Atkins Diet & Pregnancy
New Research indicates that women who choose to go on the Atkins diet could risk their chances of becoming pregnant.
Who Conducted This Research?
The study was carried out by Dr Gardner, Scientific Director of the Colorado Centre For Reproductive Medicine. It has been presented at the annual meeting of the European Society Of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Berlin.
What Does This The Research Show?
Research suggests that a high protein intake can prevent an embryo attaching to the uterus wall and hinder its development. The research was conducted on mice but it is now believed that there are implications for humans, in particular women on the Atkins Diet.
Although the research was conducted on mice, Dr Gardner believes that there are implications for humans too, particularly women on the Atkins Diet. He believes that diets containing in excess of thirty per cent protein intake may lead to complications in conceiving.
The Atkins Diet states that thirty five per cent is the maximum total calorific intake for protein consumption. However, some ardent Atkins dieters have been known to consume a lot more than this.
Why Does Protein Intake Affect Conception?
It is believed that protein affects ammonium levels in the female reproductive system. Previous studies have shown that ammonium harms mouse embryos and causes genetic effects and stunted development.
In normally vegetarian animals, a high protein diet has been known to cause reproductive problems.
Mice in Dr Gardners laboratory were fed a diet of either twenty five per cent or fourteen per cent protein for a four week period and were then mated.
Ammonium levels in the oviduct (where the early embryo forms) were four times higher in the mice on the highest protein diet. These mice produced four day embryos with fewer cell number and higher rates of cell death. An embryo will attach itself to the uterus wall around this time. This is crucial because without attaching, pregnancy can not occur.
Dr Gardner believes that although women on the Atkins diet did not appear to have elevated ammonium levels, them same may not apply to individuals consuming very high amounts of protein.
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