Can a super healthy diet significantly improve fertility

[Horsesway123]

Hi everyone,

Before I had my DD at the age of 39 I was a vegetarian for 5 years, teetotaller for 6 years, no caffeine, lots of exercise and generally very healthy. I got pregnant quite quickly and had a relatively easy pregnancy.
After DD was born things have changed in my diet and exercise levels. I started eating fish again as it's just quicker to cook, lots of bread, the odd cake, the odd junk food and I put on a bit of weight. My veggie intake had gone down significantly, my DD is a picky eater and we end up eating a lot of fish which she likes and I can't be bothered cooking two different meals.

When my DD was 6 months I started TTC again. Got pregnant 3 times and all ended up in miscarriage, I'm 43 now, first miscarriage at 41. Apparently my egg reserve is above average for my age, it's probably the quality that's poor. I've done some investigations and they found me lupus anticoagulant positive which means I have to be on blood thinners when I'm pregnant, but even that hasn't helped.

The only thing that's changed in 4 years is my age (which I have no control over) and my diet. AIBU to think that going back to my original diet will improve my chances? I'm desperate for another baby.

Midwife here. If you have an unhealthy diet normally, then changing it to become a healthy diet can indeed help your fertility, however if you already were following a mostly healthy diet there is nothing that will "boost" fertility in diet itself by turning it "super-heaolthy" (what exactly makes a diet "super-healthy" is another matter and also up for discussion). There are no miracle foods or diets, nothing can "boost" your immunity. It's all about correcting things (like weight, bad diet, smoking) which can affect fertility in a negative way. But there is nothing there that will increase your "baseline" fertility if you know what I mean, once all those other factors are addressed.

Also, at 43 it is likely your fertility is simply at the end of its cycle, not caused by diet.

@aurynne out of interest, the things that IVF clinics tell you to take for egg quality for three months before a cycle like ubiquinol, various antioxidants, DHEA etc you don’t think that they would improve the quality?

This is taken from this clinical review of studies on fertility and diet ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5826784/)
"Long chain omega 3 fatty acids appear to improve female fertility although it remains unclear to what extent contamination of shared food sources, such as fish with high levels of environmental toxicants, can dampen this benefit. Last, adherence to healthy diets favoring seafood, poultry, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, are related to better fertility in women and better semen quality in men. The cumulative evidence has also piled against popular hypotheses. Dairy and soy, once proposed as reproductive toxicants, have not been consistently related to poor fertility. In fact, soy and soy supplements appear to exert a beneficial effect among women undergoing infertility treatment"

I also read It Starts With an Egg before starting ivf due to low ovarian reserve at 30. I found it very interesting and useful. The NHS recommend the Mediterranean diet and, depending which clinic and the reason why you're there, some supplements such as coq10. It's obviously purely anecdotal, but our first attempt at ivf worked, and we got far more good quality embryos than ever expected.

@nolitetebastardescarborundo do you mind if I ask how much of the book did you follow? I started it about six weeks ago, and am doing a mix of the basic and intermediate plan, so mostly the diet, pre-conception multi-vit with methyl-folate, ubiquinol, NAC, vit E, vit D, omega 3 and vit C.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I did the diet, took prenatal vits, coq10 (a recommended one), vit d. My husband took omega 3 supplements, but I didn't due to the vitamin a in them. I did eat Tuna and salmon regularly though instead, and lots of leafy greens. I also stopped using plastic tupperware, plastic water bottles, etc, and switched to shampoos with no phylates, sulphates etc. I just thought why not try those extra bits too, give myself the best chance. I wasn't too hard on myself though, there's only so much you can do! It was a massive shock that I had low ovarian reserve, and we were considering that we might need to use an egg donor, so I just wanted to feel that I'd tried everything.

@nolitetebastardescarborundo congratulations on the good quality embryos, that’s really awesome. Thank you. I’ve done similar, glass containers, stainless steel pans, replaced plastic spatulas etc.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I really hope you and the OP get a brilliant outcome. Good luck! It's tough but I'm crossing everything for you.

@nolitetebastardescarborundo thank you very much and congratulations on your result xx

What is your partner's diet/lifestyle/weight like?

@britnay very similar to mine. Non-smoker, he has alcohol once or twice a month at most. We eat the same food, he takes fertility supplements too.

I haven't tried for another baby so I can't say for sure but I went vegan nearly 2 years ago when DD was 10 months old and my periods are a lot more regular now and I get a lot more fertile quality cervical fluid. However that may also be because this is the longest I've been off birth control without getting pregnant so my body has had time to develop a rhythm. I have observed at times of my life when I was drinking lots of alcohol my periods were very irregular.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 those things you mention are medications, not diet changes

@aurynne with the exception of DHEA they're from food though no?

They are supplements taken to try to correct some deficiencies (such low egg quality) which can be behind some types of fertility, so taken as medication. These deficiencies would be very hard to correct with diet alone, no matter how superhealthy. And in most cases the benefit of these supplements is very limited too, but in combination with other treatments and therapies they can slightly increase the chances of conception, and for couples with low fertility chances, any increase is worthehile.

[quote Horsesway123]@AnneLovesGilbert sorry, can I ask you what kind of steroids were you on and who prescribed them and why?[/quote]
I was on prednisolone from bfp to 12 weeks then weaned off very slowly. So it was that, 150mg aspirin, progesterone suppositories and blood thinnin injections all from bfp then tailed off the pred and progesterone but stuck with the aspirin and fragmin or clexane - I used either depending on what was available as there were issues with supply - till full term.

There’s some evidence the steroids can prevent miscarriages. My consultant isn’t convinced by the natural killer cells theory other people in the field are but after 5 mcs inc two missed ones and 2 of them on some sort of meds through the RMC we were in last chance saloon territory and he put me on everything he could in the hope something would work. I’m forever grateful it did but it’s frustrating not knowing what the problem was. I had surgery for both the missed ones and tests on the fetus show both were perfect and the issue was with me.

Really wishing you every bit of luck, it’s so difficult. Happy to chat if it helps.

@AnneLovesGilbert my goodness, you haven't had it easy :(. After 5 miscarriage I think I'd have given up, but congratulations on your successful outcome!

Did you go through a private clinic? Do you mean the fetus had no abnormalities? My gyne said the especially with silent miscarriages (MMC), the most likely cause is usually chromosomal abnormalities. My first one was a MMC and I had surgery whilst in intensive care and had a blood transfusion as well.

I'm afraid following the blame is quite a trap to fall into when experiencing infertility and miscarriage.

There isn't often a "reason" that medicine at this point can pin point. Your also running your head into a dangerous area where you are loading the blame on yourself. There's enough guilt with these issues as it is without trying to find more.

3 miscarriages and a period of infertility for me. I'm confident nothing majorly changed things but I will admit to being prescribed aspirin in the successful pregnancy but that was even though I wasn't shown to be at risk of anything it would likely counter. I think it was part of a trial that had inconclusive findings. Try to go easy on yourself - though I know that's so difficult.
I hope there's a change for you. Best wishes.

Neither have you, that sounds incredibly traumatic

It was my local NHS RMC, we were referred without asking after our third one and it was fantastic. We were there so long we became firm friends with our consultant and we’re still in touch. He’s run that clinic for over 20 years and was willing to throw the kitchen sink at me treatment wise for which I was and still am so grateful. Not having a diagnosis was shit but it meant it was worth trying anything we could. It really was the last chance for us as there wasn’t anything else to try but you just find a way to keep going.

Yes, both babies from my mmcs were perfect, I had an MVA under local for the first one and an ERPC with the second - I’m terrible at both staying pregnant and miscarrying - and they got enough tissue from both to test so we knew the sexes and that there were no issues.

In a way that’s a fucking travesty, we make normal babies and I can’t carry them properly. The guilt was something else. But on the other hand knowing they might be able to fix whatever was going wrong was a comfort and indeed they eventually did.

I’ve asked our consultant if he has an idea of what did the job and he said he honestly doesn’t know. He suspects a lot more women have clotting issues that can’t yet by diagnosed as so many of his patients respond well to the treatments for sticky blood but he’s the first to admit a lot of stuff in this area is art as much as science and trial and error. Which, when you’re the guinea pig and all you want is a baby safely in your arms, and the world and her husband are getting and staying pregnant at the drop of a hat, and time is ticking by, sucks.

I started acupuncture when we had a lull in conceiving for a while. I was so battered I was up for anything to level me out and help me heal. It transformed my periods which was great and unexpected and when I miscarried again while still having it regularly I found the whole thing much less traumatic and easier to process and recover from, mentally and physically. I then carried on with it through my successful pregnancy, which was as nerve wracking as you can imagine, and I honestly think it helped keep me sane.

Sorry, very long post!

@AnneLovesGilbert wow, that sounds really hard . I don't think I'd cope with the fact that the embryos were perfectly normal and I couldn't carry them.

Great that you found a very supportive consultant who was willing to try anything. I did find the doctors I dealt with quite professional and willing to go the extra mile, but I think because of my age and the fact that I already have a child, I am not a priority...which is fair enough. I will look into going private if nothing happens in the next 2, 3 months.

Thank you very much for your posts, I found them very helpful. I wish I turned to mumsnet a lot earlier

You’re very welcome. Keep posting if it helps, there’s so much knowledge, wisdom and empathy on here in some areas. I’ve known a couple of posters from mc threads on here for years and support from women who’ve been there and really get what you’re going through is invaluable. My husband is incredible, I’m really lucky, but that added sounding board is brilliant. PM and let me know where you live if you’d like to. My consultant does NHS and private and he’s the best. He knows other people around the country too.

I know I haven’t helped on diet, which was your original question! But you’ve been through a lot and I think just focus on whatever makes you feel nourished and healthy. More fruit and veg can only help, vitamins, water, I’m veggie but fish has good stuff in it. And look after your mental and emotional health however you can. For me things like acupuncture and yoga were helpful, things that made me feel positive about my body and what it could do rather than couldn’t do. Whatever your next steps are you need to nurture yourself, it’s really important.

@3scape

I'm afraid following the blame is quite a trap to fall into when experiencing infertility and miscarriage. There isn't often a "reason" that medicine at this point can pin point. Your also running your head into a dangerous area where you are loading the blame on yourself. There's enough guilt with these issues as it is without trying to find more. 3 miscarriages and a period of infertility for me. I'm confident nothing majorly changed things but I will admit to being prescribed aspirin in the successful pregnancy but that was even though I wasn't shown to be at risk of anything it would likely counter. I think it was part of a trial that had inconclusive findings. Try to go easy on yourself - though I know that's so difficult. I hope there's a change for you. Best wishes.

This is absolutely right. I followed every ridiculous and unproven suggestion I could find in an attempt to conceive naturally and I was already a healthy weight with a healthy lifestyle. It really became quite proscriptive and difficult looking at all the things I was doing that could potentially be to blame. Obsessive flossing, extremely specific foods, giving up plastic etc etc.

I gave up after years, lived healthily but gave up the fads and had IVF. 10 high quality blasts and my first transfer was successful. Trust science and remember that correlation is not causation.

The blame is horrible isn't it? It shakes your trust in yourself and your body? We have been told we have male factor but as I have lupus I still believe it's my 'fault' somehow.

I'm so glad it worked for you Yokey.

@theotherfossilsister

The blame is horrible isn't it? It shakes your trust in yourself and your body? We have been told we have male factor but as I have lupus I still believe it's my 'fault' somehow.

I'm so glad it worked for you Yokey.

Absolutely. Infertility is shit enough without self-hate added to the mix. It's not your fault or your DP's It's just unfair. Hope it works out for you too.