April Sucks
Bite This: According to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, infertility affects 7.3 million in the US which translates to 12% of women of childbearing age, or 1 in 8 couples. (Spoiler alert: this is a long post.)
In honor of National Infertility Week® this week, I'd thought I'd take the opportunity to write about something that many people find debatable when relating it to nutrition. And I have also given a lot of attention to other organ systems in the human body except for the reproductive system, unless you count this post or this one, so it's time for a post honoring the system that made this all possible.
Infertility is more prevalent than many people realize... until they see their next door neighbor at the fertility clinic. A few of my friends have dealt with their own fertility issues and I have witnessed their desperate attempts to try anything for the chance to build a family, including trying wild diets and making drastic changes to what they were eating. (Thankfully, they have all had beautiful babies!) There is some indication that the number of cases of infertility has been on the rise in recent decades. Research has shown that some of these cases may be attributed to environmental factors, but there may be some truth to the notion that we have grown accustomed to foods that are not really food at all and, therefore, the diet may play some part in it as well. There are a few myths about certain foods and fertility and others that are actually backed by research. Caffeine, alcohol, dietary fat, weight and exercise may all impact fertility.
1. Avoiding caffeine - a recent survey showed that the average woman of childbearing age consumes about 100 mg of caffeine per day. Studies have shown that caffeine consumption can prolong the time it takes for a woman to conceive. Another study demonstrated that women who drank more than one cup of coffee a day were half as likely to become pregnant per cycle as compared to women who consumed less. Experts have recommended women who wish to conceive to limit caffeine to 100-200 mg per day. (This amounts to about 1-2 cups of coffee per day - but less than a Starbuck's Grande Coffee which has 330 mg of caffeine.)
2. Eating yams - Yams are often used by herbalists and in other integrative medicine to boost fertility in women. Yams were first associated with fertility due to a high number of twins born to a tribe in Nigeria who consume a lot of wild yams. Yams contain phytoestrogens (as does soy and other foods), which are thought to inhibit estrogen production tricking the brain into thinking that it needs to produce more estrogen. This in turn helps ovulation. Phytoestrogens are structurally identical and may mimic hormones in the body, but there are not any good studies to determine whether they promote fertility or even help with menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.
3. Avoiding alcohol - Heavy alcohol intake may affect fertility, especially in women who have problems ovulating, however, moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink per day) has not be shown to cause issues. In males, heavy drinking has been shown to decrease the quality and quantity of sperm.
4. Fat - I'm talking about the amount of fat in the diet, although being fat also plays a role in fertility. There is not a whole lot of research on the effects of dietary fat and fertility. A couple of small studies suggested that the more fat in the diet and even more saturated fat helps improve the menstrual cycle. However, these studies did not account for other factors that influence reproduction and none of them studied the effect on fertility specifically. The Nurses' Health Study research team did find that the more trans fat in the diet, the more likely the woman was to experience ovulatory infertility. Eating more saturated/trans fat usually means that one is eating less of unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can help improve fertility by reducing inflammation and increasing insulin sensitivity. Despite this information, you may have heard that eating whole fat ice-cream or drinking whole fat milk improves fertility. Say what? Removing fat from milk changes the balance of sex hormones which may make it more difficult for regular ovulation. This does not mean, however, that a woman needs to sit down and eat a pint of ice cream every night (although if she is having trouble conceiving, the ice cream may not only help, but works great for consoling). One serving per day of whole milk or full fat ice-cream seemed to do the trick.
5. Exercise - While strenuous, vigorous activity may cause amenorrhea in athletes, regular exercise for a woman with a normal body weight is healthy and may even boost fertility. Women who are inactive may greatly benefit from regular physical activity, especially if BMI is > 25. Women who are within the normal body weight range can also benefit from 30 minutes of physical activity per day. Early studies have shown that too much exercise coupled with too little energy intake can throw off ovulation (as such in elite athletes), but that is not most women.
6. Weight - Achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight (BMI range of 20-24) has also been shown to help with fertility for men and women. Women who are underweight often times have ovulatory issues and experience amenorrhea and women who are overweight also experience ovulatory issues. In the Nurses' Health Study, women with a BMI of 20-24 were the least likely to have ovulatory infertility with an ideal BMI of 21.
7. Taking iron supplements - There have been a few studies showing that iron supplements may reduce the risk of ovulatory issues. In the Nurses' Health Study women who were taking iron supplements had a 40% less risk for ovulatory infertility than those who used none. Iron is responsible for the development of red blood cells and many women are iron deficient which can cause anemia and disrupt ovulatory function.
So there you have it - April sucks. April is just a month full of reminders of why wine is always a good idea. Think about all of the tragic events that have occurred in April. Not only that, but April has weeks to bring about awareness for the things many people who experience them like to forget, such as head and neck cancer, autism, child abuse, Parkinson's, testicular cancer, stress, foot health, irritable bowel syndrome, and infertility. At least it is also National Humor Month (really). :)
Sound bite: You can find more information about National Infertility Week here. Also, update for those of you who are dying to know - I did not eat any candy yesterday. I did eat rice krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies though and they were amazing.
In honor of National Infertility Week® this week, I'd thought I'd take the opportunity to write about something that many people find debatable when relating it to nutrition. And I have also given a lot of attention to other organ systems in the human body except for the reproductive system, unless you count this post or this one, so it's time for a post honoring the system that made this all possible.
Infertility is more prevalent than many people realize... until they see their next door neighbor at the fertility clinic. A few of my friends have dealt with their own fertility issues and I have witnessed their desperate attempts to try anything for the chance to build a family, including trying wild diets and making drastic changes to what they were eating. (Thankfully, they have all had beautiful babies!) There is some indication that the number of cases of infertility has been on the rise in recent decades. Research has shown that some of these cases may be attributed to environmental factors, but there may be some truth to the notion that we have grown accustomed to foods that are not really food at all and, therefore, the diet may play some part in it as well. There are a few myths about certain foods and fertility and others that are actually backed by research. Caffeine, alcohol, dietary fat, weight and exercise may all impact fertility.
 |
| Source: Picture is from babble.com; baby-gaga.com |
1. Avoiding caffeine - a recent survey showed that the average woman of childbearing age consumes about 100 mg of caffeine per day. Studies have shown that caffeine consumption can prolong the time it takes for a woman to conceive. Another study demonstrated that women who drank more than one cup of coffee a day were half as likely to become pregnant per cycle as compared to women who consumed less. Experts have recommended women who wish to conceive to limit caffeine to 100-200 mg per day. (This amounts to about 1-2 cups of coffee per day - but less than a Starbuck's Grande Coffee which has 330 mg of caffeine.)
2. Eating yams - Yams are often used by herbalists and in other integrative medicine to boost fertility in women. Yams were first associated with fertility due to a high number of twins born to a tribe in Nigeria who consume a lot of wild yams. Yams contain phytoestrogens (as does soy and other foods), which are thought to inhibit estrogen production tricking the brain into thinking that it needs to produce more estrogen. This in turn helps ovulation. Phytoestrogens are structurally identical and may mimic hormones in the body, but there are not any good studies to determine whether they promote fertility or even help with menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.
3. Avoiding alcohol - Heavy alcohol intake may affect fertility, especially in women who have problems ovulating, however, moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink per day) has not be shown to cause issues. In males, heavy drinking has been shown to decrease the quality and quantity of sperm.
4. Fat - I'm talking about the amount of fat in the diet, although being fat also plays a role in fertility. There is not a whole lot of research on the effects of dietary fat and fertility. A couple of small studies suggested that the more fat in the diet and even more saturated fat helps improve the menstrual cycle. However, these studies did not account for other factors that influence reproduction and none of them studied the effect on fertility specifically. The Nurses' Health Study research team did find that the more trans fat in the diet, the more likely the woman was to experience ovulatory infertility. Eating more saturated/trans fat usually means that one is eating less of unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can help improve fertility by reducing inflammation and increasing insulin sensitivity. Despite this information, you may have heard that eating whole fat ice-cream or drinking whole fat milk improves fertility. Say what? Removing fat from milk changes the balance of sex hormones which may make it more difficult for regular ovulation. This does not mean, however, that a woman needs to sit down and eat a pint of ice cream every night (although if she is having trouble conceiving, the ice cream may not only help, but works great for consoling). One serving per day of whole milk or full fat ice-cream seemed to do the trick.
5. Exercise - While strenuous, vigorous activity may cause amenorrhea in athletes, regular exercise for a woman with a normal body weight is healthy and may even boost fertility. Women who are inactive may greatly benefit from regular physical activity, especially if BMI is > 25. Women who are within the normal body weight range can also benefit from 30 minutes of physical activity per day. Early studies have shown that too much exercise coupled with too little energy intake can throw off ovulation (as such in elite athletes), but that is not most women.
6. Weight - Achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight (BMI range of 20-24) has also been shown to help with fertility for men and women. Women who are underweight often times have ovulatory issues and experience amenorrhea and women who are overweight also experience ovulatory issues. In the Nurses' Health Study, women with a BMI of 20-24 were the least likely to have ovulatory infertility with an ideal BMI of 21.
7. Taking iron supplements - There have been a few studies showing that iron supplements may reduce the risk of ovulatory issues. In the Nurses' Health Study women who were taking iron supplements had a 40% less risk for ovulatory infertility than those who used none. Iron is responsible for the development of red blood cells and many women are iron deficient which can cause anemia and disrupt ovulatory function.
So there you have it - April sucks. April is just a month full of reminders of why wine is always a good idea. Think about all of the tragic events that have occurred in April. Not only that, but April has weeks to bring about awareness for the things many people who experience them like to forget, such as head and neck cancer, autism, child abuse, Parkinson's, testicular cancer, stress, foot health, irritable bowel syndrome, and infertility. At least it is also National Humor Month (really). :)
Sound bite: You can find more information about National Infertility Week here. Also, update for those of you who are dying to know - I did not eat any candy yesterday. I did eat rice krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies though and they were amazing.
Comments
Post a Comment