When we are busy and constantly occupied with something, we often forget about keeping our health a priority. We know by now that adequate hydration is needed for almost all the important processes in our body. Our cell health, metabolism, and filtration, all need proper water intake to function accurately. Similarly, our fertility and reproduction cycles also benefit a lot from the proper intake of water. If we are dehydrated for long periods, we will start noticing some changes that become more prominent in our health and certain health defects will also be accompanied by them.
Nowadays, infertility is a very common topic among many people, and it is seen a lot more in even seemingly healthy individuals because of our lifestyle and preferences. Infertility is usually defined as not being able to conceive. In people younger than 35 years of age, if they are unable to conceive for a year, they are most probably infertile. In people older than 35 years, not conceiving for 6 months is the mark for infertility.
Today we will discuss how low hydration status affects our fertility and what we can do to make water a priority when we are thinking to conceive.
How does hydration influence Fertility?
In women:
• For women who are trying to conceive in a state of dehydration, their cervix will not be prepared for fertilization and implantation of the egg. This is because the sperm needs to travel to the egg with the help of cervical mucus. If you don't drink enough water, you won't have enough mucus to let the sperm swim towards the egg and fertilize it.
• Similarly, egg health also depends on our hydration status. If you are dehydrated your egg will not have a watery environment needed to ovulate. The eggs that will be formed in such a case will have issues that will cause problems in conceiving. Also, dehydration causes a reduced blood supply to your ovaries which affects the proper functioning of ovaries during the reproduction cycle.
• Dehydration also results in a thin uterine lining which hinders the fertilized egg to become a part of your uterine lining and such a lining is not able to support the growth of a human being.
• Hormones that are important for your healthy pregnancy are also dependent on water. Their physiology and production both require adequate hydration otherwise they will not be effective in producing the changes and responses needed by our body.
All these processes are interlinked with each other and even if any one of them falters, There will be issues when it comes down to conceiving.
In Men:
• About 30% of the total infertility cases have a problem on the men's side. Dehydration affects the hormones in the body, and they are unable to reach the male reproductive organs.
• Similarly, the environment sperms are created in and transported in is fluid which requires water for proper balance of pH, fluidity, and nutrients.
Hence, hydration is as just as important for men as it is for women.
How can I Remember to drink more water throughout the Day?
The process of reproduction is pretty tough on our bodies, and it takes a toll on women and their bodies. Although water intake is important, it is also good to take into account vitamin and mineral intake along with other nutrients to keep the body in good shape before conception.
• A starting point is to determine the amount of water you're supposed to drink in a day. There are many websites that can help you to figure out how much water you should be drinking per day. Everyone’s water intake should be different as this is dependent on your weight.
• You can increase or decrease the amount of water you drink every day depending on how you and your body are reacting to it and if it’s too much, you can reduce it and change it according to your needs.
• Writing in a journal and keeping track of your water intake helps a lot. Keep your journal on your work desk or somewhere in plain sight and make to-do lists to keep track of the amount of water you drink.
• Leading up to the conception and also in your first trimester, drinking vitamin water also helps. You can add baby spinach leaves, orange juice, mint leaves, and a little bit of garlic. Let the water get infused for some time and then drink it throughout the day. There are also natural hydration sachets, such as ViDrate. These sachets contain vitamins and minerals to keep you hydrated throughout the day.
• always having a bottle close to you also helps as you keep taking small sips throughout the day which is essential to help deal with nausea related to pregnancy.
As well as Hydration, what else can affect Fertility?
• Age is the biggest factor. People should try to conceive before they get older than 35 as young people have a much healthier and more active reproductive system.
• Endometriosis which is the development of the endometrial layer outside of the uterus causes significant problems with conception.
• Smoking regularly exposes you to carcinogens and other harmful chemicals which can harm your uterus and your egg health.
• Drinking soda beverages or alcohol on a regular basis increases your blood sugar levels which also affects your organ health leading to insufficient supply to the other organs.
• Having constant anxiety also keeps our body in a state of stress which will affect conception.
Having a healthy water intake helps maintain all the processes in your body and supplies all the organs with the proper blood flow and nutrients they need. On top of this, hormones are also highly dependent on water for their production and transport to adequate regions. You can also consult a nutritionist for a pre-conception diet which will give you a proper guide on how to take care of yourself if you are planning to conceive so you can follow and increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy.
