The Fertility Support Stack

NAC is an amino acid derivative that acts as an antioxidant and also boosts glutathione levels at a cellular level.

The clearest evidence demonstrating the ability of NAC to improve fertility outcomes comes from clinical trials in Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Supplementation with NAC restores ovulation, improves egg and embryo quality, increases the chance of pregnancy and reduces miscarriage rates. This outcome has been observed in both women attempting to conceive naturally and those attempting to conceive via IVF.

The difference that NAC makes is perhaps the most dramatic in women with PCOS who have been struggling with infertility the longest. In one clinical trial, women with PCOS who had suffered infertility for an average of four years took NAC alongside Clomid for five days. After treatment 21% of women became pregnant and went to full term with healthy children.

NAC improves ovulation and pregnancy rates in PCOS women by thickening endometrial lining, improving ovulatory function, insulin resistance and reducing oxidative damage of oocytes/ embroyo’s.

Beyond women with PCOS, NAC has an outstanding ability to reduce inflammation and homocystine levels which leads to reduced rates of miscarriage when supplementing.  In women with unexplained recurring miscarriage taking 600mg daily saw a 50% increase in successfully carrying full term. Other studies have demonstrated similar results with 50-60% on average successful pregnancy rates.

Women with debilitating Endometriosis may also benefit greatly from NAC supplementation to counter the inflammatory effect of endo on egg quality whilst also reducing the pain and number of cysts associated.

Myo Inositol is a sugar molecule found in a variety of foods and is generally regarded as a member of the B Vitamin family.

Myo-inositol is effective in normalizing ovarian function, restoring ovulation, improving oocyte and embryo quality in women with PCOS or stand alone insulin resistance. Myo Inositol may also reduce one’s risk of developing Gestational Diabetes, just 17% compared to a whopping 54% not taking Myo Inositol.

In 2002 a group of researchers from Hong Kong published the results of the very first study exploring the use of Myo to impact positively the health of egg and embryo quality. The results showed that higher levels of Myo Inositol within each ovarian follicle were associated with more mature eggs of higher quality that fertilised successfully.

The combination of NAC + Myo Inositol regardless of insulin-resistance state, seems to improve menstrual regularity and ovarian function, ovarian age in patients as well as ovulation rate and oocyte/egg quality.

Ideally this stack would be taken for 3 months prior to conception as this is the period of time for an oocyte to reach maturity.

Dose Suggestions: The typical recommended dose for Myo Inositol is 4g a day divided in two doses. A typical recommended dose for NAC is 600mg daily either taken at once or divided in two. For some individuals there can be gastrointestinal side effects noted with both these supplements, if this is experienced, taper up the dose over the course of a few weeks. Both can be stopped upon successful conception however women with PCOS are typically advised to continue throughout pregnancy to avoid developing GD.

https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-021-01073-3

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2014/141020/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4021745/