Mitochondria and How Important They Are For Egg Quality
The most common reason that people tell me that their Dr said their IVF cycle didn’t work Is because of poor quality eggs. This is especially so, when the egg producing person is over 35. And so, whether that person is going to go back to another IVF cycle or try to conceive naturally, working on improving the health of the eggs is so important.
One way we can try to improve the quality of the eggs is by focusing on the mitochondria.
Your Mitochondria are nutri-grain shaped structures inside your cells that make energy called ATP. And so they are especially important inside cells that have high energy needs like muscles but also, eggs.
In the context of having good quality eggs, the mitochondria are important not only for good egg quality but also for the integrity of the DNA inside the eggs.
When there isn’t enough ATP (energy) production inside the eggs then it might not mature properly and it might not have the energy it needs to help with the early stages of an embryo developing. Also, if there’s damage to the DNA in the mitochondria then it can mean that there are mutations, think little spelling mistakes, inside the DNA of the egg which can impact the egg quality, fertility potential and your chances of getting pregnant and staying pregnant.
And while there is a very specific approach that I take using my PREGNANT method to try and help you have healthy mitochondria for good egg quality there are lifestyle and supplements that I might commonly look at including for you.
Lifestyle factors that can impact mitochondrial health and egg quality are:
1. Diet: a diet rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals can help mitochondrial function. Food to include are leafy greens, berries, nuts and fish.
2. Exercise: regular physical exercise has been shown to actually help increase the number of mitochondria within cells, ie eggs.
3. Sleep: Getting enough and good quality sleep are both important for healthy mitochondria. Studies that have shown that when people become sleep deprived that it can impair the function of the mitochondria as well as cause damage to the DNA.
4. Stress Management: Long term stress (think anything over 3 weeks- which I think is nearly every single person dealing with fertility struggles that I have ever worked with) can have a negative impact on your mitochondria as well as to increase damage to the eggs. Stress management techniques like breathing, meditation, movement etc can all help to try to offset this.
5. Avoid environmental toxins: exposure to toxins ie pollution, pesticides and even excess heat can damage your mitochondria. Take steps to reduce these such as changing over your cleaning products and choosing organic foods where you can.
Nutrients that might be good to help support mitochondrial health and energy production to try to help with improving egg quality are:
1. Co Enzyme Q10: CoQ10 is an antioxidant that plays a really important role in helping to make the ATP (energy) inside your mitochondria of your eggs. There is good research with this supplement and it’s been found to improve egg quality and fertility potential in women going into IVF.
2. Alpha- Lipoic acid: ALA is another antioxidant that can help protect the mitochondria and improve energy of them too.
3. Vitamin D: There is a lot of information and research about Vitamin D for hormonal health and total health. But it’s also important for your mitochondria too. Research has shown that if you have low vitamin D that it can impact the amount of energy produced inside your muscle cells so it’s easy to assume that this is the same inside your eggs too. So make sure your Vitamin D levels are optimal on your blood work and dose as you required to bring these levels to optimal if they’re not.
4. Omega 3’s: Like Vitamin D there is lots of evidence on how important omega 3’s from supplements and fish are for overall health but research has also shown that even short term treatment with omega 3’s can help to prevent ovarian ageing and be beneficial to help with egg quality.
The take home message that I want you to remember is that your Mitochondria inside of your eggs is important for energy production and for healthy DNA. And this is super important if you’re trying to conceive but especially so when you’re putting your time, energy, love and money into IVF. And that the good news is that there is lots that you can do with your lifestyle, diet and supplementation to try and help with the quality of your eggs.
If you want to learn more about how you can create good quality eggs for your next IVF Cycle then download Egg Quality for IVF Success.
