When you decide you’re ready to grow your family, something shifts. Suddenly, your morning smoothie, your afternoon coffee, even your late-night snack feel like small choices in a much bigger story. You want to nourish your body, and your future baby, with everything it needs to thrive.
At WeNatal, we talk to women, men, and couples every day who are in this season of preparation. Some are tracking ovulation and blood sugar. Others are simply starting to clean up their diet and lifestyle. Wherever you are at in your fertility journey, what you eat now truly matters. This is not in a pressure-filled way, but in a way that empowers us to make daily choices that nourish us well.
Recent research confirms what functional medicine practitioners have long observed: nutrition before conception impacts fertility, embryo quality, and pregnancy outcomes, for both partners.
Let’s walk through how to build a fertility-supportive plate, and how to steer clear of foods that may make conception a little harder.
RELATED: What you’ll learn from the WeNatal Masterclass: Fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum wellness
The fertility foundation: Real, whole, colorful foods
Think of your fertility diet as a “training camp” for conception. Every cell in your body, and your partner’s, is built from and impacted by what you eat.
Start with the basics:
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Protein is the scaffolding for hormones and healthy eggs and sperm. Include wild-caught fish, pasture-raised poultry, grass-fed meat, beans, and lentils.
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Healthy fats support hormone health and reduce inflammation. Include plant sources like avocado, nuts, and seeds, as well as extra virgin olive oil omega-3-rich fish.
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Colorful fruits and vegetables flood your cells with antioxidants that protect egg and sperm DNA from oxidative stress.
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Complex carbs from quinoa, sweet potatoes, or lentils provide slow, steady energy and support balanced blood sugar.
The Mediterranean diet pattern, rich in vegetables, seafood, legumes, olive oil, and moderate protein, continues to show the strongest links with improved fertility and live birth outcomes.
The foods that can work against you
You don’t have to eat “perfectly,” but being mindful about what you avoid can have a profound impact on reproductive health.
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Ultra-processed foods: those with long ingredient lists and additives can disrupt blood sugar, drive inflammation, and affect hormone signaling.
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Refined sugars and sweetened drinks: can lead to insulin resistance, which may impact ovulation and sperm quality.
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Trans fats and processed meats: have been linked to lower fertility and poorer sperm parameters.
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Excess alcohol and caffeine can reduce conception rates in both men and women.
If you’ve ever felt that your body “isn’t responding” to your efforts, this is where dietary cleanup can make a real difference. Reducing inflammatory foods helps your body return to its natural state of balance and one that’s ready to conceive.
Nourishment for both partners: The 3-month window that shapes your future family
Here’s something most fertility conversations miss: preconception health is a two-person project.
Whether you’re just starting to think about having a baby or have been trying for a while, we find it’s important to stress that conception isn’t just about one partner’s body working “perfectly.” It’s a biological duet. The health of both eggs and sperm determines how easily conception happens and how strong that new life begins.
What’s fascinating (and empowering) is that both eggs and sperm take about ~70–90 days to mature. That means the choices you and your partner make in the next three months from what you eat, how you sleep, how you manage stress, are already influencing your fertility potential. Every nourishing meal, every workout, every night of quality sleep becomes part of the foundation for your future child’s health.
Why men’s nutrition matters just as much
Sperm health often gets less attention, but it’s half the equation. Sperm cells are highly sensitive to oxidative stress, meaning they’re affected by inflammation, poor diet, toxins, and lack of antioxidants.
Research consistently shows that men who eat diets rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids (like those found in fish, walnuts, and flax) have better sperm motility, count, and morphology.
On the flip side, diets high in ultra-processed foods, added sugars, and trans fats can negatively affect testosterone and sperm quality, sometimes within just a few weeks.
Supporting women’s egg and hormonal health
For women, nutrition plays an equally powerful role. The quality of an egg is influenced not just by age but also by the nutrient environment that supports it during its maturation cycle. Diets rich in whole foods, omega-3s, antioxidants, and micronutrients like folate, iron, zinc, and vitamin D help strengthen this environment, reduce inflammation, and balance hormones.
In fact, a 2023 study found that women following a lower-inflammatory, Mediterranean-style diet saw improved fertility outcomes and embryo quality compared to those with more processed, high-sugar diets.
RELATED: How to boost fertility with low AMH: Science-backed tips for improving egg health
The power of partnership
When both partners commit to nourishing their bodies together, it transforms the process into a shared journey. It’s no longer her fertility plan or his supplement routine, it’s your daily act of building the future you want, one step at a time.
So when you’re prepping dinner, think of it as more than just what’s on your plate. It’s a ritual of intention and connection and something that nourishes your relationship as much as your fertility.
Try cooking together. Choose recipes that make you both feel good like a salmon and quinoa bowl drizzled with olive oil, or a sheet pan of colorful roasted veggies with avocado on top. Add small rituals like taking a walk after dinner or unplugging screens an hour before bed.
These tiny choices add up and within a few months, they create the conditions your body needs to conceive.
Timing matters and every step counts
There’s no “perfect” timeline for optimizing fertility. What matters is that you start now. Even small, consistent shifts like swapping takeout for home-cooked meals, choosing sparkling water over sugary drinks, or adding leafy greens and healthy fats to your plate, can yield measurable benefits within weeks.
Your fertility story isn’t just about waiting for the right moment; it’s about preparing for it. Every nourishing choice you make now sends a signal to your body that it’s safe, supported, and ready to create new life.
Everyday TTC meal inspiration
Need some simple, delicious ways to put this into practice? Try these balanced ideas:
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Breakfast: A nutrient-dense smoothie using Protein +, or a nourish bowl with Greek yogurt or chia pudding with berries, hemp seeds, and a drizzle of olive oil.
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Lunch: Salmon or lentil bowl with greens, quinoa, and avocado.
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Dinner: Grilled chicken or organic tofu with roasted vegetables and sweet potato mash.
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Snacks: Nuts, hummus with veggies, or an apple with almond butter.
The goal isn’t perfection, it’s consistency. Each nourishing choice builds on the next.
RELATED: Your fertility meal plan: A week of healthy, easy recipes
A note from WeNatal on what to eat when trying to conceive
The choices you make in the months before pregnancy quietly shape what comes next. From balanced blood sugar to nutrient repletion, preconception nutrition is about creating a body that feels supported, resilient, and ready.
That’s why WeNatal for Her, WeNatal for Him, Protein +, and Omega DHA + exist. To support fertility nutrition for both partners and to simplify one important part of the trying-to-conceive journey.
Small, nourishing choices today can support a healthier beginning tomorrow.
RELATED: Why sperm health matters: Boosting male fertility naturally
References
Afeiche MC, Gaskins AJ, Williams PL, et al. Processed meat intake is unfavorably and fish intake favorably associated with semen quality indicators among men attending a fertility clinic. J Nutr. 2014;144(7):1091-1098. doi:10.3945/jn.113.190173
Alesi S, Grieger JA, Teede H, et al. Diet and female fertility: a population-based study re-evaluating the need for prescriptive dietary patterns. Front Nutr. 2025;12:1682549. Published 2025 Oct 22. doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1682549
Linden Stocker, Alexandra Kermack, Keith Godfrey; Nutrition for Preconception Health and Fertility. Ann Nutr Metab 13 August 2025; 81 (Suppl. 3): 9–18. doi:10.1159/000543616
Mínguez-Alarcón L, Chavarro JE, Gaskins AJ. Caffeine, alcohol, smoking, and reproductive outcomes among couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatments. Fertil Steril. 2018;110(4):587-592. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.05.026
Winter HG, Rolnik DL, Mol BWJ, et al. Can Dietary Patterns Impact Fertility Outcomes? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2023;15(11):2589. Published 2023 May 31. doi:10.3390/nu15112589
Zahedi Y, Bonyanpour S, Alizadeh SD, et al. Association between the dietary inflammatory index and infertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Nutr. 2025;12:1599782. Published 2025 Aug 26. doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1599782
