Peas May Impede Fertility

Even in our humble urban house with virtually no yard, I've been so proud of being able to raise some sugar snap peas in a pot, using chopsticks as supports for their little tendrily vines.

But Fern Reiss, in The Infertility Diet, her well researched and thoroughly annotated book, says that peas

have been linked to infertility; they seem to contain a national contraceptive (m-xylohydroquinine) which interferes with estrogen and progestrone: In a study of rats fed 20% of their diet in peas, litter sizes were reduced and 30% had no offspring.

Sometimes when I eat peas, I get a weird scratchy feeling in my mouth--this happens to my mom, too. Maybe it's just my body telling me to avoid these kinds of things altogether...