New research shows that eating an assortment of beans and peas, like broccoli, may not boost your chances of having a baby as well as a salad or stew, and may actually harm it.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, looked at the effect of a variety of vegetables on fertility.
Researchers looked at data from more than 40,000 women who participated in a large U.S. fertility study.
They followed them for four years and tracked their pregnancies for the next five.
The researchers found that a variety:Green beans, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, kale, and collard greens have been shown to increase the chances of conception.
The results were significant enough to be published in a leading scientific journal.
But it also showed that the effects were much smaller for men than for women.
Women who ate beans and vegetables had lower rates of pregnancies compared with women who ate salads and soups.
For example, the risk of having an unplanned pregnancy was lower for women who eat beans and greens than for men.
The scientists said that the results were “large enough to warrant further study.”
For now, they’re just saying that women who have trouble conceiving may be better off not eating beans and veggies.
“It’s not the optimal diet,” said lead researcher Rachel Stoddard, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.
“If you want to have a healthy pregnancy, you should eat less of the foods that might be causing problems.”