It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF by Fett Rebecca

Author:Fett, Rebecca [Fett, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: It Starts With The Egg, couples, recurrent miscarriage, pregnancy, genetics, egg quality, health, Rebecca Fett, health guide, ivf success, chemicals, molecular biotechnology, birth, miscarriage, conception, women, lifestyle, infertility, science, healthy baby, fertility, egg
Publisher: Franklin Fox Publishing LLC
Published: 2014-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Supplements That May Do More Harm Than Good

“If you trust Google more than your doctor then maybe it’s time to switch doctors.”

— Jadelr and Cristina Cordova

One of the natural consequences of the medical community’s failure to give women complete information on which supplements may improve egg quality is that women must turn to less reliable sources of information and often end up taking supplements that are not supported by any scientific evidence.

This book features a vast number of clinical and laboratory studies showing that certain supplements can improve fertility, but attention must also be given to the supplements many women are taking in the hope of improving egg quality that are either ineffective or unsafe, or that may actually worsen egg quality and fertility.

Pycnogenol

Pycnogenol is a patented extract from pine bark that has been shown to have antioxidant properties. This antioxidant capacity has led some people to include pycnogenol on lists of supplements for egg quality, even though no evidence exists from any good-quality clinical trials. Because pycnogenol is a mixture of compounds not naturally found in the body, there is reason to be very cautious about its safety.

At the time of writing, there have not been any good-quality clinical studies showing that pycnogenol can improve egg quality or even that it is safe and lacks side effects. The company that makes pycnogenol, which has a website touting 40 years of research into this supplement, identifies countless studies on the use of pycnogenol for a variety of conditions, including male infertility, but not a single study on egg quality or female fertility.1

Given the lack of evidence, there is no reason to take pycnogenol when other much better antioxidant supplements are available to improve egg quality, such as CoQ10, vitamin E, and alpha-lipoic acid. These antioxidants are naturally found inside ovarian follicles, and their supplement forms have been widely studied for safety and side effects in many large, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is a substance secreted by worker bees to provide food for the queen bee. This jelly is thought to contain hormones that make the queen bee extremely fertile and increase her lifespan. Based on this natural role, royal jelly has long been recommended as an alternative medicine in the fertility context. Just like pycnogenol, royal jelly is a mixture of compounds not naturally found in the human body.

At the time of writing, no good-quality clinical research supports the use of royal jelly in improving egg quality, and it has been found to occasionally cause life-threatening allergic reactions. These allergic reactions likely occur because royal jelly contains some of the same allergens found in bee venom.2 In addition, because royal jelly contains a mixture of chemicals that act like hormones, it may have unpredictable effects and disrupt natural hormone balance.3 Given the uncertain benefit and side effects, royal jelly cannot be recommended as part of a regime to naturally improve fertility.

L-Arginine

L-arginine is another supplement that many women take in an effort to improve egg quality before IVF.

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