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Not able to go the family way? Go get your cholesterol levels checked as high cholesterol levels may impair fertility in couples trying to achieve pregnancy. According to a study, couples in which each partner had a high cholesterol level took the longest time to reach pregnancy. Moreover, couples in which the woman had a high cholesterol level and the man did not also took longer to achieve pregnancy when compared to couples in which both partners had cholesterol levels in the acceptable range.
'The results suggest that couples wishing to achieve pregnancy could improve their chances by first ensuring that their cholesterol levels are in an acceptable range,' said Enrique Schisterman from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland. For the study, the researchers studied couples who were not being treated for infertility but who were trying to conceive a child. The couples were followed until pregnancy for up to one year of trying. (Read: Poor quality sleep in pregnant women can lead to adult obesity in offspring!)
The researchers found that on average, those couples in which the female did not become pregnant during the study duration had the highest free cholesterol levels. In general, high free cholesterol levels were correlated with longer times to pregnancy. Couples in which the female had a high cholesterol level and the male did not also took longer to achieve pregnancy, the study noted. 'From our data, it would appear that high cholesterol levels not only increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, but also reduce couples' chances of pregnancy,' Schisterman said. The study was published the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. (Read:Top 5 expert tips to lose post pregnancy weight)
The best thing about pregnancy is that you can pile up your plate with food without any guilt. The unrestricted freedom aside, it is important that you include the right things in your diet plan and eat healthy always. Here is a list of essentials that you should eat one way or the other.You have learnt from your school text books that calcium helps in bone and teeth development. More reason why you need it during your pregnancy. Your baby's calcium requirements need to be met for overall skeletal development. So have that glass full of milk and gorge on milk products like cheese, yoghurt, paneer. 'If you are lactose intolerant or develop intolerance during your pregnancy it is no reason you should miss on natural sources of calcium and depend on pills. (Read more on how to make you pregnancy diet healthy)
With inputs from IANS
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