A healthy nutrition affects the reproductive health as well as the overall health of the body. A woman who plans for pregnancy should have a diet with fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates and meat are in balance and minimize the intake of fatty foods. In addition, daily calorie intake should be adjusted to maintain the normal body weight.
Body Weight
Overweight is known to alter the function of the ovaries. Normal values of body weight and body fat content are determined. Body mass index is calculated by dividing body weight by square og the body length in meter.
For example: This index for a woman with 170 cm height and 63 kg weight is 60/1.7_ 7.20 kg / m_.
Normal values of body mass index is 18.5 - 25 kg / m_, and women with 30 and over index values are recommended to lose weight before treatment under supervision of a dietitian. As increased body weight will adversely affect the function of ovulation, it may also lead to occurrence of unwanted problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure,thromboembolic, during pregnancy more frequently. Again, as babies of overweighted women are more overweighted, cesarean rate is higher.
Caffeine Intake
There are many studies that have reported that caffeine intake reduces women's chances of pregnancy. It is known that caffeine increases the risk of abortion during pregnancy and adversely affect birth weights of infants. For this reason, women planning pregnancy should minimize caffeine intake and reduce daily tea, coffee consumption.
Vitamin Intake
The most important vitamin recommended for use in pre-pregnancy is folic acid. Studies have definitely proven that use of folic acid from 45 days prior to pregnancy reduces especially the risk of neural tube defect which is characterized by faulty development of vertebras in fetus. For this reason, women planning pregnancy should take folic acid of 400 micrograms per day. Folic acid is available commercially in a multivitamin formula or sold only as folic acid.
Herbal Medicines
Medicines derived from plants have been widely used nowadays. Among these, medicines containing Ginko biloba and Echinacea purpura are know to have negatives effects on the egg and sperm functions. Women planning pregnancy are advised to leave using such medicines.