Infertility has become a social problem affecting women and men equally. Assessing the real cause of infertility and subsequent introduction of targeted and effective treatment is now a great diagnostic challenge.
More and more attention is paid to the role of dietary factors as causatives of conception problems. In particular, the delayed (latent) food allergy, disrupting the hormonal balance of the body and introducing nutrients deficiency is being the most widely discussed. The development of latent food hypersensitivity occurs as a result of the intestinal barrier damage. Gut barrier protects and separates the interior of the body from the outside world. The structure serves as protection against potentially harmful substances: toxins, food additives, bacteria and other microorganisms that enter the body with food. Gut barrier makes these factors not to get into the blood, and helps to eliminates them from the body. Modern lifestyle full of psychological stress, past infections, drug abuse, stimulants, antibiotics, unhealthy food and a number of other factors abolish the continuity of the intestinal barrier. A damaged intestinal barrier becomes an open channel through which these antigens penetrate into the circulatory system. The same situation occurs with the presence of insufficiently digested food particles, which causes the development of allergy. Constant consumption of allergenic food chronically activates the immune system, generating chronic inflammation, located in various tissues and organs. Unfortunately, allergenic food is impossible, to identify because the reaction appears even after a few days after a meal was consumed. Moreover, its symptoms are of highly unspecific type. The described food hypersensitivity (IgA and/or IgG – dependent) may manifest as gastrointestinal complaints (abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea or constipation), recurrent migraines, chronic upper and lower respiratory infections, asthma, diabetes and hypertension, overweight and obesity, skin problems and many other diseases.
The manifestation of the disease depends on the place where the inflammation develops.
Current studies try to determine the exact role of latent food allergy in fertility disorders. In many couples struggling with infertility of unknown aetiology (idiopathic), implementation of a diet, based on the results of IgA and IgG – dependent food allergies tests leads to conception. The inflammation resulting from latent allergy eliminates homeostasis in the whole organism, leading to hormone imbalance. Chronic inflammation also causes essential vitamins (e.g folic acid or fat-soluble vitamins) as well as micronutrients deficiencies (e.g. magnesium and zinc). As a consequence, the whole system is involved in the fight against inflammation resulting from latent food allergy, so that physiological functions, such as the correct fertilization process, implantation of the embryo or maintaining a pregnancy is not possible.
It is postulated that problems with conception also arise from insulin resistance being a consequence of inflammation. Insulin is responsible for the proper concentration of glucose in the blood. Chronic inflammation blocks insulin receptors (binding sites), negatively affecting the function of the ovaries. Elevated insulin concentration in the blood stimulates the ovaries to produce too much androgens. As a consequence, a significant number of ovarian follicles develop, however, the processes of their maturation and ovulation are disturbed. Consequently, the fertilization is impossible. Inflammation may also affect sperm parameters. Latent food allergy can therefore impair fertility in both women and men.
In case of infertility, the following tests is recommended:
– FoodScreen IgG/IgA USBiotek (96 składników pokarmowych lub 112 składników pokarmowych)
