A good diet can improve fertility by up to 40% say researchers

 A couple can almost double their chances of conceiving by improving their diet, according to new research.

Women should eat plenty of salads, preferably with olive oil, while men need to eat more cereals and less meat and processed foods. Those that do may increase their fertility by up to 40 percent, according to the findings.

Unhealthy lifestyles and eating habits can have  a disastrous effect on fertility. In two separate projects, researchers in the Netherlands and South America looked at the impact of overall diet in couples undertaking IVF.

In the Brazilian study, reported in the journal Fertility And Sterility, researchers looked at the food and lifestyle of 250 would-be fathers involved in IVF. Results show sperm concentration went down with increasing weight and alcohol consumption, but was improved by cereal consumption.

Sperm motility was reduced by weight, alcohol and smoking, but improved by fruits and cereals. Alcohol also had a negative effect on fertilization rates, as well as red meat and weight-loss diets.

In the Dutch study at Erasmus University, 160 couples were quizzed about their diets and the women monitored as they went through the assisted reproduction process.

Researchers found those who ate a Mediterranean diet – including high intakes of vegetable oils, fish, pulses and vegetables but low intakes of sugary or salty snacks and processed foods – substantially increased the probability of pregnancy. Vegetable oils in particular are rich in linoleic acid and linked to hormones which are important for initiating the menstrual cycle.

Dr Glenys Jones at the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research centre in Cambridge, says: “These studies support research that indicates couples trying to conceive should follow healthy diets, consume at least their five-a-day of fruits and vegetables and maintain a healthy weight.”

The Research

The Brazilian study was carried out by researchers at the Fertility-Assisted Fertilization Centre in São Paulo, Brazil, and published in the November 10, 2011, online edition of the journal Fertility and Sterility.