Fertility-friendly Foods for Women Who Want to Conceive ...

Did you know that beans are full of excellent vitamins and minerals and are one of the best fertility-friendly foods? They are known to increase fertility and improve ovulation. This goes for legumes in general. If beans are not your favorite thing, then you can eat other legumes like lentils and peanuts to help give you the same result.

There is no need to worry about the extra calories that come from whole-milk, full-fat yogurt, and even ice cream (though be mindful of the sugar content). Full-fat dairy products are known to help regulate hormones and promote ovulation. In fact, ditch that skim-milk and other low-fat dairy foods because these foods will actually cause hormonal imbalances and inhibit your chances of conceiving.

Dark leafy green vegetables include spinach, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, romaine lettuce, broccoli, and arugula and they are fantastic fertility-friendy foods. It is ideal to eat as much of them as you can because dark leafy greens are rich in folate which you need to help reduce the risk of your unborn baby developing neural tube defects. Greens are also high in B vitamins which will help increase fertility and reduce the risk of miscarriage because the development of a healthy embryo is supported. As a matter of fact, you'll want to get your partner to eat some too because folate has been proven to help the development of healthy swimmers as well. It is also advisable to take a folic acid or folate supplement before you even conceive, and you will want to talk to your doctor about the best one to take.

Why not go and toast those pumpkin seeds in the oven? Pumpkin seeds are high in non-heme iron, which is essential for improving hormonal levels. Therefore, it will increase the woman's chance of getting pregnant. Pumpkin seeds have other amazing minerals and vitamins that will help keep the body nourished properly. Sunflower seeds are a good substitute if you are not a fan of pumpkin.

Whole grains such as whole-grain bread, cereal, pasta, brown rice, and crackers contain essential minerals to help regulate hormonal levels, and also have folic acid, which is needed. Additionally, these foods provide the energy that you need to function well. In fact, you will want to ditch white bread, white rice, sugary cereals and white carb foods and eat whole grain foods instead.

Refined carbs, which is another term for white carb foods, not only don't provide the nutrients needed but can keep blood sugar and insulin levels up which will inhibit your chances of getting pregnant. Whole grain foods or complex carbs will not cause your blood sugar and insulin levels to spike at all. The energy from these foods will be released slowly, which will not affect your blood sugar.

Eggs are rich in vitamin D and other minerals and vitamins, which is quite helpful for increasing the woman's fertility so a great lunch would be a sandwich consisting of an egg salad sandwich with whole grain bread!

When you are eating fish, you want to be careful with the kind of fish to eat because you want to make sure that they are not high in mercury levels which can have a negative impact on fertility and the brain development of the unborn baby. Tuna and shark meat must be avoided since they are high in mercury. But salmon and mackerel are safe to eat and are full of essential fatty acids to help increase fertility levels.

Oysters are excellent for both men and women to eat because they are loaded with zinc, and zinc is essential for keeping the male and female reproductive systems functioning properly.

These important and good fats are essential to help regulate hormonal levels in women and to increase fertility as well. If you have half an avocado a day, or if you fry your salmon in olive or canola oil, you are increasing your chances of ovulating regularly and conceiving.

Bananas are rich in potassium as well as in B6 which is crucial for sperm and egg development, so you and your partner should have a banana a day to help increase your chances of conception.

Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C, which is essential for proper immune function and tissue repair and development. In fact, men who eat plenty of citrus fruits will have enough vitamin C in order to prevent the sperm from clumping with one another.

Chicken and lean meat protein are important for proper egg development and production. So make sure that you have a chicken dish for dinner several times a week.

Nuts contain vitamin E and other healthy fats to help protect the DNA in the egg and the sperm. If you have a nut allergy or don't like nuts, you can always take supplements and you will want to talk to your doctor about this as well.