Optimal - The Blog
December 29, 2025
Nutrition has a strong influence on reproductive health, affecting hormones, puberty timing, egg and sperm development, and the ability to conceive.
Both too little and too much of certain nutrients can interfere with these processes, while balanced eating supports normal fertility.
Different nutrients play different roles. The types of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats someone eats can affect metabolism, hormone levels, and the quality of reproductive cells.
Vitamins and minerals are also important because they help with egg and sperm formation, implantation, and healthy placental growth.
Newer scientific tools, such as metabolomics and nutrigenomics, help researchers understand how nutrients interact with genes and metabolism during reproduction.
These “omic” approaches show how diet and lifestyle choices can affect fertility, pregnancy health, and fetal development. 
Optimal Takeaways
- Good nutrition supports healthy hormones, ovulation, sperm quality, and fetal growth.
- High sugar intake and obesity can lead to insulin resistance and increase the risk of fertility problems.
- Plant-based protein is linked with better ovulatory health, while high intakes of certain animal proteins may introduce compounds that interfere with reproduction.
- The quality of dietary fats matters: trans fats and excess saturated fat reduce sperm quality and disrupt ovulation, while omega-3 fats support egg and sperm health and early pregnancy.
- Essential vitamins and minerals—like folate, vitamin B12, vitamins D, E, and C, zinc, selenium, calcium, and iron—play key roles in hormones, placental development, sperm function, and fetal brain development.
- Specific amino acids (such as arginine, glutamine, proline, leucine, and tryptophan) help with implantation, placental blood flow, embryo growth, and sperm motility.
- Smoking, heavy alcohol use, and high caffeine intake negatively affect fertility by harming egg and sperm cells and disrupting hormone balance.
- Omics tools help identify biological markers that show how diet affects fertility and pregnancy outcomes.
Reference
Ma, Xiaoling et al. “Diet and human reproductive system: Insight of omics approaches.” Food science & nutrition vol. 10,5 1368-1384. 21 Mar. 2022, doi:10.1002/fsn3.2708 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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