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Bananas make baby boys?
Filed under: Your Pregnancy
According to a new study out of Britain's Oxford and Exeter Universities, a woman wishing to conceive a boy child would do well to stock up on bananas. Hold the penis jokes, this isn't about the phallic shape of the fruit, but the potassium in the fruit.
Scientists studied the eating habits of 740 women during their first pregnancies and the results seem to confirm what generations of women has suspected all along: bananas make boys. "We were able to confirm the old wives' tale that eating bananas and so having a high potassium intake was associated with having a boy, as was a high sodium intake," researcher Fiona Mathews said.
While science may be validating this particular theory, it also debunks another. Contrary to what many believe, drinking lots of milk does not guarantee a girl. They tested this theory with bowls of cereal and found that 59 percent of women who ate a bowl each day bore boys. This is compared to the 43 percent rate of boys born to those who ate less than a bowlful per week.
"If you want a boy, eat a healthy diet with a high calorie intake, including breakfast," Mathews said.
Now that we have the science out of the way, here are some really interesting old wives' tales for determining whether you are carrying a boy or a girl. What's the craziest one you've heard? Did it turn out to be accurate?
Scientists studied the eating habits of 740 women during their first pregnancies and the results seem to confirm what generations of women has suspected all along: bananas make boys. "We were able to confirm the old wives' tale that eating bananas and so having a high potassium intake was associated with having a boy, as was a high sodium intake," researcher Fiona Mathews said.
While science may be validating this particular theory, it also debunks another. Contrary to what many believe, drinking lots of milk does not guarantee a girl. They tested this theory with bowls of cereal and found that 59 percent of women who ate a bowl each day bore boys. This is compared to the 43 percent rate of boys born to those who ate less than a bowlful per week.
"If you want a boy, eat a healthy diet with a high calorie intake, including breakfast," Mathews said.
Now that we have the science out of the way, here are some really interesting old wives' tales for determining whether you are carrying a boy or a girl. What's the craziest one you've heard? Did it turn out to be accurate?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-23-2008 @ 1:14PM
Anne Glamore said...Have 3 boys; hate bananas.
Reply
4-23-2008 @ 2:07PM
Meagan said...I suspect a typo in the original article: "Scientists at Britain's Oxford and Exeter Universities, who studied eating habits of 740 women during their first-time pregnancies" everything else in this article was talking about eating habit PRIOR to conception, not DURING pregnancy. Isn't gender determined as soon as conception happens?
Reply
4-23-2008 @ 2:46PM
Ethel said...Well, since we (people in general) notorious for being poor reporters of diet after the fact the researchers did make an assumption that the diet leading up to conception was the same as or similar to the diet after pregnancy was discovered. It is an assumption of course, but I feel it's a fairly valid one.
4-23-2008 @ 3:10PM
ame s said...Love bananas, have 2 girls.
May I share my methods for getting pregnant? Okay!
First daughter: I went to the doc after trying to conceive for a year. Received prescription for fertility drug which cost $150 & not covered by insurance. Waited patiently for my period so I could start taking them. The joke was on me, I was 3 weeks pregnant when I filled the prescription.
Second daughter: I went to our local "warehouse store" and bought huge boxes of sanitary pads & tampons, which sat in the closet for almost 2 years because I was pregnant when I bought them, 1 month after going off the Pill.
Reply
4-23-2008 @ 4:06PM
c_rousseau05 said...lol, this is pretty funny. I think this article is bs but its fun. For the record, gender is decided at conception so you can eat bananas all day long for the whole pregnancy and still have a girl. Also, gender is also determined by daddy's sperm, so maybe daddy should be eating a lot of bananas too? lol!
Reply
4-23-2008 @ 5:00PM
Becca said...I suppose that an environment that is high in potassium could be better for boy producing sperm than it is for girl sperm. However, the idea that the diet of a pregnant woman is similar to her diet before she got pregnant is silly. There were foods that grossed me out while pregnant, but not normally, as well as foods I ate more of or ate even though I hated it when not pregnant.
In fact, if you had taken note of my pregnant diet with that theory in mind you would think that I ate Fruit Cake regularly, and had broccoli and/or cauliflower 3 or 4 times a week. You would also think that I was nearly a vegetarian, since I could stand the smell of beef or pork cooking so I didn't cook or eat it. I've known many women who say that their eating habits changed when they got pregnant, either because of sensitivities and cravings like myself, or because they wanted to eat healthier for the babies sake.
Even though it's an interesting study, I'm afraid that the results are not necessarily correct.
Reply