Fertility Diet To Improve Egg Quality

Whether you are planning to get pregnant soon, working through fertility treatments, or have suffered multiple miscarriages, focusing on egg quality during the preconception period is critical for all women trying to conceive. In this article, we’ll discuss the best fertility diet to improve egg quality.

Why Does Egg Quality Matter?

Contrary to men who continuously generate sperm, women are born with all the egg cells they’re ever going to have, and this number slowly declines with age. The quality of your remaining eggs also decline which can increase the risk of fertility issues and miscarriage.

While you cannot change the number of eggs you have, you can influence egg quality.

Three to four months before ovulation, an egg cell (also called a follicle) matures and grows dramatically in size. The growing follicle requires nutrients and energy from the surrounding environment. By improving your diet and lifestyle during this approximately 90 day time period before ovulation, you can improve egg quality and increase your chances of a healthy and successful pregnancy.

Fertility Diet to Improve Egg Quality

Research largely supports a Mediterranean-inspired diet for optimal fertility. Many aspects of this diet may also improve overall egg quality. The Mediterranean diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, and lean protein.

Protein + Fat + Carbs

Eating for blood sugar balance is one of the biggest components of a fertility diet. When you eat a meal containing carbohydrates, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin to lower blood sugar levels back to normal. A poor diet high in added sugar and refined carbs will eventually cause your cells to stop responding properly to insulin. This is known as insulin resistance and can increase blood sugar levels and overall inflammation in the body. High blood sugar is a big problem for egg quality and fertility because it disrupts the balance of other reproductive hormones.

By following a simple formula of protein + fat + carbs at every meal and snack, you can properly balance your blood sugar levels. Aim to fill half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, leafy greens, bell peppers, and more. Then, fill one quarter of your plate with fiber-rich carbs, and the other quarter with a high-quality protein. Finally, top off your plate with 1 to 2 tablespoons of healthy fat.

Antioxidant Rich Foods

Antioxidants are molecules that protect your eggs from damage and oxidative stress. Unfortunately, women with conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome have higher levels of oxidative stress and lower antioxidant levels which may result in poor egg quality and fertility problems (1).

To improve egg quality and boost antioxidant levels, include a variety of antioxidant-rich foods in your fertility diet, like fruits and vegetables. Here are a few common foods containing high levels of antioxidants:

Berries (all kinds)
Apples
Dark leafy greens
Broccoli
Asparagus
Pecans
Walnuts
Red kidney beans
Spices (especially cinnamon, mint, oregano, and thyme)

The more colorful you make your plate, the better!

Seafood

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes multiple servings of seafood rich in healthy omega-3 fats. Omega-3 is an anti-inflammatory fat that is particularly beneficial for fertility and egg quality. In fact, some researchers have found that women with sufficient omega-3 levels typically have higher-quality embryos and are more likely to become pregnant (2).

Furthermore, most fish is rich in fertility-friendly nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin B6, iodine, and selenium.

To optimize omega-3 levels, aim to include two servings of fish every week in your fertility diet. The fish that are the highest in omega-3 (EPA and DHA) but lowest in mercury include: salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring.

Caffeine and Alcohol

Drinking large amounts of caffeine (> 400 mg or 4+ cups of coffee) per day may negatively affect fertility and even increase miscarriage risk (3). Plus, excessive caffeine can impact your sleep quality, so try to limit yourself to 1 to 2 cups of coffee per morning.

Heavy drinking is undeniably harmful for general health as well as egg health and fertility. Some studies found reduced fertility in women when consuming more than 14 drinks per week. However, there is less consensus on moderate alcohol consumption and its effect on fertility. Nonetheless, alcohol certainly does not promote egg health or fertility, so it’s best to limit alcohol intake or keep it to the occasional glass of wine to help set a romantic mood.

Take a High Quality Prenatal Vitamin

We believe in a food first approach, and this applies to fertility as well. However, while most women begin taking prenatal vitamins once they become pregnant, we recommend starting a prenatal at least three months before trying to conceive. If you were previously taking the birth control pill, start taking a prenatal as soon as possible, as the pill can deplete your body of many important nutrients needed for egg health and optimal fertility.

Another supplement, called coenzyme Q10, is critical for energy production inside the “power plants” i.e. mitochondria of your egg cells. If your egg can produce optimal energy, there is a greater chance for it to mature, fertilize, and successfully grow. In fact, one study found that a higher level of CoQ10 inside developing eggs was associated with higher-quality eggs and higher pregnancy rates (4).

You can purchase coenzyme Q10 from our Root Shop as well.

Best Fertility Diet for Egg Quality: Summarized

While your overall egg quantity declines as you age, eating a Mediterranean-inspired diet (especially in the 90 days before conception) may improve egg quality and optimize your fertility.

The Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and lean protein. Use the protein + fat + carb formula with lots of colorful non-starchy vegetables to balance your blood sugar and provide an antioxidant boost. Aim to eat at least two servings of fish per week to improve your omega-3 levels and lower inflammation.

Egg quality is particularly important for women in their late thirties to early forties; however, all women should focus on improving their diet and lifestyle in the preconception period to optimize fertility and future pregnancy outcomes.

Need more help? Our functional medicine doctors and dietitians help optimize fertility and dig for root causes in our functional medicine membership.

Insulin resistance is one underlying root cause of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). In fact, some studies report that up to 70 percent of all women with PCOS have some degree of insulin resistance (1).

In this article, we’ll define insulin resistance, how to test for it, and how we treat insulin resistance and PCOS from a root cause and functional medicine approach.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that helps to regulate your blood sugar levels.

After eating a meal, your pancreas releases insulin into your bloodstream. The insulin binds to receptors on your cells which allows glucose (broken-down carbohydrates) to move into your cells to be used for energy. By moving glucose into your cells, insulin lowers your blood sugar levels back to baseline after a meal.

Insulin resistance occurs when your cells do not respond properly to insulin binding. As a result, your blood sugar remains elevated (sugar stays in blood instead of going into the cell) and your pancreas over secretes insulin in an attempt to normalize blood sugar levels and fuel your cells.

In simpler terms, when insulin isn’t doing its job to direct sugar into the cell, this is called insulin resistance. Your body thinks more and more insulin is needed to do the job so the pancreas secretes more insulin. This is why we see high insulin levels in early stage insulin resistance.

For optimal health, we want to reduce insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity—your cells’ ability to bind to insulin.

PCOS and Insulin Resistance

Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance, even if their body mass index (BMI) is categorized as “normal.” Diet, lifestyle, and genetics can all affect insulin resistance.

How does insulin resistance affect PCOS?

Insulin resistance leads to high insulin levels in the bloodstream, which worsens inflammation and causes the ovaries to produce more androgens (i.e. testosterone). Excess androgens are often the cause of unwanted PCOS symptoms like acne, facial hair, weight gain, or weight loss resistance. Chronic low-grade inflammation and high androgen levels subsequently worsen insulin resistance creating a vicious cycle for women with PCOS (2).

The combination of insulin resistance, excess androgens, and inflammation can prevent ovulation and lead to irregular menstrual cycles.

Fortunately, we can lower androgen levels and restore ovulatory menstrual cycles in women with PCOS by treating insulin resistance.

Testing for Insulin Resistance

There is no one test that can directly screen for insulin resistance. Here at Root, we look at the entire clinical picture along with a few lab tests to assess insulin resistance in our members with PCOS. These tests are all available for self-ordering within the Root Access Membership.

Fasting Blood Glucose

This is a measure of how much glucose (sugar) is in your blood after an overnight fast. A fasting blood sugar level between 70 and 85 mg/dL is ideal. However, we cannot rely on a fasting blood glucose level alone to screen for insulin resistance.

Hemoglobin A1C

Hemoglobin A1c is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past three months using a percentage point. An ideal a1c level is below 5.4 percent. While A1C is a helpful tool for an overall picture of your blood sugar levels, solely relying on A1C can significantly under-diagnose insulin resistance.

Fasting Insulin

Insulin resistance is characterized by increased insulin levels in the blood, so we also test for fasting insulin levels to give us a more complete clinical picture (2, 3). At Root, we consider an ideal fasting insulin level to be below 7.

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