Fact or Fiction *Eating Yams for Twins*??

HugznKiki

Hi My Fitness Pals!!!

Ok so I'm no genetic scientist... However I am curious.. My hubby and I are planning to start a family, and I was wondering what our chances of having twins would be. Here is partial history, my grandfather was a twin, my grandmothers sister had 3 sets of twins...however there are no other twins in my immediate family...I don't know about my biological fathers side as I don't talk to him. My husband's uncle had a set of twins...and there are a few other sets on his side....is it likely that we will breed double?? As far as the fact or fiction portion....I have been told and read that an increase in yams (or sweet potatos, whatever your preference) to my diet before pre-pregnancy will increase our chances of having twins....Has anyone else ever heard of this??

Thanks in advance ;D

mfp_1

Do it twice in a row with the same man...

zafferFL

Hi My Fitness Pals!!!

Ok so I'm no genetic scientist... However I am curious.. My hubby and I are planning to start a family, and I was wondering what our chances of having twins would be. Here is partial history, my grandfather was a twin, my grandmothers sister had 3 sets of twins...however there are no other twins in my immediate family...I don't know about my biological fathers side as I don't talk to him. My husband's uncle had a set of twins...and there are a few other sets on his side....is it likely that we will breed double?? As far as the fact or fiction portion....I have been told and read that an increase in yams (or sweet potatos, whatever your preference) to my diet before pre-pregnancy will increase our chances of having twins....Has anyone else ever heard of this??

Thanks in advance ;D

And beets for triplets?

Answer:no

tabi26

Twins run on the mothers side. So if it was your mothers mother that had twins you're chances are slightly greater. Yams is fact, but I think you have to have been eating them in largish quantities since childhood. I say it's a fact because there is a village somewhere, I cant recall where, where the whole village eats a crap ton of yams and has a very high incidence of twins.

Fathers side has no influence. Doesn't matter if every person on that side had twins, it runs through the female genes

MoreThanMommie

I've never heard of that, but what can it hurt? Give it a try.

MoreThanMommie

Twins run on the mothers side. So if it was your mothers mother that had twins you're chances are slightly greater. Yams is fact, but I think you have to have been eating them in largish quantities since childhood. I say it's a fact because there is a village somewhere, I cant recall where, where the whole village eats a crap ton of yams and has a very high incidence of twins.

Fathers side has no influence. Doesn't matter if every person on that side had twins, it runs through the female genes

Very interesting.

lostinureyes17

I am currently in nursing school and taking nutrition. It is true about the yams. They are thought to cause hyper ovulation so you release two eggs instead of one. They would then be fraternal twins not identical. I don't believe you had to eat large amounts your whole life just as long as you eat enough to cause the hyper ovulation. There is a tribe in Africa where that is mostly what they eat and they do have large incidences of twins. As always though I would check with your doctor and see what he recommends. Good Luck!

DoingitWell

Fraternal twins are hereditary and run on the female side.. LOTS of fraternal twins in my family and me and my sis had twins 5 months a part. My1st counsin had twins 1 day before my sister. Identical twins are spontaneous, has nothing to do with heredity. Atleast what my doctor told me. Forgot my other cousin had 2 sets of fraternal twins that did not make it. So needless to say when someone announces they are pregnant we all hold our breath.

wanted to add, we only ate yams on holidays ...lol

Also older women have a higher rate of fraternal twins because they drop more eggs. I forgot the breakdown by race but that could easiy be looked up.

peachNpunkin

I am currently in nursing school and taking nutrition. It is true about the yams. They are thought to cause hyper ovulation so you release two eggs instead of one. They would then be fraternal twins not identical. I don't believe you had to eat large amounts your whole life just as long as you eat enough to cause the hyper ovulation. There is a tribe in Africa where that is mostly what they eat and they do have large incidences of twins. As always though I would check with your doctor and see what he recommends. Good Luck!

What she said. I am a nurse, and it is true about sweet potatos causing multi-ovulation.

LatinaButterfly

As a woman who's carried Twins before I was hoping to conceive Twins again and looked into this... Here's the article you want to read. It's a village in West Africa with a special "Yam like" vegetable called Agida, and it's believed to work in combination with women of that specific heritage. It's not just regular yams or expected to work for everyone. Neat!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010607_twins.shtml

mfp_1

Selected quotes:
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2578955/pdf/yjbm00016-0038.pdf
The Role of White Yams in the Increased Incidence of Multiple Births in Southwestern Nigeria.
...
These data confirm that multiple births continue with high incidence in southwestern Nigeria, especially among Yoruba women of lower socioeconomic status and that yam consumption correlates with an increased risk of multiple births. Furthermore, the rat studies suggest that Nigerian white yams contain antiestrogens that can cause an increased ovulation rate in rats and humans. However, it remains to be determined the exact nature of these compounds and what the genetic contributions to this picture are.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2253845.stm

Head chief Lamidi Adeyemi, who of course has a set of twins himself, says that in the past, families with twins converged on the town, increasing the chances that their children would in turn have twins
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http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/twins.htm

A SIGNPOST put up a few kilometres outside Igbo-Ora, a sleepy southwest Nigerian town, proudly welcomes visitors to "the land of twins".

... Nigeria, overall, has one of the world's highest rates of multiple births, with the southwest being particularly prone.
A study conducted between 1972 and 1982 by researcher P.S. Nylander recorded an average of 45 to 50 sets of twins per 1 000 live births in the southwest, four times higher than in Europe or the United States.

In Igbo-Ora, residents have no explanation of why their own town should be more twin prone than any other. Some attribute the phenomenon to providence, others to lineage and still others to diet, specifically the reputed high oestrogen content of agida, a local variant of the popular yam root tuber used as a staple.

... Robert Asiedu, a yam specialist at the internationally-funded International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, 60km east of Igbo-Ora, is sceptical of a yam link.

"Nobody has provided any scientific explanation or evidence that could prove that yam consumption can cause multiple births," he said. He noted that there are even species of yams cultivated, especially in Asia, for contraceptive purposes.

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