If you’ve decided this isn’t the best time to have a child, you may be considering egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation. You’re in good company, as the number of healthy women freezing eggs increased from 7,193 in 2016 to 12,438 in 20201.
However, although egg freezing is a powerful way to preserve your options, it does not guarantee that you will have a successful pregnancy in the future. Lack of success using frozen eggs is sometimes caused by poor egg quality at the time of retrieval. In the months leading up to your egg-freezing appointment, it’s strongly recommended that you make certain adjustments to your lifestyle to naturally enhance your fertility and increase your chances of eventually having a successful pregnancy.
What Can I Do to Boost My Fertility Before Freezing My Eggs?
You have a window of time — about three months — during which your eggs go through a maturation process before they’re retrieved for freezing. This is your opportunity to take healthful steps to improve your eggs’ quality and health.
Consume A Healthy Diet
Before retrieval, you should eat healthy, balanced meals. Select lean proteins, like fish and poultry, and reduce, or even avoid, red meat. You may even consider consuming a plant-based diet, which provides protein and reduces refined carbohydrates, increasing energy and improving fertility. Or, you could try the Mediterranean diet2, in which you eat:
- More fresh fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains
- Legumes, like beans
- Low-fat dairy products
- Healthy fats, like extra-virgin olive oil
- Avoid sugar and other processed foods
- Replace salt with herbs and spices
You should also reduce your caffeine intake and avoid smoking. As for alcohol, while heavy drinking can have a negative impact on fertility and ovulation, the occasional drink is unlikely to cause any issues in the months leading up to egg freezing3.
Stay Active, Wind Down
Engaging in regular, moderate physical activity, like walking, running, yoga, swimming, or low-intensity bicycling, helps ensure you’re prepared for egg retrieval. Before starting, speak to your general physician. These exercises should take less than an hour, increase your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.
Post-workout, you should relax and reduce stress, perhaps with activities like massage, acupuncture, meditation, or mindfulness, which involves paying attention to the present moment nonjudgmentally. You also need about 8-9 hours of sleep per night, to help your body regulate and repair itself.
Make Supplementation A Routine
You’ll need to take dietary supplements, starting about 2-3 months before your egg-freezing cycle. Look for supplements with specific nutrients, such as:
- Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a naturally produced substance and antioxidant, is essential for energy production that may improve egg health.
- Vitamin C, an antioxidant, is essential for growth and development, cellular function, iron absorption, healing, immunity, and cardiovascular health. It may support female fertility, including hormone levels and egg quality.
- Vitamin D3, a more easily absorbed form, is an essential antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. It’s necessary for bone health, cellular function, immunity, and cardiovascular function. Research suggests it’s closely linked with female fertility, including hormonal changes and egg quality4
- Folate, an essential B vitamin, is considered vital for women’s reproductive health, as it may improve cell metabolism, reduce stress levels, and prevent early pregnancy defects5. Although folate is best known for the crucial role it plays in early pregnancy, some studies indicate that folate can also have a positive impact on fertility overall.
Shop Supplements to Maximize Fertility Before Egg Freezing
Nutrabloom’s Preconception Formula, formulated by fertility experts, is designed to support female fertility, including women who are planning on freezing their eggs. This supplemental blend can also be found in our Couple’s Preconception + PCOS Kit, Couple’s Preconception Kit, PCOS Preconception Kit, and Ovarian Support Kit. You’ll be provided with multiple essential nutrients, all carefully chosen and ethically sourced to support female fertility.
Suggested use: Three (3) capsules per day