IVF? Skip That Last Cup & Croissant

Cut back on the caffeine and saturated fats. It's not new advice. But there's a bit more research now that arrives at the conclusion that too much of these dietary no-no's can get in the way of IVF success.

I know my patients at Houston Fertility Center sometimes feel “up to here!” with the restrictions that they already find infertility and its treatment have put on them. So information like this is not always welcome – but remember, the more data we have on which to base our treatment decisions and techniques, the less likely it is that patients will be required to go through numerous treatment cycles to get pregnant.

In two different presentations, researchers at this year's meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology informed us of these findings:

• Drinking more than 5 cups of coffee per day can reduce your chance of pregnancy from IVF by 50 percent, but the reasons are not clear.
  
  
• The type and amount of dietary fats consumed by a woman seems to impact IVF success. Specifically, chances of IVF pregnancy were lessened in women who had higher intakes of saturated fats because they produced fewer mature egg cells.

The dietary fats study is especially small, and the researchers call for more follow-up. The caffeine-related study, too, should be expanded, but for now, authors of this Danish study of nearly 4,000 IVF patients are suggesting that adverse effects of coffee are comparable to the detrimental effects of smoking on IVF.

The researchers in both of these studies clearly state that there's no need to make drastic changes based only on their findings.

Overall, our patients are admirable in how they heed the warnings of research about lifestyle-based effects on fertility treatment. Whether a woman is experiencing infertility or not, going through a little dietary “clean up” during preconception is a great idea with benefits for mom and baby.