What To Avoid When Trying To Get Pregnant

Lifestyle choices and nutrition play a huge role in influencing the chances of your conception and the child’s development once you become pregnant. The things that you should avoid while trying to get pregnant will be the things you end up abstaining from during your actual pregnancy. Often, we are told what we should do to get pregnant and don’t emphasise enough on what you should avoid when trying to conceive.

When trying to conceive, stop smoking, limit alcohol and caffeine.

Alcohol and smoking can end up causing problems for any pregnancy. Not only does smoking affect the female body by causing changes to the cervix and fallopian tubes that can cause a miscarriage, but for men, it lowers the sperm count and causes the sperm to swim slower. Alcohol increases the chances of pregnancy complications and interferes with the baby’s brain development and nervous system. In men, alcohol is known to bring down testosterone levels and cause erectile dysfunction. As for caffeine, the consumption needs to be moderate, around 200 mgs a day.

According to CDC, women who continue to smoke before pregnancy are about twice as likely to experience a delay in conception. As compared to women who don’t smoke, 30% of the women who smoke are more likely to be infertile.

Certain lifestyle changes and food habits, if incorporated, can ensure healthier pregnancies.

What Foods Should You Avoid While Trying To Get Pregnant?

Avoid Listeria Containing Foods

What you should avoid while trying to conceive are Listeria-containing foods. While pregnant women are 20 times more likely to get listeriosis as compared to other healthy adults. In pregnant women, listeriosis can prove to be fatal for the baby by spreading across the placenta. It puts you at a high risk of miscarriage and still birth. Be it a planned or unplanned pregnancy, one may not know until a few weeks into the pregnancy, that they are pregnant; hence, these foods should be left when you start the process of conception. Listeria containing foods include 

• Soft cheese such as Brie, camembert, fresh mozzarella, Gorgonzola etc 

• Deli Meats such as ham, prosciutto and other cold meats

• Unpasteurised dairy products

• Raw Seafood such as sashimi, oysters, sushi, prawn cocktails, etc 

• Any other raw or uncooked food

Avoid Eating Fish High in Mercury 

If women who are trying to conceive eat fish that contain high amounts of mercury, it can build up in high amounts in the body proving to be toxic. This adversely affects fertility and can affect the development of the fetal nervous system. High mercury fish such as king mackerel tuna, shark, swordfish, etc should be avoided.

Avoid or Limit the Consumption of Trans Fats 

Trans fats are present in most of the foods we love – processed foods, microwave foods such a popcorn, chips, fried food, hydrogenated oils and more. This category of food should be avoided as it leads to infertility, ovulation issues and insulin resistance. It can cause inflammation and damage blood vessels hampering the flow of nutrients to your reproductive system.

A study by PubMed Central has linked diets higher in trans fats and lower in unsaturated fats to infertility for both women and men.

Reduce Refined Carbs

Following a low carb diet especially for women with PCOS can help with fat loss and achieving a healthy weight, bring down insulin levels, and regulate menstrual cycles. Regardless of PCOS, refined carbs should be avoided if you are trying to conceive as they have a high glycaemic index, leading to blood sugar spikes, inflammation, hormonal imbalance and fertility issues. 

Eliminate Low Fat Dairy Products From Your Diet 

Low-fat dairy products are high in male hormones as androgens get left when the fat is skimmed off. This can increase the androgen level in your body disrupting the menstrual cycle.

Avoid an Excessive Amount of Vitamin A

It is advised to abstain from high doses of vitamin A, found in certain supplements such as liver or fish oil. This can cause liver toxicity and can also adversely affect the baby’s development and lead to congenital birth abnormalities.

Now one may think that the entire onus of a healthy pregnancy lies on a woman who is required to make all the changes to ensure a healthier reproductive journey. However, this is not the case. There are certain foods that men need to avoid in order to ensure a healthy sperm count.

As discussed above, when trying to conceive, stop smoking, limit alcohol and caffeine as they play an adverse effect on the male sperm count. You may wonder however, what foods can kill sperm? Apart from ditching addictive substances, men need to refrain from that foods can also negatively impact the male sperm. Such foods include:

• Food high in trans fats that decrease sperm quality and count.

• Processed foods such as bacon, beef jerky, salami, hot dogs are food that harm or kill sperm.

• Soy products as they contain phytoestrogens that can bring down sperm concentration.

• High-fat dairy products like whole milk, full cream and cheese decrease sperm motility and cause abnormalities in the shape of the sperm. This is due to steroids given to cows.

What Lifestyle Changes Should You Make When Trying To Conceive?

Avoid Losing or Gaining a Lot of Weight 

If you are too thin or too fat, it leads to irregular periods and the ovaries are unable to release an egg or ovulate. Too much weight fluctuation causes hormonal changes leading to infertility. If you are obese, you can end up with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, preeclampsia, or even a miscarriage in certain extreme cases. One should maintain a healthy weight when trying to conceive.

Avoid Over-Exercising

If you do vigorous exercises, it may cause hormonal changes making it difficult for ovaries to make or release eggs. Excessive running, swimming, aerobics or biking can make it harder for you to conceive even if your weight is ideal. 

Have Sex Often

If you are trying to conceive, you need to track your ovulation cycle and have lots of sex. You should try and have regular sexual intercourse with your partner to increase the odds of getting pregnant.
There are certain questions that may have crossed your mind, or you may have received certain contradicting views about certain things.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you pee after trying to conceive? 

According to some experts, you should lay flat after sex to clear the pathway for the sperm whereas, there are others who believe that sperm motility is not affected by that. If you want to pee right after intercourse, it will not hurt your chances of conception but if you have a slight doubt, wait for five minutes before peeing.

Does cannabis use impede conception? 

The relationship between cannabis and fertility is still undergoing research as finite conclusions are yet to be drawn. According to Dr Ilnitsky, infertility fellow at Western University in London, Ontario – cannabis is known to significantly affect the reproductive system but what is concerning is that there is very little evidence on the actual clinical effects. Due to this reason, both men and woman who are trying to start a family should avoid cannabis.

Once you start the process of getting pregnant, you not only have to mentally prepare yourself but you also need to physically equip your body to handle the pregnancy. The above restrictions are going to help you ease this process and make the pregnancy healthy and happy.