If you are struggling to get pregnant, you may want to consider ditching the carbs. Because according to experts, going low carb can improve your fertility and help to increase your chances of conceiving.
When it comes to low carb diets, the keto diet usually comes to mind. This high-fat low-carb diet will not only help to shed the excess pounds away, but it also helps improve your health. But can it really help you conceive?
How Keto Diet Impacts Hormones and Ovulation
Although the keto diet’s biggest benefit is in helping people to lose weight, the diet has also shown positive impact on a woman’s hormones and ovulation. According to Dr. Rashmi Kudesia, a board-certified expert in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility,
“Using a ketogenic diet to improve body weight can definitely help women who do not ovulate — release an egg — regularly, including those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).”
If women lose at least 5 – 10 percent of their overall body weight, they could go back to ovulating. The ketogenic diet has also been shown to treat PCOS, a hormonal and metabolic disorder that is one of the leading causes of infertility among women.
Aside from helping women who have PCOS to lose weight, the keto diet can also help to rebalance the hormones, which is needed for ovulation.
In a small study published in the journal AACE Clinical Case Reports, researchers observed four overweight women with PCOS who were trying to conceive and followed the ketogenic diet. They monitored their progress each month and in six months, all of them lost weight.
Their menstruation periods also went back to normal since they all suffered from irregular periods due to PCOS. The best thing about it is that two of the four women conceived spontaneously without the need for ovulation induction.
The Keto Diet May Be Sperm-friendly
It is not only the women who can benefit from the keto diet when it comes to fertility. Poor diet and excess weight are among the leading causes of infertility among men. Remember that no matter how fertile a woman is, if her partner does not have enough good sperm, then she will have trouble getting pregnant.
As stated by Dr. Will Cole, a functional medicine expert and doctor of chiropractic,
“The standard American diet, filled with refined carbohydrates and sugar, has been associated with poor sperm health, negatively impacting sperm motility, morphology (shape), and shape count.”
Therefore, a diet that’s rich in healthy fats and extremely low in carb such as keto can help with improving sperm health in men, which increases the chances of conceiving.
Conclusion
The ketogenic diet is, no doubt, an effective diet to help improve fertility in both men and women. It helps women with weight loss and treat some fertility problems, including PCOS. For men, the diet helps to improve sperm count.
While the keto diet may be effective for helping a woman to get pregnant easily, it is best to use the diet as a way to “kick-start” a healthy routine in order to lose weight before conceiving. It’s because staying in the state of ketosis while pregnant may not be good for the baby.
If you want to improve fertility by following the keto diet, you should strictly limit your consumption of carbs, eat a moderate amount of protein, and consume more of healthy fats, such as nuts, seeds, and foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids.
