Pride Angel

"What should I eat in order to boost my fertility?" It's one of the first questions asked by many women hoping to get pregnant:

A new study offers up one possible answer, claiming that women who ate a diet rich in protein and low in carbohydrates while undergoing in vitro fertilization had higher pregnancy rates than those whose ratio of protein to carbs was the inverse.

But the findings, while provocative, are highly preliminary.

"Protein is essential for good quality embryos and better egg quality, it turns out," study researcher Dr. Jeffrey Russell, director of the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, said in a statement. His research was released at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' annual clinical meeting in New Orleans on Monday.

Patients whose protein intake represented 25 percent or more of their daily diet, and whose carbohydrate intake was 40 percent or less, had pregnancy rates four times higher than those who ate less protein and more carbs while undergoing in vitro fertilization (the joining of a woman's egg and a man's sperm in a laboratory before transferring the resulting embryo to her womb).

Researchers asked 120 women undergoing IVF to keep a three-day nutritional journal before they had an embryo transfer. Forty eight women had an average daily protein intake greater than 25 percent, while 72 had an average intake under 25 percent. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is generally recommended that people get between 10 and 35 percent of their daily calories from protein.)

There were no differences in body mass index (a measure of weight relative to height) between the two groups, and because of that, the researchers concluded that improving fertility may be linked to specific nutritional components in a woman's diet, more than to her overall BMI.

But Dr. Kathy Hoeger, Director of the Strong Fertility Center at the University of Rochester, N.Y., said that other factors might have affected the outcomes among the high-protein, low-carb group. Hoeger did not work on the new study.

"We don't have enough information about other factors," she told The Huffington Post.

"The question about high protein, low carb is still very uncertain with regard to fertility," Hoeger added, explaining that good scientific research on the links between diet and fertility is scant. Much of what is known has been extrapolated from preliminary animal studies, and the mechanisms that link nutrition and egg quality are not well understood.

But the desire for more information is there, evident in the numerous books, blog posts and articles on the topic. "As a practicing fertility doctor, probably the first question every one asks me is, 'What should I be eating?'" Hoeger said. "Clearly this is something on people's minds."

Perhaps the most scientifically rigorous information available comes from a 2007 study, led by researchers at Harvard University, that used data from more than 18,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study, one of the longest-running investigations into women's health in the U.S. Those findings were detailed in the much-hyped book "The Fertility Diet," which offered dietary guidelines for preventing and reversing ovulatory infertility (but not infertility resulting from issues like blocked fallopian tubes).

According to the Harvard researchers, women should avoid trans fats and focus on the quality of the carbohydrates they eat, opting for fiber-rich foods and avoiding simple sugars rather than restricting the quantity of carbs. Researchers also found that women who had more full-fat dairy products in their diets were less likely to have problems getting pregnant than those who opted for skim or low-fat options.

Article: 6th May 2013 www.huffingtonpost.com

Read more about nutrition and boosting fertiliy at www.prideangel.com

A reality TV star has told how the pressure to stay slim has left her infertile at 27. Chantelle Houghton, winner of Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, said doctors have informed her she will never be able to conceive naturally because of her extreme eating patterns.

She was the first ‘non-celebrity’ to feature in the Channel 4 reality TV show and found her showbusiness lifestyle after her appearance difficult. Miss Houghton said: ‘I’ve punished my body, and now it’s punishing me. Ultimately it’s my fault. I hate myself and can never forgive myself. ‘Because of my obsession with food and my crash dieting when I had bulimia, I’ve ruined my chances of having a baby naturally. ‘All the time I was making myself sick, I was thinking: “Yes, I’m getting skinnier.” I thought I was winning, but I was losing. It’s cost me the chance of a family.’

Miss Houghton has told how she struggled with bulimia from the age of 14. At one point, she revealed that she drank up to eight 1.5 litre bottles of water a day to fill her stomach and that her periods once stopped for a year. In the wake of her split from musician husband Samuel Preston in 2007, the 5ft7in star’s weight plummeted to just eight stone.

Later, in 2009, she admitted: ‘It’s a constant battle with my weight, and I’ll always have an issue with it. ‘I have tried every diet there is, from body wraps and the Special K diet to just drinking water, but I know I have to eat healthily and go to the gym, because that’s the only thing that works.’

She added that, at her thinnest: ‘I was making myself sick a lot, so food was just coming straight back out of me. I was obsessed from the minute I woke up in the morning until the minute I went to bed. ‘I was constantly watching what I was eating.’ But Miss Houghton has only recently been told of the damage she was doing to her body after going to the doctor complaining of stomach pain. She told Heat magazine that she visited fertility expert Dr Amin Gorgy.

She said: ‘He told me that I’d never be able to conceive naturally. Dr Gorgy told me that I had low fertility and that if I wanted to have a baby, I’d have to have IVF. He said that if I’d waited another three years, I would never be able to have children at all. I wouldn’t have any eggs left.’

Miss Houghton hopes her experience will warn other women of the effect that eating disorders and extreme dieting can have on their fertility. She added: ‘I hope they’ll see what’s happened to me and realise what they’re doing – the long-term effects. I’m 27 and I can’t have children naturally. Being stick-thin – is it worth that?’

Article: 19th July 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk

Read more about fertility and IVF at www.prideangel.com

Get your dates straight
There is an increasing anxiety about getting pregnant, especially for women over 35, but don’t feel as if you need to go straight for IVF. Work out when you ovulate. Ovulation occurs 14 days before your period, so this is the best time to try for a baby. If you are over 35 try for six months, and if you have no luck speak to your GP about alternatives

Check your BMI
If you are underweight or overweight it can affect your normal hormonal balance and ovulation cycle. If you are overweight eat healthily, but don’t think that you need to cut out certain foods, such as full-fat dairy. Medical researchers discovered that women who included full-fat milk, cheese, ice cream and cream in their diets had higher levels of fertility

Keep it balanced
We need a good alkaline/acid balance in our diet to make sure our body functions are working, so cutting out highly acidic foods and drinks can make you more fertile. Meat and carbonated drinks are highly acidic, while dairy and leafy green vegetables are more alkaline, as is bottled water, which contains magnesium and calcium

Watch your alcohol
Keep your intake within health guidelines as it can rob your body of key nutrients – the NHS recommends no more than two to three units a day for women. If you smoke you should quit. Smoking takes vitamins B and C from your body and suppresses your appetite, as well as causing acidity – all of which will make you less fertile

Top up your vitamins
Supplements can help with your fertility, but you should still have a balanced diet. Iron is particularly useful – check with your GP before taking it. Many women, though not clinically anaemic, will be iron-deficient to some extent

Don’t overexercise
A lot of women think that before they become pregnant they must get really fit and healthy, but preparing for pregnancy isn’t the same as training for a marathon. Keep exercise regular, but gentle. For some women overexercising can stop ovulation. Pilates and yoga are both especially good. Your body just needs to be in a balanced, healthy state

Have more sex
You need to have lots of sex. It will gear up your reproductive hormones and help stabilise your cycle. This doesn't just apply to straight couples - it also applies to lesbian couples, having more sex will help you relax and if using artificial insemination and you are in a couple - then having sex with your partner after insemination will help the sperm on its journey!

Article by Harriet Griffey www.telegraph.co.uk

Read more tips on boosting fertility and getting pregnant using home insemination at www.prideangel.com