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 Rebecca Fett
Category: Health & Nutrition | Reading Duration: 19 min | Rating: 4.5/5 (67 ratings)
About the Book
It Starts with the Egg (2014) demystifies the science behind egg quality and how it impacts outcomes for fertility and pregnancy. In bringing together a range of reputable studies, it offers evidence-based advice on how to make simple lifestyle changes that will improve egg quality and optimize fertility.
Who Should Read This?
- Prospective parents thinking about trying for a baby
- Couples who’ve been trying for months without a positive pregnancy test
- Anyone facing fertility challenges
What’s in it for me? Science-backed methods to boost fertility.
Do you know how babies are made?Yes, sure, we all know the basics. Babies happen when a healthy sperm meets a healthy egg. But for many people – couples facing fertility challenges, nonheterosexual families, single people who are ready for children of their own – facilitating that introduction between sperm and egg is a process full of challenges. Suddenly, babymaking can start to feel far from simple.All kinds of complex health and lifestyle factors play into your chances of conceiving and carrying a healthy baby to term. Whether you’re starting out on your fertility journey, about to embark on or in the midst of fertility treatments such as IUI and IVF, or looking into other reproductive options like donor sperm, egg freezing, or surrogacy, taking steps to improve egg quality can significantly boost your odds of conceiving.In this Blink to Rebecca Fett’s It Starts with the Egg, we’ll cover why egg quality is such a critical factor in conception, and how you can make simple, effective changes to enhance it. But remember that fertility is complex and affected by a range of factors – so it’s important to supplement the general health advice shared in this Blink with tailored advice from a medical professional.
Chapter 1: Egg quality is crucial for a successful pregnancy.
Before we begin, a heads-up – for the sake of clarity, over the course of this Blink, we’ll be talking directly to a hypothetical person who wants to improve their egg quality. But if you’re a partner or potential donor parents following along as well, this information is equally relevant to you – so don’t go anywhere!Okay, let’s talk eggs. If you’ve been trying for a baby for a while, you’ll know that timing is crucial. You need to have sex in the fertile window around ovulation – only a few days every month – or your chances of conceiving are zero. Most fertility advice focuses on helping you identify and maximize that window.Unfortunately, when it comes to conception, the math isn’t always as simple as we’d like it to be. Sperm plus egg doesn’t necessarily equal baby. Once an egg is fertilized by a sperm it becomes an embryo. Roughly a third of fertilized embryos survive to become babies. Higher-quality eggs are more likely to survive past the embryo stage.So if you’re struggling to conceive, timing sex right is only part of the picture. Taking steps to optimize egg quality is equally, if not more, crucial.What do we mean by a high-quality egg? Well, it should have – quite literally – good genes. Before maturation, the egg is known as an oocyte, and it contains 46 chromosomes – long molecules that carry genetic information. Forty-six is kind of a magic number – every human cell contains 46 chromosomes. During meiosis – the name given to the egg’s maturation process – these 46 chromosomes consolidate into 23 chromosomes. The sperm supplies the other 23, to give your embryo its unique genetic makeup. The thing is, not every egg comes through meiosis with the correct number of chromosomes. Chromosomally abnormal eggs are known as aneuploid eggs. Even a perfectly healthy, fertile woman will have cycles that produce aneuploid eggs. These eggs usually fail to fertilize. If an aneuploid egg does fertilize, it usually doesn’t survive, and a miscarriage results. Forty-one percent of miscarriages are the result of chromosomal abnormalities.So, is it really possible to enhance egg quality? A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever produce in her life – egg quantity is a fixed deal. And for a long time, scientists thought the same about egg quality. The conventional wisdom was that aneuploid eggs were the result of accumulated damage to the egg related to the aging process. In other words, as a woman gets older, her egg quality declines. It’s true that age impacts egg quality. But we’re now starting to understand that chromosomal damage is likely to occur during meiosis. Any errors that occur during this process can result in missing – or extra – chromosomes. Just what we don’t want. But the good news is that meiosis presents us with a window of opportunity, where we can actually influence egg quality. We can do this specifically by supporting the egg’s mitochondria. These are the cell structures that convert fuel sources into cellular energy – that’s the same cellular energy that powers the demanding process of meiosis. Supercharging the egg’s mitochondria means supporting meiosis and boosting your chances of producing a chromosomally normal egg. We’ll find out how to do that in the next section.
Chapter 2: Simple supplements can dramatically boost your egg quality.
TTC, IVF, hCG – fertility talk is filled with acronyms! So here’s another one to add to the mix: CoQ10, short for Coenzyme Q10.This little coenzyme is found in nearly every cell of the human body – including the egg. It performs an important function – it’s kind of a go-between, transferring electrons between other molecules within the cell. As such, it’s a key player in the egg’s mitochondria – the energy structures that power the egg’s development. Increasingly, research suggests that poor mitochondrial function is a key factor in age-related infertility: as we age, mitochondrial function declines. Poor mitochondrial function is also thought to underpin other fertility issues such as premature ovarian failure.As we explained in the previous section, good mitochondrial function is crucial for the production of chromosomally normal eggs. But it doesn’t stop there: once an egg fertilizes, it takes a lot of energy to progress from an embryo to a blastocyst embryo – that’s where the cells have divided enough to form a protective layer around the developing embryo. It’s only when an embryo reaches the blastocyst stage that it can implant into the uterine lining.So, CoQ10 supports both the development of chromosomally normal eggs and assists the fertilized egg in reaching the blastocyst stage. While this molecule is naturally present in the body, you won’t be surprised to learn that a higher level of CoQ10 correlates to higher rates of pregnancy. And studies show that taking a CoQ10 supplement two months before IVF boosts egg quality – only 8 percent of patients who supplemented with CoQ10 before an IVF round had their cycles canceled due to poor egg quality, while 23 percent of patients in the control group had canceled cycles.It’s difficult to obtain a significant dose of CoQ10 through food, so consider a specialized supplement. It’s available in several forms – for enhancing egg quality, the ubiquinol form is effective – it’s readily absorbed by the body.Another problem for eggs, especially aging eggs, is the reduced production of antioxidant enzymes at the cellular level. These leave oxidizing molecules within the cell unchecked – and unfortunately, mitochondria are particularly sensitive to oxidative damage. Not only that, when damaged, the mitochondria release yet more oxidants, creating a vicious circle of oxidative damage. This issue isn’t restricted to aged eggs, either – elevated levels of oxidation within the egg have been linked to unexplained infertility, endometriosis, PCOS, and miscarriage.Next, melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that regulates your circadian rhythm – in other words, it tells you when to go to sleep. But it performs another crucial function. In the past decades, it’s been found to be a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, like oxidizing molecules. Taking melatonin daily one month before an IVF egg retrieval may significantly boost egg quality. Check with your physician for the correct dosage. But, melatonin isn’t recommended for people trying to conceive without IVF treatment. So if that’s you, look into other antioxidant supplements like vitamin C, vitamin E, or alpha-lipoic acid.Finally, in addition to CoQ10 and antioxidants, a standard prenatal supplement containing folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 will support egg quality and embryo development. Note that if you’re mid-thirties and younger and don’t have specific fertility issues, just a healthy diet and prenatal supplement should be your starting point. Introduce other supplements on medical advice.
Chapter 3: Avoid certain toxins to enhance your fertility.
As well as boosting your egg quality by incorporating supplements like CoQ10 and folate, it’s also crucial to protect your eggs from external toxins that may cause them damage. In particular, the chemical bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA.In 1998, at a university lab in Ohio, Dr. Patricia Hunt noticed something disturbing. Hunt and her team were studying the egg quality of mice. Typically, only 1 to 2 percent of the eggs she looked at exhibited any chromosomal abnormalities. But in August of that year, there was a dramatic spike – now, 40 percent of the mouse eggs were displaying chromosomal errors. What caused this sudden change? Well, testing eventually showed that after the plastic cages the mice were kept in and their water bottles had been washed with detergent, they’d begun leaking BPA. Once they’d all been replaced, the mouse egg quality gradually stabilized.What followed was years of careful testing. Hunt and her team found that even low rates of exposure to BPA could significantly disrupt meiosis, causing chromosomal errors. Mice and humans share very similar chromosomal processes – and countless studies since Hunt’s initial discovery have indeed proven that BPA exposure has the potential to significantly disrupt functional meiosis in human eggs.BPA is commonly used in plastics. When packaging containing BPA degrades over time, that BPA can leach out – when we consume food that’s been prepared or stored in plastics leaching BPA, we may ingest it. Recently, consumer pressure has led many plastics manufacturers to declare their products BPA-free. In reality, many manufacturers have merely replaced BPA with the similar and equally harmful chemicals bisphenol S and bisphenol F.Okay – deep breaths. If you’re looking at all the plastic around you and starting to panic, here’s what you need to know: there’s no need to feel paranoid. Taking a few really simple steps will drastically reduce the BPA levels in your bloodstream. Look for plastic items in your kitchen that regularly come into contact with food and drink – things like colanders, storage containers, or your electric kettle. Swap out as many of these plastics as you can for glass or stainless steel replacements. Prioritize replacing your oldest plastics first. Plastic food packaging – the kind you see at the supermarket – isn’t, you’ll be relieved to know, a major source of BPA exposure.And here’s some really good news. Consuming 400 mg of folate from food every day can significantly reduce the impact of elevated BPA levels when it comes to conception. A study of patients undergoing IVF showed that women with elevated levels of BPA were statistically unlikely to fall pregnant. But a subgroup of women within that cohort, who consumed a folate-rich diet, seemed to experience no negative effects from their elevated BPA levels. So, while it’s still advisable to avoid substances containing BPA while trying to conceive and during pregnancy, packing your plate with folate heroes like berries, spinach, kale, avocado, and lentils may also counteract the effects of this toxin.And speaking of packing your plate – in the next section we’ll talk you through the links between egg quality and diet.
Chapter 4: Eat your way to better quality eggs.
A healthy diet can boost fertility. But there’s a little more to it than that. Understanding the science behind egg quality can help you make targeted dietary changes specifically designed to boost your chances of successful conception and a healthy pregnancy.The first thing to understand is how blood sugar levels can influence reproductive health. Lots of food contains glucose. When glucose is released slowly and steadily into the bloodstream that’s not a problem. But sugary or highly processed foods contain glucose that breaks down quickly and floods the bloodstream all at once. As a result, the pancreas produces high levels of insulin, a hormone that directs the body’s cells to store or convert glucose to fat. When that happens too often, cells become less receptive to insulin’s message; the pancreas has to produce even more insulin; and the body’s hormones become dysregulated, creating potential fertility challenges. Specifically, this dysregulation can both impact the frequency of ovulation and impair mitochondrial function within the egg. In fact, a Danish study showed that women with blood sugar levels that, while elevated, still fell within a normal range, were only half as likely to fall pregnant within a six-month period as women with low blood sugar levels.So what can you do? Choose slow-release carbohydrates like quinoa, brown rice, and wholemeal bread, that release glucose into the bloodstream at a measured pace, rather than fast-release carbs like sugary foods or white bread. Slightly reducing your overall intake of carbohydrates while slightly increasing your protein intake could also boost egg quality – but note the word “slightly” – you’re not aiming for drastic dietary overhaul here.To further boost your fertility, opt for a Mediterranean-style diet that celebrates oils, seafood, and antioxidant-rich vegetables. Studies show that women who follow a Mediterranean-style diet have increased success rates with IVF – and that couples who eat a Mediterranean-style diet which includes a hearty helping of omega-rich seafood are more likely to conceive naturally than couples who have a lower seafood intake.Scientists have discovered that deficiencies in folate and B vitamins can cause a buildup of an amino acid known as homocysteine in the body. And elevated homocysteine levels have been linked to chromosomal defects in eggs and a higher risk of miscarriage. A Mediterranean-style diet is a great source of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 – all components that neutralize homocysteine.Put simply, to eat your way to better egg quality, opt for slow-release carbohydrates like quinoa, wild rice, lentils, and legumes. Consume starchy vegetables, which release more glucose into the system, only occasionally – these include sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and carrots. Choose lean protein sources like chicken and fish – especially fatty fish rich in omega 3. Enjoy leafy greens and nonstarchy vegetables as much as you like! If you suffer from an inflammatory or autoimmune condition like endometriosis or thyroid disease, you might benefit from further dietary adjustments. Seek medical advice to build your nutrition plan.That’s all for now – we hope you’re feeling empowered to make the lifestyle changes that will enhance your egg quality, and wish you all the best, wherever you are on your fertility journey.
Final Summary
Egg quality is a key factor in falling pregnant and staying pregnant. And the good news is that simple lifestyle changes really can boost egg quality, no matter your age or fertility diagnosis. Adding targeted supplements, avoiding certain toxins, and eating well can make all the difference to your eggs.
About the Author
Rebecca Fett is a qualified molecular biotechnologist and biochemist. As a biotechnology patent attorney, she gained deep expertise in collating and analyzing medical data. After undergoing IVF, she turned her expertise toward helping others understand the complex science of fertility.