Should you become Vego to enhance your fertility? Maybe

Ovulatory infertility accounts for about 25% of all infertility cases. This is when ovulation fails to occur or occurs irregularly and is most common in women experiencing Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome aka PCOS.  A 2008 study* that followed 18555 women over 8 years found that the more meat in the diet, the greater the incidence of ovulatory infertility. And further, women who ate mainly vegetarian sources of protein where half as likely to have fertility issues as their meat eating counterparts. The authors concluded that focusing on mainly vegetarian sources of protein may enhance fertility. 

 I don’t think we should use this as a basis to completely toss all animal meats during preconception for most people. Organic, grass fed meat is an excellent source of essential minerals and fats that you need when making a baby, and traditional chinese medicine recommends building the blood with animal meats when wanting to conceive - albeit meat was much rarer for most of the world’s population in the past due to expense and availability, and so wasn’t consumed every day and at most meals, like it commonly is nowadays. Everybody would do well to have a couple of vegetarian days per week. 

 Conversely if you would like to continue your preconception and pregnancy journey as a vegetarian, all the power to you, you can absolutely do this with excellent nutrition and health. 

 There’s a few issues that may have impacted the results of this study. People with vegetarian diets tend to eat a wider variety of plant foods overall and therefore tend to enjoy better health. Those that eat a lot of meat are not only consuming less vegetables, but are perhaps more likely to be consuming fast and convenience foods such as from the local takeout, rich in unhealthy fats that contribute to inflammation and your glycemic index. The diet data was collected via survey four years prior to the study’s conclusion, so there’s plenty of time for individual diet choices to change and more rigorous and thorough study is required to clarify the results. 

 However, the association with meat eating and ovulatory infertility was significant so it’s worth considering. It was found that high intakes of chicken and turkey had the biggest association with ovulatory infertility, and red meat to a lesser extent. Eggs and fish didn’t have a negative effect. Consuming foods rich in vegetable protein had a slightly positive effect however. Vegetarians who ate more carbohydrates and less vegetarian protein also had higher incidence of ovulatory infertility. The consumption of good quality vegetarian protein seemed to be the ticket. And importantly, the positive effects of eating vegetable protein and negative effects of eating animal protein was more prominent in women over the age of 32. For younger women the types of protein didn’t seem to have an effect. 

 As always, moderation is key. This study is saying that with women who exhibit problems with ovulation - which was only 20% of the entire 18555 person study, meat eating tends to make it worse. It’s not saying that meat makes everyone infertile. If you are planning on a pregnancy and are otherwise in excellent health, 1 – 4 serves of red or white meat a week is completely fine and nothing to stress about. 

 If you would like support on your preconception journey you can book in for a discovery call here. If you have been diagnosed as PCOS or see to have irregular periods, there is so much naturopathy can do to relieve your symptoms so please seek assistance.

*Chavarro, J. E. et al. (2008) ‘Protein intake and ovulatory infertility’, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 198(2). doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2007.06.057.

6 household items you should lose to enhance your fertility

Plastics, and in particular BPA, build up in your system and can affect your fertility. The good news is that studies have shown that by reducing exposure, the amount of BPA in your system decreases significantly, and other kinds of plastics will likely reduce also. 

Head to your kitchen. Many kitchen utensils are made of plastics that break down when exposed to heat - directly into your food, and this is what you want to avoid. 

Replace all the following items with ceramic, glass or metal. 

• Reusable food storage containers - Ikea have some fabulous glass containers with timber lids

• Microwave safe bowls (don’t put plastic in the microwave all together)

• Reusable plastic water bottles and cups 

• Plastic tea kettles

• Colanders

• Blender containers that have been used with hot soups 

Although many plastic kitchen items in store are labelled BPA free, often the manufacturers have replaced BPA with a similar compound such as BPS that isn’t as well researched and may be just as damaging. In our society, until plastics are proven unsafe they are assumed safe. Perhaps they are, but then, asbestos was once assumed safe also, and with substances such as BPA proven to adversely affect fertility, it’s wise to err on the side of caution. The Handmaids Tale comes to mind (eep).

The plastics used for bottled water and food products on the supermarket shelf do not contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’s - the fertility damaging components of plastics) and you don’t need to stress as much about it. Reduce where you can and only drink bottled water when absolutely necessary. Tinned foods are more problematic than other shelf foods as the cans are lined with plastics. Although some are labelled BPA free, there’s no way to know what the replacement lining is, and whether it’s benign or not. In particular it’s important to avoid tinned tomatoes, as these are quite acidic and are therefore much better at leeching fertility damaging plastics into their juices. It’s easy enough to dice up your own tomatoes thankfully. Try and use fresh foods instead or products jarred in glass.

While preparing to conceive, ideally, you’ll be focusing on whole foods prepared from fresh ingredients and steering clear of processed foods. Not only are processed foods more likely to contain EDC’s, they’re also more inflammatory and overloaded with bad fats, sugar and salt.  You need a rainbow banquet of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, protein and wholegrain to nourish your body and optimise your maturing eggs and sperm, so shopping at the farmers market for fresh produce and bulk food stores for nuts, dried beans and grains is not only better for the environment, but better for your future baby as well. 

Gorgeous baby image via upworthy.

Are everyday items destroying your fertility?

We’re nearly at the end of plastic free July, but saving the planet isn’t the only reason to get rid of plastic. Many, if not most, plastics out there have some form of endocrine disrupting chemicals (ie, they mess with your hormones and normal bodily function)  or persistent chemicals that hang out in your fat cells forever. In fact, in one analysis, 500 plastic products labelled ‘BPA free’ were analysed for endocrine disrupting chemicals. 90% were determined to contain endocrine disrupting chemicals and in some cases at higher and more damaging levels than BPA itself.* 

Whenever plastic is heated, frozen or exposed to the elements in any way it breaks down in tiny amounts and you end up ingesting it, such as from water bottles and take away containers, from water pipes in the ground, or through your skin from creams and cosmetics. 

Further to this, during pregnancy and breastfeeding your body will dump any plastic residues from your tissues into your baby while in utero and into breastmilk while breastfeeding. Alarmingly, pregnancy and lactation are the most efficient way for your body to detox these nasties - straight into your baby. Little is known on how much these chemicals affect the developing foetus however animals studies indicate there is a measurable negative effect on gene expression and health of the foetus as she grows to adulthood. 

I’m not here to alarm, don’t panic. Your body is wise and brilliant and can overcome these hurdles. For example getting plenty of folate in the diet has been shown to negate the negative effects of BPA. So there’s ways around it!  But please be wary and reduce usage of plastic products now. 

If you’re planning on starting a family, it’s wise to consider a full detox program approximately 6 to 8 months prior to first trying to conceive, especially if you have been exposed to a higher level of environmental toxins through your work, lifestyle and living environment. A detox takes approximately four to six weeks, and then you can start a preconception care program of approximately four months. You want as many nasties eliminated from your system as possible before starting your conception journey. 

*BPA has been proven to significantly disrupt fertility. Women with high levels of BPA are 87% more likely to suffer a miscarriage than women with low levels of BPA.