Women who eat a vegan diet - a strict vegetarian diet that excludes all animal products including milk - are one-fifth as likely as other women to have twins, a US researcher reported on Saturday.
The reason may be hormones given to cattle to boost their milk and meat production, said Dr Gary Steinman, an obstetrician specialising in multiple-birth pregnancies at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York.
Writing in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Steinman said he compared twin births rates among women who ate a regular diet, vegetarians who included dairy products, and vegan women.
The vegans had twins at one-fifth the rate of the milk-drinking women. Insulin-like growth factor may be responsible, Steinman said.
All animals, including people, produce a compound called insulin-like growth factor or IGF in response to growth hormone. It is found in milk and it increases the sensitivity of the ovaries to follicle stimulating hormone, thus increasing ovulation.
Some studies also suggest that IGF may help embryos survive in the early stages of development.
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