3 Surprising PCOS Food Secrets to Help Improve Your Fertility

A bowl of beets with feta, sunflower seeds and parsley on top followed by the blog title 3 secrets to improve PCOS fertility with food

You want to know what’s best in terms of diet to help your fertility, right? But it’s confusing and you read different things online and hear different advice from different people. You just want to know what the best PCOS food is to help improve fertility, am I right?

Well you’re in the right place and I'm going to give you some important information on where to start.

Did you know that before becoming a doctor, I was a nutritionist? So I have over a decade of experience helping people with diet changes that help them improve their fertility. That's why today I’ve decided to share with you a few pieces of info to support your PCOS fertility through food.

Too often women (like you!) with PCOS are given dismissive nutrition advice like, "lose weight, and if you eat less than 500 calories a day it will fix itself."

Well you're not going to get that kind of unhelpful nutrition advice from me because I'm going to help you get more effective nutrition information to help with your fertility.

These PCOS food tips that I have for you today are ones that will help you begin to eat in a way that helps improve your fertility. These are the elements of a PCOS food plan that you are going to learn so you can help your fertility:

  • What to get clarity on with your health that will help your PCOS food plan

  • What to avoid when eating for fertility

  • Specific foods that can help improve your egg quality and your chances of getting pregnant.

Pretty exciting, isn't it?

Let's dive in so you can start making these changes and helping your fertility through food.

3 Surprising Secrets To Help Improve Fertility with PCOS

PCOS Food Secret #1: Know Your PCOS Type

Do you know your PCOS type and do you know how important it is when choosing PCOS food for yourself?

There are four types of PCOS and it’s super important to figure out what type (or types) you have so that you can get a targeted fertility food plan in place. A PCOS food plan that is specific to your body, your PCOS and your fertility needs.

Let's talk about what I mean by this so you can understand how this applies to you.

Well, for instance, insulin-resistance is one type of PCOS. If you have been diagnosed with insulin-resistance or you have blood sugar levels that go up and down all day (think headaches before meals and getting haaaangry) then balancing blood sugar is your new jam.

Your food plan for PCOS will be focused on keeping those blood sugar levels balanced pronto.

On the other hand, if you have the PCOS post-pill type, you will want to be eating in a way that supports detoxification in your body. You will want to focus on eating foods that support the liver so your liver has help processing and eliminating extra hormones.

Are you a mix of both of these PCOS types? Well then, you’ll need a food plan that addresses both types. And of course, if you have one of the other two types, you will need a food plan specific to those.

But do you see what I mean about how important it is to have an individualized food plan specific to your PCOS needs?

PCOS Food Secret #2 Avoid Calorie Counting

"Eat 500 calories a day and it will fix itself". This kind of dismissive PCOS-information is out there and you don't have to search that hard to find it.

Too often we are sucked into the idea that eating lower calories will help with weight loss and improve fertility.

But calorie-counting has a dark side that not many people talk about.

Counting calories and eating in this way increases stress (to say the least?). The stress comes from constantly focusing on what's on your plate, weighing foods and looking up calorie-contents of certain food.

That kind of stress impacts your fertility. Here's what happens.

Increased stress causes your insulin to rise, that increases testosterone which then shuts down ovulation.

Higher stress can also shut down your digestion leading to more issues like leaky gut. That leaky gut then increases inflammation, reduces your chances of implantation and compromises your baby-making hormones like estrogen and progesterone.

See what I mean?

Stepping away from calorie-counting opens you up to lots of nourishing fertility-foods that help replenish your body and balance hormones which gets you closer to your dreams of becoming a mother.

A Note About Weight Loss and Fertility

This is an important spot to talk briefly about weight loss and fertility because I'm sure you've heard about the benefits of weight loss.

The problem is that weight loss is too often recommended as a blanket fertility plan for everyone with PCOS. But the truth is that not everyone with PCOS needs to lose weight in order to improve fertility.

Weight loss is often confused with balancing blood sugar because often (but not always) imbalanced blood sugar leads to weight gain. So if someone is gaining weight because their blood sugar is out of balance then balancing blood sugar is an important part of their fertility plan. Eating in a way that balances blood sugar often can lead to weight loss as well.

But for many people with PCOS, it's more important to focus on blood sugar balance rather than weight loss specifically.

If you are unsure if this is what your particular body and fertility journey need, then reach out and let's chat about it so you can have a powerful food plan that helps your fertility.

PCOS Food Secret #3: Eat For Your Mitochondria

I’m sorry, my mito…what now???

Your mitochondria.

Mitochondria are tiny structures inside your cells. Your eggs are full of these cells. In fact, eggs hold upwards of 1.5 million mitochondria which is a huge number! Your eggs also contain the highest concentration of mitochondria in your entire body which shows how much your body wants to help you get healthy eggs that are ready to make a baby.

These mitochondria are how your egg cells get the energy to divide and become the happy egg to make your future baby, aka helping improve your egg quality. So give them some love in return!

Nutrients that your mitochondria L.O.V.E and that help support juicy egg-energy in your body:

  • Selenium

  • CoQ10

  • Melatonin

  • Vitamin C

  • All the B vitamins

Fertility foods that contain these juicy nutrients?

Fertility foods that contain selenium:

A heart-shaped bowl full of brazil nuts
  • Brazil nuts

  • Shellfish

  • Pork

  • Turkey

  • Eggs

 

Fertility foods that contain CoQ10:

Uncooked salmon laying on a cutting board with lemon and salt next to it
  • Organ meats like liver

  • Oily fish like salmon

  • Whole grains

 

Fertility foods that contain melatonin:

The word melatonin written out with melatonin-rich foods surrounding it like eggs and bananas and nuts
  • Eggs

  • Fish

  • Nuts

  • Bananas

 

Fertility foods that contain vitamin C:

Pile of citrus fruits including oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes
  • Kiwi

  • Grapefruit

  • Oranges

  • Strawberries

  • Sweet red pepper

  • Broccoli

  • Brussel Sprouts

Fertility foods that contain B-vitamins:

The word vitamin B surrounded by foods that are high in B vitamins including organ meats, cheese, eggs, milk, poultry
  • Milk

  • Eggs

  • Meat

  • Whole grains

  • Organ meats like liver

  • Poultry

  • Leafy greens for folate

In Summary

Here are the three surprising PCOS food secrets to help improve your fertility and give you the foundation of a nourishing diet:

  1. Figure out your PCOS type so you can choose an effective food plan.

  2. Avoid calorie-counting that only increases stress and shuts down ovulation.

  3. Eat nutrients to support your mitochondria to help improve your egg quality.

Are you overwhelmed and just don't know where to start and what to do?

Are you just so upset and wondering what foods are do and don't for you and how you can increase the chances of having a baby?

I'm here for you and you are in the right place.

Book a PCOS Fertility Breakthrough Session and you will get the answers you need in order to create a food plan that is nourishing and supportive for your fertility.


Hungry for more info about PCOS fertility and food? You will definitely want to check out these articles!

Dr. Angela Potter

Hi! I’m Dr. Angela Potter and I am the creator of the PCOS Fertility Protocol. I offer individualized PCOS fertility plans in Portland, Oregon and virtually to women across the country.

Over the last decade of seeing patients, I was seeing too many women who felt hopeless and like their body was broken because they had PCOS and couldn’t get pregnant. That’s what inspired me to create my PCOS Fertility Protocol to help women (just like you!) have a clear path forward for their fertility.

https://www.drangelapotter.com
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