Well, I heard one of the “housewives” on the Atlanta series make a statement that eating yams increases ones rate of conceiving twins, but I honestly did not think much of it….until I was sent numerous emails to from various readers asking about this one.  There is some research on the topic, but since it seems to be a hot topic with my readers, I wanted to just settle this one, once and for all.

What is the deal?

There was a study in 2008 focusing on an African tribe that as rather high numbers of twins and multiple births in their village.  A main source of their diet is yams, and yams are said to effect certain female hormones, that may relate to a 1% higher rate of twins, but yams would need to be ingested in significant amounts to have even a minimal effect (think three times a day). So because the people of this tribe, who eat yams as a mainstay of their diet (due to a their environment), so the conclusion was made that the high yam diet was related to the multiple births by the women of the tribe. The research has not been validated (proved again), so  I am not convinced that eating yams will help you conceive twins.

The highest rate of multiples (or twins) are born to those that have a family history of twins, are older when attempting to get pregnant (the eggs can mutate and split causing twins), or the use of fertility drugs. There are also some rumors that immediately after stopping birth control, you are more likely to conceive twins, but that is not necessarily true; what IS true, is that your fertility is usually increased for that first month as your body is surging with hormones.

It’s a bummer for those of you who wanted to eat (or were already force feeding yourselves) yams in hopes of having two babies all at once, it’s not looking like that is the answer for you.  Your best bet is to find a man with a history of twins and see what sort of magic you two can create…unless you want a designer baby, in which they are genetically designed, which is quite pricey, but you can talk to your OBGYN about your options if this is something super important to you. I am being tongue in cheek, and not at all suggesting that you daddy shop for a man who has a history of twins! But unless you love those yams, you can chill on them and just eat a healthy well-balanced diet; there is no magical food that can increase your rate of twins.

I can’t believe that a fact from “the Real Housewives…” would ever be incorrect!! 😉 Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear!

Yours in Good Health

B