7 food that can boost your fertility

Certain nutrients play a vital role in reproductive health-for you and him. Here are somefoods that may just give your baby-making odds a great big boost.

Eggs

Eggs really are incredible when it comes to providing your diet with fertility-boosting nutrients. Just one egg provides a whopping 10 percent of the recommended daily intake for both iron and zinc, plus ample amounts of B vitamins and 16 percent of the recommended daily intake for vitamin A, a fat soluble vitamin that assists in the formation of reproductive hormone

   
  Tea

A study in the American Journal of Public Health found that switching from soda or coffee to tea could give your pregnancy odds a boost. One of the links between tea and fertility appears to be a biochemical compound called hypoxanthine. Tea contains it, but so does follicular fluid, the liquid surrounding the egg that helps foster egg maturity before ovulation

Whole Milk

Stick with whole milk, rather than skim. Cow's milk contains both male and female hormones. When milk is skimmed, estrogens are removed along with the fat, leaving behind only male hormones. As a study of over 18,000 women found, consumption of low-fat and skim-milk products resulted in decreased fertility in women, while consumption of full-fat dairy products resulted in increased fertility

Almonds

Almonds are rich source of vitamin E, an antioxidant vitamin sometimes called the "fertility vitamin" because of the vital role it plays in reproductive health. In women, vitamin E helps the body absorb other fat-soluble vitamins needed for hormone production. In men with infertility, treatment with vitamin E has shown effective in boosting low sperm counts

Brazil Nuts

Brazil nuts are chock full of selenium, an antioxidant mineral that helps prevent chromosomal damage in eggs and sperm, a common cause of early pregnancy miscarriage (and birth defects). In men, selenium serves as yet another nutrient needed for healthy sperm formation; studies have found that low selenium levels may be linked with low sperm counts

Chicken

Chicken is a rich source of niacin (vitamin B3), a nutrient that plays an important role in the synthesis of sex hormones. Niacin deficiencies have been linked with fertility problems in both women and men, but with 10.6 mg of niacin per 3-ounce serving, chicken can provide your diet with approximately 75 percent of the daily recommended intake for B3

Oysters

Oysters are a potent source for zinc, an essential mineral for both female and male fertility. In female fertility it promotes proper cell division, a process critical to the earliest stages of conception and fetal development. In men, zinc appears to be a necessary ingredient for adequate testosterone levels and sperm counts. Oysters also provide copper, another mineral known to play a role in sperm production.