Fertility Diet and Eliminating Coffee, Even Decaf

QUESTION from a reader: You mentioned in your talk that there were a lot of other properties in coffee apart from caffeine that were detrimental to fertility. I'm interested in knowing a little more about that. Also, what about Swiss filtered decaf coffee?

ANSWER: We say no to coffee, even decaf coffee, because, caffeine aside, roasted coffee contains hundreds of chemicals, of which about half of those tested were found to be carcinogenic on rodents (Ames, Bruce N; Gold, Lois Swirsky [1998]. "The causes and prevention of cancer: the role of environment". Biotherapy 11 [2–3]: 205–20). Also, many of the chemicals in coffee and decaf coffee irritate the stomach lining causing an increase of stomach acid, leading to digestive disorders, something you don’t want when trying to conceive. You want to be as easy on digestion as possible and maintain a slightly alkaline pH in your body. Coffee can also hamper the absorption of essential minerals and vitamins, such as magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, and B’s, and it is also one of most heavily pesticide sprayed crops.

Harsh chemicals are used in the decaf process. With organic, Swiss water-filtered decaf, you are getting a much better product (the decaf process is not nearly as harsh), but for what I’ve listed above, coffee and decaf still have to go while trying to conceive and while pregnant. My theory is that if something has a chance of getting in the way of conception, it comes off the list, at least temporarily until after the baby is born.

All the best to you!

photo by: http://www.jacksonscoffeeandgelato.com/

Fertility and Eating: It’s a Habit

For many years I could not sit at my computer or work or study without a cup of coffee. I needed a cup first thing in the morning too. I just couldn’t think unless I had that coffee. I’d mope, get distracted and finally give in and grab a cup. I had to have it. Otherwise, how else was I going to get my work done? And getting my work done was more important than whatever the coffee may or may not have been doing to my body.

Whenever I traveled to foreign countries, however, especially to places where coffee was not accessible (the jungles of Belize, for example), I did not have my daily doses of coffee, and I didn’t miss them, either. Didn’t even think about them.

I could let my coffee habit go because, while traveling, I was completely out of my usual routine, out of my habits. The sensory indicators (my office, computer, house and so on) were not there. Soon as I came home, though, I’d be right back where I left off.

We need our routine and our habits (good ones) because they help simplify our lives, streamline them. To break a habit that’s not working for us, we need to shake up our routines, change something, or teach ourselves to respond differently to something, and practice that change long enough so that it then becomes a habit.

With coffee, I had to prove to myself that I actually could think and work without it. I had to create a new or different habit to help me. I substituted herbal tea and every time I thought I had to have coffee or else I couldn’t finish my work, I reminded myself that it just wasn’t true, and I’ll prove it!

You’ve heard the saying: it takes 21 days (3 weeks) for something to become a habit. I’d say that depends on what it is and how attached you are to that habit—for some habits, it could take a little longer. But this is the reason it’s so important not to cheat the first three weeks on a fertility diet, once you’ve eased into it and started in earnest. It’ll take that long for some of your old cravings to subside (esp. for sugar and processed foods), and it will take at least that long for you to make a habit out of eating healthy.

So if you eliminate dairy, keep it out for at least three weeks, until you no longer miss the cheese so much. After that, your willpower will be much stronger.

Another aid to willpower is your desire, or motivation. I found that nothing helps me stick to a pure, wholesome, healthy diet more than the desire to create a baby. Every time I thought to have a cup of decaf coffee or tortilla chips, I would ask myself if that would be good for the baby or not. Did I want to take a chance that it wasn’t? I’d almost always skip the cheat.

After many months on a fertility diet, eating that way became a habit for life, long after we brought home our beautiful baby. I just eat that way now. I only “cheat” when I go out to eat (because it’s usually not organic), or with a couple of my biggest weaknesses, namely decaf coffee and the occasional glass of wine. If healthy eating can become your new habit, keeping you strong, healthy and feeling good for life, this alone is a wonderful gift.

For more fertility diet tips, click here.
Here’s a link on breaking bad habits.

What NOT to Drink on a Fertility Diet?

Last week, I talked about what’s best to drink on a fertility diet. What about what you shouldn’t drink?

Alcohol, for one, and hope it’s obvious why. Not only does it disrupt the absorption of nutrients, create more work for your body (and liver!), and weaken your immune system, but it also raises prolactin levels which can mess with ovulation.

Now, I understand how nice a glass of wine is at the end of the day to unwind and de-stress, but if you’re going for a baby, you have to find more body-nourishing ways to de-stress. No messing around here! According to Fern Reiss in her book, The Infertility Diet, there was a study that showed even one drink a week can reduce a couple’s odds of conceiving in that month by 40%. Enough said.

Caffeine is another substance that needs to come off the list, in all the forms it takes: coffee, tea, chocolate (sorry) and most definitely soda. Soda, by the way, has way too much sugar and artificial ingredients. Don’t even think about consuming sodas, even the sugar-free, caffeine-free variety.

Getting back to caffeine, not only does it negatively affect fertility, but has been implicated in higher rates of miscarriage. Even the decaffeinated versions of coffee and tea have some caffeine in them, and with coffee, harsh chemicals are usually used in the decaffeination process, so I say no to that too.

What about juices? you ask. Those are healthy, right? I touched on this in last week’s blog. Basically, I said yes” to veggie juice and “no” to fruit juice, unless you water it down and drink less of it. Why? Because fruit juices tend to have too much concentrated levels of sugar. Better to eat the fruits whole.

If you do consume fruits juice (or veggie juice for that matter), make sure it’s organic, and it’s from the supermarket, check labels to make sure there’s nothing else in there. You’d be surprised what gets added in.

What about all the beverages out there on supermarket shelves? Drop them all. Most beverages on the market today contain artificial ingredients, preservatives, additives and/or added sugar. Stay clear from all of these, most notably sodas, even if they’re sugar-free and caffeine-free. Your body does not need the artificial ingredients it contains.

The only beverage your body really needs is purified water. Not much else.