It's a heavy topic. And it affects more people than you think. It's Canadian Infertility Awareness Week 2023.
We know that egg quality can be of concern when it comes to fertility. As you age, the regular environmental and metabolic exposures over time accumulate. Then, there are other factors like diet, lifestyle, stress, sleep, genetics, medical conditions, meds, and a lot of other things that will play a role as well.
Egg quality and age have an inverse relationship. Aaand, we don't really have tests to determine egg quality. We deduce based on age, health, (fertility and pregnancy) history, and if you're going through a fertility clinic, then there are some indicators.
There are lots of things we can do to support egg quality naturally. Some of these include egg quality supplements and some include your daily routine in life.
The main thing to remember is that antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals are supportive of egg quality. I'm not going to go over all the things you could do for egg quality, but here are a few considerations (please make sure to talk to your healthcare team to see what's appropriate for you!).
Eat the rainbow (and I don't mean eat Skittles!!!). Fruits and veggies are chock full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support overall and egg health. Different pigments in plant foods confer different antioxidant properties. So, eating all the colours is a good way to support egg quality through nutrition.
Increase anti-inflammatory foods and decrease inflammatory foods. The main inflammatory foods would be deep-fried foods, charred meats, trans fats, and foods high in saturated fat like red meat. Anti-inflammatory foods are basically the foods that are high in antioxidants like whole plant foods. They also include omega-3-containing foods like flax and hemp seeds.
Get your zzzs and manage your stress: Listen, sleep and stress management are always important for health. When you don't get adequate sleep or have high levels of unmanaged stress, this contributes to more inflammation and hormonal dysregulation in the body.
Exercise: There's no replacement for movement and formal activity in your life. It's good for circulation, for metabolic health (which impacts eggs (and sperm)), mental health, sleep, aaaand pretty much everything else in your body.
CoQ10: Coenzyme Q10 is one of the most-researched supplements for egg quality. It's an antioxidant that is prescribed in conventional and natural fertility plans alike. Dosage ranges from 200-400mg per day. It affects mitochondrial function (energy powerhouses of the cell), egg maturation, and follicle development. It's well-tolerated, doesn't interfere with assisted reproductive technology treatment plans (IVF, IUI, medicated cycles, etc.).
Melatonin: Known as your sleep hormone, melatonin is actually a really strong antioxidant! It seems to be the most useful in cases where ovarian reserve is low (typically people with primary ovarian insufficiency and people in their late 30s/40s). It helps with endometrial receptivity. It seems to delay ovarian ageing, improve intracellular communication, and maintain the integrity of the outer layer of the egg. Some of this research has to be done in real humans, but it does have a bit of human data already and shows great promise.
Vitamin D: It's unclear how vitamin D impacts egg quality specifically, but low vitamin D is associated with higher rates of infertility and pregnancy loss, so vitamin D sufficiency is important.
Other antioxidants: ALA (alpha-lipoic acid), carnitine, NAC (n-acetyl cysteine), and vitamin C all can improve oocyte quality.
There are other supports that can help as well — this isn't an exhaustive list. Plus, some of these have specific relevance if you have a diagnosis like PCOS, endometriosis, or primary ovarian insufficiency, so not everything will be appropriate for everyone. If you're looking to add in a fertility naturopath (anywhere in Ontario virtually, in person in Newmarket), I accept a few new patients every month.
Zhang H, Li C, Wen D, Li R, Lu S, Xu R, Tang Y, Sun Y, Zhao X, Pan M, Ma B. Melatonin improves the quality of maternally aged oocytes by maintaining intercellular communication and antioxidant metabolite supply. Redox Biol. 2022 Feb;49:102215. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2021.102215. Epub 2021 Dec 17. PMID: 34929573
Rodríguez-Varela C, Labarta E. Does Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation Improve Human Oocyte Quality? Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 2;22(17):9541. doi: 10.3390/ijms22179541. PMID: 34502447
