The Fertility Diet

Overview

Could having the occasional small bowl of ice cream lead to a midnight craving for pickles and ice cream?

It's common knowledge that diet and exercise have profound effects on your health. Can they affect your ability to get pregnant, too? Until now, the answer to that question was a qualified "Maybe." Today, it's "Yes!" thanks to exciting findings from a landmark long-term study of female nurses. As described in The Fertility Diet, ten simple changes in diet and activity can have profound effects on fertility. You can increase your chances of getting pregnant with such simple strategies as:

• Avoiding trans fats
• Eating more beans, nuts, and other fertility-boosting plant protein
• Embracing whole grains such as oatmeal and barley
• Having a glass of whole milk or other full-fat dairy product every day (a small bowl of ice cream every now and then counts, too!)
• Staying away from sugared sodas

The Nurses' Health Study exhaustively examined the effects of diet and other lifestyle changes on fertility among nearly 20,000 female nurses. It scrutinized everything from alcohol to vitamins. In plain language, two of the study's lead researchers translate its groundbreaking findings into changes you can put into practice today, setting the stage for a healthy pregnancy and forming the foundation for an eating strategy that will serve you well for the rest of your life. The Fertility Diet also offers a week's worth of meal plans and fifteen delicious recipes.

Table of contents

Chapter 1. What You Eat and Do Can Affect Fertility
Chapter 2. What You Need to Know About Infertility
Chapter 3. Healthy Eating for Life and for Fertility
Chapter 4. Dietary Fats
Chapter 5. Dietary Protein
Chapter 6. Carbohydrates
Chapter 7. Milk and Dairy Foods
Chapter 8. Micronutrients in Supplements and Diet
Chapter 9. Alcohol and Coffee
Chapter 10. Weight and Physical Activity
Chapter 11. Putting it All Together to Boost Fertility

Biographical note

Jorge Chavarro, M.D., Sc.D., earned both master's and doctoral degrees in epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he is currently a research fellow studying the role of diet and lifestyle on reproductive function.
Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., is the Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is one of the leaders of the influential Nurses' Health Study, as well as the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating.
Patrick J. Skerrett is coauthor, with Walter Willett, of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. He is the editor of the Harvard Heart Letter.