Female dietary antioxidant intake
from supplements and time to pregnancy in unexplained infertility
About 10
percent of women in the USA between the ages of 15-44 have difficulty conceiving
and or miscarrying, but infertility is not always a woman's problem. Both women
and men can have problems that cause infertility. About one-third of
infertility cases are caused by women's problems. Another one third of
fertility problems are due to the man. The other cases are caused by a mixture
of male and female problems or by unknown problems(1).
It is
therefore important to address both partners and information and possible
treatment of male fertility problem is discussed in my last blog - Male
Fertility may be improved by dietary supplements.
A study (secondary
data analysis of a randomized controlled trial) examined the role of
antioxidant intake from dietary supplements and time to pregnancy(TTP) was
undertaken. This study found that supplements of B-carotene, Vitamin C and
Vitamin E independently and in combination improved time to pregnancy.
The
authors concluded that a shorter time to pregnancy was
observed among women with BMI <25 kg/m2 with increasing vitamin C, women with
BMI ≥25 kg/m2 with increasing β-carotene, women <35 y with increasing
β-carotene and vitamin C, and women ≥35 y with increasing vitamin E. (2)
These
data add to the positive effects of dietary antioxidants in the maintenance of
good health and fertility.
1.
Infertility fact sheet, Office on
Woman’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
2.
Ruder EH1, Hartman TJ et al. Female dietary antioxidant intake and time
to pregnancy among couples treated for unexplained infertility Fertil
Steril. 2013 Dec 16. pii:
S0015-0282(13)03261-5. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.11.008. [Epub ahead of
print]
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