Here is another evidence that what you eat is having a net negative effect on the global population.
Women who eat fast foods instead of fresh fruits and vegetables have lesser chances of becoming fertile, according to a new study. This means that they are also less likely to get pregnant in a normal manner.
The study analyzed the diets of 5,598 women in New Zealand, Australia, U.K., and Ireland. The central question for the study was, “Is preconception dietary intake associated with reduced fecundity as measured by a longer time to pregnancy?” Results of the study were recently published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Human Reproduction.
Lifestyle factors, such as obesity and smoking have been linked with infertility. Yet, the role of preconception diet in women remains poorly studied.
According to the research team led by Prof. Claire Robert, consumption of fast food four times per week or more took women one month longer to become pregnant.
According to the researchers:
“Fast food was defined as items bought from fast food restaurants and did not include fast food items bought from supermarkets, such as pizza. So, overall fast food consumption might have been underreported.”
Do not just avoid the bad ones, you have to eat good food too.
Researchers discovered that women who eat fruit three or more times daily were found to have more chances of becoming pregnant quickly. On the other hand, those who consume fruits less than one to three times a month took a half-month longer to conceive.
It was then concluded that women bolstered their risk of infertility by 8-12 percent if they only consume the least amount of fruit. While those who consume more fast food increased their risk of infertility by 8-16 percent.
Similar findings were found by previous research.
The findings of the study were validated and found replicate portions of the previous research from Boston University of Public Health. In this study, researchers discovered that by just consuming one or more sugary drinks per day, fertility rates for both men and women can fall.
The lead author of the study and professor of epidemiology named Elizabeth Hatch stated that:
“We found positive associations between intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and lower fertility, which were consistent after controlling for many other factors, including obesity, caffeine intake, alcohol, smoking, and overall diet quality.”
Jessica Grieger, the Australian-led study, and the first author said in a statement that:
“We recommend that women who want to become pregnant should align their dietary intakes towards national dietary recommendations for pregnancy.”
Furthermore, the team of Grieger found out that eating fish and green, leafy vegetables had no effect on the period it takes to conceive.
Grieger continued:
“For any dietary intake assessment, one needs to use some caution regarding whether participant recall is an accurate reflection of dietary intake. However, given that many women do not change their diet from pre-pregnancy to during pregnancy, we believe that the women’s recall of their diet one month prior to pregnancy is likely to be reasonably accurate.”
