Fertility

My fridge looks pretty bare right now, but being a little broke and a little lazy (it’s raining) I was adamant to create something delicious and nutritious from what I had at home. And I think I might have just done that. Heck, even if no one else is on board, I think I’ve just created my new favourite lunch.

It ticks a lot of boxes this recipe: unrefined carbs, protein, veg, packed with flavour and I feel virtuous eating it. I love satay style foods, with gado gado being one of my favourite things ever. However with peanut allergic husband its no-go in this house, so I am always looking for ways to create that ‘nutty’ texture, without using nuts. Tahini is great for this, as is my new favourite thing, seed butters. There is a lady at our local food market who sells a range of nut and seed butters and at the moment I have a tub of pumpkin seed butter on the go. It makes a great snack, keeps well and as I have also found out, is a dream in salad dressings. Also its pretty darn good for you.

Mushroom and spinach noodles with lime and ginger dressing — Mushroom and spinach noodles with ginger and lime dressing

MUSHROOM AND SPINACH NOODLES WITH GINGER AND LIME DRESSING

Serves 1 (multiply as needed…)

2 teaspoons pumpkin seed butter (available at most health shops) or use peanut butter if you like
3 teaspoons coconut oil or other unflavoured oil (avocado oil would be good too)
2 teaspoons low salt soy sauce
2cm piece of ginger, peeled
1/4 red chilli (tip: I freeze red chillies, makes them easier to use and finely grate)
Half a juicy lime
1 teaspoon runny honey
a few springs of coriander and mint, leaves picked
50g brown rice noodles (or use normal rice noodle is you can’t get brown rice ones)
5 closed cup mushrooms, wiped
Large clove of garlic, peeled
2 balls of frozen spinach (you can used fresh if you like. A large handful of washed baby spinach, chopped would work)
1 large free range egg (omit to make vegan, or if you just don’t fancy it)

Start by finely slicing the garlic, and slicing the mushrooms. Put 2 teaspoons of your chosen oil in a small non-stick pan, and place on a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for 6 – 8 minutes until golden, and any water has evaporated.

Whilst the mushrooms are frying cook your rice noodles according to packet instructions and leave to one side, in cold water until needed.

Soon as the mushrooms look a little golden add the frozen spinach and turn the heat down to low. Stir occasionally to soften, they should take 3-4 minutes to cook down.

Meanwhile make the dressing by mixing together the pumpkin seed butter, remaining oil, honey, lime juice and soy and finely grate in the ginger and most of the chilli. If you chilli isn’t frozen and won’t grate, then just finely chop it. Chop the coriander and mint leaves and stir most of them into the dressing.

Once the spinach and mushrooms are cooked, crack your egg into a small bowl and whisk. Add to the pan and ripple into the veg until it is just cooked through. If you aren’t adding egg just skip that bit and add the drained noodles straight to the pan. Toss everything together well, then remove from the heat and stir in the dressing. Mix together and plate up. Garnish with the remaining chopped herbs and a little more grated/ chopped chilli. Heavenly.

I’m combining 2 of my biggest interests for this (and subsequent) posts; food and pregnancy. Much to my surprise I managed to conceive Archie very easily last year (I battled with PCOS for a long time), however I don’t know what will happen next time round and feel conscious that I want my body to be in the best shape possible. It’s taken a bit of blow, emotionally and physically, and I’m using this time to focus on getting everything back in working order. I know people get pregnant every day, without taking folic acid, omega 3, vitamin C etc, but being conscious of it and actively trying is a whole different ball game, and eating healthily can only be a good thing right? So I’ve been doing some research and come up with a fertility foods hit list (below) and will be blogging some fertility friendly recipes.

MILK

There has been extensive research to suggest that full fat milk (and cream and yoghurt!) is not only better for you when trying to conceive, but can aid conception and that skimmed milk and skimmed milk products can actually hinder it/ promote infertility. So ditch the low fat yoghurts and have a scoop of ice cream whenever you like, and when drinking milk make sure it is organic. Here is a link outlining the 8 year Harvard study and for more in depth explanation check out this great blog, however I will be sticking to whole organic milk, I can’t quite face raw milk.

ALL VEG BUT ESPECIALLY…

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

As a huge lover of all gourds, I’m over the moon that butternut squash is such a fertility star food. It is rich in selenium, zinc, calcium, iron, vitamin A and C, folic acid and just about any other fertility-super-nutrient you can think of. I’ll be posting some squash recipes later on.

GREENS

As far as I (and a million others I am sure) are concerned, greens are always the answer. With years of vegetarianism and anaemia behind me, I had to battle my iron deficiency as best I could with leafy greens and pulses. Juice, salad, stew, soup, curry? Shove some spinach in it. Spinach is iron rich, which is crucial when trying to get pregnant, studies show that women who got their iron from non-meat sources increased their chances of becoming pregnant. This goes for other leafy greens too such as kale, cabbage, chard. These wondrous vegetables are also rich in folic acid and contain a compound, found in broccoli too, that help the body get rid of excess oestrogen. My favourite tip is always keep a bag of frozen spinach in the freezer, it really can be put in almost anything and is much cheaper and handier than buying it fresh.

CAULIFLOWER

Amongst the highest in Vitamin C, cauliflower is also high in iron fibre, potassium and calcium. All key nutrients to get your fertility to its peak.

FISH

Omega-3 rich fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring have huge fertility boosting benefits (as well as making you more clever!). They are said to help regulate reproductive hormones and increase blood flow to reproductive organs. Also they can help relieve stress, which is potentially a big issue when trying to conceive.

BEANS AND PULSES

In the same Harvard research linked in the ‘milk’ category above, the researchers also found that infertility was 39% more likely in women with the highest intake of animal protein. Where as those who a lot of plant protein where significantly less likely to have trouble conceiving. So ditch the red meat and add some chickpeas, beans and lentils into your life.

CARBS

Pasta, bread, rice… Don’t avoid carbs! It really upsets me that everyone hates carbs so much, as if carbohydrates are the root of all evil. We need carbs, carbs are good for us but go easy on them and opt for complex carbohydrates over refined ones, as they take longer to digest, keeping blood sugar and insulin levels stable. What has this got to do with conception? Well an increase in insulin levels can disrupt reproductive hormones. A Dutch study found that when women had high blood sugar levels they were only half as likely to have gotten pregnant. So switch your rice for brown, pasta to wholewheat, and same with bread.

NUTS AND SEEDS

Nuts and seeds are great sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Not all fats are bad, in fact having unsaturated fats in your diet can help conception as they aid insulin sensitivity (see ‘carbs’ for more details). Good nuts to go for are brazil, almonds, walnuts and pecans. Pumpkin seeds are great as they are high in non-heme iron (the type of iron found in certain plant food and iron-fortified foods). One study found that women who took iron supplements (which is non-heme iron) were 40% less likely to have trouble getting pregnant. Try snacking on an omega 4 seed mix, containing pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and flax seed, or sprinkle into your cereal/ muesli/ porridge or even try adding to smoothies. You can also get a wide range of seed and nut butters now, which are fantastic (make sure they have no added ingredients, just the seed or nut in question). I’m a big fan of pumpkin seed butter which I use as a spread, but have also tried in smoothies – it works fantastically.

CINNAMON

I love cinnamon and will put ground cinnamon in almost anything. Porridge? Winner. Smoothies, cakes, stews… all good. It has been long suggested to diabetics to eat cinnamon as it can help improve insulin resistance in the body, which is great when try to conceive as it keeps hormones and blood sugar levels in check.

AND THE REST…

Then it’s all the obvious stuff, that we all know and have heard before – be at a healthy weight (BMI 18.5 – 25), don’t smoke, don’t do drugs or drink (although personally I need the odd glass of wine at the moment). Eat home cooked foods, use olive oil instead of butter, cut out (or down at least) refined sugars, don’t drink fizzy drinks and eat your 5/7/10-a-day, but mainly from veg as fruit is high in sugar too.

My new favourite lunch

Fertile foods