Nutrition

(a) What I'd Expect to Eat in a Day

Breakfast: organic cage-free eggs, fruit

Snack: nuts (soaked), fruit

Lunch: salad, veggies, avocado, beans, olives, pasture-raised cheese

Snack: green smoothie (1 cup orange juice or almond milk, or combo of the two, 2 big handfuls of greens, 1-2 cups combination of frozen mango and/or berries)

Dinner: grass-fed beef, tomato, salad, fermented food like sauerkraut

Alternate snack or dessert: brownies made of walnuts, unsweetened coconut, honey or dates, cocoa powder, eggs, salt, butter and/or coconut oil, and baking soda

Flavor any of the above with cold-pressed olive oil, honey, vinegar, salt, pepper, or sugar-free and MSG-free seasoning

(b) Phytic Acid, Grains, and Soaking

Phytic acid naturally occurs in grains, beans, and nuts as a pesticide (I believe), but it also prevents absorption of vitamins and minerals when one consumes it. But it can be minimized from these foods by soaking. For example, I soak dried beans in filtered water for 24 hours before rinsing and then cooking. I soak walnuts and almonds in filtered water and a tablespoon of salt for about 8 hours; then I rinse, and store the nuts in the fridge or freezer. I could soak grains, but I find it cumbersome, so I simply avoid eating grains at all because of the phytic acid present. I often eat canned organic beans instead of cooking my own beans, and I just rinse them well in a vinegar-water solution spray in a colander. Sprouted grain flours are available, and when I do eat grains I usually limit them to Ezekiel Bread or food I make myself with One Degree flour or oats.

(c) Food's Effect on Hormones

Certain foods are high in estrogen and progesterone. So I minimized eating foods with estrogen altogether (because phytoestrogens are excessive but progesterone is typically harder to get), and progesterone is super important for supporting a healthy luteal phase, which was a weakness for me. But if I did eat estrogenic foods, I only ate them in the follicular phase and never in the luteal phase. Below are some of my takeaways:

I avoided estrogenic foods like the following (especially in the luteal phase, but I’d possibly consume some in the follicular phase):

• Soybean oil

• Garbanzo beans

• Peanuts

• Flax seeds

• Peas (I think)

• Anything inorganic

• Unsoaked grains

• Refined sugar (always avoided)

• (probably more, but these are the ones I remember)

I’d try to never eat the following:

• No grains (If I did have grains, I made sure they were soaked/sprouted to remove phytic acid)

• No sugar

• No MSG

• No artificial sweeteners

• No corn syrup

I’d consume progesterone rich foods:

• Organic broccoli

• Organic beef

• Organic chicken

• Avocado

• Sauerkraut

• Other fermented foods

• Dark leafy greens

• Soaked almonds

• Eggs

• Bananas

• Potatoes

• Pumpkin

• Watermelon

• Squash

• Molasses

• Grapefruit

• (I’m sure there’s more, but this is what I remembered)

Some foods can be unusually estrogenic if not organic, so below are my standards for when I’d insist on organic and when I was okay to consume regular (generally, foods with thick peels or root vegetables are okay to me if inorganic)

I’d only eat these if organic:

• apples

• berries

• spinach

• coconut oil (only unrefined)

• grass-fed cheese

• grass-fed butter

• grass-fed beef

• pasture-raised chicken

• pear

• grapes

Better if organic:

• Peach

• Pear

• Carrots

• Figs

• Dates

• Cold-pressed virgin olive oil

Okay if not organic:

• Avocado

• Mango

• Orange

• Olives

• Watermelon

(d) Shopping List

To make eating for fertility more likely to happen, I prepared below some shopping lists and where I’ve found the best value in the Salt Lake area.

Costco shopping list

• Organic dried figs (especially good for husband to eat)

• Organic dried apricots

• Walnuts

• Almonds

• Raw unrefined honey

• Organic super greens

• Organic frozen mango

• Organic frozen berries

• Organic frozen vegetable medley

• Organic unrefined coconut oil

• Organic grass-fed beef

• Organic chicken (I get the thighs)

• Organic bananas

• Organic canned green beans

• Organic canned black beans

• Organic canned diced tomatoes

• Wild-caught canned salmon

• Canned tuna

• Organic butter

• Organic cage-free eggs

• Olives

Smiths/Krogers

• Organic coconut flour, flakes, or shreds

• Organic unrefined coconut oil (I’ve heard mixed reviews about this, but I ate a lot of it while trying to conceive, so I’m in the camp that it’s okay and even good). This is also available at Costco

• Organic potatoes

• Organic unsweetened almond milk

• Orange juice

• Organic lentils

• Organic dates (in bulk section)

• Organic apple cider vinegar

• Organic mustard (no sugar added)

• Organic canned peaches

• Organic canned pears

• McCormick rotisserie chicken seasoning (no MSG)

• Organic grass-fed cheese

Other good shopping options are Sprouts, Natural Grocers, and Walmart. Also, I use a wide-mouth jar and cut some plastic mesh to fit under the ring, which serves as a strainer when draining water from rinsed nuts, making it convenient to soak and rinse nuts.