MED DIET ‘RAISES IVF SUCCESS RATE BY 70%’

A MEDITERRANEAN diet can greatly increase a woman’s chances of having a baby through IVF, scientists say.

Adopting the healthy diet – which is loaded with fruit, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil and fish – boosted the chances of successful fertility treatment by almost 70 per cent for some women.

Researchers from Harokopio University of Athens believe the antioxidants in fruit and vegetables improve the quality of a woman’s eggs and also protects the womb, as when its lining is damaged it can be harder to become pregnant.

The diet contains only a small amount of red meat, which has been found to cut the chances of pregnancy, while it is rich in whole grains, which can boost the quality of an embryo. Dr Nikos Yiannakouris, co-author of the study, said: ‘Women attempting fertility treatment should be encouraged to eat a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, because this may help increase the chances of successful pregnancy.

‘Our results suggest that the beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet could be through increasing embryo survival.’

The effect was particularly strong for women under 35 who ate in this way for six months before having fertility treatment.

The Greek researchers assessed the diets of 244 childless women aged from 22 to 41 who were not obese. Participants were asked 79 questions about how often they ate foods such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, fish and meat, as well as their eating habits in the six months before trying to have a baby, and given a ranking.

Half of women in the highest ranked group, who stuck closest to the diet, became pregnant, the results show, but the pregnancy rate fell to less than a third of those in the lowest ranking group. The highest scoring group had significantly higher rates of live births – 48.4% compared to 26.6%.