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Lifestyle Choices & Infertility: What You should Know

Team AckoFeb 8, 2024

Are you planning to have a baby sometime in the future, but not just yet? Then you need to start taking a good look at your lifestyle and social habits from now. Studies have proven that social habits and current health may have a major effect on future chances of conception. There is increasing evidence that lifestyle choices play a significant role in the overall quality of health and life, and this includes the fertility of an individual.

Contents

Here are some things you can do to positively impact your fertility:
Ease up on the alcohol
Stay away from the smokes
Keep a watch on the scales
Ease up on the stress
Avoid toxins

Lifestyle and Fertility

In modern times, our lives have become more hectic and stressful. Modifiable lifestyle factors play a crucial role in the development of infertility. These include psychological stress, nutrition, smoking, physical activity, caffeine and alcohol, mobile phone use, etc. Recent studies have revealed associations between egg or semen quality and the presence of lifestyle stressors, including professional pressures, life events or couple infertility.

The effects of adult lifestyle — primarily smoking and diet in women, and sedentary habits generally — are important factors affecting the fertility of men and women, and can also impact the fertility of their children.

Our fertility is influenced profoundly by our environment, including season and food intake.

The good news is that many of the factors that affect fertility are within your control. The best thing you can do is take good care of yourself and maintain healthy social habits. Doing so will make getting pregnant easier and reduce the risk of complications.

Here are some things you can do to positively impact your fertility:

Ease up on the alcohol

Social events automatically mean a drink or two, right? But it’s better to reach for a glass of juice instead. Moderate to heavy drinking can have a significant impact on fertility. Women who have three or more alcoholic drinks a week may experience difficulty getting pregnant. Women who are heavy drinkers often require fertility treatments to conceive. Binge drinkers are also at high risk for complications such as polycystic ovary syndrome.

Of course, you should completely stay away from alcohol during pregnancy.

Stay away from the smokes

We are all familiar with the ill-effects of cigarettes. Smoking not only affects the heart and lungs and increases the risk of cancer, it can have adverse effects on fertility.

Medical research has shown that smoking can age a woman’s ovaries up to the equivalent of ten years. Additionally, it can cause irreparable harm to your eggs. If you’re looking to get pregnant in the future, you need to stop smoking now.

Keep a watch on the scales

An active social life is invariably linked to eating out. But it’s crucial not to let yourself gain excess weight if you’re planning to get pregnant in the future.

Your body weight has a substantial impact on your fertility. Studies show that obese women with regular ovulatory cycles have decreased fertility. Body fat increases oestrogen levels, which may affect the ability of the embryo to attach and grow. However, don’t go overboard and lose too much weight. Being excessively underweight can also affect fertility. In fact, women who are underweight are at risk of their ovulating stopping completely.

So, definitely maintain a healthy weight to avoid future fertility problems.

Ease up on the stress

With our current lifestyles and work environment, stress is a given. However, it is important to keep stress levels to a minimum so as not to affect your chances of conception.

Stress tenses the muscles, quickens the breathing rate, and increases the heart rate to get you ready for action. Because the body associates stress with survival, high stress levels can actually cause your body to prevent pregnancy.

Additionally, chronic stress also releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can hinder ovulation. If you’re planning on getting pregnant, you need to work on creating a low-stress environment.

Avoid toxins

With the rampant rise in chemicals in our environment, toxins are everywhere – in our food from pesticides, in our air through pollution, in our water from toxic waste. But if you are planning a pregnancy, you need to take steps to reduce toxins around you to a minimum.

Toxins such as lead, arsenic, mercury, pesticides, and pollutants can do untold harm to your body and make it considerably difficult to get pregnant. Another major concern is that with toxins, accumulation of small amounts in the body over time can lead to more serious consequences. Present exposure to toxins can lead to fertility problems in the future, such as damage to eggs or the ovaries, or irregular or impaired ovulation.

If you’re planning to get pregnant, think about ways you can reduce your exposure to toxins. This may mean consuming more organic food, checking the paint in your house for lead, monitoring air pollution levels where you live, using food-safe plastics, avoiding foods that may contain mercury and getting a good water purifier for your home.

Remember, you can still lead an active social life while staying safe and healthy!

Explore More Articles on Fertility

Causes of Infertility in Men & Women

Top Tips to Maximize Your Chances of Fertility

Ovulation and Your Fertility Window

Impact of Sleep on Fertility

Sperm Health & Fertility: Everything You Need to Know

The Impact of Stress on Fertility

How Do You Get Pregnant?

Lifestyle Choices & Infertility: What You should Know

Exercise & Fertility: Is There a Link?

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.

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