Fertility and health
A healthy lifestyle
Lifestyle plays an important role in a couple’s fertility.
Studies show that certain factors make it harder to achieve a pregnancy. These are:
In these situations, women may develop hormonal disorders, a lack of ovulation (anovulation) and difficulty with the implantation of an already fertilised egg; in the same way, in men an unhealthy weight causes problems with the quantity and quality of the sperm.
A healthy lifestyle cannot solve the problems of infertility on its own, but it increases the chance that treatment will succeed and has a positive influence on the outcome of the pregnancy.
Body weight and a healthy diet – the ideal body weight
Weight plays an important role in fertility in both sexes.
Each person’s ideal body weight is calculated from the body mass index (BMI). According to studies, when the BMI is between 20 and 25, a woman has normal menstrual cycles with ovulation.
People with a high BMI (>27) as well as people with a low BMI (<17) have fertility problems.
In these cases, the following are common:
- Menstrual disorders.
- Problems with the maturation of the eggs.
- A negative effect on the implantation of the fertilised egg in the uterus.
In men, both the quantity and the quality of the sperm are affected.
The right body weight therefore increases the chance of achieving the pregnancy you want.
Diet
For our body to work normally and to produce eggs and healthy sperm, it needs the right diet.
In short, a good diet is the basis for a healthy body to develop.
When a woman follows a healthy diet, she creates the best conditions to conceive and give birth to a healthy baby.
Men who follow a healthy lifestyle produce healthy sperm and stay sexually active.
Difficulty conceiving is often due to eating food of low nutritional value.
Couples who want to have a child are advised to start a diet rich in nutrients (proteins, vitamins, fibre, etc.) several months before assisted reproduction.
Medical content by the Fertility Clinic team