JOURNAL · FOOD AND LIFESTYLE
Is there anything we can actually change?
Yes, more than most couples are told. None of it is a special food, and all of it applies to both of you.
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- Food and lifestyle
The things you control: weight, sleep, smoking, alcohol, folic acid
The changes with evidence behind them, for her and for him, in the months before trying or treatment.
Rice, roti, fruit: what matters and what's a myth
An Indian plate for fertility: what to eat more of, what to cut down, and which food rules to ignore.
MEDICINES AND SUPPLEMENTSShould I take aspirin to conceive?
What the evidence says, who it may be for, and why not to start it on your own.
Weight and fertility
The factor you can change the most, with targets set with a doctor.
Thyroid and fertility
Easy to test, easy to correct, often missed.
Diabetes and fertility
Control before conception protects both of you.
PCOS
Where lifestyle is the first treatment, not an afterthought.
Your first consultation
Both of you checked, and a plan that starts with what you can change.
Questions about food and habits.
What is the single biggest lifestyle factor for fertility?
A healthy weight comes first. Dr Vani Sundarapandian ranks the factors you can influence: "Lifestyle, led by a healthy weight. Then smoking, alcohol, about seven hours of sleep, stress, folic acid, and correcting thyroid, diabetes, blood pressure and vitamin D."
Are there foods that make you more fertile?
No single food has been shown to make you fertile or to stop a pregnancy. What helps is an everyday diet with whole grains, pulses, vegetables and protein, and less sugar.
Should I take aspirin to get pregnant?
Not unless a doctor advises it for a specific reason. Aspirin is a medicine with side effects, not a fertility booster.
Does my husband need to change anything too?
Yes. Smoking, alcohol and weight affect sperm as well as eggs, so the changes work better when you make them together.
Not the question you had?
The questions people don't ask with their partner sitting beside them, answered by Dr Vani Sundarapandian.
Start with what you can change.
Ask us what matters most for the two of you. Janvi, Jananam's companion for fertility treatment, replies straight away.