Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to improve chances of pregnancy. (Source: getty images)
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet is crucial for boosting fertility and increasing the chances of pregnancy. Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar recently shared some tips for eating healthy in case you are trying for pregnancy.
“The one thing that improves your chances of conception other than good sex, is insulin sensitivity. And to improve insulin sensitivity you must take the brave path of increasing your lean body weight. What you eat (and don’t) play a big role in that,” Diwekar wrote on Instagram.
Here are some food tips she suggested:
1. Avoid eating packaged foods, not just junk but also foods like cereals, juices and biscuits. Diwekar also advised against eating low-fat versions of yogurt, cheese and ice cream.
2. Add a pickle or chutney to your main meal every day. “These may not be taught to us as sources of Vit B12, but it is exactly these essential-fat packed side dishes that help us assimilate and even make our own B12. One tsp of pickle to breakfast or lunch, and two-three tsp of chutney to lunch or dinner,” Diwekar suggested.
3. Set curd at home. Curd has a lot of benefits — it has diverse strains of gut bacteria, essential amino acids and B vitamins, said the nutritionist. “The probiotic yogurt in the market is no match for home-set curd. It is also a good antidote to breakouts and sweet cravings during PMS and it will help keep acidity under control once pregnant,” she added.
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4. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Improved diet diversity is good for the intestinal mucosa, probiotic bacteria and insulin sensitivity.
5. Avoid overeating. Eat slower than usual so that smaller morsels of food enter the stomach and improve the micronutrient assimilation and insulin response. “Follow the Mental Meal Map where you first visualize how much you want to eat and then start with half the amount,” the nutritionist wrote. Make sure you concentrate on the food while eating, without gadgets, so that you are tuned into your stomach signals.
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Along with this, have three to five tablespoons of ghee daily.