When you’re trying to conceive, what you stop doing can matter just as much as what you start. Some everyday habits, medications, and products can quietly interfere with ovulation, sperm quality, or early implantation. Here’s what to cut back on or cut out entirely, and why it makes a difference.
Alcohol, Even in Small Amounts
Alcohol affects fertility for both partners, and the threshold is lower than most people expect. For women, even light drinking can increase the time it takes to get pregnant by disrupting hormones and ovulation. Heavy drinking, defined as seven or more drinks a week or more than three on a single occasion, is linked to irregular periods and infertility.
For men, the picture is similarly sobering. A study of more than 1,200 Danish men found that those who drank as few as five units of alcohol per week (roughly three beers or glasses of wine) had lower sperm counts and lower sperm quality than men who didn’t drink at all. Men with a typical intake above 32 standard drinks per week had a 33 percent reduction in sperm concentration. If you’re both serious about conceiving, scaling back together gives you the best odds.
Caffeine: Less Worrisome Than You Think
Caffeine is one of the most common preconception worries, but the evidence is more reassuring than alarming. A large study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured caffeine and its metabolites in women’s blood and found that low to moderate intake from coffee, tea, or soda had no measurable effect on the likelihood of conceiving in a given cycle. Women drinking more than three caffeinated beverages a day conceived at essentially the same rate as women who drank none.
That said, most health organizations still suggest keeping intake moderate, generally under 200 milligrams a day (about one 12-ounce coffee). There’s no strong reason to quit your morning cup, but there’s also no reason to push your intake higher.
Common Pain Relievers Around Ovulation
Ibuprofen and similar anti-inflammatory pain relievers can delay ovulation by several hours. In a controlled study, nearly 85 percent of women taking ibuprofen around the time of ovulation experienced a significant delay compared to those who didn’t take it. The eggs were still healthy once released, but if the timing of intercourse was already planned around an expected ovulation window, the delay could mean a missed opportunity that cycle.
This doesn’t mean you can never take a pain reliever. The risk is specifically tied to the days surrounding ovulation, typically mid-cycle. If you need pain relief during that window, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a safer choice since it works through a different mechanism that doesn’t affect the ovulation process.
High-Mercury Fish
Fish is genuinely good for fertility and for a future baby’s brain development, so the goal isn’t to avoid seafood altogether. It’s to avoid the specific species that accumulate dangerous levels of mercury. The FDA lists these as the fish to skip entirely:
- King mackerel
- Marlin
- Orange roughy
- Shark
- Swordfish
- Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico
- Bigeye tuna
Mercury builds up in your body over time, so it matters to limit exposure before you conceive, not just after a positive test. Lower-mercury options like salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and canned light tuna are fine to eat two to three times a week.
Skipping Folic Acid
This isn’t something to avoid so much as something you can’t afford to skip. The CDC recommends 400 micrograms of folic acid daily for all women who could become pregnant. The reason it belongs on a “what to avoid” list is that many people don’t start taking it until after they find out they’re pregnant, and by then the neural tube (which becomes the brain and spinal cord) has already begun forming. Starting a prenatal vitamin or standalone folic acid supplement at least one month before trying to conceive, ideally three months, gives your body the reserves it needs during those earliest weeks.
Too Much Vitamin A From Supplements
Vitamin A from animal sources and supplements (the form called retinol) can cause birth defects at high doses. The risk is highest in the first weeks of pregnancy, often before you know you’re pregnant. Research suggests daily intakes need to stay well below 7,500 micrograms of retinol to avoid reaching levels that could harm a developing embryo.
In practical terms, this means avoiding high-dose vitamin A supplements and being cautious with liver and liver products, which are extremely concentrated sources. Beta-carotene, the form of vitamin A found in carrots and sweet potatoes, does not carry this risk because your body only converts as much as it needs. Check your prenatal vitamin to make sure it contains beta-carotene rather than preformed retinol, or that the retinol amount is modest.
Most Lubricants and Saliva
This one surprises a lot of people. Most commercial lubricants slow sperm movement, and saliva does too. Oils you might reach for at home, like coconut oil, are also problematic. The issue is that these products change the consistency and chemistry of the environment sperm need to travel through.
If you need lubrication, look for products specifically labeled “fertility-friendly” or “sperm-friendly,” which must be evaluated by the FDA before they can carry that claim. The safest options are hydroxyethylcellulose-based lubricants, which most closely match the viscosity and pH of natural cervical mucus. Avoid anything with added fragrances or parabens.
Excessive Heat for Male Partners
Sperm production requires temperatures a few degrees below core body temperature, which is why the testicles sit outside the body. Regular heat exposure can significantly impair sperm counts, and the effects are delayed. Damage done today won’t show up in a semen analysis for five to seven weeks, since that’s how long it takes for new sperm to mature.
Research shows that regular sauna use (about two and a half hours every two weeks) can cut sperm counts by up to 50 percent. Hot tub or hot bath sessions of 30 minutes or more per week also reduce sperm quality. Even heating the testicles once every three weeks was enough to keep sperm counts suppressed in one study. The good news: counts typically recover within about four weeks of stopping the heat exposure. If you’re trying to conceive, your partner should avoid hot tubs, long hot baths, saunas, and placing laptops directly on the lap.
Too Much Intense Exercise
Moderate exercise supports fertility, but there’s a point where intensity works against you. For women, aerobic exercise exceeding seven hours per week increases the risk of ovulation problems. For those undergoing fertility treatment, more than four hours per week of strenuous exercise has been shown to decrease success rates.
The key word is “strenuous.” Walking, yoga, swimming, and moderate cycling are generally fine and even beneficial. The concern is with high-intensity training: long-distance running, heavy CrossFit sessions, intense spin classes done daily. If you’re exercising hard more than four hours a week and struggling to conceive, dialing back the intensity is one of the more straightforward changes you can make. You don’t need to stop moving. You just need to give your body enough energy to prioritize reproduction alongside your workouts.