How Being Underweight Affects Fertility

How Being Underweight Affects Fertility

Much focus has been made on how being overweight can negatively affect your fertility. Research made at the University of Adelaide from Australia showed that underweight women have a much lower rate of fertility compared to women with normal weight. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here

The main factors that will affect the fertility of underweight women are:

Irregular menstrual cycle

It is a known fact that underweight women usually have an irregular menstrual cycle and when a woman is severely slim, the cycle will may even stop completely, which of course will prevent the conception of a baby.

In addition, the irregularity of the menstrual cycle may affect the lining of the uterus, thus making it inadequate to support a baby. And even if an underweight woman were to get pregnant, there would be a high risk for a miscarriage, as the fertilized egg needs a thick uterine lining to grow.

Irregular ovulation

This is another important aspect that may prevent underweight women from conceiving. When women are too slim, ovulation can be interrupted, which will continue onto infertility and even cessation of menstruation. Thus, if the woman has an eating disorder, ovulation may stop for a long period of time, which will make the pregnancy impossible.

Not enough nutrients

Slim women have a risk of not getting enough nutrients, such as folic acid, Vitamin A, B2, E, K and minerals, such as iron, calcium, copper or zinc. These nutrients and minerals are very important for a woman that wants to get pregnant. For example, if the diet does not provide enough folic acid, there is a risk that the baby will be born with spina bifida, or a different neural tube defect.

Underweight men

Being underweight affects fertility even when it comes to men as they can have low sperm count. Just like in the case of women, where the menstruation is regulated by hormones, men’s testosterone level is at risk of being too small if the weight is not high enough. And low testosterone level will lead to a low sperm count, which will decrease the likelihood of the spermatozoon to fertilize the egg.

As you can see, weight is highly related to fertility issues and being too thin may prevent you from having your much wanted child. However, with a healthy weight gain program these issues are usually resolved and a diet full of nutrients and minerals is the best remedy for an underweight woman that is trying to restore her fertility.

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Maureen Stephens, BS, RN
Maureen Stephens, BS, RN | ConceiveEasy
Ms. Stephens has spent over twenty years in the healthcare world, specializing in obstretical and medical/surgical nursing. She joined ConceiveEasy as she has a strong interest in educating and empowering women and promoting fertility awareness.

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