While the primary reason someone goes on a diet is to lose weight, it is not the only result that dieters seek. You could go on a diet to lower your cholesterol, take control of your diabetes, add muscle, or even for help with migraines.
When browsing the news today, I came across this article on CNN.com that brought up a new kind of diet that I hadn’t heard of before – the fertility diet. Is there actually a diet you can follow that increases a woman’s odds of conception? Let’s see what they have to say about it.
Can Your Diet Increase Fertility?
As described in the article linked above, Drs. Jorge Chavarro and Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health have developed a diet that they believe leads to higher fertility in women. This conclusion is based on extensive data that was collected in the Nurses’ Health Study, one of the longest-running and largest studies on the health of women in America.
What was found after analysis of data of more than 18,000 women was that there was higher reproductive success among women who had a higher quality diet, were physically active, and were a non-smoker. As written in their book on the topic (The Fertility Diet: Groundbreaking Research Reveals Natural Ways to Boost Ovulation and Improve Your Chances of Getting Pregnant, available on Amazon.com here), “high-tech medicine isn’t the only answer.”
Key Takeaways
This is uplifting news, although it is not that surprising. The old adage of “you are what you eat” always holds true. If you eat unhealthy foods, your body will not function at its best. That, obviously, includes the reproductive program.
However, it can be enlightening news to anyone who is trying to conceive, yet is having difficulty getting conception. Many may blame their genes or their biology for their reproductive issues. This gives hope that maybe it is their lifestyle may be part of the cause. With healthy changes to their diet, as well as their workout routine, perhaps their chances of conception will go up.
This is also good news for any couple who believes that expensive, high-tech procedures like in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be the only solution to having a child. It is certainly much cheaper to make changes to your diet, get more exercise, and put down that pack of cigarettes (if that is applicable).
Foods for the Fertility Diet
So what kinds of foods should you eat as part of the fertility diet? Experts provide the following tips:
If you’d like to get more detail on the Fertility Diet, I highly recommend checking out the full information in Chavarro and Willett’s book here.
About Shaun Hudson
Shaun Hudson loves sports, being outdoors, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. After many unsuccessful attempts to lose weight, he finally was able to drop 25 pounds and keep it off. The secret? He kept a journal of his activity, diet, and daily life. That journal changed his life, and has since evolved into this website. Read his full bio.