New research published on 2/28/2007 in the journal Human Reproduction has found that consuming low-fat dairy food may lead to a higher risk of infertility. The study found no difference between women who ate the most dairy food and those who ate little or none. However, differences in fertility were revealed when the type of dairy food being consumed was considered. Dr Jorge Chavarro of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston used data from the Nurses Health Study, an ongoing survey of thousands of women who fill out regular questionnaires about their diet, activity and health. Records of 18,555 nurses aged between 24 and 42 who had tried to become pregnant, or had become pregnant between 1991 and 1999 were analysed.
The study found that women who ate two or more servings of low-fat dairy food a day had an 85 per cent higher risk of developing a type of infertility called anovulatory infertility, where the body fails to produce enough egg cells. Women who ate one serving of high-fat dairy food a day were 27 per cent less likely to be infertile than women who avoided full-fat dairy foods.
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/health_medical/article2311306.ece
– Reuters 28/2/2007 ‘Low-fat dairy food may hurt fertility’