If you dream of having a family but maybe aren’t ready to have one right now, there are ways to safeguard your fertility in the interim. Whether you’re currently young and single and still dating around or a married couple looking to wait a little while to have kids, everyone is entitled to family planning on their own timeline. But waiting doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps now to protect your ability to have a family in the future. Here are some ways you can go about doing this to plan proactively for the family you want to have down the line—whenever that time may come.
Maintain a Healthy Body Weight
One factor that can impact both male and female fertility is carrying extra weight. To be proactive about protecting your fertility, maintain a healthy body weight. Do so by pairing regular exercise with a nutritious diet, getting enough sleep, and keeping stress levels low when possible.
Make Relaxation a Habit
In today’s world, it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the stresses that bring down our day-to-day. But allowing yourself to make relaxing a habit is a healthy choice, even when it comes to your long-term fertility! Spend time in nature, get regular quality sleep, and disconnect from mobile devices and screens to really tap into relaxation. Not only is it good for your health, but you’ll be glad you did it!
Don’t Smoke
Smoking is another habit that can have a negative effect on the fertility of men and women. In 2017, people between the ages of 25 and 44 made up the highest percentage of smokers in the U.S. With that being said, avoiding smoking completely or quitting if you currently smoke is one of the most effective ways to protect your fertility.
Drink Plenty of Water
Water is so important to your overall health, and being well hydrated with quality water can help your fertility in the long run. It’s true: something this simple can have an effect on your ability to have a baby down the line. Drink filtered water that is free of chlorine. When you ingest chlorine, the possibility of it acting as an endocrine disruptive that affects your thyroid is present. That could have a negative long-term effect on your ability to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy.
Limit Alcohol Consumption
Avoiding alcohol can greatly help you stay fertile, especially for females. Over-drinking is associated with ovulation disorders, so this is definitely something to consider. If you’re actively trying to get pregnant, you may want to consider cutting out alcohol completely.
Use Protection
Sexually transmitted infections are one of the major risk factors that can have long-term negative effects on fertility for both men and women, even after the infection is successfully treated. Using protection whenever you have sex can greatly reduce your chances of contracting one of these infections. Even if you’re on birth control, use condoms to protect against these infections when with a new partner especially. This can save not only your fertility, but a lot of pain and inconvenience associated with contracting one of these infections to begin with.
Don’t Over-Caffeinate
Drinking more than one or two cups of java per day can do a number on your body’s fertility health. Again, this applies more to females than males, but try to curb your caffeine addiction to keep your hormones in check when it comes to fertility. If you need that morning brew to get you going, rest assured that one or two cups a day has not been found to be harmful to fertility. Just don’t go overboard.
Who knew these simple life changes could greatly protect something so important? Protecting your fertility is important if you want to eventually have a family. Taking these simple steps now can really help you have children later—and nothing can replace that experience if it’s what you wish to have!
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