{"id":2716,"date":"2026-03-10T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/?page_id=2716"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:31:55","slug":"fertility-dietetics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/treatments-and-services\/fertility-dietetics\/","title":{"rendered":"Fertility Dietetics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the United Kingdom, roughly 1 in 7 couples have difficulty conceiving, even if they have<br>unprotected sex every 2-3 days a week for a year. Around 30% of infertility is related to men, 30%<br>to women, 30% to both men and women, whilst 10% is unexplained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"health food\" class=\"wp-image-2731\" srcset=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food-1520x760.jpg 1520w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/health-food.jpg 1696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><span class=\"media-credit\">AI generated<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Female Fertility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Women may experience infertility for many reasons, some of which are modifiable. These include<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Age; fertility starts to decline from the early 30s, particularly from the age of 35<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Irregular periods or ovulation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Certain health conditions e.g. polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, thyroid<br>disease, fibroids and uncontrolled diabetes or coeliac disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Having a body mass index (BMI) in the underweight, overweight or obesity categories<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Certain lifestyle habits e.g. smoking, excessive alcohol consumption or excessive exercise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Genetics; chromosomal abnormalities and genetic diseases <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unexplained infertility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medications that may interfere with various aspects of fertility. If you are on regular<br>medications, seek advice from your GP before trying to conceive <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/Female-Fertility.pdf\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"2720\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What steps can I take to improve my fertility? &#8211; this leaflet offers diet and lifestyle advice to improve your overall general health and fertility<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Male Fertility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Male infertility has many causes: genetic, medical abnormalities or lifestyle issues. Smoking,<br>obesity, poor diet and environmental factors (like pollution or exposure to harmful pesticides<br>and chemicals) can also cause oxidative stress. This stress may cause damage to the sperm<br>and affect its ability to fertilise an egg and grow a healthy baby. Fertility in both men and women<br>reduces as you get older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes between 2 \u2013 3 months for new sperm to fully mature. That means it\u2019s a good idea to think<br>about making changes to your diet and lifestyle at least 3 months before you try for a baby.<br>A fertility dietitian can give you individualised, evidence-based diet and lifestyle information to<br>help improve your chances of conception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/03\/Male-Fertility.pdf\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"2719\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What steps can I take to improve my fertility? &#8211; this leaflet offers diet and lifestyle advice to improve your overall general health and fertility<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Referral to Weight Management<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To be referred to our specialist fertility dietician, please ask your GP to refer you to weight management adding in fertility services. Our dedicated dietician will be in contact once the referral has been triaged. In the meantime please download and read the leaflets above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the United Kingdom, roughly 1 in 7 couples have difficulty conceiving, even if they haveunprotected sex every 2-3 days a week for a year. Around 30% of infertility is related to men, 30%to women, 30% to both men and women, whilst 10% is unexplained. Female Fertility Women may experience infertility for many reasons, some<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"parent":310,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-2716","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"joannaablett","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/author\/joannaablett\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"In the United Kingdom, roughly 1 in 7 couples have difficulty conceiving, even if they haveunprotected sex every 2-3 days a week for a year. Around 30% of infertility is related to men, 30%to women, 30% to both men and women, whilst 10% is unexplained. Female Fertility Women may experience infertility for many reasons, some","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2716"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2738,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2716\/revisions\/2738"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/edinburghfertilitycentre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}