Pre-Conception Nutrition 101 | Episode 3

 Welcome to Fertility Friendly Food. I’m your host, Stefanie Valakas, accredited practising dietitian and nutritionist and director of The Dietologist, an Australian based practice focused on optimising fertility through nutrition. This podcast will bring you snack sized episodes for you to learn, grow and be inspired by the latest research, facts, and practical lifestyle tips about eating well for optimal fertility.

Helping you cut through the confusion and myths to take back some of the control on your fertility journey, one bite at a time.

This episode of fertility friendly food is brought to you by my free preconception lifestyle checklist for him and for her available on my website. thedietologist.com.au forward slash freebies or simply click the link in the show notes to get your copy. Hello and welcome back to another episode of fertility friendly food.

This is episode three focusing on the key nutrients for optimal fertility and preconception health. So today I’ll be walking you through a few of my favorite key nutrients to be focusing on. And it’s golf. Pretty much both men and women, um, for fertility health. So some of these are more specific to setting you up well for pregnancy and others are actually about fertility itself.

So I’ll be sure to let you know which is which. So number one, I want to be talking about folate. And honestly, I think this one is on every woman’s radar. But back in, I think it was the 80s that, 80s that they weren’t, um, supplementing folic acid for pregnant women, or they were, or they didn’t have the multis.

Um, but yeah, folate and folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube defects, which is, um, any defect in the baby’s Brain or spinal cord, such as spina bifida, is absolutely critical, obviously. So much so that it’s in every prenatal supplement on the market. But, the thing is, is I think most women and men don’t realize that folate and folic acid are not the exact same thing.

Yes, they represent the same nutrient, vitamin B9. But folate is the form that is found in food. And folic acid is the form found in most supplements, most common supplements. And also in Australia, we add it to our bread flour and some cereals and pasta products as well. So they’re not the exact same thing because in the body, folic acid isn’t just automatically absorbed like folate is.

In fact, we need a particular particular enzyme to convert folic acid into the activated form of folate, which we can then go on and use. Now, folate is really also important, not just for baby’s neural tube, but also to protect our DNA. And it’s really important in the process of methylation, which is something that I talked about last episode, when we talked about DNA.

epigenetics, the first 1000 days of life, and how nutrition can help set you up to program your future baby’s genetics for health in the long run. So, how do you get more folate in your diet? Well, you really want to be loading up on green leafy vegetables, and in my checklist I talk about green leafy veggies at least twice a day.

There’s other foods too, if, you know, maybe you’ve got a bit of a picky eater and green leafy veggies aren’t your favorite. Um, lentils, legumes, beans, um, avocados, oranges, strawberries are all great sources of folate. Sources of folic acid also include things like bread, cereals, and any kind of fortified foods.

A lot of breakfast cereals also have folic acid, as I mentioned, plus your prenatal supplements will also contain a good amount of folic acid or activated forms, which is. Commonly known as folinic acid or 5 MTH folate, which is the activated form as well. So, the other nutrient, the second nutrient we’ll be talking about today is iodine.

And just like folate, this one’s more about setting up your pregnancy for success rather than about fertility. So, iodine is an essential element. So, we talked about a vitamin before, now we’re talking about a mineral, and it’s really important for a healthy thyroid and thyroid hormone production. The thyroid is gonna be working overtime when you’re pregnant because you’re gonna not only be supporting the normal development and maintaining your metabolism of your own cells, but now you’ve also got to grow and develop another human.

So, Iodine is where it, uh, iodine is most concentrated in the thyroid. So if you have low iodine heading into pregnancy can definitely affect baby’s growth and development. It’s very, very rare in, um, modern society and even in, I guess the, what we call first world or developed countries to have iodine deficiency.

Um, But if you do have a thyroid problem, it’s definitely worth making sure you’re getting enough iodine from your diet and also your prenatal supplement. So my key sources of iodine are oysters, seaweed, so I know so many people love sushi, but yes, seaweed, um, on sushi and also wakame and seaweed snacks too.

Tin salmon and any kind of seafood like prawns, um, bread made with iodized salt. Again, here in Australia, we’re really lucky that our government makes us put iodized salt into our breads. And also. Iodized salt is itself can be a great source of iodine. Now, just a quick note about both iodine and folic acid fortification in Australia.

It is mandatory with the exception of organic products. Um, and also some gluten free products tend to not contain it either. Um, so just be mindful. for if you’re relying on these foods as a big source of your folic acid or iodine intake in that preconception period to double check that it is in fact in there.

So the third nutrient for more so for fertility is E. coli. Zinc. So zinc is an essential trace element, which is really important for rapid cell division and growth during pregnancy. So zinc demands increase during pregnancy and lactation. So if you’ve got low zinc going into pregnancy, it’s probably not the best.

Um, and it’s really important to help support baby’s rapid growth in the tummy. The other component that zinc is starting to show some, um, interesting research for is when actually the sperm meets the. egg, when that occurs, there’s actually a, what we call a zinc firework occurring. So lots of little bits of zinc are flying around.

So we think it’s actually really important in the process of fertilization. And in fact, most women of reproductive age don’t get enough zinc. And increasingly, I’m seeing lots of low zinc levels in my practice as well. So. Foods that are rich in zinc include, again, oysters. So you can see why it’s called an aphrodisiac now.

Lots of zinc and lots of iodine. Your protein foods like beef, chicken, eggs, fish, milk, cheese, cashews, legumes, like chickpeas and also seeds. And the other nutrient to think about is vitamin D. So vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. So you need fats in the diet to get your body to utilize it properly.

There seems to be a small amount of evidence to show that vitamin D status in parents before conception can affect the development of an autoimmune condition called type 1 diabetes. Um, so we definitely want to make sure that our vitamin D is going Good heading into fertility, um, and conception. Well, that’s fertility treatment or conception.

So, um, for most of us, we’re entitled to one vitamin D blood test per year with your GP, most sources of vitamin D in the diet are not amazing. It’s best to get it from the sun, but yes, you can buy fortified eggs, salmon and tuna, um, as well as leaving your mushrooms out in the sun for a couple of days to make their own vitamin D, which we’re then able to consume.

Vitamin B12 is another key nutrient, and this one’s especially important for all of you plant based mums to be out there. B12 is critical in brain and nervous system function, which means it’s definitely going to be critical in baby’s brain and nervous system function. It’s also really a big player in that folate, um, methylation kind of cycle.

So. If you’re deficient in vitamin B12, it can affect your ability to potentially conceive as it can affect egg development and ovulation function. So B12 is found in any animal product, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, as well as fortified milk alternatives like soy milk, and some Other plant based sources like nutritional yeast.

So for those of you who are following a plant based diet or a strict vegan diet, supplementation is necessary. The good news is that you don’t need much B12 every single day. to reach your needs. And most prenatal supplements contain some B12 as well. But it’s definitely really important because if you’re deficient from B12 for a while and you have baby, then also your breast milk will be deficient in B12 as well.

And we do have Don’t want that, um, because it definitely does affect brain and nervous system function. Another critical nutrient or mineral is iron. So a lot of women are deficient in iron. I think it’s around 20 percent of women of reproductive age. So those of us having a period are low in iron. And yes, we lose iron every single month.

So our requirements are higher than our male counterparts. It’s more than double, in fact, that we need for, um, ourselves who are menstruating. But, the bad news is, if you’re already struggling before you get pregnant, you’re definitely going to struggle when you are pregnant, because it just goes up even more.

And so, it’s really, really tough to get it all from food. Um, and so, there is some evidence to suggest that poor iron can affect birth weight of baby. Um, and like I said in the last episode, there’s some mice studies showing that it can affect conception and as well, this, the big nurse’s health study, looking at fertility showed that women who were taking an iron supplement tend to conceive faster as well.

So you definitely want to make sure that your iron levels are in check and that you’re eating some iron rich foods daily. So red meat, um, anything that bleeds is what I say is the best sources of iron. There’s definitely other sources too, fish, chicken, fortified products like breakfast cereals, breads, um, tofu, kidney beans, eggs, um, combining those sources with a source of vitamin C like fruit or lemon juice or capsicum or broccoli or spinach can be really healthy.

Good way to help boost absorption. Omega 3s. Oh, my favorite. You’ll probably hear me talk about Omega 3s a lot in this podcast. So Omega 3s, I really want to chat about this one because I think there’s a lot of confusion about how to actually best get Omega 3s into the diet. Um, especially for those who don’t love fish or don’t eat fish.

eat fish or choose not to eat fish. People like, oh yeah, but I have chia pudding for breakfast every day. They’ve got heaps of omega 3s. Yeah, they do, but. Um, the omega 3 form that they contain is called ALA, and ALA in the body is really inefficiently converted into its active form of DHA and EPA, which is those long chain omega 3s that we get from marine bacteria.

Fish, cold water, oily fish is the best source of those most active omega 3s. Not to say that plant based ALA omega 3s don’t have a role in the diet. They definitely do, but they’re probably not having as much impact on your health as you think that they are. Um, so we have suggested that omega 3 fats may enhance female fertility and as well, Especially egg health as well, which we’ll get into in another episode.

So like I said, in episode two, early fish a couple of times a week, salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, or trout is the best way to make sure you’re getting enough omega 3s. And like I said, last time too, research has shown that couples who eat more seafood together are more likely to conceive faster. So for those who are following a vegetarian or vegan diet, you’re going to have to look into how to get that, um, DHA in.

Another critical nutrient, which is not a fatty acid, it’s not a vitamin, it’s not a mineral, that I think is absolutely key to be talking about before you conceive, not after you’re pregnant, is choline. So choline is not a vitamin and not a mineral. It is not essential. So that’s why it doesn’t fall into any of those categories.

Our body makes choline, but it doesn’t make quite enough and it definitely doesn’t make enough during pregnancy. And choline has a role in our nervous system, in developing a healthy placenta, and less than 1 percent of Australian women get enough choline every day. Sorry. Best sources of choline in the diet.

Just two eggs gives you 50 percent of your choline needs. So another reason to love eggs, um, as well as the iron and zinc and iodine that they provide. So eggs are the best source. There’s also chicken, potatoes, beef, brussels sprouts. For those who are plant based, you’re going to have to plan your diet a bit better.

better, um, looking at wheat germ, peanut butters, um, like I said, potatoes, potatoes and brussels as well. And unfortunately, choline is not in many prenatal supplements. It’s such a large nutrient, it’s hard to stuff into a little capsule. Um, I think it’s definitely going to get there where choline is in prenatal supplements, but for the time being it’s currently not, um, But it doesn’t, that’s a great reason to be focusing on your diet now rather than later.

Set up those good habits for pregnancy right now and potentially enhance your fertility as well. So those are my key nutrients to help with preconception and fertility health. So just a quick recap, they were folate, iodine, zinc, vitamin D, Vitamin B12, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, and choline. And these are all nutrients that I incorporate in mind when I build my free ultimate preconception lifestyle checklist for men and for women.

So go and check that one out. It’s available to download for free right now. Hit the link in the show notes or visit my website, the dietologist.com.au. You can also join my free Facebook group, fertility friendly food for women who are trying to conceive to receive weekly tips and tricks from me, as well as find me on socials @the_dietologist

I run weekly Q&A, so I’m more, you’re more than welcome to ask me a question there too, as well. So until the next episode, everyone. Bye.

 Welcome to Fertility Friendly Food. I’m your host, Stefanie Valakas, accredited practicing dietician and nutritionist and director of The Dietologist, an Australian based practice focused on optimizing fertility through nutrition. This podcast will bring you snack sized episodes for you to learn, Grow and be inspired by the latest research, facts, and practical lifestyle tips about eating well for optimal fertility.

Helping you cut through the confusion and myths to take back some of the control on your fertility journey, one bite at a time.

This episode of fertility friendly food is brought to you by my free preconception lifestyle checklist for him and for her available on my website. The dietologist. com. au forward slash freebies or simply click the link in the show notes to get your copy. Hello and welcome back to another episode of fertility friendly food.

This is episode three focusing on the key nutrients for optimal fertility and preconception health. So today I’ll be walking you through a few of my favorite key nutrients to be focusing on. And it’s golf. Pretty much both men and women, um, for fertility health. So some of these are more specific to setting you up well for pregnancy and others are actually about fertility itself.

So I’ll be sure to let you know which is which. So number one, I want to be talking about folate. And honestly, I think this one is on every woman’s radar. But back in, I think it was the 80s that, 80s that they weren’t, um, supplementing folic acid for pregnant women, or they were, or they didn’t have the multis.

Um, but yeah, folate and folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube defects, which is, um, any defect in the baby’s Brain or spinal cord, such as spina bifida, is absolutely critical, obviously. So much so that it’s in every prenatal supplement on the market. But, the thing is, is I think most women and men don’t realize that folate and folic acid are not the exact same thing.

Yes, they represent the same nutrient, vitamin B9. But folate is the form that is found in food. And folic acid is the form found in most supplements, most common supplements. And also in Australia, we add it to our bread flour and some cereals and pasta products as well. So they’re not the exact same thing because in the body, folic acid isn’t just automatically absorbed like folate is.

In fact, we need a particular particular enzyme to convert folic acid into the activated form of folate, which we can then go on and use. Now, folate is really also important, not just for baby’s neural tube, but also to protect our DNA. And it’s really important in the process of methylation, which is something that I talked about last episode, when we talked about DNA.

epigenetics, the first 1000 days of life, and how nutrition can help set you up to program your future baby’s genetics for health in the long run. So, how do you get more folate in your diet? Well, you really want to be loading up on green leafy vegetables, and in my checklist I talk about green leafy veggies at least twice a day.

There’s other foods too, if, you know, maybe you’ve got a bit of a picky eater and green leafy veggies aren’t your favorite. Um, lentils, legumes, beans, um, avocados, oranges, strawberries are all great sources of folate. Sources of folic acid also include things like bread, cereals, and any kind of fortified foods.

A lot of breakfast cereals also have folic acid, as I mentioned, plus your prenatal supplements will also contain a good amount of folic acid or activated forms, which is. Commonly known as folinic acid or 5 MTH folate, which is the activated form as well. So, the other nutrient, the second nutrient we’ll be talking about today is iodine.

And just like folate, this one’s more about setting up your pregnancy for success rather than about fertility. So, iodine is an essential element. So, we talked about a vitamin before, now we’re talking about a mineral, and it’s really important for a healthy thyroid and thyroid hormone production. The thyroid is gonna be working overtime when you’re pregnant because you’re gonna not only be supporting the normal development and maintaining your metabolism of your own cells, but now you’ve also got to grow and develop another human.

So, Iodine is where it, uh, iodine is most concentrated in the thyroid. So if you have low iodine heading into pregnancy can definitely affect baby’s growth and development. It’s very, very rare in, um, modern society and even in, I guess the, what we call first world or developed countries to have iodine deficiency.

Um, But if you do have a thyroid problem, it’s definitely worth making sure you’re getting enough iodine from your diet and also your prenatal supplement. So my key sources of iodine are oysters, seaweed, so I know so many people love sushi, but yes, seaweed, um, on sushi and also wakame and seaweed snacks too.

Tin salmon and any kind of seafood like prawns, um, bread made with iodized salt. Again, here in Australia, we’re really lucky that our government makes us put iodized salt into our breads. And also. Iodized salt is itself can be a great source of iodine. Now, just a quick note about both iodine and folic acid fortification in Australia.

It is mandatory with the exception of organic products. Um, and also some gluten free products tend to not contain it either. Um, so just be mindful. for if you’re relying on these foods as a big source of your folic acid or iodine intake in that preconception period to double check that it is in fact in there.

So the third nutrient for more so for fertility is E. coli. Zinc. So zinc is an essential trace element, which is really important for rapid cell division and growth during pregnancy. So zinc demands increase during pregnancy and lactation. So if you’ve got low zinc going into pregnancy, it’s probably not the best.

Um, and it’s really important to help support baby’s rapid growth in the tummy. The other component that zinc is starting to show some, um, interesting research for is when actually the sperm meets the. egg, when that occurs, there’s actually a, what we call a zinc firework occurring. So lots of little bits of zinc are flying around.

So we think it’s actually really important in the process of fertilization. And in fact, most women of reproductive age don’t get enough zinc. And increasingly, I’m seeing lots of low zinc levels in my practice as well. So. Foods that are rich in zinc include, again, oysters. So you can see why it’s called an aphrodisiac now.

Lots of zinc and lots of iodine. Your protein foods like beef, chicken, eggs, fish, milk, cheese, cashews, legumes, like chickpeas and also seeds. And the other nutrient to think about is vitamin D. So vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. So you need fats in the diet to get your body to utilize it properly.

There seems to be a small amount of evidence to show that vitamin D status in parents before conception can affect the development of an autoimmune condition called type 1 diabetes. Um, so we definitely want to make sure that our vitamin D is going Good heading into fertility, um, and conception. Well, that’s fertility treatment or conception.

So, um, for most of us, we’re entitled to one vitamin D blood test per year with your GP, most sources of vitamin D in the diet are not amazing. It’s best to get it from the sun, but yes, you can buy fortified eggs, salmon and tuna, um, as well as leaving your mushrooms out in the sun for a couple of days to make their own vitamin D, which we’re then able to consume.

Vitamin B12 is another key nutrient, and this one’s especially important for all of you plant based mums to be out there. B12 is critical in brain and nervous system function, which means it’s definitely going to be critical in baby’s brain and nervous system function. It’s also really a big player in that folate, um, methylation kind of cycle.

So. If you’re deficient in vitamin B12, it can affect your ability to potentially conceive as it can affect egg development and ovulation function. So B12 is found in any animal product, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, as well as fortified milk alternatives like soy milk, and some Other plant based sources like nutritional yeast.

So for those of you who are following a plant based diet or a strict vegan diet, supplementation is necessary. The good news is that you don’t need much B12 every single day. to reach your needs. And most prenatal supplements contain some B12 as well. But it’s definitely really important because if you’re deficient from B12 for a while and you have baby, then also your breast milk will be deficient in B12 as well.

And we do have Don’t want that, um, because it definitely does affect brain and nervous system function. Another critical nutrient or mineral is iron. So a lot of women are deficient in iron. I think it’s around 20 percent of women of reproductive age. So those of us having a period are low in iron. And yes, we lose iron every single month.

So our requirements are higher than our male counterparts. It’s more than double, in fact, that we need for, um, ourselves who are menstruating. But, the bad news is, if you’re already struggling before you get pregnant, you’re definitely going to struggle when you are pregnant, because it just goes up even more.

And so, it’s really, really tough to get it all from food. Um, and so, there is some evidence to suggest that poor iron can affect birth weight of baby. Um, and like I said in the last episode, there’s some mice studies showing that it can affect conception and as well, this, the big nurse’s health study, looking at fertility showed that women who were taking an iron supplement tend to conceive faster as well.

So you definitely want to make sure that your iron levels are in check and that you’re eating some iron rich foods daily. So red meat, um, anything that bleeds is what I say is the best sources of iron. There’s definitely other sources too, fish, chicken, fortified products like breakfast cereals, breads, um, tofu, kidney beans, eggs, um, combining those sources with a source of vitamin C like fruit or lemon juice or capsicum or broccoli or spinach can be really healthy.

Good way to help boost absorption. Omega 3s. Oh, my favorite. You’ll probably hear me talk about Omega 3s a lot in this podcast. So Omega 3s, I really want to chat about this one because I think there’s a lot of confusion about how to actually best get Omega 3s into the diet. Um, especially for those who don’t love fish or don’t eat fish.

eat fish or choose not to eat fish. People like, oh yeah, but I have chia pudding for breakfast every day. They’ve got heaps of omega 3s. Yeah, they do, but. Um, the omega 3 form that they contain is called ALA, and ALA in the body is really inefficiently converted into its active form of DHA and EPA, which is those long chain omega 3s that we get from marine bacteria.

Fish, cold water, oily fish is the best source of those most active omega 3s. Not to say that plant based ALA omega 3s don’t have a role in the diet. They definitely do, but they’re probably not having as much impact on your health as you think that they are. Um, so we have suggested that omega 3 fats may enhance female fertility and as well, Especially egg health as well, which we’ll get into in another episode.

So like I said, in episode two, early fish a couple of times a week, salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, or trout is the best way to make sure you’re getting enough omega 3s. And like I said, last time too, research has shown that couples who eat more seafood together are more likely to conceive faster. So for those who are following a vegetarian or vegan diet, you’re going to have to look into how to get that, um, DHA in.

Another critical nutrient, which is not a fatty acid, it’s not a vitamin, it’s not a mineral, that I think is absolutely key to be talking about before you conceive, not after you’re pregnant, is choline. So choline is not a vitamin and not a mineral. It is not essential. So that’s why it doesn’t fall into any of those categories.

Our body makes choline, but it doesn’t make quite enough and it definitely doesn’t make enough during pregnancy. And choline has a role in our nervous system, in developing a healthy placenta, and less than 1 percent of Australian women get enough choline every day. Sorry. Best sources of choline in the diet.

Just two eggs gives you 50% of your choline needs. So another reason to love eggs, um, as well as the iron and zinc and iodine that they provide. So eggs are the best source. There’s also chicken, potatoes, beef, brussels sprouts. For those who are plant based, you’re going to have to plan your diet a bit better.

Looking at wheat germ, peanut butters, um, like I said, potatoes, potatoes and brussels as well. And unfortunately, choline is not in many prenatal supplements. It’s such a large nutrient, it’s hard to stuff into a little capsule. I think it’s definitely going to get there where choline is in prenatal supplements, but for the time being it’s currently not, um, But it doesn’t, that’s a great reason to be focusing on your diet now rather than later.

Set up those good habits for pregnancy right now and potentially enhance your fertility as well. So those are my key nutrients to help with preconception and fertility health. So just a quick recap, they were folate, iodine, zinc, vitamin D, Vitamin B12, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, and choline. And these are all nutrients that I incorporate in mind when I build my free ultimate preconception lifestyle checklist for men and for women.

So go and check that one out. It’s available to download for free right now. Hit the link in the show notes or visit my website, the dietologist. com. au. You can also join my free Facebook group, fertility friendly food for women who are trying to conceive to receive weekly tips and tricks from me, as well as find me on socials @the_dietologist.

I run weekly Q&A, so I’m more, you’re more than welcome to ask me a question there too, as well. So until the next episode, everyone. Bye.