18th October 2012 | by MFC Team
Ways to maximize your egg quality
Many people believe that the most important factor in a woman’s fertility is the quantity of eggs she has in her ovaries. While the number of eggs can be important, the quality of a woman’s eggs is even more important. Egg quality refers to how prepared a woman’s eggs are to develop into an embryo after being fertilized by a man’s sperm.
The quality of a woman’s eggs can be affected by many things including environmental (e.g., exposure to X-rays), endocrine, and lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking cigarettes), as well as health and genetic conditions. Certain medical procedures (e.g., chemotherapy) can also negatively impact egg quality. Age is also another very important factor affecting egg quality with increased age being related to poorer egg quality. Women with poor quality eggs will have greater difficulty achieving and sustaining a pregnancy.
So what, if anything, can you do to increase your chances of getting pregnant? Well, quitting smoking before trying to have a baby may help improve your egg quality. There is also some research to suggest that a healthy, balanced diet rich in antioxidants and nutrients, and low in calories, may slow the aging process and improve egg quality. Taking certain supplements such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and CoQ10 may also help to improve egg quality. In addition, holistic health practices (e.g., acupuncture, herbal treatments), stress-reduction, good hydration and sleep patterns, and regular exercise may improve women’s overall health and well-being and have indirect positive effects on egg quality.
Read more about holistic approaches to managing your fertility here.
Read more about the relationship between stress and fertility here.