IVF and Nutrition: Diet Before and During + What to Avoid
Photo credit: Bedbible.com
If you're navigating the emotional and physical challenges of trying to conceive, you're likely already aware of how overwhelming the journey can feel—even more so if you’ve taken to leap to start fertility treatments like IVF. I know, I have been there myself.
Between the hormonal fluctuations, the medical appointments, and the uncertainty of the outcome, it’s easy to feel like you’ve lost control. But what if the answer to improving your chances of a successful IVF outcome is something you can control? Enter IVF and Nutrition—a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of the IVF process.
Many hopeful parents-to-be focus mainly on the injections and procedures, but what you eat before and during IVF plays a significant role in supporting your body through this demanding process. From boosting egg and sperm quality to reducing inflammation, the right nutrition can make a world of difference. If you're feeling uncertain or frustrated with your progress, understanding the nutritional foundations behind your fertility could be the key to a more hopeful future.
In this guide, we'll explore everything you need to know about how IVF and nutrition are closely connected and how you can optimize your diet to improve your fertility outcomes.
Can nutrition affect fertility?
100%! Your nutritional status informs how well your body is functioning and has huge impacts on your fertility and potential IVF success. IVF and nutrition are especially correlated, so if you are going through IVF—which I imagine you are if you’ve landed here—you want to focus on upping your nutrient intake across the board.
How can I maximize my IVF success?
Give yourself 90 days before starting IVF to really get your nutrition habits honed in and focus on nurturing egg and sperm quality. You can also head over to this blog post to learn all about boosting your egg and sperm quality, which will be so beneficial for increasing your chances of IVF success the first time.
In addition to the dietary changes you can make to maximize your chances of IVF success, you also want to focus on key lifestyle habits in the 90 days leading up to treatment.
Quit smoking if you do to improve egg and sperm quality
Engage in light-moderate exercises like walking and yoga to reduce stress and support hormone regulation.
Prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep each night and incorporate stress-management techniques, such as mindfulness or deep breathing, to create a calm and balanced environment for fertility.
Take care of your mental health by seeking support from loved ones or a therapist, as emotional well-being plays a significant role in your IVF journey.
By implementing these lifestyle changes along with diet and nutrition, you'll create the best possible conditions for a successful IVF outcome.
What is the best diet for IVF?
If you are looking at the research, a mediterranean diet seems to be associated with the best IVF results. But as I discuss in this article, there are some confounding factors that may bias why it is showing to be so beneficial. However, if you are not eating a whole foods diet already, you will greatly benefit from switching to a way of eating like the Mediterranean Diet.
Studies have actually shown a lower carb intake to be especially beneficial for IVF success, especially those with PCOS or insulin resistance, due to increased implantation and pregnancy rates. If you are following a true mediterranean diet, your carb intake will likely be a lot higher than the ideal. Don’t fear animal protein and healthy fats from quality, humanely-raised animals. Focus on a wide-variety of high quality whole foods and getting enough protein.
So what is enough protein?
Research suggests that protein levels of 25-35% and a lower carbohydrate diet (<40% of caloric intake) can increase pregnancy outcomes more than four times compared to lower protein, higher carb diets. Not to mention, 100% grass-fed red meat is incredibly nutrient-dense.
If you are relying on whole grains to deliver your protein and nutrients, you are getting way more carbohydrates than protein, and this can lead to blood sugar imbalances and chronic inflammation. Adding in high quality meat and limiting the amount of starchy carbohydrates you intake—especially during the first half of the IVF cycle (before embryo transfer)—can allow for a more nutrient dense stable environment for quality egg and embryo development and successful implantation.
What should I eat before and during IVF?
Focus on incorporating protein, healthy fats, and a wide variety of plant-based foods into your diet. I recommend prioritizing the addition of nutrient-dense whole foods, as they provide far more nutrients compared to processed packaged foods, which are often just empty calories. You need all the nutrients you can get—after all, you’re trying to grow a baby!
It's crucial to ensure you're getting ample amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients as a solid foundation before starting the IVF process. This is typically best achieved by following a whole foods-based omnivorous diet. It’s also not a time to restrict your calories. Listen to your body—when you're hungry, nourish it with a nutrient-dense snack like nuts, seeds, eggs, hummus, or cheese.
Instead of focusing on what to avoid, aim to add in a variety of nutrient-rich foods, and you’ll be setting yourself up for success.
Photo credit: Jenna Hamra
Best foods to eat before IVF treatment
Like mentioned above, your best chances of IVF success actually start to improve the longer before treatment you begin eating in a nutrient-dense, low-inflammation manner. So while it’s important to eat these foods during IVF, if you can start eating them beforehand—even better!
Healthy fats: avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, grass-fed butter, tallow, and if well tolerated, full-fat dairy. Full-fat dairy has been shown to be beneficial for IVF outcomes, so don’t fear saturated fat either. There is some advice out there about switching to low-fat dairy, which is the exact opposite of what is recommended by the research! So if eating dairy, always go for organic, grass-fed, and full-fat. Dairy is a key source of iodine, especially if you are not consuming 2-3 servings of fish per week, so if it is well tolerated, I say go for it!
Protein: pasture-raised red meat (especially organ meats like liver and heart—the highest natural source of the IVF darling CoQ10!), pasture-raised poultry and pork, low-mercury fish, eggs, pasture-raised organic full-fat high-protein dairy like skyr and Greek yogurt, nuts, seeds, and legumes.
Liver!: This was already mentioned but deserves its own spotlight. Small amounts of organ meats like liver or heart work wonders for increasing your nutrient status. These were nature’s original prenatal vitamins—and for good reason! Liver specifically is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet, and besides containing almost all nutrients needed for healthy conception in their most bioavailable form (as you’ll see in the critical nutrient list below), it also contains all the cofactors needed for optimal utilization that just cannot possibly be supplied in a prenatal vitamin. Many ancestral cultures prioritized feeding organ meats to a couple before conception to prepare their bodies for optimal conception success! Since liver is so vitamin-dense, especially in vitamin A, you only need a small amount. Best to limit it to 3 oz/week. If you can’t stomach it, a freeze-dried form works great!
Legumes: these contain plenty of fiber and help to keep your hormones cycling through your body and your gut microbiome happy and healthy.
Brightly colored fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and leafy greens: different colored foods contain differing phytonutrients that each have their own beneficial impacts in our body. Eating a wide variety of colors throughout your day ensures you are getting a wide variety of these beneficial compounds.
Electrolytes: salt your food to taste with natural salt (Himalayan, Celtic sea salt, or Real Salt), nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate for magnesium, avocados for potassium, and full-fat dairy, bone-in sardines, and chia seeds for calcium.
Related: Why how your food was made matters
IVF foods to avoid or limit
Ultra-Processed Foods: These are nearly devoid of nutrients and typically high in refined oils and sugars. Best to avoid whenever possible.
Refined Flour: Again, these are very high glycemic, which spikes blood sugar, and with most of the nutrient-dense portion removed, they are devoid of nutrients as well. As an aside, I also don’t recommend doing extreme eliminations like going totally gluten or grain-free if you don’t have a known food sensitivity, more so because it tends to add stress if it isn’t something you are used to doing. And in my experience, it isn’t the magic bullet many tout it to be. Instead, opt for sprouted grain or whole wheat sourdough bread and eat grains as a whole in moderation.
Refined Sugars and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (e.g., soda, energy drinks): These add in tons of calories but zero nutrients to your diet, and increased intake is actually correlated with lower pregnancy outcomes.
Trans Fats, Fried Foods: Trans fats are one of the things that have been consistently linked to poor fertility outcomes and should be avoided. Anything with “hydrogenated” on the label and margarine should be avoided. Frying food can also lead to the formation of trans fats, so this should be limited.
Industrial Seed Oils: like corn, canola, or soybean oil. These increase the Omega 6:Omega 3 fatty acid ratio in your body, which leads to inflammation and a less hospitable environment for implantation.
Alcohol: If you can, it’s best to act like you’re pregnant and avoid it, but evidence suggests that moderate amounts of alcohol intake (>4 drinks/week) do not appear to affect pregnancy outcomes.
Limit Caffeine to <200 mg/day for Best Pregnancy Outcomes
Vitamins and supplements
Ideally, you’ve been taking your prenatal for a few months prior to starting IVF. But if not, start taking it now. This article has an overview of supplements that may be beneficial for IVF success, but definitely discuss with your fertility clinician.
Things like Omega 3’s can be very beneficial, but you may be put on a low-dose aspirin which also has a blood-thinning effect and may be too much. So definitely always double check before starting anything other than your prenatal.
Foods to avoid during IVF injections
During IVF injections, your body undergoes hormonal changes and hopefully multiple follicles grow, which can lead to increased bloating and discomfort. One way to help manage this is by reducing your intake of high-carb foods. Reducing carbohydrate intake can also help insulin resistance, potentially improving the ovarian response and follicle quality during IVF.
Additionally, you may want to limit legumes, such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas, as they are known to cause bloating and digestive discomfort in some individuals due to their high fiber content and oligosaccharides. Since you’ll likely already be feeling extremely bloated due to the IVF injections, avoiding foods that exacerbate this discomfort can be helpful. Focusing on easily digestible, nutrient-dense foods will support your body with the right fuel while minimizing digestive distress.
What are the best snacks after embryo transfer?
With all the appointments, you’ll likely be on the go a lot during IVF, so it’s important to plan ahead for healthy snacks.
During injections and egg retrieval: Focus on lower-carb snacks like cheese, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, and cut veggies with homemade ranch dip.
After embryo transfer: Focus on foods with vitamin E, healthy fats, and you can also up your complex carbs a bit. Think sunflower seed or almond butter on sprouted toast, or whole grain crackers with hummus. I also like Aloha or Rx bars for on-the-go quick bites during this part of the cycle.
Key Nutrients for Optimal Fertility and IVF Success
IVF and Nutrition go hand in hand, and micronutrient status is especially important during preconception and fertility treatments. A clinical review showed how beneficial proper micronutrient status was for improving fertility and IVF outcomes. The nutrients outlined below are some of the most important for impacting egg and sperm health, regulating hormones, and all the components necessary for optimal fertility and response to IVF treatments. So be sure to keep reading and implement some of the best food sources in your diet as soon as you can!
Vitamin A
Importance for fertility: Critical for egg quality and proper fertilization, embryo development and proper cell division
Best food sources: grass-fed liver, butternut squash, sweet potatoes
B Vitamins (including folate)
Importance for fertility: Critical for sperm and egg quality, maturation, fertilization and implantation and DNA synthesis. A study showed that higher folate and B12 status increased chances of live birth by up to two times.
Best food sources: lentils (folate), asparagus (folate), grass-fed liver (folate and B12), sardines (B12), pasture-raised eggs (B12)
Vitamin C
Importance for fertility: Potent antioxidant necessary for reducing oxidative damage and proper DNA synthesis. Also supports healthy progesterone levels.
Best food sources: camu camu powder, acerola cherry, bell peppers
Vitamin D
Importance for fertility: Important for regulating hormone levels including insulin for optimal blood sugar balance, adequate vitamin D levels are linked to increased fertility and a higher chance of conception.
Best food sources: salmon, sardines, fortified whole milk
Vitamin E
Importance for fertility: Potent antioxidant protecting egg and sperm cells and DNA from oxidative stress, and may also play a role in improving endometrial lining and implantation.
Best food sources: sunflower seeds, avocados, almonds
Vitamin K2
Importance for fertility: plays an important role in proper calcium and vitamin D absorption and utilization and effects metabolism of hormones such as estrogen, as well as optimal sperm maturation.
Best food sources: grass-fed liver, grass-fed butter, hard fermented cheeses such as parmesan or aged gouda.
Choline
Importance for fertility: critical for proper phospholipid synthesis for optimal membrane structure of egg and sperm cells.
Best food sources: pasture-raised eggs, grass-fed liver, chicken breast, sockeye salmon
Iodine
Importance for fertility: critical for proper thyroid function, which is necessary for optimal fertility
Best food sources: seaweed, seafood, grass-fed dairy products
Selenium
Importance for fertility: Mineral with antioxidant properties that is critical for both male and female fertility, especially for proper spermatogenesis
Best food sources: brazil nuts, oysters, pork, tilapia
Zinc
Importance for fertility: Mineral with antioxidant properties foundational to sperm and egg cell development and proper functioning. Zinc also plays a role in proper sex hormone synthesis and regulation.
Best food sources: oysters, red meat, grass-fed liver, pumpkin seeds
Iron
Importance for fertility: Ensures proper oxygenation via hemoglobin production to reproductive organs, and supports healthy ovulation and menstrual cycles. Iron-based anemia may also increase risk of infertility.
Best food sources: red meat, grass-fed liver, lentils
Magnesium
Importance for fertility: Critical mineral necessary for over 300 enzymatic reactions, proper hormone regulation and sperm and egg quality.
Best food sources: oats, dark chocolate, almonds, chia seeds
Omega 3 (DHA+EPA)
Importance for fertility: Essential omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA in particular, are anti-inflammatory and important for healthy development of both sperm and egg cells. Omega 3 supplementation has been shown to improve fertilization and pregnancy rates during IVF.
Best food sources: sardines, salmon, atlantic mackerel
Photo credit: RDNE Project
IVF preparation checklist
This all can seem like a lot, but taking it step by step will ensure your success. Use the following checklist to make sure you’re hitting all the bases.
Take an audit of where you can start to make nutrient dense food swaps in your diet. For example, if you are used to eating only chicken, add in high-quality red meat once a week. Or topping your morning oatmeal with chia and pumpkin seeds.
Talk to your partner about joining you with these diet and lifestyle changes.
Ask doctor for bloodwork up to understand what nutrient deficiencies you may already be having.
Talk to your doctor about supplements you are taking or considering.
Celebrate the amazing job you are doing to bring your baby into this world and how incredible your body is!
Download my Ultimate Fertility Checklist to make sure you’re hitting you’re taking all the best steps to improve your fertility and bring you closer to your baby!
In Summary
IVF and nutrition are closely intertwined, and the nutritional choices you make can have a profound impact on the success of your fertility journey. By prioritizing a nutrient-dense, whole foods diet that includes protein, healthy fats, and a wide variety of plant-based foods, you’re giving your body the best possible foundation for IVF success. Coupled with healthy lifestyle habits—such as limiting alcohol, quitting smoking, managing stress, and ensuring proper rest—you'll be setting yourself up for a more balanced, hopeful experience. As you embark on your IVF journey, remember that taking control of your nutrition and overall well-being can significantly increase your chances of a successful outcome.
If you’re ready to take your fertility journey to the next level, explore my 12 week Fertility Transformations Program, individual coaching or consider booking your free 20-minute fertility audit to receive the most important action step you can take for your fertility today.
Together, we can create a plan that’s tailored to your unique needs and goals, helping you feel empowered and confident every step of the way.
