fertility diet

The best conceivable diet
Infertility affects one in six couples, according to studies in the US
and Europe. There are various reasons - there may be a structural
problem like blocked fallopian tubes, or a disease of the uterus like
fibroids or endometriosis. Many cases (18-30 per cent), though, are
due to a failure of ovulation - eggs just don't ripen and release when
they're supposed to. IVF is an option, but it's time consuming,
expensive and has a high failure rate. There may be a simpler solution
according to a paper published in Obstetrics & Gynecology - follow a
`fertility diet' aimed at increasing certain micronutrients and
improving insulin sensitivity through diet, weight control and
increased physical activity.

[FERTILITY]

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard
Medical School followed a group of 17,544 married women (participants
in the Nurses' Health Study II) for eight years as they tried to
become pregnant or became pregnant. The team put together a `fertility
diet' score card based on:

* The ratio of mono-unsaturated to trans fats in diet
* Protein consumption (derived from animals or vegetables)
* Carbohydrate consumption (including fibre intake and GI)
* Dairy consumption (low- and high-fat dairy)
* Iron consumption
* Multivitamin use
* Body mass index (BMI)
* Physical activity

`We analyzed what happens if you follow one, two, three, four, or more
different factors,' said Lead author Dr Jorge Chavarro. `What we found
was that, as women started following more of these recommendations,
their risk of infertility dropped substantially for every one of the
dietary and lifestyle strategies undertaken. In fact, we found a
six-fold difference in ovulatory infertility risk between women
following five or more low-risk dietary and lifestyle habits and those
following none.' The women with the lowest rate of infertility (and
most likely to fall pregnant) were those who ate less trans fat, less
sugar, more low GI foods such as pasta and whole grains, more protein
from vegetables than from animals, had a good iron intake, took
multivitamins, exercised daily, kept their BMI between 20 and 25, and
consumed more high-fat dairy products and less low-fat dairy products.

`The key message of this paper is that making the right dietary
choices and including the right amount of physical activity in your
daily life may make a large difference in your probability of becoming
fertile if you are experiencing problems with ovulation,' said senior
author Dr Walter Willett. Click HERE to watch a short video of Drs.
Willett and Chavarro explaining the paper's key findings.
- Obstetrics & Gynecology, November 1, 2007