Today I’m taking a break from the more serious momma topics to talk about something fun and out of the ordinary.  I’m talking gender selection and how to conceive a specific sex through diet.  Of course this is all very controversial and no one really knows how much validity diet has on choosing a specific gender, but there is some research to prove that diet may have something to do with the sex of your baby.  

I think it could be fun to know you had some sort of control over the sex of your child.  I know that ultimately it comes down to the strongest swimmers but I still think that what I did with my diet when I conceived my daughter had something to do with why she’s here.  But since I had a boy first, I’m going to start with the boy diet.

The Boy Diet

It has been researched that altering the pH levels in your body may have something to do with which swimmers meet up with the egg first.  In order to change the pH levels to favor male sperm, you’ll need to consume foods and beverages that create a more alkaline vaginal environment for the male sperm.  You’ll need to change up your diet a few weeks to one month prior to trying to conceive.  You can learn more about how to alkalize your diet here.

Tip #1-Eat Foods High in Potassium: This means consuming lots of bananas, white beans, salmon, avocados, almonds, apples and mushrooms.  There are other foods that are high in potassium but oddly enough, before I conceived my son, my diet was VERY rich in all the foods I just mentioned.  Huh…Interesting.  

Tip #2-Consume Food Often: One study suggests that women who keep their glucose levels high have a better chance at conceiving a boy.  This means eating frequent small meals every few hours.  Just make sure that your meals are full of nutrients.  Go ahead and snack on all those foods that are rich in potassium for an added boost to possibly conceive a boy 😉

Tip #3-Eat Breakfast Cereal:  For some reason, in that same study found above, the women who consumed the most breakfast cereal also conceived more boys than the women who ate one bowl or less everyday.  I can only assume that goes along with the idea of keeping blood glucose levels high because people who eat breakfast first thing in the morning are also keeping glucose levels high in the blood stream.  Many breakfast cereals are also fortified with potassium which may also help contribute to conceiving a boy.  

The Girl Diet

Although I really didn’t pay too much attention to which foods helped conceive a certain gender with my first child, I did read up on the facts the second time around.  Because we already had a boy I really did want a girl, but again, first and foremost, just wanted to be pregnant and have another baby.  For conceiving a baby girl, the mother needs to have a more acidic vaginal environment for the girl swimmers to thrive.  The thought is that the male swimmers are more fragile and less equipped to handle the harsh conditions of the acidic environment so they end up dying off and the surviving girl swimmers are left to meet up with the egg.  So here are the top 3 tips that I feel helped me conceive a baby girl the second time around.  

Tip #1: No Added Salt: For upping your chances of having a girl, try to cut the salt out of your diet, especially the added salt.  Try to stay away from salted meats and olives, table salt, processed foods and blue cheeses.  Not only is this actually just good practice in general, but it will also be good for your pregnancy and keeping water retention levels low.  

Tip #2: Consume Artificial Sweeteners: I know that this tip is not a healthy tip and probably most, if not all readers here on babyfoode stay as far away as possible from artificial sweeteners, but I’m convinced this is what helped me conceive my little girl.  Before becoming pregnant with my son, I was only consuming natural, organic foods and beverages and doing anything and everything I could to get myself into tip top pregnancy shape.  However, I do remember consuming a lot of diet coke and crystal light in the month prior to conceiving my daughter.  It was June and extremely hot that summer and the only beverages we had in our house were Crystal Light raspberry lemonade and diet soda.  I’m sorry but I’m not sorry, these beverages just hit the spot when it’s super hot out sometimes.  Anyways, artificial sweeteners are said to produce a more acidic vaginal environment.

Tip #3: Increase Calcium and Magnesium: This tip is really good for anyone who’s trying to get pregnant, regardless of which gender you want but specifically helpful in trying to conceive a girl. If you choose to up calcium through dairy products, just be sure to make it organic and choose high fat items over low fat or fat free (best especially for ovulation).  Try adding spinach too as this food item is a double boost when trying to conceive a girl.  Spinach has both magnesium and calcium.  Spinach is easy to include in smoothies (along with milk of choice or yogurt!!), soups, salads, and sauces.

There are a lot of tips out there on the internet about how to conceive a specific gender but these are my top 3 tips on how to conceive a certain gender, and strangely enough these tips worked for me!  Happy baby making!   

You can read a more detailed description of the acidic and alkaline foods here.