# Go dairy or no dairy



## Aley

I am trying to get info about the role of diary in infertility. Some studies say that full fat diary will be the best while in other areas diary is seen as bad because it can cause increased inflammation. 
I wasn't drinking plain milk before anyway as I don't think that is a good option but I was having yogurt, cheese. In the last weeks I decided to take that out of my diet as well and see what happens.

Just curious to hear other peopls experience/opinion on dairy. Thanks!


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## Makingapoppyseed

Hello Aley
I think it depends if you have any issues or signs of inflammation / intolerance.
My UK IVF clinic advised us to drink 2pints of milk a day during our cycle! I found this a lot. I think the theory is that complete protein (found in milk) helps egg development. I ended up really sick though and have been left with a real intolerance to dairy now. I think I always had a slight intolerance and 2 cycles really pushing dairy just solidified this issue. When I asked the clinic why they put this on their instructions and could I stop as I thought it was making me ill they just told me it was old advice and they keep meaning to take it off the sheet!

For this cycle I cut out dairy a month or so before starting but mostly because it was notably making me ill and I was having lots of inflammation signs as well itchy skin, headaches and ibs. I have felt a lot better without it but as I’m in 2ww don’t know if it made a difference.

I would suggest avoiding if you have inflammation issues but otherwise diary is a really good source of nutrients and propten. Sorry for not giving a definitive answer.
Good luck xxx


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## Aley

Makingapoppysead, thank you for your answer.

I had a lot of milk on my second IVF trying to get my follies to grow and the result was an awful gastritis. I do suffer with migraines, I tend to bloat a lot but I am not sure if it's diary for sure. It could be something else that I didn't discover yet.
I am trying this complete dairy free and see if I see a difference.
I have implantation failure and I am looking into everything now....diet, supplements.


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## Makingapoppyseed

Good luck. Yeah maybe just try cutting it out and then reintroduceing and see how you feel.


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## KDJay

My acupuncturist who specialises in Chinese medicine says dairy is a no no as it’s a damp food in chinese medicine and this is not good for fertility - I’ve always followed this advice and all other chinese medicine priniciples  and my consultant said my last cycle was the most successful she had ever seen in her career xxxx


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## Aley

Thank you KDJay. I have been avoiding dairy for the last few weeks. Good to know others had positive results.


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## IceAndFire

I didn’t eat dairy for 3 years. I was on a vegan diet and I have no idea if it helped my fertility or not. I have highly AMH so probably the quantity of eggs didn’t change and no idea about the quality since I never have tried to get pregnant before. We have MFI. I cut it off dairy because of the health reasons. I just think we don’t need it and I don’t think it’s helping us. I think it’s even harmful to some extent. My skin gets worse every time I eat dairy now ( and I don’t eat it very often). 
If you plan to stay away from dairy it’s good to check out vegan calcium sources. I didn’t supplement calcium at all and I got all  from food. Every year I had my blood test done and I had no deficiencies. 

It’s good to cut off stuff that you think you don’t need or don’t want and after a while check out how do you feel after introducing it again. 

Good luck


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## sm1984

My opinion is to steer clear from all Dairy, it is full of hormones and we do not need it, we can get those proteins and nutrients from other plant based sources. I'm not sure how accurate this is but Dairy can contribute to endometriosis which can cause fertility issues.

Since i have given up dairy my skin has been crystal clear and my PMS has improved.


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## Aley

Thanks for answering sm1984 and IceAndFire.
I have been avoiding dairy now for a good few weeks. I am going as far as looking at the ingredients and avoiding everything that might contain milk and pff, that's not an easy task.
I didn't notice any significant changes, I still get the odd spots before period and well, I am not close to getting pregnant but I'll stick ti this no diary diet for now.


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## miamiamo

my doc in in Chinese medicine told me the same as KDJay has written


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## NJR

I've read that dairy can be good provided it's organic, especially Greek yoghurt.  I have an inflammatory reaction to dairy, so I try to avoid it and have done since I was 18.  It's not recommended for anyone with PCOS either, so I'd say if you're unsure then avoid it and get your nutrients through other foods/supplements.


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## Mochashosh

The current meta-analyses for dairy suggest that it's beneficial both for long term health and for fertility.  Obviously this doesn't apply if you have a specific condition or if you're intolerant.  The dataset for the fertility isn't huge, but I haven't seen any data to suggest that dairy might have a negative effect.

Personally I don't drink milk, just as a matter of preference, but I do eat quality cheese and yoghurt.  I find it makes no difference to my health either way.  I've also tried a dairy-free diet but didn't notice any benefits, and missed the odd bit of cheese.

If you're concerned about hormones you may want to switch to organic dairy.

If you think you may be intolerant, or that dairy may be contributing to some of your health issues, try eliminating all dairy for a month.  Then introduce one item at a time.  Start with yoghurt rather than milk, as many people can tolerate yoghurt but not milk.  If you re-introduce milk first and get a reaction, you might assume that no dairy suits you, which may not be the case. 

Incidentally, I'm a nutritional therapist, and my default position tends to be that the diet should be as varied as possible, and that items should only be removed when there's a good reason for that particular individual to do so.  I know I have colleagues who disagree, and I'm not a fertility specialist.  Within the 'nutrition for fertility' community Zita West recommends dairy and Sandra Greenbank does not, so opinion is definitely divided!  In a way this is good, because it allows you to choose the position you find most compelling.

Very best of luck with whatever you decide.

xx


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