Rebecca BaskettRegistered Dietitian

Fertility Associates

11:00 - 11:55 WS #119: Eating Your Way to A Baby

12:05 - 13:00 WS #131: Eating Your Way to A Baby (Repeated)

Eating Your Way to a Baby

Rebecca Baskett

New Zealand Registered Dietitian

Nutrition and Fertility: WHY?

Diet leading up to IVF treatment is important

The closer to your most ‘healthy weight’ you can get the better :

Obese men have sperm counts on average 22% lower than their

slimmer counterparts

For women having a healthy BMI is associated with better fertility.

Further more pregnancy in overweight women is associated with

problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Diet can effect egg and sperm production

Eggs and sperm take 3 months to mature

Eating Your Way to a Baby

NZ statistics 2014/15

Almost 1 in 3 adults were obese

A further 35% of adults were overweight

So that’s the general population….what about

people having fertility treatment….?

Eating Your Way to a Baby

Alice Reward (NZRD) Masters Theses 2012

Assessment of maternal nutrition during the periconceptional

period in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment

Women under going fertility treatment at Auckland and

Hamilton Fertility Associates clinics (n=250)

Nutrition of Women under-going Fertility

Treatment (NZ)

Diets were…..

High in Total and Saturated Fat & Na

Low in fibre, calcium and carbohydrate

Folic acid supplementation inadequate in 17% of women

No nutritional factors were clearly associated with IVF

success

Diet and Nutrition – what’s happening out there?

FAD diets

Supplements ++

Herbal remedies

Confusion +++

What should I be doing?

FAD Diets

Derived from 16th Century term “fiddle-faddle”.

(Nonsense)

Passing dietary craze, short term fix, little to no scientific

backing but with a strong media presence.

Generally restrictive, obsessive and unsustainable

FAD Diets

The Cabbage and Urine Diet (175 BC)

Arsenic Diet Pills (Late 1800s)

The Tapeworm Diet (Early1900s)

The Seeping Beauty Diet (1976)

Paleo

Eating foods that were available to our

hunter-gatherer ancestors.

High in protein - keeps you full

Less calories consumed after protein is

eaten compared to other nutrients.

Paleo

Eat: Fish, seafood, meat (from grass not grain fed

animals), eggs, oils (olive, flaxseed, avocado, coconut,

walnut, macadamia), fresh fruit and vegetables

Avoid: Dairy, cereals/grains, legumes (including

peanuts), refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, salt

and refined vegetable oils

Paleo

Positives

An 85:15 rule can be followed on this diet where three

non- paleo meals can be eaten per week.

An association has been seen with the paleo diet and

weight loss.

Paleo

Negatives

Dairy products may be cut out

good source of calcium, essential for bone health.

Grains which are excluded have been seen to have an

array of health benefits.

Packaged paleo foods can be expensive.

No sugar diet

What: This diet is based on cutting out foods with fructose

and added sugar.

No sugar diet

Eat: Meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, cheese, fruit, vegetables,

legumes, yoghurt (no sugar added), rice, pasta and

coconut oil

Avoid: Baked or processed foods with added sugar

including bread and breakfast cereal, fruit juices, honey or

corn syrup.

Some versions suggest restricting or even cutting out fruit

compeletly

No sugar diet

Positives

Focused on eating whole unprocessed foods.

Weight loss seen with this diet is probably due to a decrease

in calories consumed.

Encourage the message “limit/reduce processed foods” (often

high in saturated/trans fats, sugar and salt)

No sugar diet

Negatives

Rice malt sugar is allowed as a sweetener but is broken

down just like other sugars.

Some versions even also cut out fruit as it contains

fructose.

Fruit contains many vitamins and minerals and there is no

need to remove fruit from the diet.

Lactose may restricted

No sugar diet

Negatives continued….

Promotes coconut oil (comprised mainly of saturated fat,

evidence of the negative effects of saturated fat on heart

disease.

Time consuming - cooking from scratch

FAD diets

There are loads!!

Lemon Detox, Aitkin's, Dukan diet, Cabbage soup diet, ‘Meat

and Milk diet’, Greenlane Heart diet......

Short term weight loss

Nutritionally incomplete

Side effects

Hard to maintain

Expensive

Eating Your Way to a Baby : HOW?

Eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner every day

Regular meals can help you avoid snacking and over eating

Plan meal times and avoid relying on takeaways, fast foods

and/or snack foods (often high in fat, sugar and/or salt)

Eating Your Way to a Baby: HOW?

5 + a day !

≥2 handfuls of fruit

≥ 3 of vegetables

high in fibre

Rich in antioxidants : can protect sperm against damage from free radicals.

Eating Your Way to a Baby: HOW?

Protein Foods Red meat

richest source of iron

Chicken

Hormones are NOT permitted in NZ chicken

Fish

Oily fish (salmon, sardines, tuna) are rich in omega-3’s

Legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils), tofu, nuts and seeds

In general NZer’s eat too much

1-2 serves daily (hand rule)

Eat with vitamin C rich foods (fruit and vegetables) to aid absorption of

iron

Eating Your Way to a Baby: HOW?

Dairy Products

Rich source of calcium, riboflavin (B1), vitamin B12

and protein!

Choose low fat varieties

2-3 serves each day (e.g. glass of milk, pottle of yoghurt,

slice of cheese)

Choose calcium fortified milk alternatives

soy milk is the most nutritionally balanced milk alternative

Eating Your way to a Baby: HOW?

What about Fat!? Yes you do need it BUT

In small amounts

Aim to have more ‘good’ than ‘bad’ fats

Limit you Saturated fat intake

Meat fat, chicken skin, takeaways, pastry-based items, butter, high fat

dairy products (cream, cheese), processed snack items (crisps,

chocolate, baked goods).

try to use mono- and poly-unsaturated fats instead

e.g. margarine, avocado, plant based oils (olive, canola, safflower, rice

bran)

Eating Your Way to a Baby

Eating Your Way to a Baby

Eating Your Way to a Baby: HOW

What to Drink? Alcohol – no safe upper limit known = AVOID

Caffeine – try to limit/avoid

Coffee, tea, green tea, cola, energy drinks

Soft drinks/cordials – contain sugar and often unnecessary calories.

Fruit juice – not a substitute for fruit!

contain a lot of sugar/calories. Contains vitamins but no fibre. Limit to a cup per day

Drink more Water!! Its safe and free

Choose low calorie/sugar free flavourings

Herbal teas, non-caffeinated coffee

Vitamins and Minerals

More is NOT necessarily better or safe!!

Aim to get the vitamins and minerals you need from

your food

Cheaper

Body can absorb them better

Additional benefits e.g. fibre, micronutrients not in pills,

foods rich in vits/mins are generally low in fat and energy

Multivitamins do not necessarily have everything you need

and/or at the right level

Vitamins and Minerals

Exceptions to the rule Folic acid

800mcg/day 4 weeks prior to conception and 12 weeks after

becoming pregnant

Apo- Folic Acid Tab: 800mcg ($19.80 per 1000)

Iodine

150mcg/day when pregnant and breastfeeding

Neurokare: 150mcg ($7.55 per 90)

Deficiency – if you are low in a particular nutrient then you should see your doctor and take a prescribed supplement.

Total approx. 10 cents/day

Vitamins and Minerals

Over the Counter (OTC) multivitamins

Blackmore's Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Gold Per capsule: Folic acid 500mcg, iodine 150mcg

Dose: 1 capsule daily

<800mcg folic acid

60 capsules $29.95; 120 capsules $52.95

Cost per day = $0.45 approx

Elevit with iodine Per capsule :Folic acid 800mcg, iodine 250mcg

Dose : 1 capsule daily

100 capsules = $74.30

Cost per day = $0.75

Vitamins and Minerals

Over the Counter products (OTC)

May not contain the correct amount of the vitamin or mineral (too

little or too much) e.g. seaweed, spirulina, kelp.

May not be in a form the body can absorb

No guarantee of content (not regulated)

Often are expensive

Prescribed supplement

They are regulated

The nutrient is in an absorbable form

Cheaper! (funded)

Eating Your Way to a Baby : Summary

Start NOW!

Aim for a healthy weight

Avoid FAD diets & unnecessary supplements

Eat for a healthy body and mind – get the basics right:

regular meals, 5 + a day, low fat dairy, quality

protein, low fat diet.

Females - start folic acid: 800mcg/day and iodine

150mcg/day.

Check adequacy of OTC supplements before you buy

Eating Your Way to a Baby

Questions?

Thank you!