Fertility diets - are they fact or fiction?
In today's episode, we will discuss
whether fruits, vegetables, fast food, seafood, trans fats or carbs can help or
hurt your fertility. Stay tuned to the end for my specific diet recommendations
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First, don't get confused. There are many different types of diets for a variety
of medical problems. A diet to lower cholesterol, for example, won't
necessarily help with your fertility.
Second, if you are overweight, any type of
diet that will allow you to lose weight will improve your fertility.
Let's get into some specifics. Fruits and vegetables. A new study found that women
who eat fast food and little or no fruit take longer to become pregnant.
For women who had the lowest intake of fruit, the risk of infertility increased from 8% to 12%
and those who ate fast food four or more
times a week, the risk of infertility doubled from 8 to 16%.
Fast foods include burgers, pizza, fried chicken and chips that were bought from takeaway or
fast-food outlets. These findings were true regardless of female weight.
The LIFE (or Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility on the Environment) Study of
501 couples planning pregnancy shows that couples consuming two or more
servings of seafood every week enjoyed more sex and got pregnant faster than
those eating seafood less often.
After one year, 92% of couples
with a seafood rich diet had conceived, compared with 79% of couples with
diets that contain less fish and shellfish.
Another study found that women on a diet high in trans fats were 48% more likely to develop
endometriosis than those with the lowest consumption.
However, women eating a diet
rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish, seem to protect against the
disease as these women had a 22% reduced risk of developing endometriosis.
A survey of women with and without ovulation problems, found that women with
ovulation problems were more likely to eat low-fat dairy products, refined carbs,
get their protein from animal products and consume trans fats
So if you have an ovulation problem, avoid these things
A typical Mediterranean diet contains a
high amount of vegetables, fruits, olive oil, beans and cereal grains,
moderate amounts of fish, dairy products and wine
and only a small amount of red meat and poultry.
A study from Greece of nearly 250 women found that those women who
adhered most closely to this diet had 66% higher pregnancy rates during IVF.
Men who follow the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (or AHEI)
a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy products and a
relatively low intake of refined grains saturated fatty acids and added sugars
showed significantly better results for sperm concentration, total sperm count
and percentage of normal sperm morphology compared with men who didn't
follow such a diet.
So, to put all this together my recommendations for a fertility diet:
It seems reasonable to eat some fruits and vegetables every day,
seafood at least twice a week.
Stay away from fast foods and foods that are high in trans fats.
If you have an ovulation problem, try to switch from low-fat dairy to high-fat dairy.
Get more of your protein from plant sources than from animal sources
Swap out your current vegetable oil for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
The Mediterranean Diet takes most of these recommendations into account already.
If you follow that diet closely
you should maximize your fertility.
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