How A Mediterranean Diet May Help Your Fertility

I've heard about how the Mediterranean diet can help with weight loss, but it can also help with fertility. This article talks about how it can clear sugar out of the bloodstream and help balance hormones. Read more:

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From the article:

Rich in so many of the vitamins and minerals you (and your baby-to-be) will need to stay nourished during pregnancy, foods commonly consumed as part of a Mediterranean diet include tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, chickpeas, whole grain pasta, rice, fish, and chicken. These foods are less sugary than processed foods, notes Dr. Chavarro, but certain ingredients in these foods also play a special role in keeping hormone levels balanced and healthy.

"The Mediterranean diet contains nutrients that help your body clear sugar from the bloodstream while using less insulin to do this job. This makes it easier for the body to keep the balance of reproductive hormones," says Dr. Chavarro.
The Research

To track the effects of a Mediterranean-style diet on fertility, Spanish researchers looked at over 2,000 women, some with fertility problems and others who had already become pregnant and given birth. When women's fertility and eating habits were matched up, only 17 percent women who meticulously followed a Mediterranean-style diet said they'd experienced trouble getting pregnant, while 26 percent of women who followed the diet least closely—and instead ate more processed foods and fatty meats—ended up with fertility problems.