Couples looking to conceive might want to curb a common habit: drinking even just one soda per day.
Boston University School of Public Health research, published recently in Epidemiology, discovered that consuming one or more sugary beverages each day — by either the male or female partner — is linked to a lower chance of getting pregnant
Men and women’s soda consumption was linked to a 20 percent lower average monthly probability of getting pregnant. Women who drank one soda a day at a minimum had a 25 percent lower average monthly probability of getting pregnant, and male consumption was associated with a 33 percent lower chance.
Researchers surveyed 3,828 women between the ages of 21 to 45 who were living in the U.S. and Canada, as well as 1,045 male partners they had. This research came out of an ongoing web-based pregnancy study focusing on North American couples.
Those participating disclosed information on their medical history, lifestyle habits and diet through a survey. Every two months — for up to a year or until pregnancy took place — female participants filled out a follow-up questionnaire. The research didn’t find a link between drinking fruit juices or diet sodas and fertility.
Infertility affects approximately 15 percent of North American couples. Researchers suggest that finding out risk factors people are able to control — like diet — might result in quicker conception and ultimately reduce psychological and financial stress involving expensive fertility treatments.
“Given the high levels of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed by reproductive-aged couples in North America, these findings could have important public health implications,” the authors wrote.
This research echoes a recommendation in The Fertility Diet, which holds the No. 10 slot in the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets Overall rankings. The diet calls for eliminating soft drinks completely.
It cites research from the Nurses’ Health Study, one that tracked 238,000 female nurse participants between the ages of 30 and 55. Women in the study who consumed two or more caffeinated sodas every day saw a 50 percent greater chance of facing ovulatory infertility, when compared to women who drank caffeinated sodas less than once every week. Of course, the diet doesn’t guarantee pregnancy.
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Drinking One or More Sodas a Day Could Lower Your Pregnancy Odds originally appeared on usnews.com
