Fertility Problems: Could Your Diet Help?
GUPTA: You're watching HOUSE CALL. One in every eight couples experience infertility. That's a number to think about. But now a mix of new technology and back to basics advice is giving some couples new hope for having a baby.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): Maggie and Robert Wickard had a typical courtship, dating, vacations, finally marriage.</s>MAGGIE WICKARD, STRUGGLED TO HAVE A BABY: The next step for us was to start our family.</s>GUPTA: But Maggie was not ovulating regularly and Robert's sperm was unhealthy. They became a statistic. Experts say one in eight couples like them are trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant.</s>WICKARD: You have the hope and then you say, I don't want to hope that much because I don't want to be let down.</s>GUPTA: Science is changing all that.</s>ZEV ROSENWAKS, DR., NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN: There's been a virtual revolution and explosion in our knowledge and certainly in our ability to help millions and millions of couples.</s>GUPTA: Fertility experts set their sights on men, with new technology having a low, even no sperm count is no longer a problem. Doctors can extract it surgically and use one sperm to fertilize an egg. One sperm. Another in vitro fertilization method takes cells from the woman's own uterus and pairs them with the embryo before implanting it.</s>ROSENWAKS: We put the embryo on top of the mother's own endometrial cells. That's allowing that embryo to be in an environment that may be closer to what it sees in the body.</s>GUPTA: The results, say fertility experts, better pregnancy success, healthier babies. Another revolution is happening outside the lab, a fertility diet based on a large study of Harvard nurses. It suggests healthy foods like beans, brown rice, nuts, vegetables, can affect ovulation positively. Unhealthy foods, that's right, they have the reverse effect. Sounds simple. There are some skeptics.</s>ROSENWAKS: One has to be careful that one doesn't oversimplify.</s>GUPTA: After all, pregnancy is a complex, coordinated process in the body. The Wickards finally did get pregnant.</s>ROBERT WICKARD, FATHER OF TWINS: It's amazing. Probably one of the most amazing days of -- in our life.</s>GUPTA: They had twins, and are expecting another pair any day now.</s>GUPTA: You know, there's no question that diet, nutrition and weight can have an impact on fertility. Research shows that fast acting carbs such as white bread, potatoes, sugar, and sodas, may decrease a woman's chance of getting pregnant. Here's how we think it works. Carbohydrates can bump up your blood sugar and insulin levels. When insulin levels rise too high, they disrupt the balance of hormones needed for reproduction. On the other hand, some foods can help fertility or trigger ovulation. Those include full-fat dairies, such as whole milk, ice cream, cheddar cheese, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. They all have a beneficial effect on insulin levels, which promotes healthy ovulation. Keep in mind, the fertility diet, of course, doesn't guarantee a pregnancy, but it can help. Up next, we answer your questions in our "Ask the Doctor" segment. That's after the break. Stay tuned.