Start Eating for Two
You need to nourish yourself before you can begin nourishing a growing baby. Begin by choosing foods rich in whole grains. “Refined grains are missing the bran and the germ of the grain, which contain 17 key nutrients,” says Bridget Swinney, M.S., R.D., a dietitian in El Paso, Texas, and author of Eating Expectantly: A Practical and Tasty Guide to Prenatal Nutrition (Meadowbrook, 1996). She advises choosing a rainbow’s worth of colorful fruits and veggies every day. “Color translates into antioxidants and phytochemicals, which are good for overall health, which is good for fertility.” And get the skinny on fats, too. “Since essential fatty acids are components of all cell membranes, including those of sperm, they could have an effect on fertility,” says Swinney. She explains that most Americans consume too much omega-6 fatty acids (from sources such as corn oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil) and not enough omega-3s (from fish oils, canola oil, olive oil, and flaxseed). Eating salmon one or two times a week, or eggs fortified with DHA (a fatty acid found in fish oil that’s an important component in brain tissue) is a great way to get your omega-3s.
