At any given moment, your body has antioxidants and free radicals present. Essential metabolic processes throughout the body, such as cellular processes, result in byproducts of free radicals. While this is normal, and your body has methods in place to keep these free radicals in check, if the balance between free radicals and antioxidants is lost, cellular damage and resulting disease can ensue. This can happen with overexposure to free radicals in the environment, such as from exposure to radiation, cigarette smoke, and environmental toxins, as well as from too little antioxidants that results from a poor diet.
Because of the important balance between antioxidants and free radicals, they have become commonly discussed topics in relation to disease processes and management, including both male and female infertility.
What are Antioxidants?
An antioxidant is defined as "a substance that inhibits oxidation (dictionary.com)." Oxidation is a chemical reaction that leads to the loss of electrons in a molecule, atom, or ion. When there is a loss of an electron, the electron becomes unstable and reactive, and can lead to the damage the proteins, carbohyrates, lipids, cell membranes, and even DNA. If this imbalance remains unchecked, disease can occur. Oxidative stress has a large role in inflammatory conditions (read more about infertility and inflammation HERE), certain cancers, ischemic conditions (heart attack, stroke, etc.), hypertension (high blood pressure), preeclampsia, and many more.
Antioxidants protect the body and help ward off disease and advanced aging, by scavenging these free radicals, neutralizing unstable electrons, and delaying or inhibiting cellular damage. While the body is able to produce some antioxidants that combat free radicals like ubiquinol and glutathione, most of the antioxidants our bodies need come from food, like Vitamin C and Vitamin E. While research is still needed to determine the specific mechanisms, there is convincing evidence to encourage a diet high in plant-based, antioxidant-rich foods, beverages, and herbs to reduce the risk of various diseases and promote health and well-being.
Antioxidants and Fertility
Infertility, or the inability for a couple to get pregnant after 12 months of unprotected intercourse, affects 10-15% of couples worlwide, and has both male and female factors. It is thought that oxidative stress is one of the contributing factors to infertility, and antioxidants are the antedote. Oxidative stress affects every cell in the body, including egg and sperm cells. Research shows that more than just having a good number of eggs and sperm, it's even more important that they are of good quality. Unfortunately, oxidative stress is one of the surest ways for those cells to become damaged.
Sperm are especially vulnerable to free radicals due to the the process of sperm growth and maturation. Without enough antioxidants in the body to combat these free radicals, the motility (ability of sperm to "swim") is reduced. The good news, though, is that a diet rich in antioxidants, and the addition of inexpensive antioxidant supplements, are an easy way to combat free radicals and improve sperm quality.
In women, oocytes, or egg cells, are also especially vulnerable to free radicals. Like with sperm, though, antioxidants are an effective and affordable way to improve egg quality. Supplementation with antioxidants also shows benefits of improved circulation in the endometrium (where a fertilized egg will be implanted), lowered hyperanrogenism (male hormones - especially important for women with PCOS), decreased insulin resistance (also important for women with PCOS), improved cervical mucus production, and the production of reproductive hormones required for proper ovulation and maintaining a pregnancy.
What Are the Best Antioxidants for Fertility?
The absolute best antioxidant for both egg and sperm health is Coenzyme 10, also known as CoQ10. CoQ10 is an antioxidant that is present in the mitochondria of every cell in the body. It's essential for energy production by the mitochondria, and is a powerhouse antioxidant. CoQ10 supplementation has been show to imporove sperm parameters, and reduce testicular oxydative stress and sperm DNA fragmentation in men, and improve oocyte quality and quantity, increased ovulatian stimulation in women undergoing IVF, and increased fertilization rates.
Other beneficial antioxidants for both men and women include Vitamin C and Vitamin E, however, both of these vitamins are observed to be more beneficial when consumed from food sources rather than supplementation. One of the best ways to increase overall antioxidant consumption is to eat an antioxidant-rich diet like the Mediterranean diet. I wrote an entire post on the Mediterranean diet and its benefits for fertility HERE.
Top 10 Antioxidant Rich Foods
While it's difficult to measure inividual antioxidants in each food, a method known as the FRAP assay is a widespread tool to assess the total antioxidant content of foods. While the total content is important, the FRAP goes one step further by also taking into account how the food is processed, stored, and consumed (cooked vs raw) to give the consumer the best information on how to get the most out of your food. In general, plant-based foods have higher FRAP scores than animal based foods, with berries and herbs having the highest scores.
Based on FRAP scores, some of the top antioxidant-rich foods are:
Berries (especially blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries)
Olives
Cherries
Citrus fruits, like oranges and grapefruit
Plums
Coffee
Green tea
Leafy greens, especially spinach and arugula
Peppers
Mushrooms
Cruciferous vegetables
Beets
Artichokes
Olive oil
These foods are all part of an anti-inflammatory diet, and are rich in a Mediterranean inspired diet. Eating plenty of antioxidant-rich foods, minimizing your exposure to toxins, and taking a supplement like CoQ10 can go a long way in improving egg and sperm health, and increasing the rates of fertilization in couples trying to conceive.
Because nutrition is so important supporting fertility, I've created a FREE 7 Day Mediterranean Meal Plan, complete with recipes and a shopping list, so you can start eating well TODAY without the headache of spending countless time sorting through recipes on Pinterest.
References:
Link, R., (2022). High-Antioxidant Foods, Herbs & Supplements: Why You Need More. Retrieved from: https://draxe.com/nutrition/top-10-high-antioxidant-foods/
Lobo, V., Patil, A., Phatak, A., & Chandra, N. (2010). Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods: Impact on human health. Pharmacognosy reviews, 4(8), 118–126. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-7847.70902
Pellegrini, N., et al., (2003). Total Antioxidant Capacity of Plant Foods, Beverages and Oils Consumed in Italy Assessed by Three Different In Vitro Assays,
The Journal of Nutrition, 133, (9). p. 2812-2819, ISSN 0022-3166.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.9.2812.
Nie, X., Dong, X., Hu, Y., Xu, F., Hu, C., & Shu, C. (2023). Coenzyme Q10 Stimulate Reproductive Vatality. Drug design, development and therapy, 17, 2623–2637. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S386974
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