New findings suggest that drinking too much coffee and eating too much fatty food may affect a woman’s chances of getting pregnant through in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
Drinking five or more cups of coffee a day appears to reduce the chance of IVF success by about 50 per cent, say Dr Ulrik Schioler Kesmodel of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues.
A variety of results have been seen in previous studies, and 2009 review concluded that there was "insufficient evidence" to confirm or deny a link. The new Danish study followed 3,959 women recruited at a large IVF clinic, who gave details of their coffee consumption at the start of each treatment cycle.
Analysis showed that the chance of pregnancy was reduced by 50 per cent for women who drank five or more cups of coffee a day, and the chance of live birth was reduced by 40 per cent. This is "comparable to the detrimental effect of smoking", said the team yesterday (July 3) at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Dr Kesmodel commented: "We were surprised at the magnitude of the effect." He added that it seems reasonable to advise patients to stay under this limit.
A second study looked at intake of certain dietary fats. A total of 147 women having IVF were asked about their diet and assessed for various signs of fertility.
Women in the top third for total fat intake had fewer eggs suitable for IVF than women in the lowest third. The link is mainly due to saturated fat intake, according to researcher Dr Jorge Chavarro of Harvard School of Public Health, USA.
Results were also presented yesterday (July 3) at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Does coffee consumption reduce the chance of pregnancy and live birth in IVF? Kesmodel, U. S. et al. Abstract no: O-200 presented on July 3 2012 at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology held in Istanbul, Turkey from July 1-4 2012.
Dietary fat intake and in-vitro fertilization outcomes: saturated fat intake is associated with fewer metaphase 2 oocytes. Chavarro, J. et al. Abstract no: O-202 presented on July 3 2012 at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology held in Istanbul, Turkey from July 1-4 2012.
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