Ultra-Processed Food is Making it Harder to Get Pregnant
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are everywhere—in most grocery stores, gas stations, airports, and likely in your pantry and refrigerator. Today, more than 73% of the U.S. food supply is estimated to be ultra-processed.1 And plenty of foods you might not think of as “processed” qualify, like that plant-based “milk” in your morning coffee, or that bottled green juice with preservatives. Processing falls on a spectrum, and where a food lands on it is what actually matters.
When is a Food Considered “Ultra-Processed”?
In the late 2000s, researchers identified industrial food processing as the primary contributor to the obesity epidemic, and began categorizing food by the nature, extent, and purpose of its processing in a classification system called NOVA.2 NOVA defines UPFs as foods processed into substances like sugars, oils, proteins, and starches, often by chemical modification, for assembly into shelf-stable, branded products.3,4 UPFs contain ingredients not typically found in kitchens, such as chemical preservatives, hydrogenated oil emulsifiers, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors and flavorings.2,3
How Do Ultra-Processed Foods Impact Our Health?
UPFs and their ingredients have emerged as modifiable risk factors for chronic disease. A 2024 meta-analysis found strong associations between high UPF consumption and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular and heart disease mortality, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, and poor sleep.4 Simply reducing our UPF intake can lower that risk, though there is room for improvement, as the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and CDC data show American adults consume more than half of their calories from UPFs, primarily from sandwiches, sweet bakery products, savory snacks, and sweetened beverages.5,6
Ultra-Processed Foods and Fertility
Emerging evidence suggests UPFs affect health beyond cardiometabolic disease, pointing to endocrine and fertility disruption, though more research is needed.6 A 2026 cross-sectional study of more than 2,500 women of reproductive age participating in NHANES examined UPF intake, using NOVA, in association with fertility outcomes. Women who reported trouble conceiving for more than 12 months ate only slightly more UPF than those who didn’t, with about 31% of their diet from UPFs versus 27%.6 Still, researchers estimated that a sizable increase in UPF intake of 10-percentage points would be associated with roughly 68% lower odds of fertility. Factoring in obesity, this weakened to about 61%, but remained statistically significant.6 A separate prospective cohort study found no association between UPF consumption and infertility in women, but a significant one in men, though women in the highest quartile of UPF consumption showed smaller embryonic growth and yolk sac volume in the first trimester.7
Another NHANES study may explain the role that body weight plays in UPF consumption and infertility. Among more than 3,000 women surveyed, those reporting infertility had a higher average BMI and were far more likely to be obese. Researchers analyzed the data looking at how UPFs were linked to infertility independently, or through their effect on body weight. When adjusting for BMI, high UPF consumption showed no significant link to infertility, but when BMI was left out, women in the highest third of UPF consumption had about 46% higher odds of infertility. This suggests BMI is a mediator, and part of how UPFs impact fertility could be through weight gain.8
The connection between UPFs and fertility is clearly far from settled. So how do we know UPFs affect reproduction and health in the first place? Let’s look at it mechanistically.
Food is information for our bodies, communicating with every cell, tissue, and organ on whether to repair or break down, to calm inflammation or stimulate it, or to balance our hormones or disrupt them. Nutrient-dense foods improve our physiology by creating vitality, optimizing cellular function, and supporting overall health. Foods that are refined, chemically modified, nutrient-poor, and engineered to be highly palatable generally drive disease.9
UPFs’ contribution to disease in the body may be attributed to its components: refined carbohydrates, fructose, industrial seed oils, additives, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, and more. Together, these components are associated with metabolic dysfunction, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, chronic and systemic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, gut permeability and dysbiosis, obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies.10-13 Hyperinsulinemia, chronic inflammation, and gut dysbiosis are especially relevant to infertility, as together they’re linked to hormone dysregulation, disrupted egg quality and ovulation, and altered beta-glucuronidase activity.14-16
Hyperinsulinemia, or elevated blood insulin without low blood sugar, is often a hallmark of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), seen in approximately 60-95% of women with the condition.17 PCOS is a common reproductive hormonal disorder in which ovulation is disrupted due to significant reproductive hormonal imbalances, like the ovaries producing excess androgens like testosterone. High insulin worsens ovarian androgen production, an effect more pronounced in women with PCOS.17 It also generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which deplete ovarian antioxidants and expose eggs to oxidative stress, a key driver of poor egg quality.18
Chronic inflammation is also commonly seen with infertility, showing up in PCOS, endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, and STI-driven infertility.15,19-21 UPFs are highly associated with inflammation, as they contain omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFAs) that out-compete the anti-inflammatory omega-3 EFAs, EPA and DHA, that support healthy ovulation and egg quality.11 Omega-3 EFAs are necessary to produce prostaglandins, hormone-like signaling molecules that help to regulate hormone balance, so diets high in UPFs (and low in omega 3s) shift the body toward inflammation.14
UPFs also disrupt the gut microbiome, driving dysbiosis and elevated production of an enzyme known as beta-glucuronidase. Beta-glucuronidase recirculates estrogen that’s packaged up for elimination back into the body, driving up estrogen levels and tipping the body toward estrogen dominance.16 This kind of estrogen imbalance has been associated with reproductive disorders like endometriosis and irregular cycles.19
What Should You Eat Instead of UPFs?
While none of these factors act alone, they help us to understand that a diet high in UPFs works against the hormone balance, egg quality, and internal environment that fertility requires, while a nutrient-dense diet gives the body the information it needs to thrive.
So, what should you eat, and avoid, for optimal fertility?
A few simple swaps:
· Ultra-processed, nutrient-poor, inflammatory foods → fresh fruits and vegetables, ideally organic.
· Refined carbohydrates and sugar → high-fiber whole grains, ideally organic.
· High-glycemic foods → nuts, seeds, and legumes, ideally organic.
· Preservatives and artificial ingredients (sweeteners, flavorings, colorings, etc.) → nose-to-tail meats (muscle meat, broth, organ meats), ideally pasture-raised, and wild-caught fish.
· Industrial refined seed oils (corn, soy, safflower, canola, vegetable) → non-inflammatory fats such as butter, ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil.
The good news is that optimizing fertility doesn’t require perfection, as seen in the research. Remember that not all processed foods are created equal. The aim isn’t a perfect diet, it’s a pattern, and by eliminating most of the inflammatory, nutrient-poor options in favor of whole, nutrient-dense foods, you can change the information you are giving your body. Small, consistent swaps add up, and your body responds in remarkable ways when you give it more of what it needs.
References
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The information in this article is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional advice. Always consult with a qualified expert to determine what services, if any, are right for you.
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