How that fad diet could be RUINING your chances of having kids

YOU may think they are a quick and easy way to lose weight, but your fad diet could be harming your chances of having a baby.

From the Ketogenic diet to juice cleanses and eating vegan, there are multiple different diet shortcuts that are harming your health.

You've probably already heard that fad diets aren't good for you and don't work because they don't encourage healthy lifestyle changes to maintain weight loss.

But they can also starve your body of vital nutrients and vitamins, or encourage an unhealthy amount of weight loss, which both impact your fertility.

Some diets even overstimulate you with caffeine, which can cause problems conceiving and damage your baby before they are even born.

Professor Nick Macklon, medical director of fertility clinic The London Women’s Clinic reveals the biggest fad dieting dangers that can affect a woman's fertility.

1. Juice cleanses

Juice diets focus on people consuming liquid mixes of fruit and vegetables with the aim of promoting healthy, radiant skin, weight loss and clarity of mind.

The cleansing process involves the person taking in only fruit and vegetable juices for nutrition, while abstaining from other food consumption.

But they are bad news for want-to-be mums.

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"Juice cleanses are typically associated with 'detoxifying' and 'purifying' the body, and as a result are a very common and attractive option for a lot of women looking to revitalise themselves at the start of the year," Dr Mecklon said.

"Another attractive element of the diet is the rapid weight loss you can achieve by following a juice cleanse or juice detox.

"However, many people are unaware that these strict programmes can alter your metabolism and cause your BMI to plummet to an unhealthy level which may hinder your chances of falling pregnant.

"Studies of very low-calorie diets before IVF treatment have shown them to be harmful to embryo development."

2. The raw vegan diet

Eating a raw vegan diet has become more popular in recent weeks thanks to the rise of Veganuary.

It involves cutting out all foods that contain animal product and some people take it a step further by only eating raw, unprocessed foods.

It sounds healthy enough, but it could leave your body lacking vital nutrients.

"Switching to a vegan diet, which is entirely plant based, can mean that women can miss out on key nutrients such as iron, folate and B vitamins," Dr Mecklon added.

"Previous studies have shown that those women who are lacking these nutrients may suffer from poor egg health which can reduce their chance of conceiving.

"It is therefore important that vegans trying to conceive ensure they are getting sufficient iron, B vitamins and folic acid by supplementation if necessary.

"My advice would be to consult a dietitian, nutritionist or your GP before undergoing any drastic dietary changes.

"And if you are committed to moving towards a vegan diet, then it’s always worth enlisting the help of a qualified dietitian or nutritionist to ensure you’re not compromising on your health by radically cutting out or reducing your intake of essential vitamins, minerals or nutrients."

3. Meal replacement shakes

These are exactly what they say on the tin, shakes designed as meal replacements to help you lose weight.

But as with the juice cleanses, meal replacement shakes used by diets like the Cambridge Diet can encourage an unhealthy drop in your BMI.

"Using meal replacement shakes is perceived as being a successful way to control calorie intake, and therefore a way to drop a dress size quickly," Dr Mecklon said.

"However, living only on these shakes can have a negative effect on your health, and particularly if you are planning to conceive or undergo fertility treatment.

"Meal replacement shakes can have a high sugar content with little protein.

"If you are using these shakes, it is important to ensure that these important elements of your diet remain in balance."

4. The Ketogenic diet

The keto diet involves eating lots of 'good' fat, to curb hunger pangs, while cutting out carbs and eating moderate amounts of protein.

It's said to boost energy levels and help speed up weight loss.

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The diet is based on ketogenis, which is when you eat less carbs to starve the brain of glucose - forcing the body to tap into its reserve source of ketones, which the liver produces from fat stores.

"Ketogenic diets have been shown to be detrimental to embryo quality in women undergoing IVF treatment," Dr Mecklon said.

"From a medical perspective, having a healthy balanced diet, based on a variety of foods in the right proportions, should be the overall goal to ensure you are absorbing the correct minerals and nutrients.

"Like with a vegan diet, I would again advise enlisting the help of a qualified professional to first check you’re consuming the right types of foods, and to ensure you aren’t compromising on your health by cutting out carbohydrates.

"Healthy fats are highly encouraged in everybody’s diet, for example avocado, mixed nuts and oily fish such as salmon.

"There is evidence that a diet rich in these elements, sometimes called a Mediterranean diet, can enhance fertility in both men and women.

"We advise our patients who are trying to conceive or are due to undergo fertility treatment to try and cut down on their consumption of artificial trans fats.

"These are also known as hydrogenated fats and are most commonly found in packaged snacks, fried food, cakes and other types of processed food items."

5. Diet pills and drinks

Many diet pills and drink contain large amounts of caffeine to overstimulate the body into losing weight.

But they can come at a cost of your fertility and in some cases your life.

"These highly endorsed and at times extremely inexpensive pills are very dangerous for all who take them, as the stimulants within them have been known to increase the chances of heart attack and strokes.

"As a result, these diet pills should be highly discouraged.

"The main reason these pills are highly advised against is the extreme levels of caffeine present within the capsules which is much higher than that in tea and coffee or some fizzy drinks.

"It is generally advised not to drink more than three or four cups of coffee a day if you are trying to conceive.

"Heavier caffeine consumption, commonly associated with these pills hinders your ability to absorb iron, which is essential for creating extra haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells, which allows the body to effectively transport oxygen to your baby.

"A recent American study has shown that a high intake of sugared fizzy drinks is associated with a reduced the chance of success after IVF, and that tells us something about their effect on fertility in general."

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