Antioxidant Foods vs. Supplements For Maximizing Fertility

Antioxidants are just that: they fight (anti) oxidation.

The chemical process of oxidation can be thought of as similar to rusting metal. A molecule loses electrons and creates the infamous free radicals. Oxidation is also the reason why apples, bananas, and avocados go brown when the skin is broken, and they're exposed to air - they're getting oxidized.

Free Radicals and Fertility

Free radicals in the body cause inflammation and can contribute to diseases like cancers, diabetes, and heart disease (to name a few). They also contribute to aging, infertility, and damage to our body at a cellular level.

Free radicals negatively affect our cell’s energy factories, the mitochondria, by impairing their ability to perform important jobs. A couple of these important jobs related to fertility are ovulation and protecting egg quality. Ovulation is an energy-intensive process which heavily leans on the function of the mitochondria. Because of this energy expenditure with ovulation, our egg cells contain more mitochondria than any other cell, and about 1000x more than sperm cells.

Egg quality is also closely linked to the number and function of mitochondria within the egg. Even minor damage to the mitochondria can lead to significant dysfunction and can contribute to chromosomal abnormalities and poor egg quality. Additionally, as women age, there is a decline in both the number of mitochondria in our cells and in the way they function.

So, ensuring adequate antioxidants is essential for fertility!

How Do We Combat Free Radicals And Oxidation?

So, the antidote to oxidation is the antioxidant. Vitamins like vitamins A, C, and E are examples of antioxidants. So are other compounds in foods like carotenoids and phenols. These compounds sacrifice their electrons to stop the oxidation process; this why squirting some lemon juice on your sliced apples, bananas and avocados slows down the browning process.

But don’t think that all oxidation in the body is bad. It’s not. Your body naturally oxidizes compounds all the time when it’s doing healthy things like metabolizing nutrients or exercising.

As with many things in life and health, the key is maintaining a good balance. In this case, as the balance between oxidation and antioxidation.

We can throw off that balance with exposure to too much alcohol, fried foods, high stress, smoking, or environmental pollutants, to name a few. Even over-exercising or too much sun exposure can create too much oxidation.

The best sources of antioxidants to combat this effect are nutritious whole foods, colorful fresh produce like blueberries, purple cabbage, etc. In fact, the more colorful and darker the plant is, the higher levels of antioxidants it usually has. Chemicals that give the plants their deep colors are often the antioxidants themselves. Cool, right?

Antioxidants In Food

Let me list out a bunch of antioxidants important for fertility and the foods they’re found in:

Vitamin A - Found in dark leafy greens (e.g., kale), orange fruits and veggies (e.g., mangoes, carrots & squashes)
Vitamin C - Found in bell peppers, citrus, berries, and leafy greens
Vitamin E - Found in leafy greens, nuts (e.g., walnuts), and seeds (e.g., sunflowers)
Carotenoids (e.g., beta-carotene, lycopene, etc.) - Found in tomatoes, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and salmon
Phenols - Found in green tea, black tea, coffee, cocoa, red wine, and berries

Blueberries are probably one of the most studied antioxidant-rich foods. They contain a range of phytochemical (i.e., plant chemical) compounds and are very high in anthocyanins (the blue-colored compound).

The antioxidant capacity of foods can be measured in a laboratory; this is called the "oxygen radical absorption capacity," or "ORAC." And blueberries have one of the highest ORAC levels.

FUN FACT: Some studies estimate that the highest source of antioxidants in the average American is not from berries, it's from coffee! Unfortunately, that coffee usually comes with a high intake of pesticides since it is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. Can you imagine how much healthier people can be if they added a few more servings of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables to their days?

Antioxidant Foods vs. Supplements For Fertility

The foundation of a healthy fertility diet should include a colorful array of nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich plants. Getting your vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants through your food is the first step in creating a fertile environment inside your body.

But what about supplements?

First, I think it’s important to distinguish synthetic supplements vs. whole food supplements. Synthetic supplements are usually made artificially and are chemically similar, but not identical, to the main nutrient or ingredient you are wanting to take. Synthetic supplements can be difficult for your body to absorb and in some cases have been shown to cause harm. A whole food supplement, on the other hand, gets the supplement wanted from a whole food source and condenses and concentrates the supplement in its whole food form. This way, other vitamins or nutrients needed for absorption are built right in and it’s in the form the body is used to utilizing.

One of the reasons why we think that whole foods supplements work oh-so-much better than synthetic supplements is because of synergy. The concept of synergy means that by taking one component out of healthful food (i.e., the antioxidant), it loses the effect it has when combined with all the other healthy components it came with from nature. This is the difference between eating a whole orange and taking a vitamin C supplement. The orange is going to have more than just vitamin C, and many of those compounds will work together for overall health better than just isolating one and having higher-than-normal doses of it.

The other big issue with fertility antioxidant supplements is that it’s sometimes hard for people to know if they are getting a high-quality product. The fact that we don’t need a prescription to go buy a supplement like CoQ10 is great because we are able to buy these products without needing a doctor’s visit or paying for a prescription. The other side of the coin is that because the supplement industry is largely unregulated, it is sometimes difficult to know if you are getting a quality product - one that is pure, uses a bioavailable form, one that contains the amount and type of product that it says it does, doesn’t contain any harmful fillers, and is tested for heavy metals or harmful byproducts.

So, now that we have that part taken care of, let’s chat about which antioxidant supplements for fertility are recommended.

For women trying to conceive (and especially for those over age 35), I think that adding an antioxidant supplement to your regimen is crucial. Since women over 35 have the double whammy of the accumulation of free radical damage over more time on top of the fact that the mitochondria production and numbers start to decline, paying attention to increasing your antioxidants through food and supplements is key.

In general, I recommend usually one of the following antioxidant supplements: CoQ10, Acai Berry Extract, and Resveratrol.

CoQ10 is one of my favorites to use and has had positive research behind it in the field of fertility. CoQ10 is a mitochondrial nutrient that has been shown to increase mitochondrial energy. A 2014 study of women between the ages of 35-43 undergoing IVF given 600mg of CoQ10 had promising results, with a higher clinical pregnancy rate and decreased rate of chromosomal abnormalities. Another study concluded age-related egg quality and quantity could be reversed with CoQ10. A typical dose for fertility is between 200-600mg of CoQ10 daily. For more on CoQ10 for fertility, see HERE.

Acai Berry Extract is another potent antioxidant. The Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM) did a study on women (median age was 37) who were considered poor responders to IVF. The women were given an Acai Berry Extract supplement for 8-12 weeks before undergoing IVF. The results were that they had an 81% ongoing clinical pregnancy rate (the national average is 37.8% for a 37-year-old) and a 25% increase in the number of eggs retrieved. Although we certainly need more research on this supplement, this study speaks again to the superpower that some of these antioxidants are in protecting egg quality. The standard dosage of Acai Berry Extract for fertility is 400-600mg twice daily.

Lastly, resveratrol is another antioxidant that has been shown to protect the ovaries against age-related damage by free radicals. The research also indicates that resveratrol is able to slow down the aging process in the ovaries and preserve egg quality. These studies were done in mice but still is very promising, especially for protecting the ovaries of women in their 30s and 40s. The standard dosage of resveratrol for fertility is 100mg once daily.

Conclusion

There are antioxidant vitamins (A, C & E) and other antioxidants like carotenoids and polyphenols. They're highest in colorful fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, tea, coffee, and cocoa.

You can’t replace a diet full of nutrient-dense antioxidant-rich whole foods with supplements. However, you can add targeted supplements to an antioxidant-rich diet to create an even more protective environment for your fertility.

Which antioxidant-rich foods and drinks are your favorites? Let me know in the comments below.

Are you a woman trying to get pregnant and looking for more personalized guidance and support into natural ways to increase your fertility? Book a FREE Fertility Audit call with a member of our team here.