I’ve been getting that question a lot lately.
When it comes to boosting fertility and egg quality, three things to look at are carbs, protein and sugar.
Studies have shown:
- Reducing the amount of carbs you eat (particularly refined carbs) and increasing protein for two months prior to IVF can increase blastocyst formation in some patients.
- High blood sugar can reduce the number of eggs retrieved and good quality embryos with IVF.
Here’s the deal with carbs.
Refined carbs are foods like white bread, processed foods and white rice. Unrefined carbs are foods like grains, seeds and oats.
Refined carbs cause blood sugar to spike. That sugar spike causes an insulin spike which can disrupt hormones and impact ovulatory infertility and egg quality. But.. when you eat unrefined carbs, there’s not a spike but a steady, slow increase.
You can avoid the potential negative effects of high blood sugar and insulin levels on your egg quality and fertility by maintaining your blood sugar levels by modifying what you eat.
So, to summarize, one step to boosting egg quality through diet is to eat fewer carbs – and no refined carbs, eliminate sugar and eat good quality protein. Obviously, it’s more nuanced than that, and everyone’s situation is different. But that might be good place to start.
Questions? Put them in the comments – I’m here for you.