The Ins and Outs of Egg Health

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Let’s talk about egg health, and why it’s optimal to be working on diet, nutrition, and lifestyle factors 3-4 months before trying to conceive. 

When talking about egg health, we have to cover two of the basic factors in determining fertility- egg count and egg quality.

Did you know that when a woman is 20 weeks in gestation (in her mama’s belly still) she will have all the eggs she will ever have? This is quite opposite of men, whose sperm is constantly being regenerated throughout their entire life.

If we’re talking egg count- a woman has approximately 6-8 million eggs before she leaves the womb. Once puberty hits, certain eggs are selected to finally start developing in preparation for ovulation after lying dormant for several years. In peak reproductive years, the body has a surplus of eggs to choose from, however, the number of eggs steadily declines throughout life.  Not all the eggs that start developing will ever be specifically selected for ovulation. Some eggs die off naturally while in the “waiting pool”. This means that 300,000-400,000 will be selected and developed, but only about 300-400 will actually be chosen for ovulation.  Only the best eggs are chosen, which makes egg quality of utmost importance when trying to conceive. Egg quality matters- as high-quality eggs produce high-quality embryos, which will be healthy enough to be able to implant and undergo several stages of development, and ultimately resulting in a successful pregnancy. 

An egg takes approximately 3 months to develop. This means, that all strategies to improve egg quality need to be employed for a minimum of 3-4 months. If we believe the most fertile, and nutritious soil produces the best crops, then we must also start thinking about what we choose to feed our bodies with will lay the foundation for our health and fertility, and certainly affect egg quality. 

We typically recommend that women trying to conceive and improve their egg quality look to their diet to ensure that they are getting enough healthy fats and healthy proteins. A diet high in protein and healthy fats ensures blood sugar stability and hormone health. Some examples of healthy fats are olives and olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, eggs, and grass-fed butter, or grass-fed full-fat dairy products. We also recommend healthy proteins like grassfed beef (which is higher in omega 3’s than conventional meat and less inflammatory), wild caught salmon, organic chicken, and pasture- raised pork. 

In Chinese medicine, there are certain foods that support “jing” essence, which entails our DNA, and potential for reproduction. These foods are: eggs, nuts, and seeds (especially black sesame seeds!), goji berries, beans, royal jelly, and bone broth. Some modern research has shown that royal jelly enhances follicle growth and development in rats. Another study suggested that, “due to its promising medical and nutritional purposes, Royal Jelly is one of the most valuable and therapeutic products listed by natural medicine scientists. It has been shown that daily intake of the high quality RJ (royal jelly) helps to regulate hormones”. 

You can read the studies here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641457/. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348716320_Impact_of_Royal_Jelly_on_Infertility_A_Review

We also recommend taking a pre-natal to help improve egg quality and ensure that you’re getting adequate COQ10, ADEK (fat-soluble vitamins), and DHEA.  COQ10 is an antioxidant that helps support mitochondria which is essential for egg quality. Also, if you have PCOS, research has found that N-acetyl-cysteine has been shown to help support egg quality as well. 

Some other things you can do to enhance egg quality:

  1. Quit smoking- Smoking is a known factor that can cause premature ovarian insufficiency by increasing egg loss in the ovaries and also creating quite a bit of systemic inflammation. 

  2. Get good quality sleep- try to go to bed before 11, as sleeping from 11-1 in Chinese medicine is said to be the most important for restoration. 

  3. Swap lower-tier carbs for higher-tier carbs- this means opting for veggies and leafy greens, berries, and naturally sweet fruits, etc. instead of pastries, cakes, pasta, etc.

  4. Lower alcohol and caffeine consumption- alcohol especially has been shown to decrease fertility rates, and moderate to low caffeine levels are suggested. 

  5. Avoid fasting- the body doesn’t want to experience blood sugar swings or periods of starvation when trying to conceive. We need to be thriving, not solely surviving!

  6. Exercise regularly- but avoid high-intensity exercises and instead go for light to moderate forms of exercise. 

  7. Get Acupuncture- Acupuncture helps to reduce stress and inflammation, enhances blood flow to the uterus, and addresses the root causes of illness. 

While lots of the methods listed above are heavily researched and are great starting places, know that it’s always best to have the root cause of low egg count or poor egg quality examined by a health professional. We like to sit down with each of our patients to talk in-depth about their health history, diet, and lifestyle to ensure that we examine the whole picture and create an individualized treatment plan. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are holistic, body, mind, and spirit medicines that are investigative and highly individualized in order to treat the root cause of disease and dysfunction. 

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25482371/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5870379/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4568976/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9797089/


This blog post was written by Samantha Kloss.