Trying! A Science-Based Plan to Optimize Your Fertility

Nutritionist Swanson debuts with a disappointing guide to optimizing health to improve one’s chances of getting pregnant. Swanson takes a “whole-body, longevity-focused” approach, encouraging readers to see their fertility as part of their overall health and understand that “the patterns that lead to accelerated aging are often the same ones that can create roadblocks to fertility.” She directs readers to actively manage the collection of microbes that live in their gut and vagina by eating a diversity of fruits and vegetables and opting for fragrance-free hygiene products, and urges improving metabolic health (“your body’s internal energy economy”) by eating protein throughout the day and exercising regularly. Much of the advice is intended for both partners; for example, she stresses avoiding environmental toxins, like microplastics, which have been linked to decreased odds of women conceiving and lowered sperm quality in men. Elsewhere, she discusses how omega-3s and vitamin D can “supercharge” one’s mitochondria (the part of cells that generates energy), the health of which she says is fundamental to reproductive vitality. Overall, Swanson’s method reads more like general health advice than a fertility-specific program. At times, the account is unhelpfully granular, as when she discusses the various microbial communities found in one’s vagina. Prospective parents will find little of use here. (Jan.)