Millions of people have celiac disease, but most don’t know they have it, in part because symptoms can be so varied. It is an often overlooked digestive disorder that causes damage to the small intestine when gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, is eaten.
Infertility seems to be more common in women with untreated celiac disease. Other gynecological and obstetrical problems may also be more common, including miscarriages and preterm births.
For men, problems can include abnormal sperm -- such as lower sperm numbers, altered shape, and reduced function. Men with untreated celiac disease may also have lower testosterone levels.
The good news is that with proper treatment with a gluten-free diet and correction of nutritional deficiencies, the prognosis for future pregnancies is much improved.
Sources:
New York Times February 3, 2010My thoughts: Its easier than you think to live without gluten, breads and grains. I think the thing I miss most though is delivery pizza. :P But now there are gluten free pizza breads so that you can make your own pizza as a special treat, etc. Check out my Breastfeeding diet page for more ideas on how to live a gluten-free lifestyle.
More thoughts on infertility: (this is my own personal experience and what worked for me) - I know that eating avocado everyday for 4 months before I conceived my son really helped in the conception. Avocados are a known uterus healer. I also ate watermelon everyday, as it is a known overall body healer. I was basically 80% raw foods (see my page) before my conception - this was after 3 years of TTC. My husband and I were also drinking fruit and green smoothies which I believed also helped. As well as taking certain vitamin supplements. I figured if I wasn't willing to sacrifice all my favorite foods, then I wasn't doing everything I could to try to conceive. I wanted a child, and was willing to change my lifestyle in order to achieve pregnancy. After all, your lifestyle completely changes after the baby is here anyway. Then I had to sacrifice even more foods and treats after the baby arrived to be on a colic-free Breastfeeding diet. The first 20 weeks of my pregnancy really helped with that though as I could only eat 8 foods total (fruit, tomatoes, organic bread (didn't know about the gluten thing at the time), potatoes, ham, watermelon) without being nauseous. So all these weeks of sacrificing food - before conception, during pregnancy, and now during breastfeeding - well, lets just say it gets easier over time. But I still miss pizza. :)
Here's the rest of the article: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/23/can-foods-contribute-to-infertility.aspx
And here is a good beginner plan for a gluten-free diet: http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner.htm
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