Med Diet enhances fertility

Researchers in the Netherlands found that among 161 couples undergoing fertility treatment at their center, women whose eating habits most closely matched the traditional Mediterranean diet were 40 percent more likely to become pregnant than those with the least Mediterranean-like diets. The study, reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility, suggests that couples considering fertility treatment eat a balanced diet that includes healthy doses of vegetable oil, vegetables, beans and fish.

The study included 161 couples undergoing fertility treatment at the university. Two-thirds underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF), while the rest underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI. The latter is typically used when the man has a low sperm count or poor sperm quality. It involves isolating a single sperm from the man and injecting it into the woman's egg; if fertilization is successful, the resulting embryo is transferred to the woman's uterus.

The positive results of this study could be explained by the high intake of vegetable oils in the Mediterranean diet, which are precursors to hormone-like substances in the body called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins, in turn, are involved in the menstrual cycle, ovulation and pregnancy maintenance. In addition, the study found that women who most closely adhered to the Mediterranean diet had higher levels of vitamin B6 -- higher than both women whose diets were least Mediterranean-like and those who scored high on the health-conscious diet. One study found that giving vitamin B6 to women who were having difficulty getting pregnant increased their chances of conception.

Bonnie - these results all seem eerily familiar to me. I wonder why?