Atkins not so good when TTC??

I saw this in yesterday's NYPost and thought I'd pass it on.

June 29, 2004 -- Women eating a high-protein diet — such as Atkins — may reduce their chances of becoming pregnant, a study suggests.
In tests on mice, scientists found that females fed a diet with 25 percent protein ended up with problems in developing embryos and fetuses.

This means that women eating high-protein diets may have trouble conceiving.

'The rate of fetal development was severely reduced as a result of the high-protein diet of the mother,' Dr. David Gardner, who led the study at the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, told the BBC.


Bill Hoffmann

Not what I wanted to hear....

A friend at work was trying to get PG...went on clomid due to fertility issues, she was doing atkins..her dr recommend she increase some carbs, helped her tweak it, and she even stay on a modified atkins/low carb diet while pregnant ...and her DR. was an infertility specialist so always ask your own dr. first....things can be tweaked a lot to help you gain the proper amount of weight while pregnant, lose before and still be healthy.....

IMO-from what I have read ( alot) being Overweight makes fertility much more risky then certain diets/way of eating...

From what I've heard recently it's a double-edged sword - being overweight can hinder conception but these reports are showing that at least in mice and cows, diets with lower protein had higher conception rates.

Like they say - everything in moderation.

Food for thought - do you think that a good part of what makes the low-carb diets successful is what that it's an easy way for people to cut out high calorie foods, especially snack foods?

If someone told you no chips, no cookies, no sugar (including ice cream, sherbet, etc) no cake, no candy, no pasta, no potatoes, no bread, it would sound like a dismal diet, but you'd probably lose weight! Somehow, I think it's easier to just say I can't eat Carbs instead of saying NO to a cookie!

I lost 28 punds from Atkins to get me to a healthy weight to start TTC. If it's true about hindering conception, I feel like I went about it the wrong way. I will let you know what the doctor says anyway when I get back.

I was on Atkins when I had my MC in March. I read that the lack of carbs is bad for a developing baby. The baby needs the carbs. Needless to say. As soon as I MC'd I started eatting carbs again, I dont really care about the amount I weigh (I was only 11 lbs away from Emmas pre prego weight) as long as I have a healthy baby this time.

I know that the MC may have been caused by other things but since 'they' say you need more carbs than are allowed with Atkins to have a healthy child but thats not a chance I am willing to take again.

FOUND AN ARTICLE:



In regards to the research presented by Dr. David Gardner at the 20th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, it is essential to clarify and define the research results as well as the Atkins Nutritional Approach.

It is important to note that there was no mention of carbohydrate control in the research conducted by Dr. Gardner. The study subjects were mice, which are herbivores. Whether or not these findings or effects would apply to humans, who are omnivores, is unknown.

'The differences between mice and human embryos have recently been demonstrated by the ability to produce mice embryos from a single parent, a process that can not be replicated in humans,' said Stuart Trager, M.D., medical director for Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. 'This casts a large discrepancy on the ability to derive conclusions about the clinical implications of this study with regard to humans.'

In fact, some studies show a positive correlation between controlling carbohydrates and female fertility. Dr. Eric Westman presented an abstract at the Society of General Internal Medicine's 2004 annual meeting on a study of women with polycystic ovary syndrome treated with a controlled-carbohydrate approach.(1) On average, the women experienced improvement in hormonal levels as well as weight loss. In addition, two of the women in the study who had previous experienced difficulty in becoming pregnant, conceived during the study.

'The positive role of controlled-carbohydrate nutrition has been well established clinically in women who are either overweight and/or not ovulating normally,' said Ben Gocial, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

In addition, there are more than 28 studies focused specifically on the Atkins Nutritional Approach, each of which demonstrates that on averagethe subjects experience improvements in both weight loss and overall health. In addition, a building body of supportive scientific research continues to develop, and will continue to provide the opportunity for those interested in helping people and improving health with the information they need to use controlled-carbohydrate nutrition.