As someone who ate reasonably well before trying to get pregnant, I certainly wasn’t a perfect example of a ‘healthy eater’, says Tracey Bambrough, co-founder of IVF babble.
I broke the rules a lot – I loved chocolate, a glass of wine and a wide variety of foods. I didn’t stop to consider what the nutrients were in the foods I was consuming.
I certainly never juiced! I would come across the odd article in magazines about its benefits, but that’s as far as it went.
On my second and last attempt at pregnancy through IVF in my forties, however, I did wonder about the power of a cup of vegetable or fruit juice each day for fertility. I decided to give it a go. There was nothing to lose from trying.
My juicing regime!
So, my juice each morning was made up of kale, two apples, ginger, banana, lemon juice, one teaspoon of spirulina and fresh apple juice (not concentrate), blended in my new Nutribullet. Although I found it quite hard to take at first, I got used to it and in fact I love having these juices even today, 15 months after giving birth to twins.
Was it the juice? Of course not on its own, but it was one of many lifestyle alterations that I made and I feel it did help. It certainly increased my vitality and wellbeing and I juiced myself throughout most of the pregnancy because it made me feel great. I did have a huge aversion to kale at around 3 months pregnant which did nothing for my morning sickness, but replaced that with two teaspoons of spirulina instead.
Juicing for fertility should really be just once a day, for me it was at breakfast. Or sometimes I would pour it into my lidded cup, similar to those sold in Starbucks, take it in the car with me and sip on the way to work.
So, you may ask, what are the benefits of juicing?
There are many. The nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes that your body needs can be consumed in just one glass. You don’t have to sit down and eat lumps of kale, spirulina, slices of ginger – you can bag all the goodness up and drink in one go. Additionally because the vegetables and fruits are raw you will not lose any micronutrients that you would through normal cooking process. Juicing is a great way to mask the flavour of vegetables that you may not like, but are going to be so good for you.
What can you juice?
You can juice any fruit or vegetable. Those that are popular for cleansing and healing properties include dark leafy greens (particularly kale, spinach, and collard greens), carrots, celery, parsley, cilantro, cabbage, apples, lemons, limes, ginger, cucumbers, beets, oranges, grapefruits, kiwi, red peppers… the possibilities are endless!
Play around with different flavour combinations until you find your favourite. Start with flavours you enjoy and then get adventurous.
Keep to organic where possible
I do recommend that the vegetables and fruit are organic and washed properly before consuming. It is reported that pesticides that are sometimes used on non-organic foods can have an adverse affect on fertility.
To keep costs down, I would freeze the kale, which goes off quite quickly, and do the same for other vegetables and fruit that age within a couple of days of purchase.
It certainly worked for me and many of my friends who also did the IVF journey. We have included some fantastic juicing recipes which I hope you will get to love.