Updated March 25th 2026
About 1 in 6 couples worldwide struggle with fertility. And while age, lifestyle, and genetics play a role, one major factor that’s often overlooked by many doctors is your nutrition.
Nutrition is one of the most heavily researched and easily modifiable factors when you’re trying to conceive. But it’s so easy to skip over because the education is missing almost entirely from our healthcare system. The advice of “take a prenatal vitamin” is hardly enough to ensure high quality eggs, consistent ovulation and robust progesterone levels. This is especially true when you consider that not all prenatal vitamins are created equally and most doctors will say something along the lines of “any one you can buy is fine”. This is simply not true.
And what about the male partner? That’s about 50% of the equation and almost never is a male partner told to prep his body for trying to conceive outside of IVF. Meanwhile there are several key nutrients (like selenium and zinc) AND lifestyle factors (like alcohol and vaping) that directly impact sperm health. If sperm health is poor, you will struggle with fertility.
Both your body AND your partner’s body require optimal levels of specific vitamins and minerals to support reproductive health. CoQ10 for example can help support both egg quality and sperm quality, especially when you’re over the age of 30. Choline is a nutrient essential for your future baby’s cognitive development and neural tube formation and yet most prenatal vitamins either don’t include it at all or sprinkle in amounts that aren’t very meaningful.
From regulating your hormones to preparing your womb for a baby (as well as supporting sperm health!) what you eat NOW and how your health is overall, can set the stage for an easier conception and a healthier pregnancy (and baby!).
I’m all for filling in the gaps in our diet with supplements but food has to come first. It’s easy to be swept up into buying different vitamins like vitamin D, omega 3’s and CoQ10 because everyone wants to be doing the best they can but skipping over the foundational building block of what you eat everyday could be making it more difficult on yourself.
This is why I teach my clients the PFF method. This is a simple way to reevaluate the food you’re eating and make a super simple shift so that it starts to work in your favour and support your fertility.
Nutrition affects both partners, so it’s a team effort.
If you’re thinking about growing your family, now is the perfect time to assess your nutrition and overall health. Small changes today can lead to big rewards tomorrow. I typically recommend prepping your body about 3-6 months before trying to conceive. This can help address any nutrient deficiencies, improve menstrual cycle concerns etc.
If you’re currently trying to conceive, here’s a 14 min video I recorded about the PFF method that I use with my clients to easily begin to support your fertility
If you don’t want to keep figuring out nutrition on your own, or you can’t deal with another cycle going by piecing together advice you find online, let’s chat about how I can help you.
My clients eat real foods and get real results like ovulating for the first time in months, inches lost around waist and hips as a side effect of becoming healthier, cycles regulating and more confidence in themselves.
Resources:
Derbyshire, E., & Obeid, R. (2020). Choline, Neurological Development and Brain Function: A Systematic Review Focusing on the First 1000 Days. Nutrients, 12(6), 1731. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061731
Shang, Y., Song, N., He, R., & Wu, M. (2024). Antioxidants and Fertility in Women with Ovarian Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 15(8), 100273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100273