Eating a balanced diet is an important part of staying healthy during all stages of your life, but when you’re trying to start a family, the focus on proper nutrition is an even more pressing issue.
Get creative when trying to make sure you’re eating right. There are countless recipes, for all levels of culinary skill, including beginners, available online. Make time to get in the kitchen and explore different recipes. Treat your tastebuds to healthy meals and snacks and experiment with new ingredients. Having homemade foods on hand will keep you from reaching for preservative and chemical-laden, less nutritional, prepackaged, and convenience foods.
Supplements
In addition to eating right, taking supplements can help make sure you’re getting enough of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to good health. Especially when trying to conceive, CoQ10 gummies play a vital role in improving fertility. By freeing the body of free radicals that can cause cell damage, it strengthens egg health.
Some of the most important vitamins and minerals that support you and your pregnancy are folic acids, calcium, iron, and vitamins B, C, and D. Knowing which foods to eat, in addition to taking prenatal vitamins, will help make sure your body functions are performing as they should. Note: Always discuss any supplements with your health care professional before starting a new regimen.
Vitamins, Minerals, Uses, And Sources:
- Folic acid – helps prevent birth defects of the brain and spine and helps support general growth.
- Source: fortified cereal, enriched bread, peanuts, and dark green, leafy vegetables.
- Calcium – builds strong bones and teeth.
- Source: milk, cheese, yogurt, and sardines.
- Iron – delivers oxygen via red blood cells.
- Source: lean red meat, dried peas and beans, and prunes.
- Vitamin B – maintains the nervous system, forms red blood cells, and helps the body process proteins.
- Source: meat, whole grain cereals, and bananas.
- Vitamin C – healthy teeth, gums, and bones.
- Source: broccoli, tomatoes, and citrus fruits
- Vitamin D – eyesight, skin, bones, and teeth.
- Source: sunlight, sardines, and fortified milk
Understanding how vital vitamins and minerals support bodily functions and help with overall good health will help you make good decisions about the foods you eat and which are best to promote a healthy pregnancy. A prenatal vitamin, in addition to a balanced diet, will help make sure you’re getting the nutrition your body needs.
Medical Advice
When you feel the time is right to get pregnant, schedule an appointment with your ObGyn for preconception screening and advice. Having this appointment about 60 – 90 days before trying to get pregnant, your doctor will want to check specific things that can impair your ability to conceive. One such thing is your iron levels. Once your doctor knows certain specific details, they can make recommendations for the safest way to make improvements (if need be).
This is also when you should discuss your reproductive goals. Due to a variety of genetic conditions or other health-related issues, your doctor will be able to give you the best advice for conception. It’s important to have realistic expectations when trying to start a family, especially since fertility declines as women age.
Schedule routine check-ups, both medical and dental. Once you become pregnant, some procedures may not be able to be safely performed. You don’t want to delay treatment if you’re able to avoid it.
Make sure your vaccinations are all up to date. Specifically, German measles, chicken pox, and influenza. It’s important to know if you’re missing any before conception because most vaccines are unsafe to get while pregnant.
There are many aspects to consider when trying to be at your best to foster a healthy pregnancy. Discussing your plans with your doctor, eating a healthy, balanced diet, and taking important supplements will all help you be prepared to get pregnant.