Recipes and Tips to Improve Gut Health for Conception

You’re officially ready to start creating your dream family. However, making a baby isn’t as simple as making love. In fact, your chances of fertility depends on a number of factors, including gut health.

Obviously, having a healthy gut aids the digestive process. What many people are unaware of is that the bacteria in their gut determines a number of reproductive factors including sex drive and even your serotonin levels. In a nutshell, you must have a healthy gut in order to have a successful pregnancy.

Couples who have underlying health conditions like Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease have an even more difficult time having a baby. Therefore, you must find ways to balance the bacteria in your digestive tract and improve gut health. One of the most simple ways to do so is through your diet. Here’s a list of foods and beverages that increase your chances of conception.

Foods That Improve Gut Health

Probiotics

If you have gut-related health problems, maybe you don’t have enough healthy bacteria. One way to increase your healthy gut bacteria is by consuming more probiotics. Probiotics can be found in yogurt, kefir, kimchi and other fermented foods like sauerkraut. These items can be store bought or homemade. While you can eat foods fermented in vinegar in moderation, gravitate towards probiotics made without vinegar for more nutritional value.

Yogurt Parfait

If you don’t like the taste of plain yogurt, make a parfait. Parfaits are a layered snack commonly made with fruits and yogurt with a healthy topping. You’ll need:

• Yogurt
• Berries of your choice
• Almonds

Start with a layer of fruit and add yogurt and almond layers until you reach your desired height. Each spoonful delivers a probiotic and fiber-rich bite.

Olive Oil Vinaigrette

Olive oil is a health staple. Its fatty acid content is well received by gut bacteria, which improves overall health. Most people cook with olive oil. However, heating olive oil releases some of the health benefits, even though it has a high smoke point.

A simple way to increase your olive oil intake is to drizzle it on your salad with a bit of sea salt and pepper for flavor. You can also make a vinaigrette. For this recipe, you’ll need:

• One part extra virgin olive oil
• One part vinegar (avoid plain white vinegar)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Citrus juice
• Dijon mustard
• Herbs of your choice

Add these ingredients to a container with a lid and shake until ingredients are well mixed. Pour the vinaigrette on your salad and store the leftover dressing in your refrigerator.

Popcorn

In addition to being one of the most popular snacks, popcorn is a beneficial snack for couples trying to conceive. Popcorn has fiber, which helps regulate your digestive system. When your digestive system works properly, you have an easier time getting pregnant.

During your conception journey, avoid prepackaged microwave popcorn. Not only does the chemical lining of the bag increase your infertility risk, but also the high sodium levels of microwave popcorn also negatively impact your chances of getting pregnant. Instead, purchase kernels and make your popcorn on the stove to receive the health benefits.

Fertility Trail Mix

If you’re looking for a sweet treat on the go, grab a handful of DIY fertility trail mix. Simply mix walnuts and almonds for omega-3s, blueberries for folate and vitamin C, and banana chips for fiber. You can also add dark chocolate to increase uterine blood flow. This is a great alternative to consuming heavily processed snacks.

Raspberry Leaf Tea

Whether irregular menstruation or hormonal imbalance is keeping you from conceiving, raspberry leaf tea may be a natural remedy. You can brew this tea and drink it warm or enjoy it iced. Once you’ve had your baby, you can also drink raspberry leaf tea to reduce bleeding and swelling.

Maintaining a healthy diet on your fertility journey is one of the things you can do to boost your conception efforts. When you’re ready to conceive, be sure to try these foods to be healthy and improve gut health.