With around 16% of Australian people reported to experience difficulty conceiving, it’s no surprise that conflicting messages exist about the influence of diet and lifestyle on fertility.
Much of the information which exists regarding nutrition and fertility focuses on weight loss and dietary restriction as methods to promote fertility. These diet culture messages can have a significant negative impact on people attempting to conceive, adding more stress during an already challenging period, and encouraging people to engage in harmful weight reduction strategies which can reduce rather than promote health and wellbeing at this important time.
Diet culture messaging can promote unrealistic expectations about how bodies ‘should’ look and function. This promotes extreme behaviours such as detoxification diets, ‘cleanses’, calorie restriction and excessive exercising - behaviours which can negatively effect fertility by causing nutrient deficiencies, impacting hormone levels, and exacertbating stress levels.
Some people attempting to conceive can feel pressure for weight loss, conflicting with the importance of nourishing the body well in order to support fertility. Weight loss recommendations are not supported by current evidence about body size and fertility, and create difficulty for people trying to access fertility treatments. The focus on weight loss can also undermine health advice about the impact of nutrition on the functioning of the reproductive system, and on managing conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis. Restrictive food intake can also compromise egg and sperm health, and can effect ovulation.
The impact of weight stigma
People experiencing fertility challenges, particularly those in larger bodies, are often told that losing weight will improve fertility. In reality many factors impact fertility including genetics, health conditions, age, stress, and various social determinants of health. Many of these factors (including body size) are outside an individuals direct control. Weight loss attempts are often unsuccessful and can lead to increased body dissatisfaction, development of disordered eating behaviours, and cycles of weight loss and regain, which in themselves can be problematic for health and fertility. Weight loss dieting and food restriction can cause significant stress on the body, which can in turn cause an inflammatory response which may disrupt ovulation and create further challenges with fertility.
Eating disorders and fertility
People currently experiencing an eating disorder may have difficulty conceiving due to:
inadequate energy intake, which can cause loss of the menstrual cycle and/or changes to libido, and/or the ability to maintain an erection
deficiencies of nutrients important for fertility, e.g. zinc for sperm production
potentially low body weight, or significant weight changes
It’s important that people who have a current or past eating disorder receive appropriate nutritional guidance about their energy requirements to support fertility, and to manage the multiple stressors which can be experienced at this tricky time.
Nutrition to support fertility
Rather than focusing on specific foods or ways of eating as the ‘answer’ to fertility challenges, fertility focused nutrtion is about nourishing both body and mind to enhance wellbeing and coping, and may involve:
Nourishing the body with foods containing nutrients which are important for fertility
Overcoming food rules which can compromise nutritional needs
Focusing on adequate nutrition to support all systems of the body
Management of conditions that may impact fertility – eg. PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis, amenorrhea, coeliac disease and thyroid conditions.
Strategies to optimise sperm and egg health
Managing food aversions and understanding cravings which can occur during pregnancy
Reducing stress and anxiety around food and exercise
Dealing with changes to the body which occur during and after pregnancy
Maintaining eating disorder recovery and building body connection and trust
Navigating food safety when pregnant
The team of Dietitians at Mind Body Well provide respectful, weight inclusive care for people of all genders and at all stages of fertility planning or treatment, and also into conception, throughout pregnancy, and beyond.
