How to Improve Egg Quality: Acupuncture & ATP

Fun Fact: All the eggs you will ever ovulate, you had while you were still a fetus in your mother’s womb!  

Though the number of eggs you have is predetermined, their quality has yet to be determined, and is affected by a number of factors, good and bad. This is why Acupuncture, your diet, and lifestyle are so important!  Don’t discount your ability to influence your egg quality just because the eggs you have were there long before you were conscious of them.  SIDE NOTE: This is especially encouraging for women who have been diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve, which is an indication of limited quantity, not necessarily quality, of your eggs.  Even if your number of eggs is limited, there’s no limit to what we can do with their quality!

The maturation of an egg, the 3 months leading up to ovulation, or release, of the egg, is a major time of transformation for that egg.  During this period, the environment in which the egg matures, has a critical impact on the quality of that egg.  

The greatest influenceable determinate of egg quality is it’s ability to produce energy (ATP).  

In the 3 months before ovulation, the egg gets its battery pack (mitochondria).  Eggs depend on adequate energy at specific points during egg maturation to organize the chromosomes properly.  Eggs with inadequate ATP for this process are more likely to develop chromosomal abnormalities.  In turn, eggs with chromosomal abnormalities are less likely to result in a pregnancy and/or are more likely to result in miscarriage.  It is the development and optimal function of mitochndria, the energy producing part of the egg, that we target in our approach to improving egg quality.  

Exposure to toxins, like BPAs, phalates, and other hormone disruptors can interfere with energy production, resulting in diminished egg quality.  On the other hand, creating a nutrient rich environment with diet, supplementation and acupuncture can provide critical energy to the maturation process and consequently improve egg and embryo quality.  

Despite what our partners would like to believe, its not the bedroom, but the 3 months prior to ovulation, where the real magic happens!  

During this time we can have the greatest impact on your egg and potential embryo quality with acupuncture, supplementation, and some diet and lifestyle tweaks.  By supporting the development and function of mitochondria we can help prevent miscarriage, and increase the likelihood of conception and a healthy pregnancy (during which the ATP continue to play a critical role).  

Here’s what you can do: 

Increase your nutrient exposures: 

• Acupuncture increases blood flow to the ovaries, bathing them in nutrient rich blood and enhancing energy for ATP production 

• Supplementation with CoQ10 to increase the production of ATP 

• A diet rich in antioxidants, energy-rich carbohydrates, high quality proteins and fats

• Supplementation with a Prenatal Vitamin that includes: folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin D, zinc, and selenium 

  • We recommend: Garden of Life, Nordic Naturals, and Rainbow Light for supplements

Decrease your toxin exposures: 

• BPAs in plastic products, lining of cans, sales receipts

• Phalates in plastics in toys, footwear, food packaging, and personal care products

• Pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides 

• Heavy metals (i.e. aluminum, arsenic, lead, and mercury) in air pollution, dental fillings, industrial and household products 

This is by no means an exhaustive list and there’s a lot more to be said.  If you want to discuss your particular needs and how we can help, don’t hesitate to reach out at hello@yintuitionwellness.com 

Perifit for Postpartum Recovery and Pelvic Floor Prolapse

We’re all familiar with the “Do your kegels” mantra of every OBGYN at your 6 week postpartum appointment.  But clenching my pelvic floor muscles while sitting at red lights or while nursing gets tired. Using Perifit is a game changer… literally.  With this beautifully designed device, you can play dozens of video games using your pelvic floor muscles! 

You know that feeling when you get a brand new pair of … leggings (I was going to say sneakers, but who am I kidding?) and you want to put them on immediately?  That’s how I felt when my Perifit arrived at my door.  I loved that it is ready to go, right out of the box.  No waiting for it to charge.  The perifit device is a beautiful pink silicone wand and the app and wifi set up is so quick and easy so you’re ready to start your game moments after opening the box.

The concept is so cool that I really wanted it to be all that I’d hoped… and it was and more! 

It is a device that you insert into your vagina, which is connected to an app via wifi.  To play you contract or release your pelvic floor muscles, moving an avatar up or down, collecting points and avoiding hazards. 

The app collects various parameters of your pelvic floor health to track your progress.  The parameters include: 

Force (how powerful the contraction of your PF muscles are, on average)

Stamina (your ability to keep a good contraction level towards the end of the exercise)

Release (how well you can relax your PF muscles)

Accuracy (how successful you are at the game- moving the avatar)

Frequency (the number of trainings in a 2 week period).

I am very competitive and loved trying to best my previous sessions every time.  I ended up doing a lot more pelvic floor work than I would have otherwise because I’d want to play again and again to see if I could do better than my last time. 

What I loved about the games is they were challenging.  I was good at some aspects but definitely saw room for improvement on different parameters.  It also collects information on superficial and deep pelvic floor muscles (did you even know there were two layers to your PF muscles?).  Postpartum, and I suspect long before that, my deep muscles hardly registered.  There is much improvement to be made and I will be using Perifit for awhile. It’s not a tool you’ll outgrow quickly. 

Another feature I I highly valued is the emphasis on relaxation of the PF muscles.  So often we’re told to focus on contraction, with kegels, to strengthen our pelvic floor muscles.  But for many, our pelvic floor muscles are already very taut and need to be trained to relax.  During the games you will be cued to release your PF muscles often and for long stretches during the game.  Critical training IMHO!  

I cannot recommend this product enough, not just because it’s a fun way to support postpartum pelvic floor recovery, but more importantly because it is effective.  Training your PF muscles to both contract and relax effectively helps treat and prevent incontinence, proloapse, and other pelvic floor disorders, and improve intimate wellbeing and orgasm.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

*Perifit sent me a free sample for me to try and review.  But had I known about it before I’d have already purchased one! I absolutely love it!