Fertility and Diet
Posted on April 23, 2008
A friend of mine recently attended the 2008 Nutrition & Metabolism Society Seminar and we met for dinner. I’m not really all that savvy when it comes to nutrition so I asked him a ton of questions about low-carb and his nutritional lifestyle. It was interesting to hear how diet has impacted his life – he lost 180 pounds and has kept it off for years by living via low-carb. I was shocked when he ordered a diet coke with dinner, but as he mentioned there’s no true sugar in soda. I have to admit I love real sugar, that high-carb stuff.
Almost every time I tell my story of infertility someone will approach me afterward trying to sell their nutritional product or vitamins (I blogged about something similar in March). I nod my head in agreement that nutrition does impact fertility, to some extent… There are some infertility diagnosis that NO diet will cure. But there are some dietary changes might just help you move from not being able to become pregnant to pregnant. Like any dietary change, it will take time.
I found a fantastic article about how diet affects infertility. The article mainly addresses ovulatory infertility and there was no study on male factor infertility, although some of the same dietary concepts might apply to men too. To recap (with my commentary), the article states that there is a difference between fast and slow carbs. If you’re like me, then giving up potatoes might be an inconvenience, but if it means you can improve your ovulatory infertility than DO IT.
The article continues to discuss animal versus plant protein. With ovulatory infertility, the study suggests that protein derived from plant is more helpful to ovulation than is animal protein. The higher the animal protein the more likelihood of infertility issues. The higher the animal protein the less occurrence of ovulation issues. So while you’re trying to become pregnant, eat less meat and more vegetables high in protein.
My favorite part of the article deals with dairy (one of my favorite foods)…the article suggests having one full-fat dairy food serving per day. They state that a pint should last about two weeks with two half-cup servings per week. Just yesterday I was feeling guilty that I take my twin girls to Baskin Robins every Tuesday for Two-for-Tuesdays. Little did I know that I was helping their ovulatory fertility by doing so – do you think it works on 3 1/2 year olds? Somehow I doubt it.
The article wraps up with the role of body weight, BMI and exercise. Weight is a determining factor in so many diseases and I wasn’t surprised to see it mentioned here. I know skinny and heavy people who had no problems getting pregnant while the perfectly fit (as this article describes) unable to conceive. So, I agree that it plays a part, but its one of the many, many pieces of fertility issues. Seems that regular exercise actually improves more than just your overall health, it helps with ovulatory fertility too.
As far as articles on diet and fertility, I think this is one of the best I’ve read. Although diet was not our fertility issue I know it has been the factor for a few of my friends and people I’ve met along the way. I’m guilty of paying too much for a product called Xango. My husband thinks it’s just overpriced juice, but I swear it works for what I need it to work for and it’s full of antioxidants to keep me looking young – ha! If I liked blueberries they’d be an option, but I can barely finish a blueberry muffin. A women I know swears by a product called Vemma. She told me she struggled with infertility for years, even had failed IVF attempts and became pregnant after taking the Vemma product. I’ve never used Vemma so I’m not making any claims about the products use.
Whether your past determining if diet is part of your fertility issue, my recommendation is to consider the points made in this article. I noticed that I changed my diet as we prepared for our IVF cycle. My eating habits are better today than they were before we started trying for a baby – coincidence?
What are you eating?
The Nutrition and Metabolism Society’s Low-Carb Reference Page
Creative Commons photo by t3knomanser.
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2 Responses to “Fertility and Diet”
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I was searching for \’Diet New Year\’ at google and got this your post (\’ty and Diet | Twin Peas Blog and Podcast\’) in search results. Not very relevant result, but still interesting to read
Good luck with your journey to parenthood.
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