Slimming and fertility

Severe reducing diets cause low levels of progesterone, slowing down follicular growth, inhibiting the surge of luteinising hormone (LH) and preventing ovulation. If less severe, slimming may depresses hormone levels by producing too small a corpus luteum and may result in a miscarriage. A reducing diet over a longer period may also affect fertility. Women planning pregnancy should be advised on the regularity as well as the adequacy of meals during the preconception period. A woman's nutritional status may be adequate for fertility but inadequate to produce a baby in the optimum birthweight range. There is a recovery period from amenorrhoea when it is wise not to conceive.