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PregnancyTrans Fats

Trans fatty acid increases the risk of infertility

JR

Everybody is covering this story, but here are the essential details.

  • 18,555 married, premenopausal women without a history of infertility who attempted a pregnancy or became pregnant were studied.
  • Diet was assessed using a questionnaire.

And the results

  • 438 incidents of ovulatory infertility were reported.
  • Total fat, cholesterol, and most types of fatty acids were not related to infertility.
  • Each 2% increase in the intake of energy from trans unsaturated fats was associated with a 73% greater risk of ovulatory infertility.

In other words, “obtaining 2% of energy from trans fats rather than from monounsaturated fats was associated with a more than doubled risk of ovulatory infertility,” concluded the researchers.

The bottom line?
Have you every heard people talking about the inability of so many young women to get pregnant today? Could this be (at least part of) the answer?

For balance, not everyone is convinced that any one food can affect fertility. Read the Medscape review for more on this.

1/20/07 10:56 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

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