What’s Diet Got to Do With Infertility? Turns Out, A Lot!

Why you need to ditch those bad carbs and fats. What you eat has a direct impact on your fertility.

What we know about infertility and food is based a lot on old wives tales. But perhaps the grandma wasn’t all wrong?

(Photo: iStockphoto)

A country called India bursting at seams with 1.3 billion people, still has 27.5 million people struggling to have a child of their own. No wonder you see infertility clinics mushroom all over the country even in tier 2 cities.

So, why is infertility on the rise?

A seemingly simple process of a healthy sperm meeting a healthy egg is followed by another seemingly simple process of the fertilized egg nestling itself in the specially prepared home that is the uterus, for the next 9 months.

The key phrase in the description above is a healthy sperm and a healthy egg.

While so much has been written about what role does diet play in the health of your heart, or on your chances of developing cancer, not much attention has been given to the effect diet has on the health of the sperm and the egg.

What’s Diet Got to Do With It?

In most cultures, the role diet plays on fertility has been a matter of fable and old wives tales of conventional wisdom and almost no science.

However, the largest and the longest running ‘Nurses Health Study’ conducted by Harvard School of Public Health, which has looked at the role of diet on various chronic health issues including fertility, has helped reduce the gap in our knowledge.

On comparing the diets, exercise, habits and other lifestyle choices of those who readily got pregnant and those who experienced ovulatory infertility, several key differences emerged.

However as the study doesn’t include information on the participants partners, it was not possible to explore how nutrition affected male infertility.

Good Carbs vs Bad Carbs

Like all diet fads, the no carb craze which till recently had many takers, also faded away. The Nurses Health Study shows that eating lots of easily digestible carbohydrates like white sugar, white bread, soda pops etc. will increase the chances of infertility in women.

On the other hand, slowly digested carbohydrates which have fibre, such as whole grains and fresh fruit, improve fertility.

This has got something to do with what is called glycemic load, which is a measure that conveys information about how quickly carbohydrate is turned into blood sugar. Women in the highest glycemic load category were far more likely to have faced ovulatory infertility than those who had a low glycemic index. This is because the finely tuned balance of hormones needed for reproduction is disrupted by insulin levels, which become too high in response to the fast carbohydrates.

Say No to Trans Fats

There is enough evidence to show how trans fats work against ovulation. So eating artificial fat, found in your fast food, in your fried Indian food is not going to do any favours to your ability to ovulate. Instead, opt for good fat whenever possible to boost fertility.

Some recent studies have suggested that more fat in the diet and in some cases the saturated fat, for example butter and ghee, normalizes the menstrual cycle, affecting the ovulation in a positive manner. The good fats increase the insulin sensitivity and decrease inflammation - exactly the opposite of what trans fats do.

So, it is not the total quantity of carbs and fats, but the quality of these that matters when it comes to boosting your fertility.

Make Protein Your Friend

A very surprising finding that emerged from the Nurses Health Study was that adding animal protein, instead of carbohydrate, to your plate leads to a greater risk of ovulatory infertility.

So get more protein from vegetable source and less from animals.

The study also showed that a daily serving of whole milk and foods made from the whole milk like full fat dahi, paneer and even ice cream seem to offer some protection against ovulatory infertility.

Watch That Weight

Large deviation from the ideal body weight can disrupt normal menstrual cycles and throw ovulation completely out of gear. Women with BMI between 20 and 24 are least likely to have infertility. Same holds true for male fertility.

What Does Ayurveda Say?

They recommend fresh organic fruits and vegetables, dairy protein intake, whole grains, almonds and walnuts, asparagus, broccoli, date milkshake, mango milkshake etc. These are the foods that are supposed to increase the shukra dhatu, the tissue responsible for reproduction.

(Dr Ashwini Setya is a Gastroenterologist and Programme Director in Delhi’s Max Super Speciality Hospital. His endeavor is to help people lead a healthy life without medication. He can be reached at [e-mail])