If you are having trouble achieving pregnancy, one of the first things an alternative doctor, such as a naturopathic doctor or fertility acupuncturist, will ask you to do is to alter your diet to cut out gluten and dairy, and up your intake of dark, leafy greens.
I know there is a lot of “eye-rolling” out there when it comes to claiming that you can’t eat gluten, but the truth of it is, gluten is very inflammatory in the body, and even if you don’t have celiac disease, you may have a predisposition toward auto-immune diseases already present in your body manifested in your genes. And eating gluten + autoimmune disease is NOT a good combination.
The other benefit of cutting gluten out of your diet is that you are forced to basically give up carbs like pasta, bread, cereals, donuts, etc. So basically all that amazing stuff that we love– but that is really not good for us.
Dairy is the other one that is actually not that great for us, many bodies cannot tolerate dairy and it can also be a big cause of inflammation in the body. There are so many great diary free alternatives in the stores these days, I love Trader Joes, Whole Foods Market, or Sprouts for great diary free alternatives. It’s SO much easier to eat gluten and dairy free today. I’ve seen an explosion of options to hit stores within the last five years or so.
To increase fertility it’s all about increasing the health of your body, especially your fertility organs, such as your ovaries and eggs. You can do this two ways, 1.) Bring down inflammation by eating a very clean diet with no gluten and diary, and of course, really watching your intake of sugar, caffeine and alcohol, and 2.) Increase your body’s ability to fight inflammation by giving it lots of help in the form of antioxidants such as dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, or berries such as acai and blueberries.
When I started to really pay attention to my diet I noticed I was not consuming nearly enough dark green leafy vegetables, so I started to drink this shake 3-4 times a week to help make sure I was getting the nutrients I needed on a regular basis.
1/2 tbsp. Vitamineral Greens (A great antioxidant rich powder with spirulina and wheatgrass)
1/4 cup Organic pineapple juice
1/4 cup Ripple Pea Milk
1 tbsp Organic whole flax seeds (grind them in magic bullet to release their potency)
1/2 tbsp. Vega One All-in-One Shake
1 cup of fresh spinach (or other greens)
1/2 banana
3 ice cubes
One thing I did that really helped cut down on prep time was to use the magic bullet. It was so fast and easy, and helped me get the correct individual portion every time. The only problem was when hubby wanted some of my shake, I would have to make up another portion just for him. 😉
ENJOY!!!
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