Page 13 - January_2019

COMMENTS & ANALYSIS
Many Other Variables To Consider In Fertility?
by jim prevor, editor-in-chief, produce business
It has been widely accepted for some time that nutrition impacts fertility. These very speci c studies are focused on a group of
women, who are not obese, who are less than 35 years old and whom are seeking in-vitro fertilization (IVF) at a fertility clinic.
The studies retrospectively asks people to report on their diet and, using an analytic tool, determines the degree to which their diets approach the Mediterranean Diet. The nd- ings are that women of this type who more closely approximate the Mediterranean Diet have greater success at having a successful birth through IVF.
The Mediterranean Diet is widely recognized as an optimal diet. Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr. PH, is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In his widely praised book “Eat, Drink and Be Healthy,” Willett explained that the “main elements of the Mediterranean life- style are connected with lower risks of many diseases.”
Analyzing data from Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), a long-term study, Willett came to the conclusion that “heart diseases could be reduced by at least 80 percent by diet and lifestyle changes.”
Produce has a big role in this with these insights ultimately leading Harvard to develop its own Healthy Eating Plate, which calls for 50 percent of the plate to be fruits and vegetables but also emphasizes the importance of healthy oils and water:
This basic direction is now recognized by the USDA, which also calls for 50 percent of the plate to be fruits and vegetables. Indeed, it is interesting how the nutritional science has been developing. At a symposium in which this author shared a stage with Dr. Willett, he was asked his thoughts on potatoes. Dr. Willett responded by saying if you had asked him a number of years ago, he would have said the potatoes were ne, but the problem was what we did with them, such as frying. Today, he said, the best thing about French Fries is the oil. The problem, he explained, was the high glycemic load of the potato itself.
Perhaps women who more closely comply with the Mediterranean Diet are more health-conscious or better able or more willing to comply with health-oriented instructions.
So, is it possible this optimal diet might help fertility? Sure. But these studies doesn’t tell us that. The most you can say about these studies is they raise an interesting possibility to be explored by more studies.
After all, the reputation of the Mediterra- nean Diet is well known. So, perhaps women who more closely comply with the Mediterra- nean Diet are more health-conscious or better able or more willing to comply with health-ori- ented instructions. Perhaps they exercise prop- erly, comply with medication instructions, de-stress, etc., and it may be these behaviors that make them more successful at IVF.
Many years ago, I moved into a new ocean front condo, and there were several young couples who had bought large homes in antic- ipation of raising families. They were unable to get pregnant and, after several years of trying, often with expensive medical assistance, each couple decided to abandon that dream. They sold their big suburban houses, moved to the ocean front condos and prepared to live the new life they had come to embrace.
Oddly enough, having given up the stress
of focusing on having children, every one of these couples was pregnant within a year.
The studies just don’t address these many other variables.
The same point goes with the association between the Mediterranean Diet and semen quality. Again, you can’t just pluck one variable out of a life and know you have something important.
One wonders if they had done these studies on a thousand other variables — frequency of swimming, educational level, having children previously, eating dark chocolate, owning a summer house... if they wouldn’t also have found associations.
It is important to also identify mechanisms that explain results. If the Mediterranean Diet has all these pro-fertility properties, why would they cease to exist when women hit the age of 35? Why would they not apply to obese women?
Of course, as Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” so our Greek friends have given us just that.... a starting point for further exploration. Let us be grateful for that.
PRODUCE BUSINESS / JANUARY 2019 / 13