Researchers at Maastricht University have found that a combination of diet and when couples have sex affects the sex of their children, the UK’s Mail on Sunday reported.
Women who want a daughter should eat a diet high in calcium and magnesium, such as yoghurt, canned salmon, spinach, tofu, almonds and oats, and have sex regularly except for the days directly before and after ovulation.
The five-year study involved 172 women, aged from 23 to 42, who had all been pregnant before and wanted to conceive a girl. Researchers instructed the women to cut salt from their diets and increase their dairy intake.
Eighty percent of the women who followed this diet conceived a baby girl, the Mail on Sunday reported.
“The results show that both diet and timing methods increase the probability of a girl the impact of the diet being the most pronounced,” a spokesperson for Maastricht University told the Mail on Sunday.
“It shows a substantial success rate when both methods are applied correctly.”
If you’re trying to conceive, be it a boy or a girl, a good diet is the key to boosting your chances of conception.
“A woman’s diet is of enormous importance during, but also before pregnancy,” says dietician and Mother & Baby magazine expert Kate Di Prima.
“In fact, the nutritional status of the mother at the point of conception can have a profound influence on the health of the baby during the foetal stage, and far beyond.”
A woman’s daily diet should include three well-rounded meals a day, with five serves of vegetables and two of fruit preferably organic and preservative-free. Each meal should have a good source of protein such as meat, fish, tofu, hard cheese, eggs or legumes and coffee and alcohol should be limited to small amounts.
