Low-carb diet raises chance of conception, experts claim

WOMEN should go “low carb” if they want to conceive, because doing so could increase the chance of success by five times, say fertility experts.

They say one portion a day should be the limit for those trying to conceive, and advised cutting out all white bread, pasta and breakfast cereals.

Leading doctors said they were advising patients with fertility problems to change their diet, after evidence showed that high amounts of refined carbohydrates could seriously damage conception chances. British clinics yesterday revealed that they had begun enrolling patients on nutrition courses and cookery classes, amid concern that increasingly stodgy diets are fuelling fertility problems.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, executive director of fertility group IVI, said she advised all patients to cut carbohydrate intake, amid growing evidence linking foods to impaired fertility.

High levels of carbohydrates, especially

‘Paying attention to diet, encouraging moderation and portion control is extremely important’

refined ones, are already known to affect the body’s metabolic functions, and can fuel obesity, which in itself reduces fertility. But experts said there was growing evidence that a typical Western diet, with high reliance on convenience foods, badly affected a woman’s reproductive system.

Fertility experts advised all couples trying to conceive to look closely at their diets – and said there was strong evidence that women in particular should cut back on carbohydrates.

Dr Lockwood highlighted research that found women with lower carbohydrate intake had five times the success rates of those on standard diets.

The US trial on 120 women undergoing IVF split them into two groups, depending on the balance of protein and carbohydrate in their diet. In total, 58 per cent of those in the “low carb” group (at least one quarter of their diet was protein) went on to have a baby. In the “high carb” group, where less than a quarter of daily energy came from protein, just 11 per cent achieved success, the study by the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine found.

The British Dietetic Association said further research was needed. A spokesman said: “Paying attention to diet, encouraging moderation and portion control both pre and during pregnancy is extremely important for everyone.”