Author: Kristen Hart
Fertility is tied to your health and nutrition in surprising ways. I’m sure you know that you need to be eating well to have peak fertility. But are there some nutrients that have a more powerful impact on fertility than others?
Ancient cultures emphasized certain foods for women trying to conceive and there are nutrients in these same foods that are vital to female fertility. The fat soluble vitamins are taking center stage in fertility enhancement, and vitamin A is a star in the show.
Vitamin A has wide-ranging effects on female reproductive health. One exciting way it is believed to boost fertility is by promoting better cervical fluid. Getting adequate vitamin A in your diet helps to assure you that your cervical fluid will be a sperm-nourishing, fertile consistency. It also increases the amount of fertile fluid.
As you know, the cervical fluid is what helps sperm travel up to meet your egg during the time you are trying to conceive. Because vitamin A deficiency can lead to little fertile fluid, getting enough vitamin A is vital to your reproductive health.
Vitamin A also helps ensure that your follicles develop properly. The follicles each hold an egg, and one follicle releases an egg every month. The follicle then produces hormones that aid the egg in implanting in your uterus. Without enough vitamin A, the follicle does not mature properly.
Traditional cultures did not know exactly how vitamin A-rich foods ensured the fertility of their women, but they did instinctively pick foods high in pure, natural vitamin A to feed to women who wanted to conceive.
Dr. Weston A. Price, for whom the Weston A. Price Foundation is named, studied cultures all over the world and found those with fertile women and vigorous, healthy babies gave special foods to couples trying to conceive. These foods included fish roe, organ meats, deep yellow butter, and shellfish – all rich sources of vitamin A!
Today vitamin A can be gained from these sources as well as through a daily cod liver oil supplement. Plant sources of vitamin A are not as well absorbed and converted as the body needs them to be. If you have heard that vitamin A leads to birth defects, a careful study of the medical literature will reveal that these are caused by synthetic vitamin A – stay away from it.
Ensuring that you get all the fat-soluble vitamins that you need (and enough healthy fats to absorb them!) will speed your journey on the road to maximum fertility. Vitamin A is especially vital for all parts of your reproductive cycle. Be sure that you are including vitamin A rich foods in your diet every week. Consider a supplement for every day – especially if you don’t have enough cervical fluid or you’re not sure you’re ovulating!
Table of Food Sources of Vitamin A
About the author:
Kristen Hart is the owner of http://www.getting-pregnant.com. Visit getting-Pregnant.com now and sign up for a newsletter packed with information to help you get pregnant naturally.
Sheryl’s comment:
Synthetic Vitamin A can be toxic in large quantities so please stick try to boost your Vitamin A levels through food sources if at all possible.
There are many animal based foods that are high in Vitamin A such as milk, cheese and yogurt. Here is a list of plant based sources of Vitamin A (from highest content to lowest)for the vegans among us.
- Raw Carrots
- Cooked Carrots
- Carrot juice
- Mango
- Sweet Potato
- Spinach
- Cantelope
- Kale
- Red Pepper
- Apricots
Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/pollyann/2103090834/
Posted by Sarah | May 3, 2009, 12:23 pmI have a question
is vitamin A need befor getting pregnant?
is vitamin A leads to birth defect? when it is bad getting vitamin A during prednant?
Posted by asos | June 1, 2009, 1:29 amGood point Sheryl. Its always best to get vitamins and minerals from natural food sources, when ever possible. Proper diet can go a long way in getting all that you need.
Posted by Vitamin A | December 29, 2009, 9:49 pmWe should all be getting this type of nutrition anyway, but trying to conceive is a great reason to pay closer attention. I’ve heard acupuncture can also be helpful with conception.
Posted by Frederico | August 19, 2010, 2:42 pmA good thing to know about vitamin A is that Beta-carotene in corn converts to vitamin A better than with other vegetables so corn bred is expected to be an effective tool to combat the deficiency.
Posted by John V.@vitamin b12 deficiency symptoms | October 4, 2010, 4:08 pmCarotenes are not always converted to retinol (vitamin A) satisfactorily. There is no traditional society that would allow a woman to carry a child on vegetables alone if they could help it (that’s called famine).
Birth defects caused by pesticide exposure, such as children born without eyes (effect of Benlate in a nursery in Christchurch New Zealand), are also seen in vitamin A deficiency. Dioxins are known to inhibit retinol. It would be a reasonable inference that traditional retinol intakes (from cod liver oil, liver, fish roe, butter etc.), high according to modern western recommendations, offer some protection from the effects of exposure to some teratogenic chemicals in common use. Women who work in agriculture or gardening, or who sell such chemicals, might be most at risk from low retinol levels.
Posted by George D. Henderson | October 20, 2010, 4:00 pmCarrots are a great source of vitamin A – but it does depend on the source. Commercially (or industrially) grown vegetables have a much lower level of vitamins that organic ones, and have pesticide residues as well, so should be avoided if ttc or pregnant. The best of all is of course carrots grown in your own garden – delicious, nutricious, and incredibly rewarding (as well as being full of Vitamin A)
Posted by John@how to grow carrots | September 20, 2011, 1:59 pm