My grandmother has eight children, my mom has the three of us whereas I have a daughter. Grandma tells me she was never aware of what is infertility until I got married; my mom never heard of any friend or close relative suffering from infertility except one of my aunts whereas I have 4 close friends suffering from infertility. Though these may seem like simple statements, they have a hidden message which needs to be explored.
Infertility- Its growing abruptly and ruthlessly as generations are advancing!
What is infertility? Infertility is the condition when a couple is not able to give rise to a new being, their child. The reasons could be many. Prolonged use of medications, stress, pollutants, obstruction in the uterus(in form of polyp, fibroids etc.), poor sperm motility or poor concentration of the semen are few of them. Most of these reasons are reasons of today and were absent yesterday. Pollution was not there as much in the yester years as much it is today. Our parents and grandparents were not required to pop up pills to boost our immune and fight infections the way we do today. The brutal truth is that we are interfering with nature and its most precious offering- our bodies and its functioning.
The mind of man is progressing but whatever be the rate of progress there are some things which would always remain eternal. The birth of a new being is one of them. The advancement in science and technology would not be able to change some eternal truths and laws of nature. However, these laws and principles have there own assumptions and conditions wherein they are productive. A plant will not grow in an AC apartment where sunlight exposure is not enough. Similarly, we may try to have a superior standard of living by planning our family and undergoing contraceptive surgeries and taking medications. However any foreign treatment is recognized by the body and is resisted too! Afterall, we cant expect mother nature to bless us with a child when we want her too. This is not mathematics and hence a minus of the contraceptive pill may not always work. This is where nature supercedes human technology.
A basic fundamental which needs to be well understood is that we need to understand how our body needs to function and not expect to control it. Other factors which are responsible for frustration on the family front are stress which may be professional or personal, abuse of antibiotics and other drugs including steroids which alter the metabolism of the body, poor diet regimen in a craving to remain as thin as a butter paper and the like. Stress would give rise to response factors in the body which would interfere with the normal functioning of the reproductive hormones namely follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estrogen and testosterone. An overdose of the medications like steroids would alter the metabolic activities of the body and more often the drugs like antibiotics inhibit the factors like nutrients in form of nitrogen which favour life as such!
A beggar is never robbed. Similarly a malnourished woman is never transformed into a mother by the principles of nature.
Hence the most important consideration to fight infertility is to lead a normal and healthy lifestyle as close to nature with minimum foreign adjuncts as possible. More inputs are required to explain the dietary implications on fertility.
In order to ensure that a healthy being is brought to life , it is vital to ensure that all nutrients responsible for normal functioning of a body are made available to the body who wishes to become a mother/father. Glycosugars in form of fruits and simple sugars provide energy to the cells of the body which are expected to divide and produce sperms or ova which should be healthy enough. This wont be possible without enough oxygen supply which is ensured by the intake of good amount of glycosugars. Carbohydrates, both simple as well as complex would also enhance the energy released as they are the richest source of energy. Vitamins like vitamin E and essential oils like fatty acids help in restoring the normal composition of the reproductive hormones and hence attain a healthy thriving environment in the ‘would be parents’ body.
You would become what you eat…..This is a common saying which has special relevance here. If you eat only potatoes, you become a couch potato, so if you want to be fertile and productive it is important to include items which are productive in your daily meals like fresh curd, milk, sprouts, leafy vegetables etc. which are bestowed with all nutrients and minerals vital for restoring fertility.
In Ayurveda, it is said that all satvic meals help in restoring fertility. All food items which have a capacity to give rise to new life or grow further are termed as ‘’kapha’’ genic. Milk, yogurt, legumes are under this category. Those fruits which allows the creation of ovum and sperms are rich in ‘shukra’ dhatu . Almond, mango, apricot, coconut and grapes are examples. All items which strengthen the semen are ‘vrisya’ genic and black gram, horse gram, milk, bananas etc are under this category which also facilitate early morning erection in males. Garlic, whole grains, honey, milk, fish, oil and ghee are also important to maintain a healthy reproductive cycle.
- Gunjan Bhatia, Contributing Editor on this Blog.
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