If you’re trying to get pregnant and having troubles conceiving, you may want to increase the amount of fruit, vegetables, and fish that you eat to turn your diet into a more mediterranean style eating plan.
A new study conducted by researchers from the Netherland which followed 161 couples undergoing fertility treatments found that women who ate most closely to a mediterranean style diet had a 40% better chance of getting pregnant than those women whose diet was the least like a mediterranean one.
It is important to note that the study did not prove a connection betw
een a mediterranean diet to better fertility chances. The study is defined as “obversational”, as the women were simply interviewed regarding their eating habits and later divided into groups defined by their eating habits.
The study included 161 couples undergoing fertility treatment at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. Two-thirds underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF), while the rest underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI. The latter is typically used when the man has a low sperm count or poor sperm quality.
The Mediterranean diet is characterised by a large consumption of fruit, vegetables, beans, vegetable oils, and fish, with very little snack food.
The reason why this diet may help fertility is that the vegetable oils in this diet are rich in omega-6 fatty acids which are precursors to hormone-like substances in the body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins, in turn, are involved in the menstrual cycle, ovulation and pregnancy maintenance.
A meditteranean diet has many health benefits. However, its connection to fertility requires additional research.
Source: Reuters
