12 Nutrition Rules for Increased Fertility

Fertility Yin and Yang

Traditional Chinese medicine states that yin and yang are a balancing system that represents health. These bipolar forces symbolize natural elements, and because of that, one force must be present in order for the other to exist. Even when the human body is at its peak health, the yin and the yang might not be harmonically balanced, because the relationship between the yin and the yang are in constant flux from the external and internal environments.

Dr. Marshall Ding, an Oriental medicine doctor and an acupuncturist practicing in Park City, Utah, believes ancient Chinese wisdom can turn back the biological clock for women who are trying to conceive. "Chinese medicine works great for increasing fertility, because a lot of times when women are having difficulty conceiving, it is a problem of blocked energy in the body and unbalanced yin and yang."

Acupuncture can reroute blocked energy and help restore the proper balance of the yin and the yang, but because a lot of women do not have access to an acupuncturist who specializes in Chinese medicine, there are other ways to make adjustments to the energy flow by changing fitness activities.

In our fitness-crazed society, women may be working out too hard and limiting their chances to conceive. According to Ding, yin activities add energy to the body and yang take energy away. Ding believes that intense physical exercise, such as mountain biking, aerobics, jogging, and weight-lifting, can become yang activities that spend too much of the valuable energy in the body and steal much-needed power away from reproductive organs. "These activities draw too much energy away from the body," Ding says. "It is better for women to take a brisk walk or swim laps."

Pilates, yoga, and swimming are all activities that can add yin energy to the body and will not tax the system and take any energy away from the meridian energy systems that course through the reproductive organs.

Keeping the yin and the yang properly balanced through gentle exercise, adding flax oil to the diet, and finding ways to reduce trans fats on the daily menu are all keys to boosting fertility in women. By introducing these simple changes into your life, you may find it possible to turn back the biological clock.