Mitochondria, Egg Quality & Rainbows
You know how important egg quality is for bringing home your healthy baby. You might even be worried about it.
But what does egg quality even mean?
Time to go back to middle school biology — I promise the flashback will give you a better understanding of how your body works and what you can do to improve its functions.
Mitochondria & Oxidative Stress
The mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell and impact your cellular function.
Mitochondria produce all of the energy to do literally everything your body does everyday. This includes making hormones, allowing them to communicate, using nutrients, immune system function and so much more.
The maturation of an egg, ovulation, fertilization and implantation all require a lot of energy.
So in order to have the biggest impact, we have to look at the whole body rather than isolate the reproductive system. If resources are being shuttled elsewhere egg quality and reproductive function will struggle.
Eggs have 10x MORE mitochondria than any other cell in the body!
That means if you are barely getting enough energy to support your life, there is no way your body is ready to build a new life.
Supporting mitochondria function can slow the aging of ovarian function and support fertility as you continue to become wiser.
So what happens when your mitochondria are struggling?
There is a normal process in metabolism that creates what we know as free radicals.
Free radicals also result from external sources like air pollution, chemical exposure, smoking or any other toxins. If our exposure to free radicals is high they can lead to oxidation which damages egg and sperm health.
This oxidative damage — or oxidative stress — damages the mitochondria, the energy source in our cells. When mitochondria are damaged, they start releasing even more oxidation, causing even more damage.
The large amount of mitochondria in your eggs ( 10x more than any other cell in the body, remember?) means your follicles need a lot of energy and a lot of protection from oxidative stress for egg development and embryo survival.
Limiting the energy supplied to the developing egg increases chromosomal abnormalities (DNA damage) which contribute to longer time to conception or miscarriage.
So, to connect the dots….
Poor egg quality is — in part — the result of increased oxidative stress that leads to increased DNA damage.
Most chromosomal errors occur during the 3-4 months before ovulation. It takes an enormous amount of energy for an egg to process chromosomes and mature.
The mitochondria change significantly in response to nutrients, lifestyle factors and age.
Our ovarian follicles naturally have quite the antioxidant defense system they need, but this system doesn’t always work as it should.
If you have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, PCOS, endometriosis or you’re over 35, your doctor has probably talked to you about egg quality.
But you might not know how to recognize the signs that tell you if your eggs are passing with flying colors or if they could use some help...
How to assess egg quality
Unfortunately there isn’t a simple test to determine egg quality like there is to assess sperm quality.
But there are several factors that can help you evaluate whether you need to focus on improving egg quality or if all the hard work you are doing to improve egg quality is doin’ it’s thang.
Some indications that our eggs could use some more love:
Longer time to conception (>1 year)
Recurring miscarriages
Limited or zero embryos making it to blastocyst stage and/or failed transfers during IVF
Improving egg quality decreases chromosomal abnormalities that lead to DNA damage and make it more challenging for successful conception and for an embryo to continue to divide and develop into a tiny human.
So how do you know whether your egg quality is improving!?
Conception and a healthy pregnancy is the ultimate sign, but here are a few signs we can track along the way:
Regular ovulation
Increased and sustained basal body temperature post ovulation
Regular phases of your cycle (period, follicular, ovulatory, luteal)
Decrease in cycle symptoms (yay balanced hormones!)
Good quality cervical mucus
Embryos making it to blastocyst stage, successful transfer & pregnancy
The cycle signs improving are indicating that ovarian function is improving.
Be patient with your body.
The maturation of a follicle takes 3 to 4 months, so — most likely — you won’t see a significant change in your egg quality before this timeframe.
What can you do to support egg quality
Have you been told that nothing can be done to improve egg quality or ovarian function?!
Those. Are. Lies.
There is a lot you can do to support your antioxidant system in BIG ways in order to improve egg quality!!!
If you’ve been hanging around here a while, you know there is no one-size-fits all diet for fertility and that how your body uses the nutrients also plays a major factor in how the nutrients can (or can’t) support fertility.
To support egg quality you need to investigate what your body needs or where the barriers lie for you. It might be your gut health, your hormonal balance or your toxic exposure.
[If you want to understand better how your body works and what it needs, and need some resources now, check out my digital shop!]
How we fuel our body directly impacts the health of our ovaries, regardless of your starting point!
And the #1 rule when it comes to egg quality is always the same: support those mitochondria!
Looking for an easy way to love on your ovaries and make those mitochondria happy?
Start increasing vibrant colored foods in your diet, especially:
Beets
Citrus
Dark Greens
Seeds
Berries
Fatty Fish
These foods are rich in polyphenols, bioflavonoid, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory fatty acids and micronutrients to support ovarian function.
Research shows that improving mitochondrial function and reducing oxidative stress supports ovarian function and egg quality!!
Here’s the translation in plain English: you can support regular ovulation, balanced hormones, decrease time to conception and increase your chances of a healthy full term pregnancy.
Following a good quality diet will impact the health of your ovaries — big time:
Reducing oxidative stress
Promoting cellular repair
Supporting mitochondrial function
So next time someone tells you you cannot improve your egg quality, give them your brightest smile and keep drinking your berry & beets smoothie!