Cranberry supps for TTC a girl?

[expat-mama]

Hey there,

I've had more than a few people tell me that taking cranberry supplements (the same kind you take for UTIs) can tip the scales in favour of conceiving a girl. True? False? Something about making things more acidic is the line of thinking I guess. But can this make it harder to conceive at all? 

Wondering...

TIA!

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

I have never heard that before!  I'm going to bump this to get more views.

[fourthcanal]

I would like to know what everyone thinks of this as well!

[porcelina]

There is a whole theory at in-gender.com about how to conceive a girl. Cranberry supplements are one major thing on the list to change the vaginal ph level. There is also a whole list of other supplements and dietary suggestions, including lots of dairy, and calcium and magnesium supplements.

I just posted info from a legitamate medical article I found where they achieved 80 percent sway towards girls in a prospective study using supplements, measuring these minerals (calcium and magnesium), and using a timing rule (3 days before O). (they didn't do cranberry supps) I was trying to answer the same question for myself--is there any evidence that any of that works?? I definitely think there is something to it, given that article.

The diets suggested on in-gender are pretty die-hard. Whether they work, well, it does seem there is something to diet and the ph and the ability of x sperm versus y sperm to survive in different conditions. Obviously, it is only a sway, and nothing will ever be 90 percent even, but increasing odds to even 60 percent girl is much higher than the 48--49 percent that it is given the natural sex ratio in populations. I personally feel like it might be worth trying if you do it lightheartedly and with low expectations. I'll try to update with a link to that thread when I get on a computer. Someone replied that they had used cranberry supplements and had success.

A lot of the techniques for swaying by affecting the ph environment for sperm and trying for a girl indeed make it harder to conceive in the first place (not to mention timing methods, which are usually cut-off 2-3 days before O). Things like hot showers on the testicles before dtd, or vinegar douches, or what have you all seem to make the environment harder for all sperm, maybe not just y sperm. But, that's kind of the point. The girl sperm are supposed to be more resilient.