We are all aware that trying to conceive can be a daunting task. As I approach 40, I am still interested in the possibility of having more children. So it is important for me to maintain healthy egg quality and there are three things that you can do to in order to improve it. So if that’s something you want to to improve, keep reading!
Go To Sleep
The first one, it’s perhaps the most important thing you can do not only for egg quality but for health is get good sleep. So for all of you out there who are night owls, toil the night shift and sleep during the day, who cast off your circadian rhythms, whatever it might be, you’ve never slept. This is a real struggle for me because I have a difficult time sleeping more than 6 hours.
So the ideal length of time to sleep is eight hours. Additionally, it’s not just about getting eight hours of sleep, it’s about also when you get those eight hours of sleep, our bodies are preconditioned to go to sleep and start to wind down when the sun goes down. So as the seasons change and the year progresses, we’re going to potentially need to go to sleep a little bit earlier or a little bit later. You know, they say that in the winter time we want to hibernate, we want to sleep more.
That’s very normal because we’re going with the regular progression of the sun. So the daylight goes down earlier. We can go to sleep earlier in the summertime, the sunbathe goes down much last-minute. We can stay up last-minute and perhaps sleep a tad less, or really get the same amount of hours of sleep, only a different time frames.
So in general, we’re looking for eight hours of sleep if we’re going to be a little bit lenient than seven. And ideally you’re doing that from somewhere between 9 and 10 o’clock at night. When you should be going to sleep on the late end of that, it should be no later than 11. But ideally you’re getting in bed 9:30, 10 o’clock and starting to wind down and hopefully falling asleep. This I have no problems with. It is just staying asleep longer than 6 hours. So get your sleep!!!
Cut Out Sugar
In this blog I have talked about nutrition as a whole and how to improve your nutrition, but sugar is a key ingredient that we need to adjust. Number two, remove sugar. I tend to think about eating fertility friendly foods, but I hardly consider my sugar intake. However, I am aware that I consume way too much sugar and way too much processed sugar. So make it a goal to reduce your sugar intake in all forms except for maybe those that are natural and even then try to minimize your fruit intake.
Too much sugar and carbohydrates in the body can increase inflammation. Inflammation disrupts all sorts of issues, or causes all sorts of issues, disrupts function and can absolutely disrupt ovarian function and health and egg quality. So try to cut out sugar.
Relax
And number three, stop trying to accomplish too much. As women we tend try to over do it. It’s all about what have we done? What have we accomplished? Have we reached our goals? Whatever it might be. It’s not to say we shouldn’t have goals, those are totally fine, but maybe we need to learn how to relax. I’m not talking about just giving up and going with the flow. I am saying that we need to learn effective ways to help us relax. Rather it be yoga, meditation, going for long walks, we need to take the time to “take time” for ourselves. Easier said than done? I know right! I have found fertility yoga really helps me when I am getting stressed out.
So what we know we can do to improve our egg quality is: sleep, cut out sugar and relax. Of course there are many more things we can do, but this should get you started. I am always curious to know what others do or find helpful when trying to conceive so let me know in the comments or visit the Facebook page!
