If you are trying to get pregnant, you should probably give up on sweetened drinks and sodas for sometime now. A brand new research from the Boston University of Public Health has found that besides causing several diseases like diabetes and obesity, soda affects your fertility too. The new research proves that drinking one or more sodas each day reduces the chances of conceiving significantly and it does not matter who is doing the drinking, because it can affect both men and women. In India, around 10 to 14 percent of the population suffers from infertility. Infertility is not only caused by hormones and physical abnormalities but it’s crucial to note that our daily lifestyle has a great impact on our reproductive health.
Earlier, it had been proved a number of times that smoking and consuming alcohol reduce the chances of conceiving too. Few other studies have concluded that drinking soda is also related to early menstruation and poor semen quality. The researchers from Boston University revealed that drinking soda regularly was linked with a twenty percent reduction in the average monthly probability of conception for both men and women.
Drinking energy drinks and syrupy caffeinated drinks frequently, as found from the study, was even more harmful and was tied to have greater risks of infertility, although this research was done on a relatively smaller number of people and isn’t very conclusive. Fruit juices were not found to have any adverse effects on female fertility. It was therefore advised by the lead author of the study, Elizabeth Hatch, that couples who are planning a pregnancy should consider limiting the intake of these particular beverages, not only because they reduce fertility, but also because they have many other adverse health effects.
Infertility takes a huge physical, mental and financial toll on couples once they start opting for treatments and struggle for conceiving. It’s better to adopt a healthy lifestyle, exercise daily and have good diets regularly with as less soda and other sweetened drinks as possible from early on, so as to have a healthy body. Being healthy yourself is the best preparation you can do when you think you’re ready to have a child.
