Improve Your Fertility

According to the NHS choices, infertility is when a couple cannot conceive (get pregnant) despite having regular unprotected sex. Around one in six or seven couples may have difficulty conceiving. This is approximately 3.5 million people. However, the number of couples who are actually infertile is low, around 5%.

Conceiving naturally 

About 85% of couples will conceive naturally within one year if they have regular unprotected sex. For every 100 couples trying to conceive naturally:

  • 20 will conceive within one month. 
  • 70 will conceive within six months.
  • 85 will conceive within one year.
  • 90 will conceive within 18 months. 
  • 95 will conceive within two years.

 The best time to get pregnant

You’re most likely to get pregnant if you have sex within a day or so of ovulation (when your ovaries are releasing an egg). This usually happens about 14 days after the first day of your last period.

An egg lives for about 12-24 hours after it’s released. For you to get pregnant, a sperm must fertilise the egg within this time. Sperm can live for up to seven days inside your body.

Guidance from NICE advises that, for the best chance of success, you should have sex every two to three days throughout the month. You don’t need to time it to coincide with the days when you ovulate. Just go ahead and have lots and lots of sex.

Effect of Caffeine intake on conception

We live in a fast paced age where life demands that we match up to the pace and rhythm. Difficulty in matching up could cost so dearly. In order to match up to the pace many have found solace in the hands of one of the acceptable stimulants called caffeine.  Caffeine is naturally occurring in certain plants, leaves, cocoa. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants. It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the bean of the coffee plant and the leaves of the teabush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut.

Accoording to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997), global consumption of caffeine has been estimated at 120,000 tonnes per year, making it the world's most popular psychoactive substance. This amounts to one serving of a caffeinated beverage for every person every day.

Without any doubt, many of us enjoy beverages containing caffeine such as coffee, tea, energy drinks, cola etc however I need to challenge us to think of the effect of caffeine on the human body and conception. A recent experience I had following consumption of 3 cups of tea over 6hours, which was out of the norm for me, caused me to begin to reseach into the caffeine content and its effect on the body. The results were very shocking and amidst these revealing results I found that high caffeine intake could adversely affect conception. Dr Gray (Ph.D) a professor in population and family planning at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that women who consume high amounts of caffeine daily take longer, on average, to get pregnant than women with low or no consumption. He indicated that "they had nearly three times the risk of not being able to conceive after one year of trying."

So how much is too much?

Studies from research groups at Yale University School of Medicine and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have confirmed that consuming over 300 milligrams of caffeine per day reduces fertility.  300mg of caffeine is equivalent to 2x 240mls cups of coffee, 4x 240mls cups of tea or 425grams of dark chocolate. 

For some people, getting pregnant is not as easy as you may think. To improve your chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy you may need to make some changes to your lifestyle.

You may want to consider the following lifestyle changes:

    • Cutting caffeine from your diet gradually is adviceable - sudden withdrawal could cause severe headaches, irritability and poor concentration so do it with caution

    • Diet and exercise is very important: being overweight or underweight can affect your chances of conceiving. Again, exercise with caution, talk to your Doctor if in any doubt

    • A healthy balanced diet is of great importance (please see section on healthy eating and benefits of juicing below)
    • Folic acid which is needed for healthy conception is recommended for women trying for a baby until they are 3 months pregnant. You can either buy folic acid from Pharmaceutical stores or ensure you get it through breakfast cereals, green leafy vegetables
    • Avoid drinking alcohol to reduce the risk of harming the baby
    • Smoking may reduce fertility in women, including passive smoking. If you smoke and need help to quit please get advice from your doctor
    • Certain pain relieving medication such as ibuprofen may reduce the chances of conception. If in doubt speak to your doctor.

Healthy Eating

Genesis 1:29

 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that

yields seed which is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

How much of green vegetables and fruits do you

include in your daily meal? Between 5-9 fruits/vegetables

are recommended for daily consumption. Besides, from the scripture above, this was what God originally recommended for the human body.

Adding good amounts of green vegetables such as Kale, Brocolli, cauliflower, sprouts, cabbage as well as other vegetables and fruits on a daily basis allows the human body to rejuvenate and heal itself.

Benefits of Juicing your fruits and vegetables

Juicing your fruits and vegetables on a daily basis gives

you more nutrients.

It is well documented in research that 90% of nutrients

from fruits and vegetables are absorbed by the body when we juice. By so doing, you are ensuring that your body is getting all the necessary nutrients that is essential for energy, healing, hormonal balance, cleansing, conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding.