Five Fall Foods for Fertility

By Kimberly King, FNTP, FYFB™ and FYBP™ Instructor

This post focuses on five fall foods that support fertility and overall hormonal health. Here’s a preview of the categories we’ll cover.

  1. Fats
  2. Flora
  3. Fuel
  4. Forage Foods
  5. Ferments

Eating foods as they come into season, just as our ancestors did, not only makes sense but is better for your budget as those foods are usually at their cheapest. Many of those foods are also superb at supplying your body with the nutrients it needs to be at its best, especially in regard to preparing for pregnancy. So, let’s get started.

FATS

The first place to start when you are looking to improve your hormone health, fertility, and to prepare for pregnancy is to add healthy fats to your diet. Yum, yum! We love fats because our body craves them and needs them to be healthy. There are so many reasons that we need healthy fats that I am only going to list a few:

  • Cholesterol builds sex hormones. Your body needs lots of cholesterol, and it makes much of its own, but you can help by eating the right types of fats. If you are giving your body inappropriate building blocks (trans-fats and other non-traditional fats like vegetable oils), then your liver has to detoxify and excrete them, putting more pressure on an already busy organ. From there, as you can guess, your body will have a hard time making appropriate amounts of testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.
  • Your body cannot absorb fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E, and K, unless they are in fat. Fat-soluble means they dissolve in fat. Healthy fats, like butter from healthy cows, have these vitamins in them.
  • Trans-fats are associated with fertility problems. It is suspected they contribute to insulin resistance and inflammation.

So which fats should you eat for fertility?

Stick with traditional fats that our ancestors used. Among the first that come to mind in the fall are the fats from animals, especially grass-fed or wild animals.

  • Fats such as butter from grass-fed cows
  • Ghee is butter with the milk proteins removed. For folks who are sensitive to dairy proteins.
  • Lard – You read that right! But make sure it comes from healthy pigs. If you don’t want to buy a bottle of lard, then buy some non-processed bacon and save the lard after you cook it. Yum!
  • Tallow is beef fat, and you can buy it in the store or online. It also has a similar fatty acid profile as our skin, so I use it on my face.
  • Chicken, duck and lamb fat are harder to find in the store but are available online
  • And coconut oil is a great source of medium-chain fatty acids, which also help with hormonal health. A tip: replace most of the oils you use in making baking products with coconut oil
  • Extra-virgin olive oil is a healthy fat that comes from olives harvested in late fall

How much fat should you eat?

A regular-sized person ought to eat around 6 tablespoons of fat a day. Maybe 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 4 tablespoons of butter, or 4 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of tallow. (~600 calories/day for an average person eating 2,000 calories/day.)

FLORA

There are lots of great fall vegetables that will help with fertility. Remember, eating whole, real foods is always the best way to go, so you can’t go wrong with vegetables. This time of year, there are lots of squashes available.

How do squashes like pumpkin and butternut squash help with fertility?

They are chock full of vitamins and minerals needed by the body for egg health.

Pumpkin and butternut squash have beta-carotene, a vitamin A precursor, which encourages natural progesterone production, is abundant in the ovaries, and supports sperm health.

Here is a link to a discussion on the study regarding sperm health.

And here is a link to a discussion of Beta-Carotene and a shorter time to pregnancy (TTP) in couples with unexplained infertility: Time to Pregnancy and Beta-Carotene

They also have anti-oxidants in them, which help protect the body from damage and reduce inflammation overall.

Just remember that squash is a carbohydrate, so don’t eat too much, especially if you have blood sugar issues, including PCOS, and make sure you have plenty of healthy fat to eat with it. This will cause you to feel satiated, so you won’t overeat, and it will help keep your blood sugar from spiking too fast. So feel free to lather on the butter but not the sugar.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins (Grain Free)

FUEL

Proteins and fats go hand-in-hand. They are usually found together and are both required for the body to properly absorb and use protein.

How does eating protein help with fertility?

  • Proteins are made of amino acids, which are building blocks for just about everything in your body.
  • They also help your body to balance blood sugar by providing a constant supply of energy. Proteins, along with fats, keep you satisfied longer so you are less likely to crave junk foods and snacks between meals.

Fall is the time of year for wild game meats. If you hunt or know someone who does, try to get some wild game and add it to your diet once in a while.  Otherwise, buy some ground wild game meats and mix with your ground beef once in a while. Think meatloaf, meatballs, and so forth.

Eating foods that our ancestors ate is usually going to be the best choice when it comes to increasing fertility.

Recipe: Venison Meat Pie w/Butternut Squash

FORAGE FOODS

This is the perfect time to find nuts & seeds in the store. Just remember, store them in the fridge (to protect their fats and keep them from going rancid) and buy organic if you can. Also, it is best if they are raw, not roasted. I remember when I used to dislike walnuts because they were so bitter. I found that it was because the walnuts I was buying (baking nuts) were rancid. Fresh, properly stored nuts and seeds taste delicious.

Pumpkin seeds are perfect this time of year and can be added to oatmeal, salads, and yogurt. They are high in zinc, iron, and magnesium-all of which are important for fertility and sperm health. Zinc, especially, is an important mineral for both men and women. It is used to make sex hormones and eggs and is needed for a healthy thyroid. Men cannot make sperm without it. The prostate gland, semen, and sperm are loaded with zinc. Men and women need a constant, steady supply of it. Learn more about Zinc and Fertility.

Things to do with raw Pumpkin Seeds:

  • Put them in trail mix
  • Sprinkle them on a salad or a soup
  • Make nut butter with them
  • Use them in an energy ball with other nut butter, seeds, and sweetened with honey
  • Add to your oatmeal or porridge

Walnuts are important for their omega-3s. You have probably heard a lot about omega-3s in the news and how they can help lower inflammation, which helps with endometriosis, PCOS, and uterine fibroids. Omega-3s are also important for fertility as they help with regulating hormones, cervical mucus, and ovulation. They also increase blood supply to the reproductive organs. And they are important for sperm production. Fertility Benefits of Nuts & Seeds

FERMENTS

To keep foods from spoiling, this is the time of year our ancestors started many of their fermented foods. Fermented foods help our digestion. Think about it this way: if you are not digesting your foods well, then you are not getting the nutrients you need for your health and fertility.

Ferments help digestion in a couple of ways:

  • They are full of bacteria that are beneficial to our guts
  • Furthermore, they provide enzymes that help us to digest our foods

Sauerkraut – you may be thinking, yuck! I always thought so until I had freshly fermented sauerkraut, which I bought at my local store. It actually has a nice flavor and is not strong. This is perfect to eat with cooked meat as it will help your body to digest the proteins. There are also all kinds of ways to spice your sauerkraut, such as with garlic, or other vegetables, like beets, to change the taste.

Apple Sauerkraut is a recipe I make with cabbage and apples from my garden. It has a sweet and salty flavor, and I add it to my green s≥moothies.

Other ferments are beet kvass, kombucha, and yogurt (preferably made from raw milk). Beet kvass (and beets in general) are great for your liver and help support your body’s ability to detoxify. It can also help prevent morning sickness by gently stimulating bile flow from your gallbladder (part of the detoxification process). Beets are also a good source of folate (34% DV in 1 cup of cooked beets).

Conclusion

This is just a broad overview of some foods that you can find in the fall to enhance your fertility. Challenge yourself to start adding these foods into your diet and become more aware of how you feel after you eat. I bet you start to feel better and find you have more energy to put toward enjoying your healthier body with a loved one, if you get my drift. 😉

About Kimberly King

Kimberly is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and a Microbiologist. She works with clients in Idaho Falls, Idaho and offers counseling online or by phone. Her specialty is nutrition to support fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and postpartum healing. As a former La Leche League Leader, she offered breastfeeding counseling and support, support for women preparing for pregnancy, and parenting support for 10 years. Previous to that, she worked as a microbiologist in the food industry and at a public health department.