Foods to Improve Egg Quality
Fertility is driven by egg quality
Both egg quantity and egg quality affect your fertility—but egg quality is the boss.
Nutrition has so much to do with growing healthy eggs whether making a baby naturally or with ART- assisted reproductive technology/IVF. Progressing towards optimum nutrition during the preconception phase is a great strategy for transitioning your diet to meet all the nutritional demands of pregnancy.
Changing an eating regime, especially if it is culturally linked to your family and upbringing, is challenging. Baby steps, working out where to purchase products and how to incorporate them into your diet is the way to go. The ‘Fertile in Five’ e-Course offers nutritional guidelines for those foods to target and those to avoid in pregnancy.
Three pillars to support egg quality
Mitochondrial health
CoQ10 is the most researched nutrient for egg health. It is involved in the electron transport chain and helps with high-energy processes. Not only are mitochondria the powerhouses in cells but they also stabilise cell membranes and provide anti-oxidant benefits.
They have such an important role in ovarian health which impacts egg health too. The maturation of an egg is a very energy-intensive process. Most fertility clinics now suggest that women take 600 mg CoQ10/day when trying to conceive. Benefits of CoQ10 in IVF practices include - reduced requirements for gonadotropin hormone or ovarian stimulation, increased oocyte retrieval and increased fertilization rates.
Eggs are susceptible to oxidative damage which can result from many stresses of life and CoQ10 may help stop, and even reverse the decline in egg quantity and quality as women age.
Reducing inflammation
Inflammation is a natural response to injury or illness or other stressors. The body’s immune system responds by producing various chemical regulators. Short-term these are okay, but chronic stress is not sustainable without incurring damage - insulin resistance, endometriosis, PCOS, and implantation failure. All these impact egg health. While stressors can be many and varied, starting with a clean and nutrient-rich wholefood diet is the way forward. Zinc, Vitamin D3, and Vitamin C all support our immune system to reduce the effects of inflammation.
Supporting an MTHFR pregnancy by assisting the folic acid cycle and DNA health.
MTHFR (methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase) is an enzyme necessary for many important chemical reactions in the body. Its main function is to provide your body with instructions for creating the MTHFR protein, which helps your body produce folate. The inability to produce healthy levels of active folate can result in high homocysteine levels and damaged egg DNA synthesis resulting in the production of low-quality eggs. Even if they make the journey through the fallopian tube they probably won’t be fit for fertilisation and will perform poorly in IVF procedures.
Naturally occurring folic acid in food e.g. green leafy veggies, legumes and eggs, is converted into the active (more usable) form which is called 5-MTHF (5-methyltetrahydrofolate) – Vitamin B9. A diet rich in these foods will help support the folic acid cycle. A prenatal supplement taken at least 4 months before conception will support egg DNA synthesis as well safeguarding the risk of neural tube defects.
There are two common types, or variants of MTHFR mutations: C677t and A1298c. We have two MTHFR genes, inheriting one from each parent. Mutations can affect one (heterozygous) or both (homozygous) of these genes. Around 60% of Australians have one of these gene variants. Trouble strikes when these genes snps are homozygous, or having one of each gene snp - compound heterozygous. Suboptimal health through lifestyle, nutrition, chronic disease or stress can position those with one gene variant at risk for MTHFR issues.
FERTILITY foods supporting egg quality
1. meat/organ meats (organic or grass-fed) - CoQ10 for cellular energy and DNA protection, zinc
2. wild-caught salmon & other fatty fish - Omega 3 essential fatty acids for reducing inflammation, Co Q 10, Vitamin D3
3. oysters - zinc for cell division and nuclear growth,
4. bone broth – collagen, amino acids, zinc, CoQ10
5. nuts & seeds – fats, vitamins, minerals, protein, CoQ10
6. pulses/lentils – iron, zinc, folate, fibre
7. avocado – monosaturated fats, anti-inflammatory
8. organic berries - antioxidants, mopping-up free radicals while protecting egg quality
9. dark leafy greens – folate, vitamins/minerals, CoQ10
10. eggs – choline for DNA replication, Vitamin D3, folate