The fertility diet: Groundbreaking research reveals natural ways to boost ovulation & improve your chances of getting pregnant

Written for the lay reader, The fertility diet explicates data from the long-standing Nurses’ Health Study (and related other work) on the impact of food intake and, to a lesser degree, other lifestyle variables on infertility secondary to ovulatory dysfunction. The authors are Jorge E. Chavarro, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health; Walter C. Willett, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the same institution; and Patrick J. Skerrett, contributor to Willett’s Eat, drink, and be healthy (1). While the main focus of The fertility diet is diet, the book covers several other topics, such as the facts of life, which segues into the causes of infertility. The final chapters are devoted to exercise, a brief description of study methodology (a nice inclusion for a general audience, with a frank appraisal of the kinds of questions these types of studies can and cannot answer), and a week’s worth of recipes that fit the dietary guidelines set forth in the book. Overall, this is an entertaining read with a clear message delivered with a light touch. There is not a white coat or church pulpit in sight. The solid middle sections of the book are devoted to what mothers-to-be — and everyone else — should eat and drink. A summary of general dietary considerations is followed by […]