Eating well helps with healthy pregnancy and fertility – 05/29/2023 – Balance

In any internet human fertility chat room, one of the main topics of debate is often what to eat to amplify the chances of conception.

And alongside those countless supplements advertised as promoting fertility, there are also a number of foods that are supposed to help you have a healthy pregnancy.

Amidst all the myths and marketing, what is the real evidence that eating certain foods increases the fertility of men and women and helps in the development of the fetus?

When it comes to promoting a healthy pregnancy, certain nutrients really can make a difference. One of them is folic acid.

Folic acid, when administered before and throughout pregnancy, has already been shown to help prevent anencephaly – a serious failure of the baby’s brain to form – and spina bifida, which affects the spine.

Because these problems occur early in pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she’s pregnant, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all women of reproductive age take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.

Fortified staple foods, such as cereals with folic acid, can offer even greater protection, as pregnancies are often unplanned. It is estimated that, in 2019, fortification programs prevented 22% of the possible cases of spina bifida and anencephaly that can be prevented with the consumption of folic acid, worldwide.

And folic acid can bring one more benefit. When taken as a supplement by women trying to conceive, it can increase the chances of pregnancy, but more studies are needed to confirm this claim.

What about other foods and supplements? Is there a “fertility diet” that maximizes the chances of conception?

To answer this question, we must first detail the main reasons for infertility.

In the United States, even after a year of unprotected sex, 15% of couples are unable to have children. The possible causes are many.

On the female side, the ovaries may not be able to produce healthy eggs, or the eggs may not be able to move from the ovaries to the uterus – for example, due to a blockage of the fallopian tubes. Or, even if the egg makes the successful journey, it may not attach to the uterine wall or survive once attached.

For men, sperm quality is critical to fertility, which includes their ability to move efficiently (motility), their shape and size (morphology), and their quantity in a given volume of semen (sperm count). sperm).

Several factors can impair sperm quality, including environmental issues such as pollution. And even with tests, the cause of infertility cannot always be clearly defined: 15% of infertility cases remain unexplained.

No specific food or supplement will provide a quick fix for any of these possible problems. But experts say the diet can have benefits for couples trying to conceive a baby.

The most obvious is that good nutrition is key. The consequences of malnutrition can be devastating for prenatal health.

The best-known findings in this area probably come from a study of babies conceived during the so-called “Dutch Hunger Winter” in 1944 – an eight-month famine when the Nazis cut off food supplies to the Netherlands at the end of the 1940s. Second World War.

At that time, pregnant women lived on just 400 calories a day, which is just a fraction of the intake needed for a healthy pregnancy.

Babies conceived that year faced a range of health problems. They were smaller and leaner than those born before or after them, and their heads were smaller. In adulthood, they had higher rates of obesity, diabetes and schizophrenia, with a tendency to die younger.

For those who have access to enough food, getting the right combination of nutrients is also important. And while discussions of beneficial foods often focus on female fertility, there is a growing awareness of the influence of diet on male fertility.

A 2015 study of couples undergoing IVF found that men’s meat consumption—in particular, the type of meat they ate—affected outcome, as measured by fertilization rate.

Higher poultry consumption had positive impacts on fertilization rates, while eating processed meat (such as bacon and sausage) had negative consequences.

Men who ate the least processed meats (on average, less than 1.5 servings per week) had an 82% chance of achieving pregnancy with their partner, while men who ate the most processed meats, averaging 4.3 servings per week week, had only a 54% chance.

And even after conception, the father’s diet can affect the baby indirectly. A study at the University of Queensland in Australia concluded that what parents eat has a lasting effect on their children’s future health, even before birth.

The team of researchers analyzed feeding data from almost 200 couples who received prenatal care at Australia’s largest maternity hospital – Mater Mothers Hospital, in the city of Brisbane. The study concluded that men’s diets have a strong influence on women’s, which, in turn, has consequences for the developing baby.

Other studies indicate that the father’s weight may have an intergenerational effect, influencing the weight of children.

“Men’s health and nutrition are overlooked when it comes to fertility, but they are very important,” says nutritionist Shelley Wilkinson, one of the study’s authors from the University of Queensland. “They really can influence your grandchildren’s health.”

Wilkinson now works at the Australian private practice Lifestyle Maternity, which specializes in fertility support. She also highlights the importance of dealing with change as a couple.

“If one person is following the dietary guidelines, chances are the other person is as well,” she says. “We must focus on supporting women and men to make healthy changes. Otherwise, we lose half the battle.”

A beneficial change can be to increase the amount of fat in the couple’s diet – as long as it’s the right kind of fat.

Healthy fats are found in nuts, seeds, salmon, avocados and olive oil. But trans fatty acids — which can come from natural or industrial sources and are found, for example, in margarine, pasta, fried foods and other processed products — are associated with an increased risk of infertility.

A plant-rich diet can also be beneficial. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, in the United States, evaluated the diet of a group of 18,555 women over eight years, while they were trying to get pregnant.

The study linked consuming plant protein (such as legumes) in place of animal protein (such as red meat) with a 50% lower risk of ovulatory infertility.

The authors of a 2021 review of research on the possible relationship between diet and female fertility concluded that while their recommendations focused on women, “diet and nutritional patterns undoubtedly are significant for male fertility and feminine”.

The researchers provided a detailed breakdown of the effects of individual nutrients and the foods they contain. They also emphasized the importance of involving a nutritionist in assisting couples planning a pregnancy.

In a nutshell, the summary of the review recommends foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grain pasta and whole grain bread (carbohydrates); healthy fat sources like oil-rich fish; and legumes, eggs and lean meat, for protein intake.

The researchers also indicated the importance of certain nutrients that can sometimes be overlooked. One of them is iodine, which helps in the proper development of the fetus and the thyroid function of the pregnant woman.

With regard to alcohol, advice is clear and consistent across all surveys. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “There is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to become pregnant.”

This goes for all types of alcohol, including wine and beer. The advice is to abstain altogether.

If you have any questions or concerns about your diet and how it may affect fertility, the best thing to do is consult your doctor. And while certain foods do seem to play a positive role in fertility, it’s important not to overestimate their power.

Infertility is a complex issue, as well as its causes. Worrying about what you eat can cause unnecessary stress, as well as feelings of shame and guilt.

People who are having trouble conceiving can be reassured that the problem probably doesn’t lie with anything specific they ate or didn’t eat.

Wilkinson says that people with fertility problems will often look for a single fertility-promoting food. But it’s best to aim for a general pattern of healthy eating.

“In fertility chat rooms, there’s a lot of talk about pineapple being some kind of magical fertility food if you’re trying to get pregnant,” she says. “But there is no single food or supplement that works this way.”

* All content in this report is provided as general information only and should not be treated as a substitute for the advice of healthcare professionals.

The BBC is not responsible for any actions or diagnoses made by users based on the content on this website. The BBC is not responsible for the content of the external websites mentioned, nor does it endorse any commercial products or services mentioned or advertised on these websites. Always consult your doctor if you have any concerns about your health or your child’s health.

This report was originally published here.