Amberlee Lovell's article on newsok.com covers 8 things every woman does that could be making her infertile. Some of these items are pretty obvious, but you might be surprised by others. Here is the full article:
Infertility is extremely complicated. Some women undergo years of trying to conceive, only to be met with one heartbreaking negative pregnancy test after another. There is usually no simple answer to why you can't get pregnant, and this article won't try to attempt to address all of them.
Certain medical conditions and chronic diseasescan be huge problems when trying to have a baby. You are generally born with or develop those issues, but avoiding these small things every day can help prevent unnecessary complications in getting pregnant.
Oreos may seem like the perfect remedy for your horrible day, but filling your body with junk rather than the nutrients it desperately needs can affect your reproductive hormones. You need foods with monounsaturated fats, zinc and vitamins B6 and D. Replace your cheesy crackers with sunflower seeds, throw an avocado in your salad, poach an egg for breakfast or make your pancakes out of buckwheat. These will help you get some of those nutrients you're starving for.
Doctors don't have all the data for why this negatively affects your reproductive system, but stress may be the cause for about 30 percent of infertility problems. Telling someone in the middle of a freak-out to calm down has never been helpful, but find what helps relieve your stress and it might just do wonders for you.
Phthalates are synthetic chemicals found in many cosmetics and plastics. A studyfound that they may be limiting the ability for an egg to implant. All U.S. women are exposed to them, but limit your exposure as much as possible by not using cosmetics that have dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP) or dimethyl phthalate (DMP) in the ingredients.
Scented products tend to have phthalates, but the FDA doesn't require fragrances to list ingredients. Pass up products that are unnecessarily scented.
Your weight greatly affects your periods. If you are an extreme in either of these categories, it will be very difficult for you to get pregnant.
If you are taking medication, it could possibly be affecting your fertility. Some meds--especially antidepressants--interfere with your hormones. Talk to your doctor about whether this could be happening to you, but NEVER stop taking medications without your doctor's recommendation first.
Weirdly, your cervical mucus has to be just right for you to get pregnant. It helps the sperm make it to the egg. But if it's too thick, it can cause infertility, ob-gyn Alyssa Dweck told Women's Health. Not only can smoking affect your cervical mucas, it is estimated to be a problem in 13 percent of infertility cases. It's the underlying factor for a myriad of many other problems. Even if you don't smoke, being around secondhand smoke for six or more hours every day will make you 36 percent MORE likely to be infertile.
Some lubricants affect the sperm, which makes it much more difficult to get pregnant, according to a State University of New York Upstate Medical Center study. The study discovered that Pre-Seed was a safe lube to use if you were trying to conceive. The study discovered that baby oil or mineral oil is also a safe lube, but NEVER use other oils without knowing if they are safe or not. Sesame oil, for example, slows the movement of the sperm.