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Pregnancy

12th Oct 2017

Here’s why IVF patients may want to steer away from sugary drinks

Louise Carroll

Drinking sugary drinks can slash your chances of conceiving according to a study conducted by Harvard University.

Researchers found that consuming more than one sugary drink per day can cut a woman’s chances of IVF success by 16 percent. While drinking just one sugary drink a day could slash chances of conceiving by 12 percent.

Research has shown that when we ingest sugar, it boosts our stress hormones which in turn, slows down reproduction.

Sugar can reduce the number as well as the maturity of ovarian cells, lowering the number of high-quality embryos to be used during IVF treatment.

During the study, researchers analysed 340 women who were undergoing IVF treatment during 2014 and 2016. They were asked to answer a questionnaire, detailing their drink habits and consumption.

Researchers also looked at the women’s medical records and found that the more sugary drinks were consumed, the lower number of mature eggs available to be harvested during the IVF process.