IVF
What Foods Should you Avoid During your Fertility Treatment?
Your diet is the single determiner of your physical health. This also means that your diet would play a crucial role in ensuring your body is fully prepared and completely receptive to the IVF treatment and yield positive outcomes. In our previous posts, we have spoken about what to eat; in this one, we are going to talk about what not to consume to ensure the success of your IVF treatment.
Full fat milk
At a time when you and your partner are trying to conceive, consumption of full-fat milk is not recommended because of the presence of pesticides and chemicals in the fatty component of the milk. These could impact the quality and motility of the sperm. Replace the full-fat milk with toned milk—there is no need to avoid milk altogether.
Processed meat
Processed meat is known to have higher hormonal residue which can impact the health and motility of the sperm.
Soy-based food items
Among men with low sperm counts, soy-based food items can be highly detrimental. This one is a strict no-no.
Fish with high mercury
Not only is high mercury bad for sperm health, but an unborn baby is also most sensitive to the effects of mercury. Also, processing, preparation or cooking techniques don’t significantly reduce the amount of mercury in fish. This means fish with high mercury content, including tuna, swordfish, must be avoided at all cost.
Raw eggs
Raw eggs contain the virus salmonella, which has the potential to cause food poisoning. This means not only avoiding raw eggs generally but also food items like mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc.
Excess sugar
Excessive consumption of food items that are high in sugar get you into a sugar rush, forcing the liver to produce additional insulin to keep the sugar level in order. You don’t want your liver to be overburdened at a time when you are planning to get pregnant.
Artificial sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners are also known to diminish the success rate of IVF treatment. Those are not recommended during the IVF treatment.
Caffeine
Caffeine is known to lead to miscarriages and low birth weight. Say no to all items containing caffeine for the time being. Several recent studies have shown that less than 200 milligrams of coffee a day (one cup a day) is recommended for women undergoing fertility treatments like IVF.
Red meat
Doctors recommend you switch to white meat like chicken and fish over red meat, which may reduce your chances of conception. During the IVF process, hormone injections are administered, which increase the heat in the female body. It is important to not increase your body heat any further by consumption of red meat.