AHA Diet Adherence Decreases Pregnancy Loss Risk During Infertility Treatment

Adherence to the American Heart Association (AHA) diet is associated with a decreased risk for pregnancy loss during infertility treatment, according to research findings published in JAMA Network Open. 

Researchers at a single fertility center in Boston, Massachusetts conducted a prospective cohort study between January 2007 and December 2022. The study included 612 women aged 18 to 45 years (median age, 35 years) who completed a total of 1572 treatment cycles, of which 804 were intrauterine insemination cycles and 768 were in vitro fertilization cycles. 

The study’s primary exposure was the participants’ preconception diet, which the researchers assessed on the basis of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. The team then determined participants’ adherence to 1 of 8 dietary patterns, including the:

1)     Trichopoulou Mediterranean diet;

2)     Alternate Mediterranean diet;

3)     Panagiotakos Mediterranean diet;

4)     Healthy Eating Index;

5)     Alternate Healthy Eating Index;

6)     American Heart Association (AHA) 2020 dietary goals index;

7)     Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension index; and

8)     Plant-based diet.

The primary outcome was live birth per fertility treatment cycle and secondary outcomes were clinical pregnancy, total pregnancy loss, and clinical pregnancy loss. 

The researchers found no association between participant adherence to any of the 8 dietary patterns and the probability of live birth or clinical pregnancy after infertility treatment. However, they identified an association between adherence to the AHA dietary pattern and a lower risk for total and clinical pregnancy loss among participants who achieved pregnancy following infertility treatment. 

Among participants in the lowest and highest quartiles of adherence to the AHA pattern, the adjusted probabilities of total pregnancy loss were 0.41 (95% CI, 0.33-0.50; P=.02) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.21-0.36; P=.02), respectively, whereas the adjusted probabilities of clinical pregnancy loss were 0.30 (95% CI, 0.22-0.39; P=.007) and 0.15 (95% CI, 0.10-0.23; P=.007), respectively. The researchers observed a similar pattern for all other diets, except for the plant-based diet. 

Limitations of this study include the enrollment of participants from only a single center, its observational nature, and the fact that the researchers only performed dietary adherence assessments at baseline.

According to the researchers, “[A]dherence to the AHA diet, which prioritizes the consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish and shellfish, and nuts and legumes while limiting the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, processed meat, and saturated fats, was associated with a lower likelihood of pregnancy loss in women who achieved a pregnancy over the course of infertility treatment.”

This article originally appeared on Endocrinology Advisor