Which egg quality and sperm quality supplements are best for you? I’m here to share with you what I often tell my patients. My hope is that regardless of where you live and who your doctor is, that this is helpful information you can apply to your situation.
Let’s start with Egg Health and Improving Egg Quality:
Imagine this, you are born with a set number of eggs (swimmers) that sit and wait in your ovaries (locker room) until every egg is gone. Every month there are lots of eggs that line up to swim a race.
Only one wins, and that’s the egg that ovulates. The eggs that don’t ovulate go away (get out of the pool and never go back to the locker room). What picks the egg that ovulates? A signal — FSH hormone —which is secreted by the brain and talks to our ovaries. It’s just enough for one, or sometimes more than one egg, to ovulate. That’s how you get pregnant with twins.
With fertility treatment, if you’re taking fertility pills, then you may ovulate 1–2 eggs. This is why fertility pill cycles have between an 8–10% chance of twins associated with them.
So if you understand my swimmer analogy, I am a lifeguard at the pool throwing out life vests to try and retrieve as many eggs as possible. We do not harm your fertility by doing this. It does not impact your number of eggs or accelerate your time to menopause.
Age, however, does impact the number of eggs you have available each cycle to ovulate. Ultimately, we run out of eggs to ovulate, and this is called menopause. This is when the locker room is empty and sadly technology hasn’t given women a way to fill their locker room up again once every egg has gone through their race.
Join The Egg Freezing Class with Dr. AimeeWhen we wait longer to have a family our egg viability decreases. The egg has been sitting in the locker room for 40 years and imagine that it doesn’t have the energy it needs to finish the race. For that reason, it’s important to know what we can do to improve egg quality at any age. We want to make sure the swimmers in the locker room are being well taken care of as they are waiting for their turn to race.
I want to make a disclaimer that the names and brands of supplements are ones that I recommend to my patients for enhanced egg and sperm quality. I am NOT being paid to make these recommendations. I don’t get any free products. I am only telling you this because I want to help save you hours of research.
CoQ10
Here are my favorite supplements:Co Q10
The brand I like to use is by Theralogix, and you can order CoQ10 directly from their site by clicking here.
I ask my patients to take between 600–900 grams per day of coq10. This product is the more potent form called ubiquinol. Every egg that I help a patient ovulate, I want to be a good egg. This supplement may help energize the eggs and sperm.
Another important thing to take is a really good prenatal vitamin. A prenatal with vitamin D and fish oil is key for maintaining good egg quality.
This is a prenatal vitamin I recommend as it has 2,000 IU Vitamin D, Folate, and DHA.
All of these things also reduce inflammation and improve things like bone health and by preventing Vitamin D you’re also helping to prevent Alzheimer’s and breast cancer. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to autism in offspring. It’s important for me to check this level and make sure the level is at least over 30, but the ideal level is 50 for my patients.
Acai Berry
A site I like to visit is Vitacost.com.
You can search for any of the supplements and see what form is palatable for you. Find a form that you think you’d like — powder or pill.
Acai powder has been shown an improvement in pregnancy rates for people that took this.
Vitality bowls are sold in California with acai as it’s been shown to be a good anti-aging substance.
The supplements I’ve just described all help with the energy level of your egg and sperm — your mitochondria. We want those eggs and sperm to be like the energizer bunny.
You can have eggs extracted at 25, but if you have eggs extracted at 40 they won’t act the same because the mitochondria are different. They’re not as strong. The supplements may help with the mitochondria.
Melatonin:
Melatonin has been seen to improve egg quality. I recommend starting with 1 mg tablets and take three per night. If you have funky dreams you can decrease the dosage. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that your brain secretes so I don’t worry about it being habit forming. Of course, this is not a recipe that you have to follow, but if it helps you then consider it.
Pterostilbene:
This is a potent antioxidant that I’ve also seen help with egg quality. It’s very easy to take and I’ve never had a patient report any side effects.
NAD Is an anti-aging supplement. It’s made by Truniagen and is a derivative of Vitamin B. This does have some side effects — headaches, chest palpitations, and anxiety. If you start any supplement and feel something different than your normal self then please stop taking it as it’s not worth toughing it out.
TRU Niagen
I’ve seen some tremendous results in patients from taking these supplements. It doesn’t work for everyone, but there might be some benefit. I‘m sharing because they are easy to get online and it may help you!
There are some clinical studies that show that these supplements have helped with anti-aging. I’m 43-years-old. I’ve started taking these supplements and am curious if they impact my start of menopause. I’m checking my FSH and AMH levels over time and am curious if the rate of change (egg loss rate) will be slower by taking these supplements.
Myo Inositol and Inositol:
This is a brand, Ovasitol, that you can get from Theralogix. You can order Ovasitol directly from their site.
I recommend this also for egg quality and for women with metabolic issues such PCOS. Ovasitol can help reduce testosterone levels and improve insulin resistance without taking a prescription drug with side effects like metformin.
For PCOS patients I recommend:
Co Q10, Ovasitol, Prenatal, and the following two supplements.
There are some PCOS supplements out there that have all of these things in them. Coast Science makes one brand that has everything you need in there. See what you can tolerate. Don’t take so much that you’re sick to your tummy.
Focus on healthy fruits and vegetables as food is medicine and more important than the supplements I’m telling you about here.
DHEA for DOR
For patients with Decreased Ovarian Reserve (DOR) you want to do everything to increase the chance of a healthy egg during retrieval. I offer hgh to my patients with DOR to see if it can help with egg quality and count. I also think DHEA can help some women with egg count but I highly recommend talking to your doctor first before taking it.
I used to recommend it all of the time in my practice. But here’s the problem, it can be converted to a high level of testosterone and that can be harmful to eggs. If I’m considering it for a patient I’ll check testosterone levels in the patient before and during the time she’s taking DHEA. Some side effects can be irreversible like deepening of the voice and so it’s important to closely monitor the levels and its impact on your body. If you notice you have acne or hair growth in new places then that can be a sign that testosterone levels are rising and you should stop and get your testosterone level checked.
What guys can take to improve sperm health
I recommend men take these two along with vitamin D, fish oil, and Co Q10. Things like Airborne and Emergen-C may also help! It’s okay to drop an Airborne in your water as vitamin C and zinc could be enough to improve sperm health especially if you don’t want to spend a lot on all of the supplements.
A non-traditional recommendation is to check out Wim Hof, “The Iceman” and his method of deep breathing and meditation. There’s something to say about reducing inflammation in the body and how that can help prevent certain diseases. I’m not sure if it can improve egg and sperm health, but I do know that deep breathing and its ability to reduce inflammation in the body is impressive. I know at the very least it can improve mental health.
I do worry about the emotional impact treatment can have on patients and so I want to equip patients with mindfulness and meditation techniques. As a fertility patient, you want to have your go-to tools for finding peace and relaxation.
Please note that my show is not in place of recommendations from your personal physician, but rather information to discuss with your doctor.
Finally, if there’s one thing I want to leave you with it’s this:
If you are a woman that’s not finished creating your family then please consider taking Co Q10 and a multivitamin.
Catch more of me and topics like this through The Egg Whisperer Show. Episodes are aired on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, IGTV and Apple Podcasts . Sign up to get my newsletter. Tune in to The Egg Whisperer Show on YouTube. and Sign up for The Egg Whisperer School.
cc says
I would like to be a patient I would love to know where you located so I can come and 42 years old have been trying to have a child for like 5 years now I had surgery done so remove fibroid after I had my fibroid would move they said my tubes are block… Would let us retire until I turned to Home remedy… That there was having something for cheap and Mexico but I Scared of travel That Far away…..Me my husband would love to have a child… But we have no luck whatsoever…. I’m Running out of time…. I am now 42.
Anna says
How much Acai should I take daily?
Should men also take it?
Suhir Abdullah says
Hello Dr Aimee,
I’m just curious should we add all of the supplements that you’ve listed?
Thanks in advance
Suhir
sinchu says
how long is it safe to take these supplements
Michelle says
Thank you for this! I’m “geriatric” in the fertility world and a “young woman” in the cancer world. LOL. Trying to freeze some embryos before treatment… I am looking at the NeoQ10 on the Theralogix website. Each capsule contains 125mg. 600-900 grams per day would be cray, do you mean mg? thank you for your videos and info, you’ve been super helpful and I appreciate it.
Beth says
I LOVE this article. I used most of these supplements during my FOUR rounds of IVF egg retrievals. Prepping for a FET in late October and curious which of these I should continue vs. stop leading up to and after the transfer??? Thank you
Mariama says
Thanks doctor this is helpful
Jamie Smith says
If you don’t have PCOS should you still take the Ovasitol?
Jessica says
What is the recommended dosage for NAD? It’s not listed on the article. Thank you.
Ijeoma Chukwudi says
Thanks so much Dr Aimee. I really enjoy your fertility programs. Please I am 39years trying to get pregnant but I could not. I want to do this egg quality but I could not/I don’t know how to get the actual Neoq10 and prenatal you prescribed.
Please can I get help on this. Thanks for your understanding and kind response in anticipation.
SR says
How vital is the amount of time that you need to take these supplements? I just discovered some of your recommendations but I have a cycle coming up next week.
I guess my question is should I even bother taking ones I didn’t know about? Or don’t bother…
41yr. Second cycle. First cycle didn’t produce any normal embryos.
Lynnette says
Do you recommend taking ALL of the above supplements to improve egg quality?
Christina says
For the Coq10, you mention recommending 600-900 grams daily, but the supplement posted is 125 mg. Am I missing something?
Kira says
Can these supplements be continued into a pregnancy or should any of them be stopped?
Camelia says
Hi Dr. Aimee, loving the youtube videos. I’ve learned so much more in the last few days than I did in months, dealing with my fertility clinic. I just want to be sure I get the dosage right. So I’m I correct that for the Theralogix CoQ10, one capsule per day is usually the recommended dosage?
Thank you
Amber says
How many NeoQ10 softgels are recommended to reach 600-900mg/day CoQ10 if the product says it is 125mg CoQ10 per softgel? It says one softgel (125mg) is the equivalent of 750mg CoQ10 from other brands, so I’m confused on how much to take.
Megan Katrib says
Hello,
I have not officially been diagnosed with silent endometriosis but am wondering if I have it due to some dull deep pelvic pain I get with my cycle (not severe). I had 7/9 eggs fertilized during my recent retrieval and am awaiting the results next week and then PGT testing. Would taking myoinositol leading up to my transfer in May be beneficial or could this harm my chances of successful transfer without an official diagnosis? No hx of PCOS and I have very regular cycles and labs have all been normal.
Thanks!
Nicole says
I am under 40, & have taken ALL of these supplements & then some for nearly 3 yrs, I went on an auto immune diet, I worked on stress levels, I cleaned up gut infections , and quite literally NONE of it has helped my DOR. Ivf same results each time. I realize this stuff doesn’t work for everyone, but geez something should have.
Lee says
I’m guessing you’ve also had your MTHFR variants checked? If you haven’t, might be worth looking into. I’m 42 trying for a baby through IVF, so I’m also looking into basically everything. Wishing you luck!
Brie says
I am 38 and trying to conceive. I have not lived the most healthy lifestyle the past few years. I am planning to make some major changes and begin some of these supplements. I have read that an egg can take 3-4 months to mature. Should I wait a few months before trying to conceive to hopefully get the best quality egg? Thanks
anthi says
So, I can take 7 pills of the COQ10 (7×125) 875mg a day? I was taking 250 per day (therologix) I’ve seen a difference in blasts but still all chromosomally abnormal. I would love to increase my dosage.
Can I take DHEA for egg quality? My doctor was hesitant to give it to me because I produce many eggs per cycle I explained to him because I am AMA I would like to try something for quality. I used it for one IVF cycle and I think it helped because I had 2 embryos with partially missing chromosomes. I stopped taking it because they never checked my testosterone levels and I got scared I might of been causing harm.