Saturday, November 28, 2009

protein for egg quality -- how much is needed?

I am gearing up for another IVF stimulation and egg retrieval cycle. I had heard somewhere (although not from my IVF physician or any of my acupuncturists) that a high protein diet can help egg quality. And indeed, ever since the spring when I found out about my candida problem, I have been trying to have fewer carbs and more protein so am thinking that is a good thing.

And not that my cycle is starting, am really thinking that I need to make sure I get enough protein. But I was wondering how much. Started looking around on the web and found this page which says that 60-70 grams of protein is needed as protein intake during IVF. That is a lot! I saw the same 60 gram figure on one of the fertility chat boards. And this fertility diet page says 45-60 grams of protein per day is recommended for boosting fertility on general principles.

So time to make sure I get enough protein. And esp. for us fibroid shrinkers, it's not like we want to go eat a steak. I'm supplementing with pure brown rice protein powder(a lot of the protein powders out there have flavorings or other things in there I don't need). One scoop is 10 grams of protein. I am taking 1-2 scoops a day, in organic almond milk. The spirulina powder I take is also a good high quality protein source.

For further reference a chat board thread on protein and IVF egg quality.

Time to feed those eggies!

No comments: