Struggling With Poor Egg Quality? Try This.
Struggling with poor egg quality? It’s difficult to hear that when you’re trying to get pregnant. But you've got hope today and I'm so glad that you are here.
If you're struggling with poor egg quality and have been told you can't get pregnant, it's not your fault.
If a doctor leaves you with that kind of information and doesn’t tell you how to help improve egg quality, you’re getting a disservice.
Unfortunately it happens and many women are getting advice like that which leaves them feeling broken and lost.
The shortfall of egg quality in the fertility world is that many doctors and fertility clinics are not even addressing this important topic. It’s like they are leaving egg quality up to the wind.
But we know that there are research-backed ways to improve egg quality and anyone who is trying to get pregnant should understand what these things are.
Now, let’s be clear that I'm also not here to tell you that absolutely you can get pregnant if you follow these steps to improve your egg quality. As much as I want to, I can't make that promise.
But what I can promise you is that there is a path forward to help improve egg quality which then improves your chances of getting pregnant with PCOS.
What is egg quality?
Egg quality refers to how the eggs develop and mature as they get ready to ovulate. They do this by dividing chromosomes. Once the egg gets to 23 chromosomes then, pop! It's ready to ovulate and go make a baby. If that egg doesn't make 23 chromosomes? Then it either won't release from the ovary, it won't implant, or will have a higher chance of miscarriage.
To learn even more about egg quality, head on over to my ultimate guide for egg quality and PCOS here.
Signs of Poor Egg Quality
The only way to really know if you have poor egg quality or not is to have your eggs removed and evaluated in a lab. But these are a few signs happening in the body that tell you that poor egg quality might be an issue.
Infertility
History of miscarriage
No signs of ovulation
Long or irregular cycles
Hope for Poor Egg Quality
Here's the good news for you. Eggs start developing about a year before they are ready to make a baby. And they require specific nutrients in order to help them get ready for this important job.
In that full year before releasing an egg, you can be supporting your body with specific nutrients that can help improve egg quality.
Sure, maybe the eggs that you are releasing this month have poor egg quality, but that doesn't mean you are doomed to forever have poor quality eggs.
So that's why it's a good thing you are here today. You are going to learn three powerful steps in order to start turning around egg quality.
3 Powerful Steps to Improve Poor Egg Quality
Improve Poor Egg Quality Tip #1: Figure out Your PCOS Type
Figuring out your PCOS type is a powerful and foundational part of improving egg quality. If you don't know the PCOS types and you want to learn more, head over to my article here.
But here's the short story about PCOS types. There are four types. It's important to know which type you are in order to help improve egg quality.
Understanding your PCOS type helps to uncover what is keeping you from having top-quality eggs.
Insulin-resistance is one of the PCOS types.
Do you have some blood sugar issues? Insulin-resistance is one of the top reasons women with PCOS have poor egg quality. That insulin-resistance can lead to delayed growth of the egg and smaller than normal eggs. In one study of 100 women, those who had insulin issues had no success with getting pregnant.
Adrenal PCOS is another of the types
Adrenal PCOS refers to the adrenal glands which control our bodies output of the stress hormone, cortisol. So adrenal PCOS has to do with stress and fertility.
What does stress do? It increases insulin which lowers egg quality. It contributes to lower progesterone levels which lowers egg quality.
So do you see how important it is to get this type of foundation for improving egg quality?
Improve Poor Egg Quality #2: Reduce Toxins
One thing that you can do to help egg quality that you can get started with today is reducing your exposure to toxins. In particular? BPA and phthalates.
Both BPA and phthalates are hormone-disrupters. This basically means that when your body is exposed to these, your body thinks they are an actual hormone. These fake hormones then disrupt your body’s natural hormone patterns.
Both of these also been found to negatively affect egg quality.
There’s some good news and bad news when it comes to BPA and phathalates.
The bad news? There’s a big possibility that you are exposed to these on a daily basis.
The good news? You don’t have to completely reduce your exposure, you just need to bring it down.
When it comes to egg quality, too much BPA in your body can cause:
Eggs that are less likely to fertilize
Fewer eggs retrieved in cycles
Failure of embryos to implant and lead to pregnancy
BPA may also be a cause of early miscarriage. One study found that BPA interferes with progesterone and making the uterine lining less receptive to the implanted egg.
How to lower exposure to BPA?
Lower your use of plastics!
Plastics are one of the most common sources of BPA.
The kitchen is a big culprit of BPA-exposure so consider changing your plastic cups and tupperware to glass.
Focus on reducing plastics that come into contact with hot food like switch to glass in the microwave.
When it comes to phalates and egg quality? Here’s what they affect:
Fewer eggs retrieved in a cycle
Lower chance of pregnancy
An increased chance of miscarriage
Phalates are frequently found in fragrances. Particularly perfumes, nail polish, air fresheners and fabric softeners. So in order to reduce your exposure consider avoiding those products or switching to a natural form.
So to boost that egg quality? Detox your home of harmful plastics and fragrances!
Improving Poor Egg Quality #3: Support Your Mitochondria
Your mitochondria are tiny powerhouses in your cells that provide energy. A mature egg contains the most amount of mitochondria per cell in your entire body. Each egg holds up to around 600,000 mitochondria!
If your mitochondria are struggling with vitamin deficiencies or being exposed to too much oxidative stress over time, that can reduce their ability to produce energy and to help the egg develop into the baby-making machine that it needs to be!
A few vitamins that your mitochondria LOVE are:
CoQ10
B vitamins
Selenium
Vitamin E
Your mitochondria also love oxygen. So even before providing your body with these vitamins, consider getting some exercise and raising your heart rate to help boost oxygen into your cells and your mitochondria.
Let's sum this up!
Having poor egg quality does not mean that you can’t get pregnant. It just means that you need to focus on improving your egg quality for your future cycles.
My top 3 things to start ASAP in order to help overcome poor egg quality are:
Figure out your PCOS type
Reduce toxin exposure - particularly to BPA and phthalates
Give some love to your mitochondria
Some doctors may tell you that you have poor egg quality and good luck getting pregnant. Now you know that this isn’t true. There are actual, research-backed ways to help improve egg quality to improve your chances of getting pregnant with PCOS.
Don't let one doctors dismissive advice about egg quality keep you from getting pregnant.
Get the tools and answers you need to help boost egg quality and improve your chances of getting pregnant with PCOS.
Start by booking a PCOS Fertility Breakthrough Session here.
Ready to learn even more about improving egg quality with PCOS? Great! Head here next:
The Ultimate Guide to Egg Quality and PCOS
Articles used in this post:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9420237/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4568976/