Couples who eat seafood have more sex and get pregnant faster

Researchers have found that couples who eat at least two servings of seafood each week are more sexually active and succeed in getting pregnant faster.

The link between seafood and faster conception was not entirely explained by more frequent sex, suggesting that biological factors such as semen and embryo quality are positively influenced by eating fish.

Although seafood is an important source of nutrients for women who may become pregnant, concerns about mercury have led some women to stop eating fish while trying to conceive.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 90 percent of seafood consumed in the United States is low in mercury and is safe to eat.

Two to three servings of seafood per week are recommended by the Food and Drug Administration, yet half of pregnant women do not consume this much fish.

“Our study suggests seafood can have many reproductive benefits, including shorter time to pregnancy and more frequent sexual activity,” said study co-author, Audrey Gaskins.

“Our study found that couples who consume more than two servings of seafood per week while trying to get pregnant, had a significantly higher frequency of sexual intercourse and shorter time to pregnancy.”

The investigation was focused on 500 couples from the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study. Harvard University researchers followed the couples  for one year, as participants documented their seafood intake and sexual activity on a daily basis.

The research team found that 92 percent of couples who ate seafood more than twice a week were pregnant at the end of one year, compared to 79 percent of couples who ate less seafood.

“Our results stress the importance of not only female, but also male diet on time to pregnancy and suggests that both partners should be incorporating more seafood into their diets for the maximum fertility benefit,” said Gaskins.

The research is published by the Endocrine Society in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer