Fertility Supplements: A New Era in Fertility Support
In every field of medicine, nutritional supplementation has come to play a central role in our daily health regimen. Now more than ever, nutritional supplements have taken center stage in the field of infertility therapy and fertility health. Validated by science, new fertility supplements are leading to dramatic increases in conception rates and providing a healthful alternative (or complement) to conventional infertility treatments.
Infertility affects more couples than you think. Over 15% of couples in the U.S. report difficulties in conceiving. In a third of these cases, it is the man that faces fertility issues; in about another third, it is the woman; in another third, it is both the male and female who require fertility solutions. With tens of thousands of couples seeking help in their trying-to-conceive efforts, there’s no better time for these herbal-nutritional innovations. Fertility supplements like FertilAid address these nutritional deficiencies and provide fertility support in uniquely designed Men’s and Women’s formulas.
Science-Based Fertility Support (in a bottle)
Recent studies have confirmed the fertility enhancing potential of several nutritional and herbal ingredients. Herbs like vitex agnus castus (often called vitex or chasteberry) and the amino acid l-carnitine have been shown to optimize the reproductive health of women and men respectively.
Hormonal Balance is important for regular ovulation in women who are trying to conceive. This allows for the healthy development of reproductive tissues in the uterus so that the egg can implant. It also permits the maturation of the ovarian follicle. For men, sperm quality, healthy sperm formation and sperm motility are vital to reproductive wellbeing.
Combining the best of traditional medicine and herbal science, fertility supplements like FertilAid combine key vitamins and minerals with herbal formulations that promote fertility and reproductive wellbeing. With a safe history of usage, clinical data reveals that these nutritional ingredients are effective and successful in increasing the likelihood of conception.
How Do Fertility Supplements Work?
Fertility Supplements for Women
Numerous studies have revealed that vitex (chasteberry) has displayed enormous facility in relieving symptoms or addressing deficiencies associated with hormonal imbalances. Vitex is a key ingredient in FertilAid for Women and may help women who do not have regular or normal menstrual cycles. Vitex may also be helpful for women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). Vitex has been demonstrated to enhance fertility in clinical studies - and women with fertility disorders benefited from vitex, with more pregnancies than in the placebo groups.
Because vitex agnus cactus affects key hormones that regulate and balance the menstrual cycle, vitex can help balance the ratios and levels of hormones required for normal menstrual function, ovulation and fertility. More specifically, vitex can be used by women with ovulatory dysfunction and by women with shorter luteal phases. Vitex may also be used after discontinuing use of birth control pills to restore normal ovulation.
Complete pre-conception vitamin support has also been shown to help enhance fertility. Vitamins C and E are important cleansing antioxidants that play a vital role in repairing damage caused by the environment, aging and in preventing cellular damage due to oxidizing free radicals. Vitamin E is an important antioxidant central to overall reproductive health and wellbeing. In a preliminary human trial, couples with fertility difficulties that were given vitamin E showed a significant increase in fertility. Other studies indicate that pre-conception vitamin supplementation can increase fertility. Folic acid supplementation is also essential to help prevent birth defects.
Vitex - in concert with other the herbal-nutritional ingredients in FertilAid - may promote the restoration and balance of hormones that play a pivotal role in menstrual health and regular ovulation, supporting a woman’s reproductive organs and the development of reproductive tissues.
Fertility Supplements for Men
For men, reproductive wellbeing is supported by the amino acid l-carnitine and a potent array of antioxidants. L-carnitine plays a key role in the process of sperm formation, maturation and sperm quality. L-carnitine is central to the development and maturation of sperm in the testes, in the development of the sperm membrane and in the metabolic processes that follow ejaculation.
Healthy sperm are defined not just by count, but also by sperm motility and by healthy morphology (sperm size and shape and the integrity of the sperm membrane). Sperm motility is determined by the percentage of sperm that are moving and qualified by the sperm’s capacity to “swim” in a sustained, forward direction. Healthy sperm motility is the critical attribute that allows sperm to sustain vitality and propel themselves through the uterus to the fallopian tube to penetrate the surface of the ovum and fertilize the egg.
L-carnitine plays a crucial role in sperm development and maturation in the male. Once the sperm is ejaculated, the sperm requires metabolic efficiency to process fat and sugars into energy. Sperm motility refers in part to efficient sperm metabolism (the processing of fuel to energy).
Revision date: June 22, 2011
Last revised: by Sebastian Scheller, MD, ScD