About Ami

I've been where you are

Trying to conceive can be the hardest thing in the world. I know, because I've been there — and it was the only thing in my life I couldn't fix by working harder at it.

My cycles were all over the place. It took years. I had two miscarriages. And the advice I kept getting, from people who genuinely meant well, was always some version of just relax, it'll happen. Which is a strange thing to hear when you've worked out there are only a handful of days a month when it can happen, and you're not even sure those days are happening.

So I did the thing I do when I don't know what to do. I went and read everything.

Does what you eat actually affect fertility?

Short answer: yes, more than I expected, and a lot less than the internet claims.

I'm an Accredited Practising Dietitian, so I could read the actual studies rather than the headlines written about them. What I found was that diet has a real, measurable effect on ovulation and cycle regularity — mostly through blood sugar and insulin. It isn't a miracle and it isn't a cure. But it's a genuine lever, and nobody had put it in front of me.

So I changed how I ate. My cycles settled. I could finally tell I was ovulating (and you can't get pregnant without ovulating). Eventually I had my rainbow babies — two of them now.

Then I started doing this for other people, and it kept working.

What I do now

I take fertility nutrition research and turn it into food you'll actually cook on a Tuesday night. No elimination diets. No cupboard full of supplements you're not sure about. And no pretending the evidence is stronger than it is — if something doesn't have good research behind it I'll tell you, even when it would be much easier to sell it to you.

You'll find my work in Harper's Bazaar, Rescripted and Nutrition Plus, and you can hear me talking about all of this on Fertility Friendly Food and I'm Thinking of Having a Baby.

Fun facts you didn't ask for

I'm from Melbourne, the coffee capital of the world, which explains a great deal about me — including the years I spent behind an espresso machine. Since then I've lived in Cambodia, Canberra, Zimbabwe, Nhulunbuy, and now Singapore.

Salty over sweet, any day of the week. I'd swim every morning if I could. And I will hold your newborn for as long as you'll let me.

Credentials

• Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
• Specialising in fertility and preconception nutrition
• Author of Eat Your Way To Fertility

The short version: I'm the dietitian who read all the studies so you don't have to, and who is never going to tell you to relax.

Everything I know is in the book. Eat Your Way To Fertility →