What to Eat to Optimise Fertility, and the Blood Tests Every Woman in Her 20s and 30s Should Actually Be Getting

If you are thinking about having a baby in the next year or two, or you have been trying for a while and wondering if your nutrition could be doing more, this episode is a genuinely useful place to start.

And if you are in your 20s or 30s and have not had a blood test recently because you feel fine and assume everything is probably okay, Leanne and Susie have something to say about that too.

This week on The Nutrition Couch, they dig into the nutrition and lifestyle strategies that actually move the needle on fertility outcomes, what the research says about diet patterns, key nutrients, and male fertility, and the common mistakes that quietly work against conception that most women have never been told about.

In this episode:

The Australian longitudinal study of over 5,000 women linking anti-inflammatory dietary patterns to better fertility outcomes, and what that actually looks like on a plate day to day

The key nutrients that appear time and time again in fertility research: omega-3s, vitamin D, vitamin E, and natural folate, why food sources beat supplements in almost every case, and the one supplement Susie did take during pregnancy

The MTHFR gene mutation: what it is, how common it is, why women with this mutation should not be taking synthetic folate in standard prenatal supplements, and how to find out if you have it

Why male fertility contributes to 40 to 50% of fertility challenges and is chronically overlooked, and what partners should actually be doing differently

The under-eating and overtraining pattern that silently disrupts ovulation and hormonal health even in women who appear to be doing everything right

The truth about caffeine and fertility: the research does not say what most people assume, and Susie explains exactly how much is genuinely safe if you are trying to conceive

The blood tests Leanne recommends for every woman in her 20s and 30s, including the ones most GPs do not automatically order, and the vague symptoms that are easy to dismiss but might actually signal something easily fixed

Why low ferritin is one of the most underdiagnosed and undertreated issues in young Australian women, and Susie's case study of a client whose iron had been dangerously low for two decades without anyone properly addressing it

The Harvest Pantry Protein Smoothie reviewed: clean ingredients, impressive packaging, and a protein claim on the front of the pack that requires an asterisk the size of a footnote to actually be true

The nine-month-old baby and solids question: how much milk is too much, why iron should be the focus of every meal at this age, and the feeding order that makes a bigger difference than most parents realise

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