Vegetarian no more…
It’s official. I’m no longer a vegetarian.
Not because I crave meat; not because I changed my mind about animal treatment; but because I believe that a vegetarian diet does not boost fertility. Or to put it more bluntly: I believe that a vegetarian diet contributes to infertility.
This is not the conclusion I wanted to come to as a vegetarian. But at the end of the day the facts and evidence point to animal protein as part of a healthy fertility diet. So after happily avoiding poultry for the past 5 years and red meat for the past 15 years, I’m putting them back on my plate.
How did I come to this - for me - radical decision? Research and experimentation.
Insulin Regulation is vital to Fertiliy
Sifting through books and articles on fertility and health I’ve come across various studies on the effects of animal and vegetable protein on fertility. There is, however, no consensus on which source is best for improving your changes of conception. What doctors and researchers do agree on, though, is that insulin regulation is vital to fertility.
What is insulin exactly?
When you eat easily digested carbohydrates - like potatoes or white bread - they’re broken down into sugar and enter the bloodstream. To lower this high blood sugar level the body produces insulin which escorts the sugar out of the bloodstream and into your cells. Sounds like a good system, but the insulin spikes caused by such easily digested carbohydrates reak havoc on your reproductive system.
Linked: Reproductive System, Insulin and Protein
Dr. Ernest Zeringue from the Davis Fertility Clinic has successfully been using nutrition to control insulin with his fertility patients for years, and he describes the effect of elevated insulin levels on fertility by stating, “The insulin can interfere with the development of the eggs as they’re growing, as well as interfere with the establishment of a pregnancy inside the uterus.” (1)
Protein is key to controlling insulin levels.
Dr. Jeremy Groll, fertility doctor, research scientist and author of the book Fertility Foods recommends a diet and exercise program that “will improve your insulin sensitivity and make you more fertile.” For this, he points out, protein is critical: “Our goal in this plan is to promote lean body mass to reduce insulin, and you can’t do that without protein.”
Why is Animal Protein Necessary?
What we know then is that protein is key to regulating insulin and insulin regulation is key to boosting fertility. So why can’t insulin be regulated without animal protein? Dr. Groll admits that getting enough protein (without dramatically increasing carbs) and getting all the essential amino acids is harder for vegetarians. He does believe it’s possible, but several other fertility specialists and I disagree. And here’s why:
There are a limited number of vegetable sources of protein and each source poses a unique problem to fertility. A high reliance on beans comes with a full load of carbohydrates, which can cause an imbalance in insulin levels. Dairy and soy are very controversial as to their role in infertility with numerous fertility specialists recommending these be kept to a minimum until the jury is out. That leaves nuts which shouldn’t be relied on too heavily because they deliver a lot of fat.
I’ve tried everything as a vegetarian to make a higher protein/lower carb fertility diet work - but for me - it was a dead end (see my blog: 4 Fertility Diet Principles). Initially, I even tried adding fish as a protein source but it wasn’t enough because the weekly recommendation is limited to just two servings a week due to mercury contamination.
It’s important to point out that vegetarians certainly can – and do – get pregnant. But for those of us struggling with infertility, adding meat into our diet to control insulin could be the missing link that our body needs. Some vegetarians may feel like this isn’t an option due to their beliefs, but for me it’s about the treatment of animals and buying only organic ensures that the animals are treated properly and are free of toxins.
Making the Leap
I can report that I’ve made the leap. Just the other night I made baked organic chicken with ginger and steamed vegetables on the side, not quite as tasty looking as the creations on the food channel but still worth a photo session. I have to say that I haven’t missed having poultry over the past 5 years but you know what? I thought it tasted really good.
Organic red meat was supposed to be next. But I chickened out. I bought it and it’s been sitting in my freezer for the past several days. I can’t bring myself to cook it. My husband has volunteered to make something “yummy”, but I’m skeptical - of the meat - not the cooking of course.
But seriously, I can better meet my four fertility diet principles (for more see my blog: 4 Fertility Diet Principles). with poultry and meat on my menu and hopefully it will bring my body into balance.
If you enjoyed reading my blog, please write a comment here or bookmark it to a social bookmarking site by using the link below. Thanks!
Sources
1 “Diet Change Used To Aid Fertility Treatment.” KCRA An NBC affiliate 9 February 2006. 15 April 2008. <http://www.kcra.com/health/6888854/detail.html>
Posted: September 27th, 2008 under Fertility Diet.
Comments: 22
Comments
Comment from WaterBishop
Time: September 29, 2008, 6:29 pm
Thank you for this post! I have been a vegetarian for eight years and have been struggling with this topic. I am insulin resistant and have found both soy and beans to be problematic for me and am just about at my wits end. Nearly anyone I talk to seems to be more concerned with the politics of it all rather than my health.
I have a bag of scallops in my freezer as we speak, but am not sure what to do with them.
I just want to say thank you for touching on a topic that is not very popular.
Comment from Sarah
Time: December 29, 2008, 7:23 pm
Hmm..I accidentally came across your blog as I was searching for the causes of acne and google returned this url. As I was reading thro it, I came across this post and thought I could share my comments here. I am a vegetarian and have just started trying to conceive. The fact that a vegan diet is inadequate is incorrect and that it contributes to infertility is wrong. I am an Indian and its a predominantly vegan community with the 2nd largest population in the world. 11 out of 100 people are Indians :p so if you feel that a vegan diet is inadequate..think again. Also I hardly come across women in India who have severe infertility issues. They do have minor which goes away with treatment.
Why I am telling this is, our human body is designed for a vegan diet. If you take our dental system it clearly cannot chew meat efficiently (carnivorous pattern) and our body does not have certain enzymes that are necessary to digest animal fat/protein.
As you have already approached holistic, I would suggest you try EFT (emotional freedom therapy) and some healing techniques such as Reiki and Chi-gong which would remove energy blockages from our system. Also you could consider yoga.
Remember mind has the power to overcome the body.
All the best.
Comment from admin
Time: January 3, 2009, 12:09 pm
India has the second largest population in the world – that is correct.
India is not, however, predominantly vegan. It is not even predominantly vegetarian.
Statistics on exactly how many vegans and vegetarians there are in India vary but, none of them show predominance (1,2,3,4). The number of people in India that are vegetarians is around 30%.
It would also be important here to point out that it would be a huge leap to conclude that because India has a high population and a large number of vegetarians that a vegetarian diet is good for fertility. There a numerous factors besides diet that affect fertility.
Age for example is a large factor for infertility and if the women in India tend to have children before age 35 then this will certainly increase their ability to conceive. Given the high level of poverty in India and the fact that 45 % of women are still being forced into marriage before the age of 18 (5) it’s clear the age can’t be neglected as playing an important role in India’s high population.
(1) http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/08/14/stories/2006081403771200.htm
(2) http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=706957
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_in_specific_countries#India
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism
(5) http://www.unicef.org/india/media_2576.htm
Comment from TR
Time: January 31, 2009, 1:57 am
Thanks for this great post. I am curious how this diet is working for you, have you had any luck with pregnancy?
Comment from admin
Time: February 17, 2009, 1:49 pm
The diet is going well. I’m feeling much better and my cycles are getting shorter: they’ve gone from 44 to 39 to 36 days.
I also just got pregnant but, unfortunately, I miscarried. I feel like my body is making progress, though.
You’ll find more details about how the diet is working for me in the blogs:
http://www.naturallygettingpregnant.com/fertility-blog/2009/02/14/upgrading-my-fertility-diet
and
http://www.naturallygettingpregnant.com/fertility-blog/2008/12/01/fertility-diet-has-taken-hold
Comment from teen.vegetarian
Time: February 26, 2009, 6:45 am
I’m 17 and have been a vegetarian for a year and 2 months. I had researched the health benefits of a vegetarian diet before becoming one and thought that it was perfectly safe, and much healthier than a meat-eating diet. One of my friends recently told me about the risk of infertility with a meat-free diet, though, and I wanted to find out more. So I searched and found this blog. Thanks so much for posting this important info. I have a question, I do eat eggs in my vegetarian diet, and since that’s animal protein, would that be enough to control insulin? I also eat seafood (and wasn’t aware about the two servings a week limit-thanks). So do you think those two sources of animal protein (along with dairy) are sufficient? Of course I’m a little young to be worrying about fertility, but I just want to know. Thanks!
Comment from admin
Time: March 3, 2009, 12:15 pm
I think it’s great that you are planning ahead to protect your fertility. Protecting fertility is something I had never heard of at your age.
Insulin can be balanced by balancing protein and carbs at each meal. If you can digest dairy products well, eat eggs and eat fish then balancing protein and carbs at each meal sounds possible – it totally depends on what other foods you include at each meal though: high protein vegetables, high protein grains, nuts etc.
Giving specific advice to others on exactly what diet is right for them is difficult though, since each individual has different health issues and preferences. I just know that I do not digest diary products well and the controversy surrounding the role of dairy in infertility lead me to eliminate it from my diet. Limiting my servings of fish due to mercury then left me with eggs and nuts. This was not enough since neither of these should be consumed in large amounts.
It’s great that you’re so conscious about your health and nutrition now. I wish you all the best on your search for the right diet for you.
Comment from Vegetarianmom
Time: March 14, 2009, 5:54 pm
Sorry, I cant see killing an animal just so I can get pregnant….
Comment from admin
Time: March 17, 2009, 12:18 pm
I can understand that many vegetarians have this point of view. Given your user name of ‘vegetarianmom’ it sounds like you are fortunate enough not to be dealing with infertility. Thanks for your opinion, though.
Comment from veggie_girl
Time: March 17, 2009, 1:14 pm
Came across this by accident but couldn’t ignore. As someone who is 36 and vegetarian for 20 years, I really believe what is required for conception is a healthy, varied, balanced diet - veggie or not. I had my first baby at 34 and am pregnant again now. Both times we conceived within 3 months of trying. With lots of friends in their thirties struggling to conceive, I have always been convinced that my diet is the very reason we conceived so easily. Personally I feel a lot happier that I am not pumping my body full of hormone-packed meats. I should point out I am not a vegan, do not eat a lot of soy products and eat a variety of balanced proteins. I can’t help feeling if infertility was a real issue for vegetarians specifically, we veggies might have figured that out by now!
Comment from Alex
Time: March 26, 2009, 12:26 pm
Hi
I came across your blog when looking for information on being a vegetarian and infertility. I’ve been trying to conceive for three years and no luck so far. On top of this we have two failed IVFs and one failed IUI. For the last few weeks I have been considering adding meat to my diet. I was wondering how you were getting on with it - also how often you have been having meat?
Looks like you have spent a lot of time looking into this issue - thanks!
Comment from dina
Time: March 26, 2009, 2:32 pm
Hi Alex, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been through all that without any success yet. Making the choice to eat meat again is tough but I can say that I am so glad that I have added it and I have no intentions of going back.
I wrote this blog with regards to insulin but since then I’ve come across several other reasons to eat meat (for vitamins and nutrients which are tough to get on a vegetarian diet like B12 or that most vegetable protein is incomplete whereas animal products deliver complete proteins, which means they have all the amino acids needed to make a new protein), or the studies showing that fish oil is so beneficial for fetal brain development. I am not saying that it’s impossible for vegetarians to get enough B12 or that a vegetarians can’t create complete proteins by combining foods (although this is still being debated). I am saying that, in order to do these things vegetarians have to rely heavily on say milk and eggs and/or fortified foods for B12 or hope that they truly can create complete proteins by combining foods correctly. For me though, there’s just enough evidence that excluding meat is the best choice for those of us suffering from infertility.
I started small by adding fish back into my diet first, then making vegetable soups with chicken broth then graduated to chicken and I’m still on beef. My system still doesn’t seem to like this yet (it’s been over 15 years so I guess it’s fair that my body needs time). I just made some homemade beef broth today and we’ll see how that goes. Like one previous commenter already pointed out, meat can be loaded with hormones, though. You can easily avoid these by buying only organic meats. You don’t need to be a vegetarian to avoid the hormones in meat.
Interestingly, I also read in the book, You the Owner’s Manuel, by Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz, that vegetarians actually stop producing the enzymes needed to digest meat, which is why they don’t like the taste of it at first. I don’t know how long it takes the body to start producing the enzymes again but, it seems like a good reason to start slow.
I’m still trying to figure out what the best balances of meat are but right now eat fish about 2-3 times a week, chicken 3-4 times a week, turkey 2 times a week and beef rarely. I think a better balance would be to reduce the poultry and add more red meat but, I’ll have to wait until my body agrees.
Good luck and I hope that things work out for you soon.
Comment from Alex
Time: March 26, 2009, 6:18 pm
Thanks so much for replying - I’m going to start tonight with a small bit of chicken and see how I get on with it. Your website is great - so informative and thoughtful.
I wish you all the success on your journey and hope that your dreams come true very very soon.
Comment from Vanessa
Time: April 8, 2009, 5:35 pm
I really appreciate this post. I searched for “pregnancy and vegetarian” and your site came up. I have been a vegetarian for about 8 years and have been TTC for almost two years. I am going to make the leap and eat some chicken tonight. As an otherwise perfectly healthy 25 year old, there is no other reason why I shouldn’t have conceived by now. Thank you so much for collecting and packaging all this information into a great resource.
Comment from Jena
Time: April 17, 2009, 3:16 pm
Wow. I am going through the exact same process myself. Vegetarian for 12 years struggling with ‘unexplained’ infertility for over 2 years. I met with a nutritionist, who echoed what you are saying. I had a blood test done, sure enough, I have a protein defeciency. The doctor said if my own body doesn’t have enough protein & nutrients, it’s not going to allow me to ‘host’ another human life, who will take away any protein I do have, putting me at risk. When discussing the insulin issue, the dr. brought up gestacional diabetes, a potential risk for us as well. She also said it takes 4 months for cells to regenerate, so everyone keep up with the meat for the next few months. She also recommeded protein shakes from GNC. I wish you all the best through this journey and look forward to reading more of your blog. (I just discovered it today). Have a wonderful day!
Comment from Michelle
Time: June 19, 2009, 6:04 am
I haven’t eaten red meat for two years, I have been trying unsuccessfully for a baby for the last 10 months but I had blood tests done and my protein levels are perfect!
Someone mentioned to me today that it could be because of me not eating meat,
I don’t know what to think, I don’t think I could bring myself to put it in my mouth.
Have you had any luck with falling pregnant yet?
Comment from Susanna
Time: June 29, 2009, 2:49 pm
As a lacto-ovo pescatarian who is hoping to conceive in the next year, I am thinking about preparing my body for pregnancy and found your site; I should echo previous commenters in thanking you for the sincere but neutral tone of inquiry and analytic integrity of your blogs (i.e. no rants, footnotes!). I have already found it hard to keep my carb/sugar intake low while getting enough protein, and with this new (and significant) consideration of making sure my body is capable of creating and hosting life, I am grateful for your reasoned and provocative suggestions toward including poultry and red meat into such a diet. As a fully omnivorous diet it is hard for me to stomach, pardon the pun, in terms of ethics, methods, and pride — let’s be honest — I’m grateful for your courage in investigating and broaching this; it’s inspiring and something I will continue to look into and think about.
Comment from T
Time: July 2, 2009, 10:54 pm
I am totally terrified. I stopped eating meat in March and never had an irregular period before that. I recently went to the doc because i had all kinds of pregnancy symptoms, but no baby. I really want another baby. I think I am going to reintroduce chicken into my diet. It scared me to hear the doc say my name and infertility in the same sentence.
Comment from T
Time: July 2, 2009, 10:55 pm
Oh I forgot to mention, I have already had one healthy child as a meat eater…he is almost 4 now. I was the same weight then as I am now. I have had some blood work done, but the doc is a little perplexed since I am 28.
Comment from Angela
Time: July 27, 2009, 5:54 pm
I too am a vegetarian having problems getting pregnant. However, I know three other women with fertility issues and they are life long meat eaters. I’m just curious if you have checked the ratio of infertility in vegetarians vs. non-vegetarians? I personally could not eat meat in order to get pregnant, especially considering I know more meat eaters having problems with fertility than vegetarians (my veg friends all have children).
Comment from Elizabeth
Time: August 4, 2009, 5:29 pm
Thank you for this important discussion. I have a good friend that has been vegetarian her whole life. She’s 32 and trying to conceive so I’m curious about this issue. I already have three children but we have been considering moving to a mostly vegan diet - we drink a bit of raw milk and we have our own chickens so we’ll continue to eat their eggs - and I’ve been wondering if this is really healthy. You keep mentioning low carbs and my question is about whether or not the diet can work with high carbs if the carbs are mostly unprocessed. There is a guy named Dr. McDougall that professes a whole food, high carb, vegan diet with plenty of produce for optimum health. The idea is interesting and I’m looking for other sources to back him up or refute him. Have you ever heard of him? The unrefined carbs don’t spike insulin levels so does that make a difference?
Comment from Sam
Time: August 9, 2009, 5:18 pm
I just happened to see your website by searching for information about fertility and vegetarianism. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I have been vegetarian for the last 16 years, one of which raw vegan. My diet was loaded with carbs and I know realize it was, at least for me, not an healthy choice. My husband and I, married for 18 years, are also childless (the first two years we did not plan having children while he was still at school). My sister has 3 healthy and bright children. We have 24 cousins, all with children (NONE are vegetarians). My grandmother kept eating roasted meat (mainly goat, sheep, beef and pork) and was in very good shape (even mentally) until she passed away at 104 in her sleep. We are all from Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean. People keep repeating that a mediterranean diet is good because it is based on noodles and other carbs. They forget that it includes a lot of meat and fish - daily. I have observed it first hand . It has been now a couple of months since my husband and I started eating meat again. I don’t know if we will ever have children as we are now over 40. But we feel much, much better. More muscle replacing cellulitis, feeling mentally more at peace. Of course we do care for the way the animals are treated and we buy only organic meat. But I first became vegetarian for health reason, not for ethic reasons. I thought it was healthier. I found out that it was not so, at least for me. It takes too much discipline to prepare balanced vegetarian meals. I always felt hungry and put on many kilos. I have now included butter (from grass-fed cows) and feel much more satisfied with the food I eat.
I just wanted to share my own experience. I am of very large views and respect that people eat the way they feel it is the best for them.
Best wishes in everything.
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