Understanding how to boost fertility doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It can be an empowering experience that connects you more deeply with your body. Of course, if you’re on a journey to boost your fertility, it’s natural to seek gentle, supportive ways to prepare your body for conception. And that’s where Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) comes in.
TCM offers a compassionate, holistic approach to increasing fertility by focusing on balance and harmony. In this article, we’ll explore practical, nurturing tips rooted in TCM that can help you prepare for ovulation and create an optimal environment for conception.
Ovulation Tips to Nourish Your Body During Your Cycle
Looking for ovulation tips to improve your fertility? As you continue to explore how to boost fertility through holistic practices, it’s essential to focus on preparing your body for ovulation in a way that honours your natural rhythms. Chinese medicine offers gentle yet powerful tips for this preparation, starting with how you care for yourself during your period.
Here are some key Chinese medicine tips to help you get ready for ovulation:
Respect your body: Acknowledge the hard work it’s doing
Extend your sleep: Aim for an extra hour or two of rest
Nourish your blood: Eat foods rich in iron
Rest as much as possible: Prioritise downtime
Keep your pelvis warm: Prevent stagnation and encourage healthy blood flow
Why These Practices Matter
During your period, your body naturally loses blood, so it's crucial to replenish essential nutrients, especially iron, to maintain your energy levels and overall health.
This is also a time when your body benefits immensely from rest. I know life can be busy, but carving out time to rest during your period can profoundly impact your well-being, helping your body recover and prepare for the next phase of your cycle.
Additionally, keeping your pelvis warm is not just about comfort; it's about promoting good circulation and preventing stagnation, which is key to supporting a healthy menstrual cycle. Warmth aids in maintaining the smooth flow of blood, which is vital for your immediate comfort and long-term reproductive health.
Incorporating these practices, along with the right supplements for fertility, can make a significant difference in your body’s preparation for ovulation. Understanding how to boost fertility through these holistic approaches allows you to nurture yourself during this crucial time, setting a strong foundation for a healthy and balanced cycle.
Chinese Medicine Tips for Ovulation: What to Eat and How to Prepare
When considering Chinese medicine tips for ovulation, ask yourself, “What foods nourish the blood, and how to boost fertility?”
During your period, the focus should be on consuming iron-rich, protein-based foods and plenty of leafy greens. These choices help replenish the blood you’re losing and set a strong foundation for the rest of your cycle. For a complete list of blood-nourishing foods, refer to my previous article, How To Optimise Your Diet and Health When Trying for a Baby.
Now that your period has ended, it’s time to shift your focus to building Yin energy. In Western terms, this means supporting your oestrogen levels. Chinese medicine provides detailed nutritional advice for this phase, and you’ll be glad to know that most of it aligns well with Western nutritional principles, making it easier to integrate into your routine.
Here’s a specific list of foods that, according to Chinese medicine, will help you build Yin energy. These foods are excellent for supporting hormonal balance and boosting oestrogen levels:
Bone broths (chicken, duck, mixed bone)
Fatty fish, including fish soup (the fattier, the better)
Shellfish
Pulses (azuki beans, black beans, red beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils)
Poached eggs (remember to keep that yolk runny because nothing is more yin than that!)
Avocados (while not traditionally Chinese, avocados are fabulous for balancing blood sugar levels and an all-around good-for-you fruit.)
Brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbages)
Dates and goji berries (great in infusions, e.g., take a handful of goji berries, drop them into a glass and add boiling water)
Cranberries
Seeds (black and white sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
Nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts)
Grains (oats, millet, buckwheat, spelt)
Molasses, organic honey, 100% pure corn syrup (great choices for sweetener)
Healthy fats (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, organic goose fat, butter)
Carb Cycling: Yay or Nay?
If you practice carb cycling, keeping your carb intake low and your fat intake high during the first part of your cycle can be beneficial. From a TCM perspective, these foods help build Yin energy and offer a variety of delicious meal options.
If you need more guidance, visit howtoboostfertility.com, where I post weekly recipes tailored to the follicular, fertile, and luteal phases of your cycle.
What’s Next? Sleep, Movement, and Relaxation!
Beyond diet, sleep is crucial when trying to get pregnant. Aim for at least eight hours each night and establish a bedtime routine that excludes screens at least an hour before bed.
According to Chinese medicine, living in harmony with your cycle means you’ll gradually feel more rested and energetic over time.
This holistic approach focuses on lifestyle adjustments and considers dietary practices as the best supplements for fertility. In terms of ovulation tips, there is no magic trick or a silver bullet. Simply eat with your cycle. By aligning your habits with your body's natural rhythms and incorporating the best foods as supplements for fertility, you can improve your overall vitality and support your reproductive health throughout your cycle.
Once you’ve established this foundation, the next step of your ovulation period is gradually increasing your activity levels. Avoid jumping straight into high-intensity workouts; instead, focus on gentle movement that promotes blood flow, which is especially beneficial as you approach ovulation.
At the same time, don’t forget to prioritise relaxation—stress can delay ovulation and disrupt your hormonal balance. So, try incorporating stress-reduction techniques into your daily routine, whether a calming walk, a soothing bubble bath, or another activity that helps you unwind.
I love walking. I can get rid of any stress by taking a walk and making sure I plan it into my day. It’s funny how good we are at planning work, yet we quickly forget to prepare everything that matters most!
Ovulation is a Process, Not an Event!
Finally, remember that ovulation is a process, not a single event. As my favourite book on Chinese medicine and fertility, The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies by Randine Lewis, PhD, explains, follicles are selected from the resting pool nearly a year before ovulation.
The book explains that follicles are selected from a resting pool almost a year before ovulation. About five months before ovulation, a tiny 0.03-millimetre follicle is chosen and doubles in size to 0.06 millimetres, becoming a primary follicle.
Approximately 120 days before ovulation, it doubles again as it reaches its secondary stage. It eventually grows through several phases to prepare for ovulation (from the chapter ‘The Truth About Our Eggs,’ page 175). This ongoing, dynamic process underscores the importance of nurturing your body throughout your entire cycle, as each stage is critical to preparing for ovulation.
How To Boost Fertility and Take Charge of Your Journey
You are in control of your fertility journey! By now, you’ve hopefully embraced the idea that ovulation is a process, not a single event.
With Chinese medicine techniques, you can optimise every stage of this process, empowering you to create the best environment for a healthy pregnancy and baby. The beauty of this approach lies in knowing that there are so many ways to nurture your body before and during ovulation.
Your fertility is more than just the eggs you were born with—there’s so much you can do to influence how well they develop. So don’t let anyone tell you that it’s too late or that you can do nothing. Every day, with every choice, you have the power to boost fertility naturally.
A few last-minute reminders:
Cook and eat nourishing meals tailored to your cycle
Take care of yourself—every effort you make counts
Never doubt that you are in control
Every effort counts and will repay you
You’re in control of this process, and every step you take makes a difference. So, now that you know how to boost fertility, take action—enjoy the journey!
If you found this article helpful, please share it with friends who could benefit from it. Together, we can spread the word about natural fertility!
Thanks for being here,
Irena x
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For more information on maintaining hormonal balance and improving fertility when trying for a baby, read these articles.