It may take only a few minutes to cook an egg, but a human egg (an oocyte) takes a lot longer to prepare. Women are born with all of the eggs they will have (about 1-2 million eggs). This number declines (rather rapidly) over-time, with approximately only 25% remaining by puberty.
Oocytes begin maturing about 90 days before fertilisation could occur. Then over a natural cycle, a selection of these eggs will continue maturating further. However, only one of these eggs (or two in the case of fraternal twins) will become the dominant follicle capable of fertilisation. The rest will unfortunately die – further to this, research suggests an additional thousand eggs are lost each month to general cell death. This means only about 300-500 eggs, of the 1-2 million eggs, will mature over a woman’s lifespan.
Why am I telling you this – and how is nutrition involved? It’s important to understand oocytes (unlike sperm) are finite. The eggs a woman is born with are it. So it’s important to look after them. Research has found positive nutrition and lifestyle changes preconception (90 days before conception -during egg maturation-) have shown improved fertility outcomes. This is huge news, and also why it is so important to consider lifestyle and dietary factors when planning for pregnancy.
Preconception Nutrition 101
- Eat foods rich in folate, iron, vitamin D, B12, iodine and choline among other key nutrients for fertility and pregnancy. A dietitian can screen for dietary nutrient gaps and help to correct/optimise your diet.
- Eat the rainbow! Each colour serves a purpose. Antioxidant rich foods can help to reduce oxidative stress, dark leafy greens are rich in folate which is essential in pregnancy.
- Enjoy omega-3 rich foods. Research is consistently associating diets rich in omega-3 foods like oily fish -salmon, trout, sardines-, flaxseeds and walnuts with improved fertility and overall health.
This is only the tip of the fertility iceberg. Send me a message here, or DM me on instagram if you’d like to know more.
As always, this advice is general in nature and it is important to seek personalised professional healthcare advice based on your individual medical history.
Leave a Reply