by Anna Fregonara
What are the key foods to maximize the chances of conceiving and harmful lifestyles: for example 7 sugary drinks a week lengthen the time to conception and alcohol acts on the testicular level
Is there a scientifically proven fertility diet that maximizes your chances of conceiving? Experts say it is not only for women, but also for men. However, it does not mean believing what you read online about supposed super foods for those who want to become parents. This is a broader vision.
Get there healthy
It reflects the ever-increasing attention to the relevance of preconception care to maximize the success of pregnancy – and protect the health of the child – by modifying lifestyle, and therefore also table habits, and spreading greater awareness of the reality of infertility. As doctors we advise women to face pregnancy in the best possible health conditions because the consequences of malnutrition can also be dangerous for prenatal health, comments Nicoletta Di Simone, head of the Multidisciplinary Center for Pregnancy Pathology at Humanitas San Pio . However, despite growing recognition of the importance of nutrition for reproductive health, the key foods in trying to optimize fertility are not fully defined.
Sugar and fast food to avoid
To date, here is what is really known thanks to scientific research. A recent prospective cohort study of more than 5 thousand pregnant women from the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand has highlighted how the waiting time to achieve pregnancy is longer in the presence of reduced levels of fruit intake ( at least 3 times a day versus less than 3 times a month), which corresponds to an increased incidence of infertility of 1-4%, continues the expert. The same study observed how the waiting time to get pregnant is reduced with the decrease in fast food corresponding to an absolute reduction in infertility of 3-8%. In a prospective cohort of 3,828 women planning to become pregnant and 1,045 of their male partners in North America, it was observed that consuming at least seven sugary drinks per week appeared to compromise fertility, meaning that it took a longer time before spontaneous pregnancy occurred. a pregnancy, underlines the gynecologist. Furthermore, in the same group of patients, a reduced fecundity of about 10% was seen in the presence of higher glycemic loads, i.e. proportional to how much the food introduced increased the glucose level in a person’s blood (glycemic load of at least 141 versus value less than 100).
No to alcohol and energy drinks
Discussions about beneficial foods often focus on female fertility, but there is growing awareness of how diet can also influence male fertility. In fact, as we read in Fertility and Sterility, the expert explains, poultry meat has proven to be protective foods when comparing the fertilizing capacity of seminal fluid, therefore male fertility, evaluated in medically assisted procreation centers, contrary to the consumption of meat. processed products (sausages and sausages) rich in saturated fatty acids. Same benefits for fish. Among the factors whose quantity should be controlled is alcohol consumption which includes beer, wine and spirits. It acts, at the testicular level, on Leydig and Sertoli cells, interfering with regular spermatogenesis. As regards women, a significant correlation has been demonstrated between the extent of alcohol intake and the reduction in the fertility rate. Furthermore, alcohol is not recommended for pregnant women, the gynecologist recommends. Negative effects on fertility have also been described for caffeine, which is contained not only in coffee, but also in tea, energy drinks and chocolate. This is why a limited intake is recommended.
It is difficult to estimate the weight of individual foods
So, what to eat? What constitutes the true Mediterranean diet. A new study, which appeared on Jama Network Open, has highlighted how structured maternal interventions on lifestyle during pregnancy, based on the Mediterranean diet or on stress reduction thanks to mindfulness, have improved child neurodevelopment outcomes at the age of two years. Although recent literature on the impact of dietary patterns and the evaluation of individual foods or nutrients on infertility is limited, says the gynecologist, it has been seen that greater adherence to the true Mediterranean diet leads to a higher rate of live births, a a reduction in the waiting time for conception and an improvement in the fertility rate. Upon medical advice, you can think about a possible supplementation, for example, of folic acid, vitamin B or D.
Be careful with integrations
As always, too much is too good. An excessive introduction of some micronutrients could increase the risk of developing gestational diabetes, for example due to oxidative stress caused by high concentrations of iron or due to an accumulation of non-metabolisable folic acid in patients with genetic mutations of the MTHFR enzyme. Just as an excess of copper is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and maternal dyslipidemia, says the gynecologist. In the future, a mapping of nutritional deficiencies will help clinicians to indicate personalized supplementation, avoiding the danger associated with high concentrations of some micronutrients.
The causes of infertility
To understand the importance of a diet for future parents and a change in lifestyle, it is essential to break down the main causes of infertility that affects, as has been highlighted in the reports of the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, millions of couples around the world: it reaches percentages between 12 and 20% and is associated with a significant emotional and economic burden.
The causes can be grouped into five categories, as defined in 2020 by the National Registry of Medically Assisted Procreation of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit, specifies Dr. Di Simone. Female infertility which includes tubal, ovulatory or functional problems of the ovary, endometriosis, uterine factor (from malformation to endometrial problems), multiple miscarriages, reduced ovarian reserve. And, again, male infertility due to a low sperm count or low fertilizing capacity; male and female infertility; genetic infertility; idiopathic or sine causa infertility lists the expert.
There is a healthier type of vaginal microbiota
Even the microbiota, the set of good microorganisms, can be among the possible causes of infertility. A female genital system, vagina and uterus in particular, eubiotic, that is to say in balance, dominated by over 70% by Lactobacilli which make the conditions ideal for fertilization and, in case of lower values, for local inflammation: this, for , “enemy” of the future mother, explains Luca Masucci, associate professor at the Institute of Microbiology, head of the Molecular Diagnostics and Microbiota Manipulation operational unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A.Gemelli Irccs of Rome.
In fact, within the “family” of Lactobacilli there are species that make the vaginal and endometrial environment different, favoring or not the onset of vaginitis or vaginosis and endometritis, underlines Masucci. Based on the presence or absence of these Lactobacilli species it was possible to divide the vaginal microbiota into five classes. The detection of one or another class allows us to identify not only the state of eubiosis, but also a predisposition or presence of bacterial and viral infections as in the case of papilloma. Altering the microbiota, favoring the growth of pathogens, there may also be excessive consumption of carbohydrates, which can favor the onset of candidiasis, the prolonged use of antibiotics and the anatomical proximity between the intestine and the genital tract. In fact, inflammatory states of the intestine, the great conductor of our immune system, can also promote inflammation of the genital tract, adds Luca Masucci.
Occasional relationships
Finally, microorganisms can also be found in the genital tract of men. The consequences of their presence in the reproductive system can alter the seminal fluid, in terms of quantity and morphology, and the motility of the spermatozoa, continues Masucci.
In the evaluation of fertility there is not only the individual, but also the couple. Casual unprotected sexual intercourse creates an exchange of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms between partners, just as each consolidated partner can influence the composition of the microbiota of the other’s reproductive tract. Some microorganisms, present in one or the other sex, can be the cause of miscarriages, premature births, alterations of the seminal fluid and perinatal infections, concludes the expert.
November 5, 2023 (modified November 5, 2023 | 08:36)
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