A nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women: a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of nutritional supplementation on optimization of reproductive health in women.
STUDY DESIGN: A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study was initiated to determine the effects of FertilityBlend (Daily Wellness Co., Sunnyvale, California), a proprietary nutritional supplement containing chasteberry and green tea extracts, L-arginine, vitamins (including folate) and minerals. Changes in progesterone level, basal body temperature, menstrual cycle, pregnancy rate and side effects were monitored.
RESULTS: Thirty women aged 24-46 years who had tried unsuccessfully to conceive for 6-36 months completed the study. After 3 months, the supplement group (n = 15) demonstrated a trend toward an increase in mean midluteal phase progesterone level (from 8.2 to 12.8 ng/mL, P = .08) and a significant increase in the average number of days in the cycle with basal temperatures less than 37 degrees C during the luteal phase (6.8-9.7 days, P = .04).
The placebo group (n = 15) did not show any notable changes after treatment in any of the parameters studied. After 5 months, 5 of the 15 women in the supplement group were pregnant (33%), and none of the 15 women in the placebo group were (P less than .01). No significant side effects were noted.
CONCLUSION: Nutritional supplementation may provide an attractive alternative or complement to conventional fertility therapy.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15134155&dopt=Citation
Category: Fertility, suppliments
0 comments