I mentioned on the ttc3 thread that I went to see a reflexologist and nutritionist at the end of last week about my stress levels and not being able to conceive after just over a year of trying. For anyone who doesn't "know" me, I'm 35 and have a dd who is nearly 2 and a half. No probs conceiving her and I know I'm ovulating and dh's sperm is ok as we've had premliminary tests. However, I do think stress is a major factor in my not getting pg, hence me seeing this lady last week.
Apart from the actual reflexology which was very intense and VERY painful in parts (because I'm such a wreck apparently!) she gave me some basic tips on improving my diet. Obviously a lot of what she said won't apply to everyone as we're all different and have a variety of diets, but this is a summary of what she said:
- My diet's generally very good (I don't eat junk or processed food; not very much sugar at all, etc) but I need more protein at every meal. You need lots of (good) protein to kick-start conception off. I eat fish and dairy but no meat so she suggested protein from: brown basmati rice, quinoa (it's a type of grain that you use like you would rice in meals), beans and lentils and hummus.
- A handful of mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and linseeds - more of these last ones than the others) on my breakfast, in smoothies or as a snack mid-morning/afternoon AND/OR handful of mixed unsalted nuts.
- Millet as a good source of carbohydrate
- At least 6 glasses of water a day. We've just bought a water filter, which another source suggested.
- Little or preferably no alcohol (if you must, stick to red wine and don't overindulge. Alcohol kills off vitamin c amongst others and so is undoing the good you do when you eat nutritious food)
- No tea or coffee - go for herbal/fruit
- Dh to take a multi vitamin and mineral supplement. Apparently, just taking zinc on its own isn't very effective and it helps to take it with vit D or A.
I'm also going to take a thyroid test if I don't get pg this month to see if that's having an effect.
Hope this is of help to anyone interested!