Impact of daily breakfast intake on the outcomes of assisted reproductive technology procedures

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between meal consumption frequency and assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes among female patients with infertility.

Research methods & procedures: This cohort study was conducted from February 2022 to January 2024 at Tokyo Medical University Hospital. Overall, 101 female patients with infertility issues and without a history of stroke, heart disease, cancer, or type 1 or type 2 diabetes were enrolled in this study. The factors extracted from the questionnaire included demographic information, meal consumption frequency before ART and at 20 years of age, smoking status, and alcohol consumption status. Data on other factors, including age, body mass index, anti-Müllerian hormone level, and parity history, were collected from medical records. The assessed clinical outcomes included number of transplanted embryos, clinical pregnancies, ongoing pregnancies, live births, and miscarriages.

Results: After adjusting for potential confounding factors, including age, smoking status, alcohol consumption status, body mass index, anti-Müllerian hormone level, and parity history, a multivariate analysis of ART outcomes was performed. Patients were categorized into groups based on the frequency of weekly consumption of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Patients who consumed breakfast 6-7 times a week were significantly more likely to have higher rates of live birth and lower rates of miscarriage in pregnancies conceived through ART.

Conclusions: Consumption of breakfast 6-7 times a week before ART was associated with increased success rates following ART. This highlights the potential importance of regular breakfast consumption for optimizing ART outcomes.

Keywords: Assisted reproductive technology (ART); Dietary habits; Infertility; Live birth rates; Meal frequency.