The Influence Of Nutrition On Fertility
How Diet Affects The Chances of Conceiving a Baby
Nov 13, 2008
Couples trying to conceive a baby should pay attention to diet and exercise according to The National Women’s Health Information Center, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. “You should start taking care of yourself before you start trying to get pregnant,” says the center’s website.
Important Nutrition for Fertility
According to the March of Dimes® Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center website, “Folic acid, a B vitamin, helps prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord when taken before the end of early pregnancy.” The recommended dosage is 400 micrograms daily, and many note that it is preferably started three months before pregnancy occurs.
Randine Lewis, PhD, in her book The Infertility Cure [ISBN:0316159212, 2004 Little Brown] recommends the following dietary guidelines for women preparing for pregnancy:
- Getting Folic Acid through dark leafy vegetables and orange colored foods such as cantaloupes, yams, sweet potatoes and oranges.
- Eliminating alcohol, caffeine and nicotine use.
- Avoiding unnecessary over the counter medications and drugs.
- Avoiding junk foods.
- Eating organic foods.
- Getting enough essential fatty acids in the diet.
- Choosing alkaline foods over acidic foods.
Dr. Lewis notes that men can improve their diets by adding legumes and soy as well as vitamins such as C, E, and B12. She notes that “ginseng…increased production of testosterone and helps with sperm production.”
Is a Vegetarian Diet Better for Conception?
A study published in the November 2007 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology [Obstet Gynecol. 2007;110:1050-1058] women that had diets with higher intakes of monounsaturated fats, vegetable protein, high fiber and low-glycemic carbohydrates showed improved fertility outcomes. The study observed 17,544 women with no history of infertility [Nurses’ Health Study II] for eight years. Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD, at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts notes “We have previously found that body weight, physical activity, and dietary factors…are related to infertility due to ovulation disorders. These findings suggest that an overall dietary and lifestyle pattern aimed at increasing the intake of certain micronutrients and improving insulin sensitivity…may help prevent ovulatory disorder infertility.”
Participants with the highest average of daily protein intake, 115 grams, were 41% more likely to report problems with ovulatory infertility than women in the lowest-protein group. Specifically women that had animal protein intake were 39% more likely to have ovulatory infertility than their meatless counterparts. In fact, adding one daily serving of peas, tofu, beans, soybeans, or nuts to the diet predicted a “modest protection again ovulatory infertility.”
References:
- I am thinking about getting pregnant. How can I take care of myself? The National Women’s Health Information Center, accessed online November 13, 2008.
- Folic Acid: What you need to know Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center, March of Dimes®, accessed online November 13, 2008.
- The Infertility Cure, Randine Lewis, Ph.D., Little Brown 2004, ISBN: 0316159212
- “Fertility Diet” May Improve Fertility Outcomes in Women, Medscape Medical News, November 12, 2007, accessed online November 13, 2008.
- Fat, Carbs and the Science of Conception, by Jorge E. Chavarro, M.D., Walter C. Willett M.D., Newsweek magazine December 10, 2007, accessed online November 13, 2008.
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