A woman's fertility journey is closely connected to the health and quality of her eggs. If they are not fully nourished, it will be much harder to get pregnant. Thankfully, when given enough time to work, many lifestyle and dietary changes can help them be happy and healthy!
Before we get too far into the article, I want to emphasize that you must be kind to yourself if you have egg quality issues or other health problems. Lots of women do. It does not make you less of a person, mean you’re worthless, or that you did anything wrong! Treat yourself kindly, like you would a friend or family member in the same situation. Beating yourself up and being hard on yourself does not help anything!
Lifestyle Changes For Egg Health
First up is stress reduction. Chronic, unmanaged, high levels of stress can greatly reduce the quality of an egg and fertility. Check out our blog on stress reduction to help you get ahold of the stress monster. One of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your stress response is to avoid having coffee before breakfast and have a big, balanced, protein-rich breakfast within an hour of waking up. For example, scrambled eggs and a bowl of fruit. When you have coffee and skip breakfast, your cortisol levels spike, which sets your whole day up for failure.
Next up is sleep. Getting plenty of deep, restful sleep is crucial to having happy eggs. Not enough or poor quality sleep can negatively affect the eggs. Click the button below to download our updated guide to healthy sleep.
Minimizing artificial blue light is a great way to support your reproductive health. Please do your best to avoid it as much as possible. Turn on the blue light filter on your computer and phone. Take frequent breaks from screens. Wear good blue light filter glasses when looking at screens, especially at night after dinner. Unfortunately, most blue light glasses don’t block much blue light, despite what they claim. You want some that block at least 90% of blue light. Reducing your blue light exposure might seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference, not just for the eggs but for overall health.
Getting sunlight daily at the correct times is one of the most important and overlooked ways to balance your hormones. At sunrise and sunset, try to get outside and get at least fifteen minutes of sunlight (even when it’s cloudy, you still benefit greatly). Get the morning sunshine before you look at your phone or a screen. Don’t wear sunglasses while you do it. The improved melatonin production and reset of your sleep cycle will also benefit you greatly. Avoid wearing sunglasses during the day as much as possible. They can disrupt your sleep cycle.
While outside getting your sunshine, go barefoot. Even better, lay down in the grass for a few minutes. Grounding (also known as earthing) can provide major benefits to your health and egg quality. Many companies are selling fancy gadgets for grounding; you don’t need any of that, just you, the sun, and the earth.
The right exercises can significantly support the health of the egg. Strength and resistance training is the way to go. Avoid doing a ton of cardio or over-exercising. Strength and resistance training three times a week for 30-45 minutes is all it takes. Make sure to eat a hefty serving of protein within a half hour of working out.
Sleep plays a significant role in egg health. Check out our blog, From Sleepless Nights to Peaceful Slumber, for lots of great tips to help you get a good night's rest.
Testing For Egg Health
Several tests can provide helpful information about your eggs' and overall health. Talk to your doctor to see if they are right for you.
First up is hormone and hormone precursors, including:
The three types of estrogen
Estrone, estradiol, estriol
Progesterone
Testosterone
Dhea
Pregnenolone
LH (luteinizing hormone)
Prolactin
FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone)
AMH (anti-mullerian hormone)
Thyroid Hormones
We recommend seeing an endocrinologist for more advanced thyroid testing than what is done in a regular doctor's office. Often, people with thyroid problems need additional testing, which is not commonly done.
HSG tube test
Ultrasound to check egg size, ovulation, and for PCOS.
Iron
A standard iron blood test does not give the whole picture. Many women can have normal levels on the basic tests, but the complete picture may show something is off.
Ferritin
Serum Iron
Transferrin and transferrin saturation
TIBC
UIBC
B12
Vitamin D
Many women have underlying autoimmune disorders and are not aware of them, which can reduce the number and quality of eggs. Getting tested for them if you have trouble conceiving is a great idea.
Endometriosis can have a very negative impact on egg quality. Many women have this and are not aware that they have it. Talk to your doctor to get checked for it, especially if you have painful cramps, pain during sex, painful bowel movements, or excessive bleeding during your period. Please don’t ignore any of these symptoms; getting them checked out is important.
If you have symptoms and feel your doctor is not taking them seriously, get a second opinion. Unfortunately, there is a problem in medicine where women's concerns are often brushed off and are not taken seriously. Fight for yourself; don’t just accept an answer if you feel it’s incorrect.
If you want testing done and feel like your doctor is not ordering the tests you feel you need, you can order many tests online, without a prescription, from Lets Get Checked and then take the results to your doctor to discuss them.
PFAS, PFOAS, Forever Chemicals, And Egg Health
Unfortunately, PFAS and PFOAS are everywhere. These forever chemicals can have a significant negative effect on egg quality and fertility while increasing the risk of endometriosis and PCOS. You can do several things to reduce exposure to these, and you can donate plasma to reduce their levels in your body significantly.
Here are some ways to reduce your exposure:
Don’t drink out of plastic bottles.
Don’t microwave food in plastic containers.
I know these steam bags of vegetables are convenient, but they are not your friend. Take them out of the bag, steam them on the stove, or move them to a glass container.
Swap your plastic cutting board out for a wooden one.
Replace non-stick pans with stainless steel ones.
Use a water filter in your house to remove them.
Choose furniture and carpets not labeled stain-resistant, and don’t use stain-resistant treatments on home items.
Household dust can contain them, so vacuum often.
Buy clothing, bedding, and towels from 100% natural fibers like wool and cotton.
Replace laundry detergents, dishwasher detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets with PFAS-free versions. Most people are not aware that many laundry detergents contain PFAS. Check out our free shopping guide for great sources!
Avoid laundry and dishwasher detergent pods, even natural ones. That plastic wrapping is full of PFAS.
Unfortunately, many body and personal care products contain PFAS and other ingredients that negatively impact the endocrine system, egg quality, and fertility. Choose ones that have clean, simple ingredients, like these. Your skin is your largest organ, and much of what you put on it will get absorbed into your body, so make good choices in your personal care products!
It can be expensive to replace everything at once, so as things wear out or you are ready to replace something, it’s the perfect time to choose a PFAS and PFOA-free version.
The Best Foods for Egg Health
What you eat significantly impacts the quality of your eggs, which require a high level of nourishment.
First up is fats. It would be best if you had lots and lots of nourishing fats. These are so essential for egg health. The right fats will make a big difference on your journey to happy and healthy eggs.
Our favorite fats for egg health are:
Grass-fed butter and ghee
Grass-fed tallow made from suet
Regular tallow does not contain the same amount and type of important fatty acids as tallow made from suet.
Pastured Eggs
Wild-caught fatty fish
Choose low-mercury versions.
Avocados
We recommend avoiding avocado oil because most of it is adulterated or oxidized.
Olives
Olive oil is excellent, too, but make sure it is not adulterated. Most olive oil is cut with vegetable and seed oils. Check out our free Shopping Guide for good sources.
Use olive oil for finishing foods or light sauteing. Don’t fry with it.
Avoiding certain fats is essential. Nearly everyone gets far too much omega-three and not enough omega-three. Getting yourself to a proper omega 6:3 ratio is important for healthy eggs. Check out our blog, All About Omega’s Part One, to learn which fats to avoid and how to get to a good omega 6:3 ratio. The most important fats to avoid are vegetable and seed oils.
Next up is protein. You need to get enough protein! While everyone's protein needs differ, we recommend shooting for at least one hundred grams of protein per day. Not all protein is created, though. Higher-quality proteins provide more benefits. Our favorite proteins for egg health are:
Grass-fed red meat
Bison, beef, buffalo, lamb, mutton, elk, and venison
Red meat is rich in bioavailable zinc, which is important for fertility and egg health.
Wild caught seafood
Herring is an excellent choice because it is rich in selenium, an essential nutrient for egg health.
Eggs
Eggs are rich in vitamin E and b6, essential nutrients for egg health.
Grass-fed, full-fat dairy products
Choose unsweetened versions and add fruit or a bit of honey, as pre-sweetened versions generally have a lot of added sugar.
Dairy is also rich inositol and iodine, essential nutrients for egg quality.
Lacto-fermented dairy products, like kefir and yogurt, are excellent choices and are rich in beneficial probiotics and postbiotics.
Chicken and turkey can be good proteins, but they are usually very high in omega-6, and truly pastured poultry can be very expensive.
A great way to eat poultry is to choose skinless chicken and cook it in tallow or butter. This will reduce the omega-six content while still giving you lots of good fat.
Ostrich and Emu
These are great protein choices and much more nutrient-dense options than chicken and turkey. They are also much lower in omega-6 than chicken and turkey.
Bone Broth
Rich in bioavailable collagen and amino acids
For those who are vegan, tempeh is an excellent protein source.
Next up is carbohydrates. You need carbs! Carbs are important for many reasons, and you need to have some. Here are some of our favorite nutrient-dense carb sources for egg health:
Fruit
All fruit are friends!
Citrus fruits are rich in inositol and vitamin C, important nutrients for egg quality.
Avoid grapefruit if you take prescription medications.
Squashes
Squashes are rich in inositol, an important nutrient for egg quality.
Root Vegetables
This is not to say that other vegetables are bad, but leafy greens don’t really have many carbs, so we don’t count them as a carb source.
Sweet potatoes and yams
Plantains
Lacto-fermented vegetables
These are also rich in beneficial probiotics and postbiotics.
One of the easiest ways to support your eggs is to swap out as many ultra-processed foods as possible for nutrient-dense whole foods! Any change you make in that direction is fantastic!
Egg Health Supplements
The right supplements can help support egg health. However, as with all supplements, it is important to take them daily and consistently, at the full dosage, to get the results you want. Skipping lots of days or taking too low of a dose will not get you to your health goals, and as always, talk to your doctor before starting any supplements.
The first is a comprehensive prenatal supplement, Ovaterras's Advanced Prenatal. Unfortunately, most prenatal vitamins are missing or very low in essential nutrients, like choline. Check out our blog, How To Choose A Prenatal Vitamin, to learn what to look for in a prenatal supplement and what’s missing from most of them. Ideally, you should start a prenatal vitamin at least three months before you plan on getting pregnant.
Second is a whole-food omega-three supplement. Omega-three fatty acids are essential for healthy eggs and pregnancy. Unfortunately, most omega-three supplements are heavily processed and refined, stripping them of beneficial cofactors and vitamins while changing the structure of the fatty acids. Unrefined fish oil is rich in preformed vitamin A, an essential nutrient for healthy eggs, but not in refined fish oil. Check out our blog, All About Omega’s Part Two, to learn more about it.
Magnesium is very important for healthy egg quality, but most women don’t get enough of it. A whole-food magnesium supplement is a great way to ensure you are getting enough. Check out our blog, All About Magnesium, to learn about foods rich in magnesium and the different types of magnesium supplements.
Next up is Maca. The right forms and types of properly made maca powders, taken at the full dosages and times, can help support healthy eggs. The key is taking it daily and consistently as the effects build over time.
Another helpful egg health supplement is NXGEN Wholefoods Female Optimise. Think of it as a whole-food multivitamin for your ovarian health. It contains nutrient-dense organ meats that most people don't get in their diet. It is great if you are feeling tired or drained.
For more information on prenatal, pregnancy, and postpartum health, check out our Pregnancy Center.
Support For Egg Health
We know this is a lot of information, so if you have questions, don’t know where to start, or need support, we are always available to help. Drop us an email anytime at info@rooted-nutrition.com, or book a free call, and we will be happy to help you on your health journey!