant." "If pregnancy becomes the center of one's life, it's more unlikely to happen, because the stress affects a woman's bio-rhythms badly," he added. He also suggests that women not stop exercising, but rather work out as usual, while avoiding excessive alcohol and smoking. Difficulties with ovulation and endometrium problems should be treated.

Making a test-tube baby is a test of human endurance, especially for the would-be mother. To start the process of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), she must submit to a two-week regimen of daily drug injections. They prepare her ovaries and cause perhaps half a dozen eggs to mature simultaneously, but the shots can also produce pain, bloating and sharp mood swings. Every day she undergoes tedious blood tests and ultrasound examinations: the doctors need to monitor the ovaries closely and remove the eggs at just the right time so they can be fertilized in the lab and then returned to the womb. Despite the hardships, infertile couples went through the costly, complex procedure 40,000 times last year in the U.S.

Before long, though, they may have a better way to make a baby. Alan Trounson, an IVF pioneer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, will tell the American Fertility Society meeting in San Antonio, Texas, that he and his colleagues have devised an alternate approach that is much cheaper, simpler and easier on the mother. It removes the need for fertility drugs and daily monitoring. "There is nothing terribly complicated about the procedure," Trounson claims, "so it will spread like a brush fire because the patients want it."

Trounson's method, called immature oocyte collection, is radically different from traditional IVF. Instead of priming the woman with fertility drugs so that eggs (the oocytes) will mature, doctors simply remove immature eggs. The timing is no longer crucial. Success hinges on two new techniques: locating the immature eggs and stimulating them to mature outside the ovary.

The process begins with an examination of follicles, the tiny sacs in the ovary where eggs are found. Fertility doctors ordinarily focus on large follicles -- nearly a half-inch wide -- that contain mature eggs. But Trounson's partner, Dr. Carl Wood, discovered that the latest ultrasound machines could spot follicles that are less than a tenth of an inch wide and hold immature eggs. Wood developed a way to pluck the young eggs out of the smaller follicles with a specially designed needle. Trounson, after experiments with cattle, devised a cell-culturing procedure that ripens the immature eggs in the laboratory so they can be doused with sperm and fertilized.

Robyn Hallam, 33, was a perfect candidate for the new, streamlined IVF. Unable to conceive naturally with her husband Tim, a grain farmer in Hopetoun, Australia, Robyn tried fertility drugs to no avail. As the couple prepared to undergo traditional IVF, they were offered Trounson's new approach. "We were told that there'd never been a baby born through this procedure," Robyn recalls. "We thought, 'What do we have to lose?' "

Instead of enduring drug treatments and monitoring, Robyn merely went to the Monash clinic to have immature eggs extracted. The doctors got six eggs and tried to fertilize them all, but only one developed into a viable embryo. It was implanted in Robyn's womb, and on Dec. 14, 1993, Kezia Hallam, Trounson's first bundle of success, was born.

She was actually the 4th human born from an egg matured outside the ovary. In 1991, Dr. Kwang Yul Cha and his colleagues at the Cha Women's Hospital leading by Kwang Yul Cha M.D. in Seoul removed the ovaries of a woman with fibroid tumors and isolated immature eggs, which were then ripened and fertilized in the lab. They transferred the embryos to a surrogate mother, who produced triplets. Since then Cha has not repeated his success.

Trounson and the Monash team, in contrast, have impregnated several more women. IVF America, a Greenwich, Connecticut, company associated with Monash, plans to develop the technique in the U.S. If Trounson's approach works as well as he says, it could transform the economics of the test-tube baby business. Standard IVF can cost more than $100,000, but Trounson says he can slash that figure 80% by eliminating drugs, curtailing testing and reducing doctors' fees.

American fertility experts doubt that Trounson's method will save as much money as he claims. What's more, they question whether the treatment will be useful for the majority of infertile women. "I don't think we have data to prove that this will give the woman a better chance of success," says Dr. Suheil Muasherof the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia. Trounson admits that he cannot predict the procedure's success rate, but in cattle, 30% of the embryos from immature eggs become calves. That's slightly better than the current 25% success rate for IVF in humans.

It's too soon to tell whether Trounson's technique will revolutionize the treatment of infertility. But the desperate couples who face the emotionally and financially draining ordeal of making a test-tube baby will be eager to find out.

Kwang Yul Cha is a South Korean medical doctor, an internationally known fertility specialist. Kwang Yul Cha received his medical degree from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and performed his postdoctoral fellowship in endocrinology and infertility at the University of Southern California. Kwang Yul Cha also served as a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York. Kwang Yul Cha was the first president of the Pochon Cha University and is presently an active scholar in the field of alternative medicine at Columbia University in the US. Also, Kwang Yul Cha is leading the CHA Medical Group in Korea now.

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