Weight and infertility. A healthy body is the key to fertility. Being under or overweight can lead to infertility in both men and women. Maintaining a healthy BMI and a balanced diet increase the chances of pregnancy.
What is BMI?
BMI is an acronym for body mass index, the test employed by doctors to define if your body weight is within a healthy range.
How does weight affect male fertility?
Men who have a BMI of less than 20 are at risk of impaired sperm production and male infertility, in a similar way to underweight women experiencing problems caused by irregular menstrual cycles.
A higher than recommended BMI (+25) can also damage fertility with men, prompting a 22% lower than average sperm count. Sperm count is one of the major factors for male factor infertility.
How does weight affect female fertility?
Women who have a low BMI are likely to experience a stop in menstrual cycles or irregular menstrual cycles which might cause female infertility. Increasing weight to a BMI within a healthy range will re-regulate the menses for most women.
Just as low weight causes damage to fertility in the short term, so does a high BMI. Women with a high BMI frequently experience changes to their menstrual cycle, nearly 30-40% of women with an increased BMI will have problems with ovulation as a result. Fat cells in the body stimulate the production of estrogen. Excess fat cells cause the body to produce increased levels of estrogen which acts as a natural contraceptive and can halt ovulation.
How does weight affect IVF treatment?
Some fertility clinics refuse to provide treatment to women who are overweight, however fertility clinics in Mexico understand and can offer nutritional advice and guidance to women who want to begin IVF treatment.
If you decide to go ahead with IVF while you are overweight, the excess weight you carry could cause complications with the egg collection process. If no complications prevent egg collection and in vitro fertilization successfully fertilizes collected ova, overweight women have a decreased chance of embryo implantation. Successful embryo implantation rates in overweight women are low, with 15% of implantations resulting in pregnancy compared to 22% of women at a healthy weight.
How does diet affect fertility?
A poor diet often leads to weight gain, particularly initiating the problems described above. A poor diet can also cause nutritional deficiencies or an excess of certain vitamins and nutrients that are harmful to fertility and the health of a woman during pregnancy.
For men, a diet rich in zinc and Vitamin A, C and E has been shown to boost fertility. For women, folic acid, omega 3 and plenty of body-friendly antioxidants are highly recommended.
If you or your partner suffers from infertility, IVF clinics in Mexico provide specialists to help boost your fertility by improving your chance of success from infertility treatments with a successful diet regimen.
Quick Tips to Boost Fertility
Control your weight – Excess weight can induce fertility problems for men and women.
Manage stress – Stress, worry and anxiety can cause imbalances in hormones that can affect your fertility. Clinics in Mexico offer exclusive accommodations and a variety of progression plans to keep stress at a minimum.
Cut caffeine – Caffeine consumption has been linked to increased chance of miscarriages and premature birth
Improve nutrition – A healthy body increases the chance of conception.
Rest and More Rest – If you are worn down, your body functions less competently. Exhaustion has been linked to low sperm count and poor quality sperm.