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Pregnancy

06th Jan 2019

Trying for a baby? A daily smoothie could improve your chances of conceiving

An easy way of boosting your fertility?

Anna O'Rourke

If you’re trying for a baby, you’ll likely have tried anything and everything to make it happen.

From eating well and upping your exercise to laying with your legs in the air after sex, there are plenty of things women do to up their chances of conceiving.

Now it’s been revealed that consuming a daily smoothie could be the key to getting the right nutrients for fertility.

Researchers at Southhampton University in the UK got couples to drink specially-made smoothies containing vitamin D and omega 3 every day for six weeks before starting IVF, reports the Daily Mail.

They found that this increased the couples’ chance of getting pregnant by 4.3 per cent.

Those behind the study put this down to the fact that having a daily smoothie might be easier to do or to remember than overhauling your entire diet.

“Previous research shows that omega 3 is absolutely vital for sperm, making them stronger swimmers, and vitamin D makes the womb more receptive and ‘sticky’ for the embryo to implant,” lead researcher Dr Alexandra Kermack said.

“The problem is getting people to consume them, but the smoothie is a really good way of getting nutrients into people.

“They are so fashionable and you just take them out of the fridge every morning, where previous studies show people tend to forget tablets.

“This study suggests that a smoothie containing omega 3, vitamin D and all-important folic acid improves the chances of pregnancy and we hope this could in future be recommended to infertile couples trying to conceive.”

The researchers said that couples could get similar levels of omega 3 and vitamin D from a portion of salmon and an ordinary vitamin D supplement.

Fancy trying the fertility smoothie that celebs have sworn by? Check out this recipe.