What a BFF (Best Fertility Friend) Would Say – Ch. 14
Dec 9, 2020
These blog posts titled “What a BFF (Best Fertility Friend) Would Say” are a collection of random tips to give you strength and assurance as you try to get pregnant. I hope they help!
With appreciation for inviting me on your journey,
Julie
Table of Contents
The Best Alcohols When TTC
While I don’t recommend drinking alcohol while trying to get pregnant, I also understand that it’s the holidays now and you might want to take a mental and physical break, especially after such a dynamic year.
So I’m going to help you out here and guide you to better alcoholic choices.
Impurities produced by the fermentation process to create your alcoholic beverage of choice contribute to the taste, aroma, and color of your drink. However, they’re toxic as well. So the more that’s removed by filtration and distillation, the better.
That means the clearer the liquid, the better. Vodka, gin, and sake would be the better choices in that regard.
Beer, unfortunately, is the worst with the most toxins.
And red wine isn’t a whole lot better. But if you’re going for the red wine, pinot noir is the best choice because it has the highest levels of resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that can help improve egg quality. If you’re going to drink red wine, there are healthier brands that are organic, low or no sugar, and additive free. Dry Farm Wines is a brand that’s endorsed by many of the health experts I respect.
Although spirits have higher alcohol content, people tend to nurse those drinks longer. The result is that they consume less alcohol throughout the night as compared to several glasses of wine or cans of beer.
And there you have it.
Your clear liquors with the least amount of sugar are generally the best choices. For red wines, pinot noir is the top pick.
The Best Sweeteners for Your Fertility
If you’re heading to the kitchen to get your baking on for the holidays, let’s consider what sugars to use.
To be clear, I’m not encouraging the use of sugar but I also understand the reality of asking people to go completely sugar free when trying to get pregnant during the holidays so I’ll share my recommendations with you.
Choose sugars that don’t affect the blood sugar levels like stevia (a plant where the leaves are naturally very sweet), monk fruit, xylitol, and erythritol.
Xylitol and erythritol are naturally occurring in certain foods. For baking, erythritol is the most similar to sugar and can be used to replace sugar in a 1:1 ratio.
Avoid natural sugars like honey, agave, maple syrup on a regular basis because they increase blood sugar levels and, in doing so, requires your body to make the hormone insulin to transport the sugar from the blood stream into cells, including your eggs, which can create a lot of damage, reducing your egg quality.
For that same reason, don’t eat too much fruit. Treat fruit like a dessert since it’s very high in sugar content.
The fruits with the lowest amount of sugar will be berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries).
Is Cooking Oil Harming Your Eggs?
The cooking oil you’re using may be damaging your egg quality.
Oils such as corn, soy, canola, sunflower, and safflower oils are highly processed using chemical solvents to deodorize them to remove odor and bleach them so they look nice in the bottle. They’re also high in inflammatory omega-6 fats, instead of the brain-building omega-3 fats that your baby needs.
Instead use grass-fed butter, grass-fed ghee, organic coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil.
The oils from coconuts, olives, and avocados are extracted mechanically, instead of with chemicals, making them far healthier for you.
Choose unrefined oils which are labeled cold-pressed or extra-virgin.
Make sure your pans are safe for your fertility!
Take advantage of the holiday sales because it may be time to upgrade your pans if you’re using non-stick pans, especially those coated with Teflon.
The non-stick coating has toxic chemicals which might be affecting your fertility. So if your pan has scratches and scuff marks, it’s time to toss them.
The best non-stick pans are cast iron pans. They work really well. In fact, I use a cast iron pan to cook sticky foods like eggs and fish. I just make sure to smear a layer of butter so they don’t stick. The down side of cast iron pans are that they are heavy!
Ceramic pans are a lighter alternative that you can use. Get 100% ceramic pans, not just ceramic coated because underneath the coating can be cheap and dangerous materials. Although they will cost more, it’s an investment in your health and fertility and that of your future baby and it is worth having that peace of mind.
