Last week, I talked about what’s best to drink on a fertility diet. What about what you shouldn’t drink?
Alcohol, for one, and hope it’s obvious why. Not only does it disrupt the absorption of nutrients, create more work for your body (and liver!), and weaken your immune system, but it also raises prolactin levels which can mess with ovulation.
Now, I understand how nice a glass of wine is at the end of the day to unwind and de-stress, but if you’re going for a baby, you have to find more body-nourishing ways to de-stress. No messing around here! According to Fern Reiss in her book, The Infertility Diet, there was a study that showed even one drink a week can reduce a couple’s odds of conceiving in that month by 40%. Enough said.
Caffeine is another substance that needs to come off the list, in all the forms it takes: coffee, tea, chocolate (sorry) and most definitely soda. Soda, by the way, has way too much sugar and artificial ingredients. Don’t even think about consuming sodas, even the sugar-free, caffeine-free variety.
Getting back to caffeine, not only does it negatively affect fertility, but has been implicated in higher rates of miscarriage. Even the decaffeinated versions of coffee and tea have some caffeine in them, and with coffee, harsh chemicals are usually used in the decaffeination process, so I say no to that too.
What about juices? you ask. Those are healthy, right? I touched on this in last week’s blog. Basically, I said yes” to veggie juice and “no” to fruit juice, unless you water it down and drink less of it. Why? Because fruit juices tend to have too much concentrated levels of sugar. Better to eat the fruits whole.
If you do consume fruits juice (or veggie juice for that matter), make sure it’s organic, and it’s from the supermarket, check labels to make sure there’s nothing else in there. You’d be surprised what gets added in.
What about all the beverages out there on supermarket shelves? Drop them all. Most beverages on the market today contain artificial ingredients, preservatives, additives and/or added sugar. Stay clear from all of these, most notably sodas, even if they’re sugar-free and caffeine-free. Your body does not need the artificial ingredients it contains.
The only beverage your body really needs is purified water. Not much else.
