gluten free diet for infertility

alhal

Has anyone heard of this?  I recently heard a friend mention that she knows someone who tried a gluten free diet to try to help her get pregnant (this girl eventually ended up getting pregnant through IVF, and I don't know whether she was still doing the gluten free diet at that time).  Has anyone here tried this or know the basis for this?

ondjima

The gluten free diet is supposed to help with Endo. The theory is that wheat causes inflammation which makes the Endo worse. You can check out naturallyknockedup.com for some ideas on diets while TTC. Her website is great! (She had 2 kids with PCOS)

alhal

ondjima:

The gluten free diet is supposed to help with Endo. The theory is that wheat causes inflammation which makes the Endo worse. You can check out naturallyknockedup.com for some ideas on diets while TTC. Her website is great! (She had 2 kids with PCOS)

Thanks!  Since I don't have endo (at least no known endo) and I don't have PCOS, a TTC diet may not be for me.  But I will definitely check it out!

Citygirl1015

I went gluten free about six months ago, although not entirely just because of our TTTC. I was diagnosed with Irritiable Bowel Syndrome years ago, and I read that sometimes a wheat allergy or celiac disease is mistakenly diagnosed as IBS, and can cause infertility. So I decided to give the gluten free diet a try to see if I noticed a difference. Well, I noticed a huge difference in my tummy issues, and I even started ovulating a little more consistently. This has made the diet a little easier to stick to, because it can be extremely challenging at times. Since going gluten free, I've stumbled across tons of women's stories how they were infertile for years before they found out that they had a wheat intolerance or allergy, so I'm definately glad I did it sooner than later!

Although, if you have no reason to believe you might have an allergy, you may want to do a little research or talk to you Dr about possible health risks or supplements, as you might miss out on some essential nutrients and such.

seymourthepony

I have read that a GF diet helps but I must warn you I have Celiac and you constantly have to watch your fiber it can make you ext constipated. Also you have to be careful about your vits and calcuim you must take supplements sometimes more than a prenatal vit. For example I have to take extra folic acid. And its an all or nothing kind of thing and everything has gluten soy sauce, canned soup, drinks, pills, candy etc.

squish06

seymourthepony:

I have read that a GF diet helps but I must warn you I have Celiac and you constantly have to watch your fiber it can make you ext constipated. Also you have to be careful about your vits and calcuim you must take supplements sometimes more than a prenatal vit. For example I have to take extra folic acid. And its an all or nothing kind of thing and everything has gluten soy sauce, canned soup, drinks, pills, candy etc.

 

So weird, I have a gluten allergy, DH.. dermatitis herpetiformis and i never thought i had celiac disease because i have never had any stomach upset. anyways, the more and more i read indicates that if you have DH then you also have CD.

Regardless.. I have been on a GF diet for 18 years. I have unexplained IF, have no trouble ovulating, respond very well to the stim meds and have had 6 failed IUI's.  But also maybe because I dont have the typical GI symptoms I just take my prenatal, no extra vitamins. I eat a balanced diet. Just minus the gluten.

mdluv21

Yes I went gluten free for my IVF cycle.  My RE and acupuncturist thought it made a big difference with egg quality for women with PCOS.  I am not sure if it is true but I did get pregnant with twins. 

I have fallen off the wagon but I will go back to being gluten free before my FET.