Fat, Carbs and the Science of Conception
Whether you classify yourself as a couch potato or an exercise aficionado, your fertility zone should include four types of activity: aerobic exercise, strength training, stretching and the activities of daily living. This quartet works together to control weight, guard against high blood sugar and insulin, and keep your muscles limber and strong. They are also natural stress relievers, something almost everyone coping with or worrying about infertility can use.
Exercise has gotten a bad rap when it comes to fertility. While the pioneering studies of Dr. Rose Frisch and her colleagues convincingly show that too much exercise coupled with too little stored energy can throw off or turn off ovulation in elite athletes, their work says nothing about the impact of usual exercise in normal-weight or overweight women. Common sense says that it can't be a big deterrent to conception. If it were, many of us wouldn't be here. Our ancestors worked hard to hunt, forage, clear fields and travel from place to place. Early Homo sapiens burned twice as many calories each day as the average American does today and were fertile despite it—or because of it.
Results from the Nurses' Health Study support this evolutionary perspective and show that exercise, particularly vigorous exercise, actually improves fertility. Exercising for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week is a great place to start. It doesn't really matter how you exercise, as long as you find something other than your true love that moves you and gets your heart beating faster.
Chavarro and Willett are in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Skerrett is editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. For more information, go to health.harvard.edu/newsweek or thefertilitydiet.com .
© 2007
Loading Menu
Member Comments
Posted By: Darwinia @ 04/04/2008 1:30:45 AM
Comment: Sorry the last comment I made should have posted 1/17/08 ish but the system wouldn't let me..... To date: tried the food recommendations and liked the chages I saw overall (it's not much different than a medditeranean style eating plan.) Also went on Progesterone due to my "age" and pretty much got pregnant a month after starting both. Whose to say which helped the most but I am now over 3 months along...yea!
Rockaway apparently didn't read the article at all......and the stuff about body size???? please list a study conducted long term that verifies the underweight/overweight fertility issues. I've seen anectdotal work but nothing truely serious. I know plenty of examples from both sides of the fence who have gotten pregnant easily (under 35yrs old). Lets try to stick to the science being discussed unless people want to provide 1 deg sources.
Best wishes to everyone dealing with ovulatory infertility and looking for answers....
Posted By: Darwinia @ 04/04/2008 1:16:03 AM
Comment: Some more to add.....running is not unhealthy when pregnant or trying to get pregnant. I mentioned it only in that my asthma makes me uncomfortable. Comfort is the key- if your exercise of choice is comfortable while pregnant and you see a Doc regularly, continue to do it. Many of my running friends were fine well into their 7th month.
PCOS is not covered under this article/research. JUST general ovulatory infertility.
This article is from a well respected group of scientists conducting multiple research studies. Please go to http://www.channing.harvard.edu/nhs/publications/2005.shtml to get an idea of some of their other journal published work. You can also find the questionnaires used for their studies on the site. This 'fertility and diet' article first appeared in the November 1, 2007, issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology (a journal.) It's not just someone's opinion and, as the author states, they were trying to provide solid research data to verify or refute the dearth of opinions and unsubstantiated advice out there. It's the first of it's kind to look at fertility and diet over such a long time period.
Fertilityfile.com (while not the blog referred to below) gives lots of info (including an opinion on this article) from the perspective of a reproductive endocrinologist. Check it out if you have time.
Also wanted to clarify my choice of 'Dawinia'- a pointed response to 'evolutionist'- but NOT meant in the false scientific vein of social darwinism. Darwin's paradigm shattering contribution was that life has and will change through time- period.
In response to eandj62204 - 'Chemicals' are a worth while option for some us looking at our clock and considering IVF or other treatments. Please don't judge us. I would take a chemical any day of the week to prevent another miscarriage and save my child.
Posted By: skinnyminny2 @ 03/31/2008 1:41:12 PM
Comment: Being too thin decreases fertility, too. I'm 25 lb underweight with very little body fat and have not had a period in over a year.
It's easy for me to stay like this because it's the fat ones who get ripped on, not us skinnies.