With Infertility, Eating Bigger Breakfast Can Make all the Difference.

For women battling infertility, breakfast truly may be the most important meal of the day. Eating the largest meal in the morning instead of the evening can result in higher rates of ovulation in some women struggling with infertility, according to a recent study by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University.

Infertility, which is diagnosed after a couple is unable to get pregnant despite spending a year attempting to do so, is a complex problem. Treatments with medications, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and surgery to correct certain structural problems can all increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy, but doctors are always interested in new tools and new strategies they can utilize to help their patients.

In the new study, women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a condition that affects women’s hormonal balance and causes menstrual irregularities and fertility troubles, were divided into two groups. The first group made breakfast their largest meal, while the second consumed most of their calories at dinner. Three months later, the breakfast group showed an increase in ovulation and a decrease in testosterone levels, glucose levels and insulin resistance. Levels for the dinner group remained unchanged.

Dr. Shahryar K. Kavoussi, M.D., M.P.H., adds, “Lean women with PCOS present a unique challenge in that they are not asked to lose weight in order to improve health parameters.  It is interesting to see that the bulk of an 1800 daily caloric intake being at breakfast is more effective in improving parameters such as glucose, insulin, and testosterone in such women.  It has been well established that overall fitness helps improve and optimize female and male fertility as well, so the added element of proactive fitness and fertility gives couples a greater chance of success.” )

A six-time winner of the “Patients’ Choice Award,” Dr. Sharyar Kavoussi is board certified in both obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. The author of several peer-reviewed articles on fertility, he is the medical director of Austin Fertility and Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF, where he offers an array of fertility evaluations and treatments including in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination and da Vinci robot-assisted tubal reversals.

For a personal consultation, call Austin Fertility and Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF at (512) 444-1414.