This is one of my “very proud moment” to see how my patient’s baby grows. These are Jennifer’s twins. 7 years later, they grew beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most asked questions from my fertility patients is “Do you have any recommendations for supplements & vitamins I should take now?” I recommend whole-food-based or pharmaceutical grade supplements, rather than synthetically made low-grade multivitamins sold at the local market include whole foods. If you are unsure if you are taking synthetic vitamins, I can help you! There is so much information about vitamins and supplements, so take a look at the articles below. Eye, hair, nail, mouth, and skin symptoms are among the early warning signs of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I carefully select supplements for my patient’s needs.

Top 5 List     Top 5 Herbal Supplements     Whole Food Based Prenatal Vitamins      Important Vitamins     Supplements

“MUST” list for Fertility in the top 10:

Fertility Supplements

  1. Vitamin D – This is THE #1 vitamin of my choice when it comes to the supplement for infertility. Please get tested at your fertility clinic, ob-gyn or PCP. The chances are your level is sub-optimal for getting pregnant and keep the pregnancy going. The functional optimal range for getting pregnant and being able to keep the pregnancy is 65-75 ng/ml. Boost the level up to 5000 IU per day with the meal (vitamin D is fat-soluble means you need to take it with food) or 10,000 IU if you are around 30 ng/ml during the winter season. Especially if you live in an area like Boston, 6 months out of the year wearing a turtleneck and jacket! Vitamin D is not only needed for keeping a healthy level of the immune system but an extremely important hormone that plays a big role in cell division and the baby’s bone growth. We are deficient in Vitamin D. If you have dark-colored skin, or grew up in India, Africa or the countries close to the equator, you may take 2,000 IU per day takes with K2. Vitamin K2 plays a big role in escorting vitamin D into the cell to be activated. Make sure you are taking vitamin D with K2. This is a great article was written by Joseph Mercola about Vitamin D and infertility: Vitamin D deficiency and Infertility, vitamin D deficiency epidemic. And Medical News Today: Fertility Treatment: Vitamin D may influence the success rate. This article published on 11/17/2017 said, ” A new meta-analysis has concluded that there is a relationship between a woman’s vitamin D status and the success rate of assisted reproduction therapy”.  Your fertility doctor might tell you that your vitamin level is fine even though your level is borderline low as 32 ng/ml. My suggestion to you is do not take a word for it. Only a few doctors in the greater Boston area “finally” started testing vitamin D level at the very first lab test but I have seen many of my patients did not get tested or got tested but they were told, “you are fine.” K1= dark leafy green vegetables you can take more easily than K2, K2= fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, natto, tempeh, kefir. ** Avoid Kombucha – might cause Candida. Here’s another article about Vitamin D and Infertility and this article about vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy. What the Vitamin D Supplement Naysayers Aren’t Telling You? This is a great article to read? Many IVF doctors belong to this group…

  2. Folate – NOT “Folic Acid” (B-9 as the part of the prenatal vitamin)– Folate supports overall growth and development and blood-cell formation, normal growth of the fetus, healthy DNA production, genetic development, and methylation (detoxification) process. Folate supports more than 200 enzymatic reactions in the body and is readily available to be utilized in the body means “Folate” is “ready to be absorbed” into the body vs most well known Folic Acid version of B9 is created by fortified food which is the typical man-made version of folate. It is 100% “chemical”.  Please read these articles: “Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and MTHFR”, “Folate vs. Folic Acid vs. Methylfolate”, “Avoid taking Folic Acid“, “Folate vs Folic Acid”,  “About Folic Acid”, and  “Spina Bifida: What you need to know about this congenital disorder” Dr. Mercola. Please remember that Folate’s synthetic name is Folic Acid and 9/10 of my patients are Folic Acid, not Folate, taking or recommended by their ob-gyn, endocrinologist, or fertility doctor to get a folic acid contained prenatal vitamin at the market or online. I had one patient in the past who miscarried in the second trimester. After all the testing done at the IVF clinic, she was told she had the B9 deficiency but she came in the high dosage prescription of Folic Acid. I gave plenty of evidence-based articles to her to decide which one to believe to keep her pregnancy. She finally understood the two sides of coin – conventional and functional medicine. She delivered a healthy baby this time around.

  3. Probiotics – “But why has my doctor never mentioned this?” you might ask. The reason is they did not learn full nutrition and diet in medical school (some get as few as 7 hours of nutrition during 8 years of medical training) but ND and DC need to study a lot. YouTube Video --> Please take a look at this 5 min. video (cartoon) about Human Microbiome and this e-Book “The infant microbiome from the womb to the first year”. It is very important to work with a practitioner to select the right brand and dosages and rotate the brands and strains based on the situation you are, I will suggest my patients take different strains of probiotics when trying to get pregnant vs 30 weeks into the pregnancy as well as the patient’s health conditions. This is what I am good for! I suggest probiotics for each patient by their needs.

  4. Choline (Phosphatidylcholine) – This is not so familiar vitamin’s name to most of us but it plays a critical role to help to develop your baby’s brain and spinal cord properly. A recent study in the U.S. shows that 90% of us are Choline deficiency. You may consume choline to your diet by eating beef liver, wild-caught salmon, chickpeas, pasture-raised eggs etc…Please read the following articles about the benefits of taking Choline. 300-500 mg per day. You can get from egg yolk 150 mg of choline. You may eat two hard-boiled eggs! Make sure you are buying “Pasture Raised” eggs. Organic, Natural eggs do not mean anything. Cage-Free eggs – do you think chickens go outside once the cage is open? They are not. Buy Pasture-Raised healthy happy eggs! Another $1.50- give you more nutrients you need.

    1. Can mental illness be prevented in the womb? (NPR)
    2. What is Phosphatidyl-Choline? (2 min. Youtube Video)
    3. Adequate choline in pregnancy may have cognitive benefits offspring (Cornell Chronicle)
    4. Pregnant? Get your choline! (U.S. News)
    5. Choline: Critical role during fetal development and dietary requirement (NIH)
    6. Choline in your pregnancy diet (babycenter.com)
    7. Your brain on Choline during pregnancy (whattoexpect.com)

  5. Omega 3 Fish Oil – from “reputable” supplement source will be the game changer pre-during-post pregnancy.  Here are the articles explains why you need to take Omega 3 fatty acid before and during pregnancy. If you do not like to take FISH oil, you may take plant-based Inca Inchi Oil instead. It contains high Omega 3, and some 6 and 9:

    1. Pregnant women are not getting enough Omega-3
    2. Omega-3 Fish Oil and Pregnancy (American Pregnancy Association)
    3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Pregnancy, and Fetal Development
    4. Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation During Pregnancy (NIH)
    5. The importance of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Pre-Conception, Pregnancy & Post Pregnancy Care (Changing Habits)

  6. Vitamin E – Not just Alpha-tocopherol but take Mix-tocopherol for low ovarian reserve 1 capsule per day with the meal.

  7. Vitamin C – Walnut sized adrenal glands sit on the top of your kidney secrete many of the hormones we all need to the all over the body. Adrenal required being up and running with plenty of vitamin C and vitamin B-5 (pantothenic acid). Eat a lot of vitamin C rich foods and take extra C – DaVinci Lab’s Chewable C-300 is sugar-free chewable vitamin C which is the best seller in my clinic!

  8. Vitamin B-12 – Most of my patients are deficient. B-12 is the key vitamin for the methylation of DNA during the pregnancy. Yes, “methylation” (detoxification) again which plays the very important for the central nervous system of the fetus development. The marker number of B-12 “180” is the cut off line. I recommend 1,000 – 5,000 mcg of methylcobalamin form of B-12. Other than Methylcobalamin, there are Adenosylcobalamin and Hydroxocobalamin and Cyanocobalaminmin. Cyanocobalamin is shown to have a much lower level of absorption level. Here are the good article and Youtube videos – Sally Pacholok (the author of “It could be the B12 deficiency?”) and this article “vitamin B12 and Fertility connection“. If you are very low, the prenatal vitamin is not enough to take. You need high-quality B-12 to boost the level. A blood test called Methylmalonate (MMA) is the most accurate B-12 testing. If B-6, Folate, and B-12 are low, your homocysteine (there is the blood test to find out but most of the conventional doctor will not run this test) will goes UP. I usually run this test or test called MicroNutrient test run by Spectracell Laboratory which reveals which nutrients are not getting into the cells. This is intracellular testing not extracellular like most blood test shows.

  9. Co-enzyme Q-10 –Remember the Krebs cycle at the biochemistry class? The chart shows you how we make our energy called ATP in our cell from nutrition – carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Well Co-Enzyme Q-10 is absolutely needed in this process. There is a big difference in the strength between C-EnzymeQ-10 Ubiquinol and Ubiquinone.  You need a stronger concentration form of Ubiquinol.

     highly recommend this form (scroll down to read the infertility section) and here’s why! –> “Ubiquinol-QH” (100mg x2/day). Once you conceive, stop taking this supplement.

  10. Magnesium – 100% guarantee we are all magnesium deficient. Magnesium is responsible for 300 biochemical reactions every single second in every cell of your body. Take one teaspoon full of Magnesium Glycinate from Seeking Health or others before going to bed. The glycinate form of Magnesium is the best form of Magnesium to get absorbed into the intestines and has a slightly sweet taste to it. You sleep well when you have taken at bedtime which helps to make “human growth hormone” while you are sleeping. You need more HGH while trying to get pregnant! If you are having anxiety or insomnia, you may try the new form of Magnesium called Magnesium Taurate which has Taurine in it to work on gallbladder and liver. I bet you sleep well if you take the night before.

  11.  DHEA – Improve egg quality FSH and AMH level
  12. ***If your prenatal supplement contains “iron” and “calcium”, I suggest not to take it because iron and calcium compete for each other to get absorbed into the body. If your prenatal vitamin contains iron, you may take calcium separately with the meal. Take iron from by cooking using one of the heavy-duty castor iron saucepans. Believe it or not, this is the safest and efficient way to boost your iron level.

How to read the labels you are buying prenatal vitamins? Are they all the same? Even though I suggest the already screened prenatal vitamins, some of my patients still take the one inexpensive, sold at the whole foods, or prescribed by the doctors. Think again!!! What’s feeding your eggs, fetus, and baby (babies)?

    • It contains a folate at least 800mcg. Not Folic Acid
    • Make sure your vitamin contains Choline for baby’s brain health and avoid miscarriage in the second trimester around 21 weeks.
    • Omega 3 fish oil should not be included with the prenatal vitamin itself.
    • Vitamin B-12 should be not cyno-cobalamin but contains methyl-cobalamin.
    • Vitamin E should be mix tocopheryl not just dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate.
    • Vitamin B-6 – prefer to be the p-5-p form of vitamin B-6
    • Vitamin D – 2,000 IU – 5,000 IU will be ideal. 400 IU is not enough. Especially in the cold winter in the New England area.
    • Zinc – there are 12 kinds of zinc. Avoid the form of zinc sulfate and zinc oxide.
    • Avoid the first ingredient is “glucose syrup or beet sugar listed.
    • Avoid the prenatal vitamins contain “canola oil” as listed as other ingredients.
    • Avoid the supplement contains titanium dioxide and color additives like red#1, 2, 3, 40, blue #1, Orange #1, yellow #1, green #2 which are the toxic chemicals banned in many Europian countries but still allowed in the U.S. Remember, your doctor is not “very likely” did not get education at the medical school on this matter.

CBS News “Lead in some prenatal vitamins” (article and video – 01/06/2020)

Please do NOT trust this site to pick your prenatal vitamins. Their rating is so wrong!

READ this book -> Brain Health From Birth – Supplement Section

Why do I need the high-grade prenatal vitamins for? If you are lucky enough to get pregnant, you may visit “ultrasound” pictures 8 weeks to 12 weeks. Your baby or babies depends on you to get the high-grade nutrients coming in. Otherwise, where is he/she get the daily nutrients? Think about it!!!

Supplements for Poor Ovarian Reserve and Improve Egg Quality?

  • Co-Q10 Ubiquinol 600 mg with foods, NOT Ubiquinone (take 300 mg x 2 / day)
  • Myo-Inositol (take it with DHEA)
  • DHEA (15 mg smaller dosage)
  • Melatonin (3 mg)
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acid (2 gel capsules per day with food)
  • NAC (1 capsule x 3 / day)
  • L-Argentine (1 capsule x 2 / day with food)
  • Glutathione (1 capsule x 3 / day w/o food)

Top Herbal Supplement list:may

  • Maca – by Femmenessence MacaHarmony for Reproductive Health
  • Acai Berry – for Low Ovarian Reserve
  • Royal Jelly (bee pollen)* – Not all Royal Jelly is the same. The Royal Jelly I recommend.  Royal Jelly Discussion Site (discussion site/ blog)
  • Tribulus – this is the herb for fertility both women and men. I recommend Tribulus from Medi Herbs. Please be careful NOT to take too much!!!
  • Rehmannia – Adrenal booster (Gaia Herb – Adrenal Support is the good product)
  • Licorice – I recommend Adrenal Complex tablet from Medi Herbs
  • Chaste Tree (Vitex ) – Regulate hormonal imbalance. I use the supplement from Medi Herbs (manufactured in Sydney, Australia).
  • Oat Straw Tea – You can order singles herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and make an infusion (decoction) yourself. Pretty powerful !!!
  • Red Clover Tea – The same as above. You can make a decoction and drink it.

Food-Based Prenatal Vitaminchristopher-3-months

(NOT synthetic chemical compound)
 Here’s a list of whole food-based prenatal vitamins I can recommend to my patients:

  • Innate Baby and Me – I have been using this multivitamin in my clinic for over 10 years.  Whole Food-based prenatal vitamin you can take before, during and post the pregnancy. This multivitamin was reformulated in 2017. They added choline which is used for spinal health for the fetus.
  • Seeking Health Prenatal Vitamins – capsules, chewable and protein powder (chocolate and vanilla) formulated by Ben Lynch, N.D.
  • New Chapter Prenatal Vitamins (3 tablets daily) – I have them in my clinic. Better price in these sites –> Vitacost (192 tablets) (96 tablets), Drugstore.com (192 tablets) (96 tablets)
  • Megafood – whole foods based on prenatal vitamins (4 tablets daily).
  • Ben Kim‘s Homocysteine Care– 100 % whole food source of vitamin B12, B6 and Folate(B9) and organic beetroot, parsley, carrots, broccoli, Polysaccharides and Co-enzymes Q10 included.
  • The Synergy Company – whole-food-based prenatal vitamins (4 tablets daily)
  • Next Prenatal – This company seems to make only prenatal vitamin with plant-based DHA (1 soft gel daily) but it contains mostly synthetic ingredients.
  • Grown by Nature – They do not have prenatal vitamin but B complex plus contains Folate Acid and Inositol.

The Essential Vitamins

  • Vitamin A – If your vitamin A is listed as “Beta-Carotene (Vitamin A Precursor)“, this is not vitamin A. It converts poorly in diabetics, people with hypothyroidism, babies, celiac diseases. Anything about Vitamin A – Weston Price Foundation website (this is a very intense article about vitamin A).
  • Vitamin C – if your vitamin C is listed as “(Ascorbic Acid)”, it is synthetically made with corn oil + sulphuric acid. The high amount of ascorbic acid will cause diarrhea and blood in the urine.
  • Vitamin E – Are you taking vitamin E which contains ONLY Alpha-Tocopherol in it? Please read this! Here are foods contains vitamin E. Wheat germ oil (capsule) is the natural source of Vitamin E (200 IU x 1/day) – Please do not take 100% “Alpha-Tocopherol” form of vitamin E –> Read “under Tamie recommends” section

B vitamin –  This is a VERY common deficiency

B12 and Thyroid connection – website supplements

  • Inositol* – (2mg x 2/day)- Inositol is great to supplement for blood sugar control
  • Melatonin* – (3mg at bedtime)
  • Electrolyte – (minerals) supplement – Electrolyte Stamina from TraceMinerals is the best. It comes with tablets (3-AM + 3-PM) or liquids (40 drops per day). Electrolyte Supplement– Endura by Metagenics (powder) * I would not recommend my patients to take zero-calorie sports drink which contains high fructose corn syrup + sucrose 
(artificial sweeteners)* as their electrolyte supplement for sure.
  • Pycnogenol – many benefits for joint pain, retinal health, diabetes, circulatory problems, venous disorder, asthma, cognitive function, tinnitus, skincare, menstrual cramp and more
  • menstrual cramps, menopausal symptoms and more
  • Iron – Easy on your stomach iron supplement (liquid form) – Floradix
  • Fish oil– basics and recommendation -> Weston Price website *** watch labels indicate “fish oils (as Ethyl Esters)
  • Magnesium Taurate – and its article
  • Calcium supplement – Adora – chewable, easy on the stomach (contains cocoa and sugar) *Calcium Carbonates are the hardest calcium to digest* Choose  Calcium Lactate.
  • Cordyceps  – (to improve egg quality, energy, and immune booster)
  • Pycnogenol* – (50 mg :AM and 50 mg :PM) or OPC-3 (50 mg x 2/day or 1-2 tsp of powder /day) Great supplement for endometriosis – links 1– 2 – 3 (infertility) – 4(male fertility) forums and blog
  • L-Arginine* – (for poor ovarian reserve 1000 ng x 2/day); L-Arginine from foods – chickpeas, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, oatmeal
  • Electrolyte (minerals) supplement– From Trace Mineral liquids (start with 10 drops per day and up to 40 drops per day). *Gatorade is owned by Pepsi. It contains a large amount of sugar*
  • Wheatgrass – Blue-Green Algae – (chlorella, spirulina, wheatgrass, barley grass)-check “wheatgrass section” on my website for more details.
  • DHEA† – 25 mg x 3/day. If you have ovarian cysts, do not take DHEA; it will your cyst grow
  • Magnesium Deficiency – this is a VERY common deficiency


* NOTE: Stop taking Royal Jelly, L-Arginine, L-Carnitine, Inositol, Melatonin, Pycnogenol,  and DHEA once you start taking stimulation drugs.

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