[Fran]

Hi everyone! Join us on the 28th January at 12pm where we will be hosting our January power hour and answering all of your questions on nutrition, a vegan diet and whether eating plant based can help when trying to conceive. I will be joined by nutritionist and fertility specialist, who will be on hand to answer your questions and provide support and advice.
Its easy to join in on our power hours, all you need to do is log into this page and click on this thread. Once we are live, you can post questions to us during the hour.
Hope to see you all next week!

Fran

[Fran]

Hi all, a reminder about todays session at 12 where will be answering all of your questions about a vegan diet, nutrition and reproductive health. Please pop your questions over to us and we will get through as many we can over the hour.

Chat soon!
Fran

[Fran]

Hi all, we are now live for today’s power hour – send your questions over to this thread and we will answer them and provide advice and support.
thanks,
Fran

[Fran]

We have our first question:

Is it safe to follow a vegan diet while trying to conceive?

[Fran]

this is a great question and yes it is completely safe – as long as you are getting the nutrients that you need for your overall health and wellbeing. So making sure that you are getting a good amount of protein in your diet as well as vitamins and minerals. You can also take supplements to support your nutritional intake but do check with your fertility team before taking any supplements.

[Fran]

Our second question:

Does a vegan diet affect sperm quality or male fertility?

[Fran]

Another great question. A vegan diet itself will not affect your egg or sperm quality. There may be other factors that could impact your overall wellbeing if you are underweight for example, or deficient in vitamins or nutrients and this may impact our cells and egg and sperm are cells. But a vegan diet itself would not impact your eggs or sperm.

[Tasha]

Hi Fran,

Really glad this is a topic being discussed as I have a couple of questions:
1) Do I need to take supplements if I follow a vegan diet?
2) If I do, which supplements are good to take?
3) How do I know which brands to trust as there are so many out there now

[Fran]

Hi Tasha,
thank you!
You can get all of the nutrients and vitamins you need from a vegan diet. For example you can get a good amount of protein from things like tofu and nut milks, and good levels of iron from spinach and other green leafy vegetables. So its not always needed to take supplements when on a vegan diet programme but if you are trying to conceive then you should be taking a pre-conception supplement to ensure that you are getting the right levels of things like folic acid and Vitamin D and C. Most preconception supplements will have the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of vitamins and minerals in them so check that they are within the RDA. But places like Boots do their own brand of conception supplements and they do contain everything needed – just like some of the more expensive ones advertised.

[Fran]

Why is folic acid important before and during early pregnancy?

[Fran]

Folic acid is important before and in early pregnancy because it helps the baby’s brain and spinal cord form properly in the first few weeks after conception. Taking it reduces the risk of serious conditions like spina bifida, and it needs to be taken early, often before someone knows they’re pregnant.

[Fran]

Another submitted question:

Which vitamins and supplements should my partner take? He is vegan and goes to the gym every day! could this impact his sperm?

[Fran]

He could take some supplements to support overall wellbeing and sperm health if her is working out daily and to ensure he is getting all of the nutrients he needs. I would suggest the following:
Vitamin B12
Zinc and selenium
Omega-3 DHA/EPA (from an algae supplement)
Vitamin D

A good vegan multivitamin plus algae omega-3 usually covers this.

Regular exercise helps, but very intense training without enough rest or calories can lower testosterone and affect sperm so this is something he might need to be aware of.

[Fran]

Shall I stop having dairy and switch to plant based milks? We are due to start IVF soon so not sure if this would help?

[Fran]

You don’t need to stop dairy before IVF unless you have a medical reason. There’s no strong evidence that switching to plant milks improves IVF success.

If you do choose plant milks, make sure they’re fortified with calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Overall diet quality, key nutrients (like folic acid and iodine), and avoiding overly restrictive eating matter much more than cutting out dairy.

[Fran]

I will share some links below for those of you who are interested in following a vegan diet and the health benefits. If you are trying to conceive and thinking about switching to a vegan diet then its a good idea to do this gradually but also ensure that you are getting the essential vitamins and nutrients that you need.

Vegan Health Front Page

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/the-vegan-diet/

[Fran]

Thank you for all of the questions today – that’s all we have time for but please join us next month for our next power hour.
Take care,
Fran

[Author]

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