Fertility Unaffected by Antioxidants
Fertility and Infertility News
Obie Editorial Team
When pregnancy rates for women taking oral antioxidants were compared to pregnancy rates in women who did not use oral antioxidants, there was no upswing in pregnancy rates in the antioxidant group. It was also noted there could be potential side effects with antioxidant intake that actually reduce female fertility.
Researchers noted 14 studies out of the 28 included in the results showed negative side effects with antioxidant use. Negative side effects included miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, but only when antioxidants were taken in conjunction with other fertility interventions.
Based on the review of the 28 studies, there is no evidence antioxidants improve pregnancy rate or birth rate in women seeking fertility assistance. Moreover, there were some reports of negative side effects, though the quality of the studies and evidence collected was “very low to low.” This caused authors to determine that additional research is needed to determine if there are any potential negative side effects.
Source: Marian G Showell, Julie Brown, Jane Clarke, Roger J Hart. Antioxidants for female subfertility. The Cochrane Library. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007807.pub2.