Does Omega 3 help you conceive?

Does Omega 3 Help You Conceive?

Fish oil containing Omega 3 fatty acids is getting a lot of press lately. And not surprisingly because of the wide ranging benefits being touted from taking it, everything from a natural anti-inflammatory, to lower blood pressure, to boosting the immune system.

Sounds great, but if you are trying to get pregnant and not having much success, does taking fish oil with Omega 3 fatty acids help you conceive?

Let's look at how diet affects your chances of getting pregnant, because that's where taking fish oil capsules is most likely to come into your life.

Pre-pregnancy, our diet probably reflects our lifestyle more than anything else. We eat what we like, probably without much thought to how it might affect our fertility. So if we are living in Western society and out diet follows the trend of the last fifty years it's likely we have a diet that is high in carbohydrates. Lot's of chips, bread, products made with refined white flour, processed food high in sugar.

High intake of carbohydrates results in high levels of glucose in the blood. The way our body reacts to these high blood glucose levels is to produce higher levels of insulin (from the pancreas) than it otherwise would. The insulin binds to (most) cells in the body (e.g. the liver, muscle cells, fat cells) and enables those cells to absorb the glucose out of the bloodstream and store it as glycogen.

So once all our cells have all the glycogen they need the rest is stored as fat. This is no mystery to residents of the U.S. or other Western countries, just look around you … everyone is fat. This is in large part to the success of fast food companies and their marketing campaigns, but also the culture of convenience that is a big feature of Western life. It's just too easy and affordable to eat sweet tasty food that is horribly bad for us.

Anyway, the point of my little sermon here is that, because of your poor diet, you are probably walking around day to day with high levels of insulin in your blood.

Is this bad?

Well, if you want to get pregnant, yes, it's bad. Actually, it's probably why you haven't been able to get pregnant up until now.

The reason is, insulin is a hormone, and ovulation is an event that is regulated by the rise and fall of hormones (i.e. Estradiol, LH, FSH) in the first half of the menstrual cycle. When you have high levels of insulin in your blood, this interferes with the process that releases LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) in the right amounts for ovulation to occur. Depending on what level your insulin is from one month to the next, the level of FSH released early in the cycle will be affected too.

Have you ever wondered why your cycle is irregular, why some months you ovulate and some months you don't? Take a look at your diet, it wields an enormous influence on your fertility, and along with it your chances of conceiving and getting pregnant.

Lower your insulin levels (by lowering your carbohydrate intake) and more stable monthly cycles will return.

But wait, wasn't this supposed to be about Omega 3 helping you get pregnant?

A chief feature of the Western diet is high carbohydrate intake, but more alarming is lack of fish and seafood in most peoples' diets.

Why does this matter?

Well, most fish contain Omega 3 fatty acids from which come eicosanoids. There are two types of eicosanoids; those derived from Omega 3 fatty acids and those derived from Omega 6 fatty acids. The Omega 3 eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory, they dilate blood vessels (increasing bloodflow), help the immune system (reducing cancer cell activity). They are "good eicosanoids". The Omega 6 eicosanoids are pro-inflammatory, constrict blood vessels, lower immune defenses. They are "bad eicosanoids".

When we have a balanced diet that includes fish, we get the Omega 3 fatty acids we need and the eicosanoids are held in balance, we are healthy and everything works as it should.

When our diets are deficient in seafood we don't get the Omega 3 fatty acids we need, and as a result have an eicosanoid imbalance. With more bad eicosanoids than good eicosanoids the result is not a happy one.

The main feature of this imbalance is a decreased bloodflow to the uterus. As you can imagine, with the reduced quantity of blood getting to the uterus there is less oxygen, fewer minerals, less of the needed nutrients arriving for the endometrial lining to fully develop. So even if a fertilized egg did arrive, the chances of the endometrial lining being healthy enough for implantation to occur are greatly reduced.

The second feature of the eicosanoid imbalance is higher NK (Natural Killer) cell activity. It is as gruesome as it sounds. NK cells are these obnoxious things that just go and kill cells randomly for the fun of it. When they are present in the uterus at the time a fertilized egg is coming down for implantation, they can attack and kill the fertilized egg.

Oops ... no conception this month.

Omega 3 eicosanoids decrease the molecular interactions that result in cancer cells (like NK cells) forming and just reduce the number of them that come into existence in your body. This is why they are called "good eicosanoids". :)

Hopefully you can see now there are two important parts to getting pregnant. The first is conceiving, getting the sperm to fertilize the egg. The second is not miscarrying, making sure the fertilized egg implants in a healthy endometrial lining.

Making sure your diet includes fish high in Omega 3 fatty acids, or supplementing your diet with Omega 3 fatty acid capsules will restore the balance of eicosanoids in your body, and as a result increase the bloodflow to the uterus making sure your endometrial lining fully develops every month, maximizing the chances of implantation when the fertilized egg arrives. It will also bolster your immune system, lowering the incidence of things like NK cells in your uterus and the chances of any fertilized eggs being attacked.

So does taking fish oil high in Omega 3 help you conceive? Well, yes. More accurately, supplementing your diet with Omega 3 fatty acids decreases the likelihood you will have a miscarriage.

Many couples are mystified why they can be doing everything right; tracking their BBT, timing intercourse, the whole shot, but even after a year of trying … have nothing. Well, it's possible conception is happening, but implantation is not.

As far as getting more fertile goes Omega 3 fatty acids are definitely a friend to couples trying to conceive, and carrying the baby to term.

http://www.my-fertility.com/infertility/does_omega_3_help_you_conceive.html