Fertility
Want a baby? Change your diet
Ovulation-related infertility can benefit from new “pro-fertility diet”
F
The “pro-
fertility diet”
calls for
avoidance
of trans fats
and sugared
sodas, more
unsaturated
fats, vegetable
protein from
low-pesticide
sources such
as asparagus
and onions,
whole grains,
whole milk or
full-fat yogurt,
multivitamins
with folic acid
and vitamin
B, and iron
from natural
sources except
red meat
or those hoping to boost their chances of having
a baby, a new diet claims to do just that for
women with ovulation problems or disorders.
The diet, however, will not help those with blocked
fallopian tubes.
Developed by Drs Jorge Chavarro and Walter
Willett, both of the Harvard School of Public Health,
the diet is based on data from the Nurses’ Health
Study, one of the largest and longest-running studies
of women’s health in the US.
After reviewing the diets of more than 18,000
women, they found that the quality of their diets
improved chances of pregnancy.
The “pro-fertility diet” calls for avoidance of trans
fats and sugared sodas, more unsaturated fats,
vegetable protein from low-pesticide sources such
as asparagus and onions, whole grains, whole milk or
full-fat yogurt, multivitamins with folic acid and vitamin
B, and iron from natural sources except red meat. It
also calls for women to be physically active, exercise
daily, and avoid smoking.
Other experts agree the diet could improve fertility
for women with ovulatory disorders such as polycystic
ovary syndrome, often called PCOS, a condition
Asparagus is a low-pesticide source of vegetable protein
Onions might help women with ovulation problems get pregnant
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MARCH 2020
where women have high levels of male hormones.
“It’s an overall healthy way of eating and can
help women improve their intake of key nutrients for
conception and pregnancy,” said Vandana Sheth, a
registered dietitian nutritionist and spokeswoman for
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, to CNN.
A woman with PCOS can be lean but still be
insulin-resistant, which can interfere with ovulation,
so the quality of the diet becomes a more important
factor, experts say. For these women, eating fewer
processed carbs and more whole-grain carbs can
result in a slower rise in blood sugar and lower insulin
production, which is favorable for fertility.
The Harvard research reveals that eating more
full-fat dairy foods instead of low-fat or fat-free dairy
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