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Why Would I Listen to Harvard Anyway?

by Gabrielle on January 6th, 2008

Please tell me that I’m not the only one that’s sick of hearing about Harvard’s “The Fertility Diet”?

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but then other things come up and well, I figured the news was no longer timely and I’d missed the boat. You don’t want old news, right?

Lucky for me, The L.A. Times is finally getting around to its story on the Harvard diet this week; almost a month after the New York Times had this to say about it:

The problem is that much of the research behind the book doesn’t live up to its hype. “The Fertility Diet” isn’t the first to promote nutritional changes as a way to increase the odds of pregnancy; an online search will turn up any number of titles like “The Infertility Diet,” “Fertility Foods” and so on.

Essentially, their recommendations are alike: a heart-healthy diet with more fruit and vegetables, less meat and bad carbs, more healthy fats and few or no trans fats.

While the messages are similar, a big difference is that the newest book comes from Harvard. As a result, it’s had an enviable amount of buzz. Newsweek even devoted its Dec. 10 cover to an excerpt.

The notion that something as simple as better eating might improve fertility is certain to raise the hopes of tens of thousands of couples. But unfortunately, the findings in this book don’t apply to a vast majority of people with infertility problems. Instead, they are based on women with ovulatory infertility, a condition caused by irregular ovulation that affects fewer than a third of infertile women

Word.

The NY Times review goes on to note that there is really no evidence-based information to support most of the advice to which Harvard has leant its name.

The LA Times article is much less critical and reads more like a press release, complete with testimonials:

“I’m so happy that this paper came out,” says Sharara, medical director of the Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine. “I’ve been telling my patients for years that you have to change your diet. I personally believe that this is very important for many women, not just those who are overweight.”

Here’s my problem with the Harvard Hype: as with any other medical condition, there are degrees of infertility. For some, simply altering diet will work wonders (in this case, Harvard claims women with irregular ovulation). And that is fantastic. I am all for holistic and non-invasive approaches. But for others, neither diet nor anything else within their power to control will help, and medical intervention is necessary. Which is why infertility testing and treatments should be covered by insurance.

I simply cannot imagine going up to someone I know who has been dealing with infertility and saying, “Have you tried eating more ice cream? Cause you know, Harvard said that would help.”

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