Does fasting affect fertility for those who are trying to get pregnant?

If you and your partner are trying to get pregnant, there must be a concern that fasting will affect fertility. This concern is quite reasonable because of the possibility of reduced dietary nutrition in the body due to fasting. So, does fasting really affect fertility?

Does fasting affect female fertility?

In a study conducted by researchers at Harvard University in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), it was found that limiting calorie intake in adult female mice could prevent the appearance of abnormalities in pregnancy.

In this study, the scientists monitored two groups of adult female mice aged three months to one year. This age is the age at which the quality of the eggs and fertility of mice are drastically reduced.

One group was fed as much as possible throughout adulthood, while the other group was restricted in food intake for seven months and was only given a large amount of food until the end of the study.

As a result, the group of mice who were allowed to eat freely experienced a decrease in the number of eggs produced during ovulation.

Meanwhile, eggs from a group of mice that were restricted in food intake looked more like healthy adult female mouse eggs at prime reproductive age.

Research on other animals, such as female monkeys, has come to the same conclusion. So, it is likely that fasting will not make a woman's fertility worse.

A study states that fasting has many benefits, including extending a woman's fertile period and even increasing the number of eggs produced.

This is all due to reduced calorie intake in your body during fasting which reduces blood sugar levels and then affects reproductive hormones. Thus, it provides smoothness in the menstrual cycle and egg production.

How does fasting affect sperm quality in men?

Fasting also will not have a bad impact on sperm quality. Fasting can actually improve the function of the reproductive organs. Acid and alkaline levels in the body can become more balanced when fasting so that the function of various organs in the body increases.

With the cessation of food intake for a long time, various types of bacteria, viruses, germs, and dangerous cells such as cancer cells will not be able to survive.

In addition, fasting also provides an opportunity for the digestive organs to rest, so that various toxins, dirt, waste that can damage health can be removed.

This is what makes sperm quality increase, because various toxins, feces, and dregs decrease during the fasting month.

To maintain sperm quality and body health, it is better if you consume a balanced nutritional diet by increasing your intake of water after breaking the fast or suhoor.

However, this food intake must also be balanced by regulating adequate rest periods so that the body's health is maintained.

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