Adherence to healthy dietary patterns and outcomes of assisted reproduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between adherence to a healthy dietary pattern and outcomes of assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for eligible studies through December 2019 according to the population, intervention, comparison, outcome and study design (PICOS) criteria. Eight prospective cohort studies (S) reporting pregnancy outcomes (O) of higher vs lower adherence to a healthy dietary pattern (I/C) in women undergoing ART treatment (P) were included, involving a total of 2229 women with 2067 embryo transfer cycles. The pooled odds ratio (OR) for positive pregnancy test, clinical pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy/live birth was 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65–1.03), 0.99 (95% CI 0.68–1.44) and 1.30 (95% CI 0.81–2.09), respectively. In conclusion, greater adherence to a healthy dietary pattern rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and fish, may not be significantly related to ART success.