The Fertility Diet That Changed My Life
If you are dealing with infertility or having a hard time TTC, you probably feel that you have tried every single thing possible.
When we were TTC, I swear I would have stood on my head and eaten a lemon if I thought it would work!
I devoured every book about getting pregnant that I could find, popped every vitamin under the sun, did fertility yoga and acupuncture, you name it, I tried it!
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In the middle of everything, I came across a podcast that completely changed my life! Seriously, I credit it for my two beautiful daughters!
The podcast was about an IVF diet created by a doctor in Delaware called Dr. Jeffrey Russell.
He found that his fertility diet made such a difference in egg quality in his IVF patients that he wouldn’t let women cycle until they followed his diet for a number of months!
I was intrigued and decided to try his diet because, even though I wasn’t on the IVF path quite yet, I suspected that my age was affecting the quality of my eggs and keeping me from getting pregnant as quickly as I would have liked.
I also knew that eating healthier for sure wouldn’t hurt my chances of getting pregnant so it seemed silly not to give it a try.
If you would like to listen to the podcast you can find it here., I will outline the diet below but to go in depth, I recommend listening to the podcast.
The nonprofit that produced the podcast Creatingafamily.org has tons of other podcasts about infertility, adoption, donor eggs etc. You can find them on their website or through iTunes.
For even more information, you can check out my ebook. Naturally Fertile.
What Is The Fertility Diet?
In the fertility diet podcast, Dr. Russell explains that he discovered that “Eggs and embryos are not going to do well in a high-glucose (aka sugar) environment.”
By lowering carbs and increasing protein, you can drastically improve your egg quality which will lead to better results at transfer and fertilization for IVF cycles.
So, what does that mean?
The doctor found that most women in his study ate way too many carbs and not enough protein.
In my case, I definitely found this to be true and switching to the fertility diet was a big change for me.
I was used to having cereal or toast in the morning, a sandwich for lunch and pasta or rice for dinner with fruit for snacks.
Our typical Western diet is not great for fertility, it seems.
The diet recommendation is that protein is more than 25% of your daily diet and carbs should be no more than 40%. Fat would make up the other portion.
Click here for a free 14 day fertility diet meal plan and grocery planner
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Fertility Diet Study Results
In the study, when protein intake was more than 25% of the diet and carbohydrate intake was less than 40%, the clinical pregnancy rate shot up to 80%.
For me, after following the fertility diet religiously for 3 months, I got pregnant. She is now 3. I followed the diet as soon as I wanted to TTC my second child and got pregnant the first month.
Fertility Diet- How-Tos
I used MyFitnessPal to track my macro-nutrients and to make sure my levels of protein were high enough.
I had a hard time making sure the balance of carbs: protein was correct and it took a couple of weeks of tweaking my diet before it became second nature.
If you like to snack in the evenings on fruit or other carby snacks, make sure you fill up on protein for breakfast (eggs, meats) and lunch so that you have some allowance left.
As it is all about balance, the more protein you eat, the more carbohydrates you can have. (within reason of course).
Here are some ideas for protein packed meals:
Breakfast: Turkey bacon & eggs, hard-boiled eggs, and berries, protein pancakes, fertility smoothie
Lunch: salad with hard-boiled eggs, avocado and blue cheese, bean or lentil soup, chicken salad
Dinner: meatballs & salad, grilled fish or chicken & vegetables, chili, Beef stew (easy on the potatoes), zucchini lasagna.
Snacks: Protein bars – I like these ones that actually taste like a treat: thinkThin High Protein Bars, cheese string, a cup of milk, a handful of walnuts or almonds.
Dr. Russell says to not worry about calories so I didn’t! Of course, by reducing my sugar intake so as not to have many carbs, I automatically lowered my calorie intake.
I tried to fill my diet with fertility superfoods such as nuts, avocados, and flax. I loved to incorporate a breakfast fertility smoothie into my day either for lunch or breakfast.
Here are some great Fertility smoothie recipes:
The Ultimate Fertility Smoothie for Men & Women
The Best Smoothie Bowl For Fertility
Wheatgrass Smoothie For Fertility
Pineapple Core Implantation Smoothie
Free 14 Day Fertility Meal Plan!
Boost your fertility with this 14 day kick start program
Sign up for instant access to this free plan & more fertility tips
In general, I avoided carbs, ate a ton of eggs and walked every day. It’s easy to hard boil a batch of eggs every few days so you have a quick snack in the fridge.
I always tried to include some Fertility Superfoods in my diet every day.
I drank this Fertility Tea a few times a day, it contains tons of fertility boosting herbs and I really think it helped me.
There is a tea for both men and women so I highly recommend you get your partner on board too. Male fertility is just as common as female infertility.
Here are my top tips for male infertility:
The Best Fertility Supplements For Men
How To Make Sperm Healthy For Pregnancy
5 Essential Oils For Male Fertility
Related reading:
Naturally Fertile Guide- my in-depth guide to the fertility diet
Fertility Super foods Worth Eating
The Best Supplements to Boost Your Fertility
Frequently asked questions about the fertility diet:
Can I have cheat days on the fertility diet?
Great question and one that I get asked a lot!
I’ve addressed this a few times in my fertility tips newsletter that I send out twice a month (sign up for the free 5 day meal plan to join the list) and have created a little post about it that you can read here
READ NOW: Can You Have Cheat Days On The Fertility Diet?
Some of the food items on the plan are difficult to find where I live. Can I replace them with local veggies and proteins?
YES! The plan is a guide to get you started. You can replace any of the foods with items that are more readily available/cheaper/tastier as you like.
The main thing is that you get the right amounts of protein and carbs each day, regardless of HOW you are getting those nutrients.
For example, If you hate eggs, skip them and replace with lean chicken breast or beans.
Should I give up caffeine and alcohol on the fertility diet?
I think we can all agree that you need to limit your alcohol consumption for a healthy body.
But could your daily cup of coffee be the reason you are not getting pregnant?
If you are trying boost your fertility naturally, you have probably wondered about the relationship between fertility and caffeine and whether it is reducing your chances of conceiving.
But do you really need to give up your Starbucks to get pregnant?
I have put together a lot of research and academic studies on the subject and you can read the conclusions here: Is Caffeine Really That Bad For Fertility?
And what about soda and fertility?
Most of us know that soda isn’t exactly amazing for our health, let alone our fertility.
If you are trying to improve your eating habits and improve your fertility, one of the things you should do is eat more whole foods, drink more water and less sugary stuff like soda.
You know that soda can be dangerous for your health in general.
However, did you know that it can also affect your fertility?
Before you reach for another can of soda or another bottle of pop, you’ll want to read this post on the potential impact of Soda on fertility.
How long does the fertility diet take to work?
Of course, everyone is different but the eggs take 3 months to mature is so you can expect to see improvements in egg quality around the 3-month mark.
Dr. Russell makes his patients follow the diet for the full 3 months before cycling but he says on the podcast that a lot of women get pregnant before the 3 months are up due to the change in eating habits.
The diet is actually really healthy so you can continue it more or less once you are pregnant although I did find that I added in more carbs as time went on.
For more information on the diet and lifestyle changes I made, you can check out my book, Naturally Fertile.
The ebook comes in a PDF format. There is also a bundle deal in my Fertility Shop to get both Naturally Fertile and a Fertility Journal for just $10.
- 65 Page ebook filled with meal ideas and tips to get started on the plan
- 28 day sample meal plan to get you started
- Tips on alternative therapies and other lifestyle changes that can help your fertility
Click here to purchase the ebook for only $6.79
All the fertility terms confuse me, where can I find definitions?
There are so many new words to learn when you are dealing with fertility and it can be confusing to keep them all straight.
I’ve created an alphabetical fertility glossary to help you understand the different abbreviations and terms.
FREE Fertility Resources (Ebooks, Checklists and more)
Click the links to instantly download the following useful resources, at no cost!
FREE Ebook: How to Improve Your Egg Health
FREE Report: How To Improve Sperm Health
Report: Preventing Miscarriages
FREE Ebook: Restore Fertility & Get Pregnant Naturally
Free Checklist for IVF
More Fertility Advice
Increase Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant At 40 Naturally
How To Deal With The Disappointment Of Not Conceiving
How To Improve Your Egg Quality In 30 Days
Free 14 Day Fertility Meal Plan!
Boost your fertility with this 14 day kick start program
Sign up for instant access to this free plan & more fertility tips
Hi! I just bought your pdf and tried to download it but was having isssues and now I can’t open the link as it has expired! Is there any way you can send me a new link? Thanks!
Great article and information. Thank you! May I ask how old were you when you became pregnant with your first daughter? Thank you 🙂
Hi , I am about to start my second round of ivf after the first failed. I like the idea of a low carb diet, but have heard when undergoing ivf ketones in your system can harm the process. Please tell me your thoughts on this. I was on a very low carb diet but stopped when I got thst information. Thanks
I am over 45 and thinking of having tubal ligation reversal. Do you think or have you heard of this diet increasing the odds of conceiving?
Sorry found my answer!
The topic says failed ivf but the post says you weren’t quite on the ivf path yet. Which is it? Just wanting to know how effective this is. I’m going to try it but don’t want to get my hopes too high. I just lost my third pregnancy in 6 months.
Hi Briana, Sorry, I just saw this comment. I think you got the answer but yes, I did start IVF two times and both times I was cancelled due to poor response (so failed IVF in the sense that I didn’t even make it to retrieval). I got pregnant after the second cancelled IVF. Hope that makes sense!
Do you think this diet will work wit Polquistic Ovaries????
Hi Liz, yes this diet is great for PCOS but you might want to go a step further and check out the Keto diet for fertility – you can read about it here – Is the Keto diet good for PCOS?
I experienced secondary infertility for over 7 years!! I switched my diet in January to low carb, high protein. A also cut out gluten, soy and dairy. Within a month, I lost 20 lbs and was pregnant!! I am now half way through my pregnancy and feeling great. Food is medicine!!
I love this! Congratulations! I wholeheartedly believe that diet is the key for many women in getting and staying pregnant. I’m so glad you had success! Thanks so much for commenting and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!
ok I so needed to hear this!!!. Super incouraging! I am on day 3 of no pop, gluten, dairy and basically no processed. It’s been tough!
We are going on 7 years of secondary infertilty
Any suggestions of meals and snacks
Hi Kelly,
I put together a 5 day sample menu for the diet that you can download here – https://seasidesundays.com/fertility-diet-free-5-day-meal-plan/. Hope that helps you get started! I am working on some ideas for vegans and vegetarians.
Kelly, an idea could be to supplement eith gelatin? Either in bonebroth or by adding a tablespoon to your morning or evening tea. One tablespoon has 9 grams of protein. They sell it on iherb. Regards, S.
Thanks for your comment, Kayla! Yes, I wholeheartedly believe that what you eat affects fertility. I am 100% convinced that my diet change got me pregnant on the 4th iui. Eggs need certains proteins etc to grow so the better your diet – the better quality eggs. I annoy my friends to no end forcing them to get egg McMuffins and avocados when they are TTC!
Very interesting! I had never thought of eating a particular way for fertility but it makes a lot of sense. We eat a little different when we are pregnant as well. Thanks for sharing!