Boy, oh, boy! According to new research by scientists at The Royal Society, what you eat for breakfast before getting pregnant could affect the sex of your baby, and eating more bananas leads to the birth of a baby boy!
The study, which looked at 740 women who were pregnant with their first child found that eating more potassium and having a more nutritious pre-pregnancy diet led to the birth of a baby boy.
The study also showed that women who ate more breakfast cereals before conception were more likely to be painting the nursery blue.
In fact, research leader Fiona Matthews, a specialist in mammalian biology at Exeter University told the New Scientist: ‘If you want a boy, eat a healthy diet with a high calorie intake, including breakfast. Of women eating cereals daily, 59 per cent had boys, compared with only 43 per cent who bore boys in the group eating less than a bowlful per week.’
Looking to boost your fertility so you can conceive your own little bundle of joy no matter what its sex? Click through our gallery to find out how to revamp your diet to improve your chances of getting pregnant:
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It’s commonly accepted that women who carry too much weight find it more difficult to conceive.
Regardless of whether you’re trying to conceive on your own or with the help of IVF, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight for your body is crucial to optimising your fertility and chances of conceiving.
Iron is a key nutrient in the fertility stakes, and a lack of iron can be one cause of sub fertility.
Make sure you’re getting plenty of animal proteins, as this is definitely the best source and the most absorbent source – lean red meats and poultry, to a lesser extent.
The Mediterranean diet has been associated with many health benefits including improved heart health, some have even dubbed it the healthiest diet in the world.
Eat lots of fruit and veg, and focus more on vegetable oils, that’s your olive oils, your rice bran oils. Eat plenty of nuts and seeds, fish and low-fat dairy.
When your body is in a stressed state, it is more difficult to conceive; one way to put it in a less stressed state is, believe it or not, to nourish it regularly.
When you have breakfast, lunch and dinner your body can trust that it’s going to be consuming regular nutrients and that’s going to put you in a less stressed state, which is really important in pregnancy.
Modern agricultural standards for farming means that our soils are low in selenium, so we’re less likely to get much of it through our fruits and veggies.
So what’s the best source? Brazil nuts. You can also get selenium through sesame seeds, and to a lesser extent from chicken, eggs and some seafood.
This is oft-repeated standard advice, but it’s important. Start taking it as soon as you decide to try for a baby, as women should ideally be taking it from 12 weeks before conception. The daily requirement is 800mcg.
While a lot of nutritionists advise that you get these nutrients through food, folic acid is definitely the exception. The best way to get what you need is through supplementation.
Exercise 30 to 60 minutes daily for weight management. The benefits of moving more during pregnancy begin immediately and last your whole life.
For more information on when you are most likely to conceive, check out our Ovulation Calculator.
Drink coffee, tea and alcohol in moderation, and avoid sugary drinks entirely.
According to the Harvard study, one to two drinks of alcohol or several cups of coffee or tea a day had little effect on ovulation problems.
Trans fats (found primarily in foods such as commercial baked and snack foods, animal products, french fries and some margarines) increase insulin resistance.
Insulin helps move glucose from the bloodstream to the cells; resistance means it’s harder to move glucose into the cells. The pancreas keeps pumping out more insulin anyway, and the result is more insulin in your bloodstream. High insulin levels cause a lot of metabolic disturbances that affect ovulation.
When you don’t drink enough water, your cervical fluid becomes sluggish, making it harder for your husband’s sperm to reach its target.
Make sure to drink purified water that is NOT bottled in plastic. An easy way to get a head start every morning, is to put one litre of water next to your bed when you go to sleep. You can then drink this upon rising and you are half way done with your water intake for the day.
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(Text by Jane Mcguire, bauersyndication.com.au / Additional reporting by Natalya Molok)