The Fertility-Friendly Winter Grocery List

Winter can quietly undo good preconception intentions. Salads lose their appeal, fresh berries cost a fortune, and takeout gets more tempting as the evenings get darker. This list is built for that reality. Every item is here because it does a specific job that's backed by a guideline or a study, and most of it keeps for weeks.

One honest note first: no single food will make you more fertile. The evidence on diet and fertility is mostly about overall patterns and about avoiding shortfalls. This list is a practical way to get those right for both partners, not a set of magic ingredients.

Contents

• The list at a glance
• Freezer aisle
• Pantry and canned goods
• Eggs and dairy
• Winter produce
• The vitamin D question
• Five winter meals from this list

The list at a glance

Freezer aisle

Frozen vegetables and berries

If you've been feeling guilty about buying frozen, don't. A 2017 study in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis compared broccoli, cauliflower, corn, green beans, peas, spinach, blueberries and strawberries bought fresh, stored in the fridge for five days, or frozen. Most comparisons of vitamin C, provitamin A and folate showed no significant difference, and when there was a difference, frozen beat fridge-stored produce more often than the reverse. The authors concluded that fresh produce doesn't clearly offer more nutrition than frozen once you account for realistic fridge storage.

That matters for preconception eating because frozen produce is cheaper in winter, doesn't go limp in the crisper, and makes it realistic to put vegetables in every dinner.

Frozen fish

Frozen cod, pollock, salmon, shrimp and tilapia are all on the FDA/EPA "Best Choices" list, which recommends 2 to 3 servings a week (4 ounces each) for people who might become pregnant. Frozen fillets thaw overnight in the fridge and cook in about the time it takes to roast vegetables. FoodSafety.gov advises cooking seafood dishes to 145°F during pregnancy, which is a good habit to start now. For the full list, including the fish to skip, see our guide to fish and mercury while TTC.

Pantry and canned goods

Canned salmon, sardines and light tuna

These are the most useful items on the list. All three are FDA/EPA Best Choices. According to the NIH, 3 ounces of canned sardines in tomato sauce provide about 0.74 g of DHA and 0.45 g of EPA, Atlantic salmon provides more, and canned light tuna provides about 2.5 mcg of vitamin B12, slightly over a day's need. Canned sardines and tuna also contain small amounts of vitamin D. In a study of 501 couples planning pregnancy, those in which both partners ate at least two seafood servings a week were more likely to be pregnant within a year, though that study was observational.

Beans and lentils

The CDC lists beans and leafy greens as sources of natural folate, though it notes that folic acid from supplements or fortified foods is the form shown to prevent neural tube defects. Beans and lentils also supply plant protein. In the Nurses' Health Study II, which followed more than 17,000 women, getting more protein from vegetable sources than animal sources was one of several dietary factors associated with lower risk of ovulatory infertility. That's an observational finding, but beans are cheap, filling and freezer-friendly, so there's little downside. Canned versions are fine; rinse them if you're watching salt.

Nuts and seeds

Nuts have unusually direct evidence for male partners. In two randomized trials of healthy young men, adding 60 to 75 grams a day of walnuts or mixed nuts for about three months improved sperm vitality, motility and morphology. Our walnuts and sperm quality guide covers the details. Ground flaxseed and chia are among the top plant sources of omega-3 ALA on the NIH list and are easy to stir into oatmeal.

Fortified breakfast cereal

The CDC recommends that everyone who could become pregnant get 400 mcg of folic acid daily, from a supplement, fortified foods or both, starting at least a month before conception. Fortified cereal is one of the foods the CDC names. Many also add B12 and vitamin D; amounts vary, so check the label. It's a helpful backup, not a replacement for a prenatal vitamin your clinician recommends.

Eggs and dairy

Eggs

Eggs are the easiest way to get choline, a nutrient that gets far less attention than it should. The NIH's Adequate Intake is 425 mg a day for women and 450 mg in pregnancy, and one large hard-boiled egg provides about 147 mg. The NIH notes that roughly 90–95% of pregnant women get less than the Adequate Intake, and that prenatal supplements typically contain little if any choline. Building an egg habit before pregnancy gives you a head start.

Milk

Fortified 2% milk provides about 120 IU of vitamin D and 1.3 mcg of B12 per cup, according to the NIH. If you use a plant milk, check that it's fortified with both.

Winter produce

Fresh produce that's in season and keeps well through winter is the sweet spot for cost and quality:

• Citrus (oranges, clementines, grapefruit): an easy way to keep fruit on the table when berries are expensive.
• Cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli: keep well, roast well, and add a little choline (about 31–32 mg per half cup cooked, per the NIH).
• Potatoes and sweet potatoes: filling, inexpensive, and one large baked red potato provides about 57 mg of choline.
• Leafy greens: a natural folate source; frozen spinach is the low-effort version.
• Mushrooms, especially packages labeled as UV-exposed (see below).

The vitamin D question

Winter is when vitamin D gets hard. The NIH notes that season, length of day, cloud cover and skin pigmentation all affect how much vitamin D your skin makes from sunlight, and that sun through a window doesn't produce it at all. The RDA is 600 IU (15 mcg) a day for adults, including in pregnancy, with an upper limit of 4,000 IU.

As the table shows, a few servings of salmon or trout a week do a lot of the work. Outside of those, it's hard to reach 600 IU from food alone on most days. If you rarely eat fish, have darker skin, or spend most daylight hours indoors, ask your clinician whether to check your vitamin D level and whether your prenatal covers what you need. Don't add a separate high-dose supplement on top of a prenatal without checking the total.

Five winter meals from this list

1. Sheet-pan salmon with Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.
2. Lentil and spinach soup from dried lentils, frozen spinach, canned tomatoes and onion; freezes well for lunches.
3. Sardine or salmon pasta with frozen peas, lemon and garlic.
4. Bean chili with a side of roasted broccoli; top with yogurt instead of sour cream.
5. Breakfast-for-dinner: scrambled eggs with UV-exposed mushrooms and frozen spinach, plus fortified toast or cereal.

Add a daily handful of nuts and a piece of citrus, and you've covered most of what this list is for. If batch cooking appeals to you, our article on ultra-processed food and fertility explains why replacing ready meals with simple home-cooked bases may be worth the effort, especially for male partners.

If any of you is plant-based, also read our vitamin B12 guide, since B12 is the nutrient most likely to fall short without animal foods. And for drinks through the holiday season, see non-alcoholic beer and mocktails while TTC.

Sources

• Li L, Pegg RB, Eitenmiller RR, Chun JY, Kerrihard AL. Selected nutrient analyses of fresh, fresh-stored, and frozen fruits and vegetables. J Food Compos Anal. 2017;59:8–17. Montclair State University
• U.S. FDA and EPA. Advice about Eating Fish. fda.gov
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin D: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Choline: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Vitamin B12 Fact Sheets. Omega-3; B12
• CDC. About Folic Acid. cdc.gov
• Harvard Gazette. Changes in diet and lifestyle may help prevent infertility (on Chavarro JE, et al. Obstet Gynecol. 2007). harvard.edu
• Robbins WA, et al. Biol Reprod. 2012;87(4):101 (PubMed 22895856); Salas-Huetos A, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018;108(5):953–962 (PubMed 30475967)
• Gaskins AJ, et al. Seafood intake and time to pregnancy (LIFE study). J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018. Summary: Healio
• FoodSafety.gov. People at Risk: Pregnant People. foodsafety.gov