What To Eat When You Are Trying To Get Pregnant

What are the best fertility-boosting foods? Here's some suggestions for what to eat when you're trying to get pregnant

It's food and fitness fortnight on TalkMum, and we're looking at everything from baby weaning to post-pregnancy fitness tips. But what should you eat before then, when you're trying to get pregnant?

If you're thinking about trying to conceive (TTC) or have been trying for a while, you might want to look at your overall health, fitness and also diet.

So what should you eat when you're trying to get pregnant? Here are some suggestions for food to consume while trying for a baby:

Make sure you eat lots of leafy greens such as broccoli, fortified breakfast cereals, citrus fruits and pulses. These all provide folic acid which is important for the baby's neural tube development (you should do this in tandem with taking a combined pregnancy supplement that contains folic acid, ideally three months before you start trying for a baby).

Stock your cupboards up with fortified breakfast cereals, lentils, soy beans, dried fruit and leafy greens such as spinach which are great sources of iron.

New research (by Dr Jorge Chavarros, Harvard School of Public Health) indicates women who want to get pregnant should eat a Mediterranean-style diet rich in avocados and olive oil but light in dairy and meat, so consider making some changes to your diet.

Eating mono-unsaturated fat - found in peanuts, almonds and cashews may support conception too.

Fish, wholegrain breads, asparagus, spinach and watercress will provide zinc to help keep the immune system strong, which is essential when trying to get pregnant. Zinc can also help the production of healthy eggs, as well as healthy sperm.

Fibre rich beans and whole grains keep the bowels healthy, helping to flush away waste, thereby increasing the chances of getting pregnant.

It is also a good idea to consider taking a supplement designed to support conception which contains 400 mcg folic acid and other nutrients to help support the nutritional requirements of women trying to conceive.

If you like our post on what to eat when you're trying to get pregnant, read our tips on male fertility