Infertility is becoming a greater and greater challenge. In vitro fertilization has become a popular way to help infertile couples. But its efficacy at helping couples to have a baby is still low. New research shows that something as safe and simple as a certain fruit juice can help.
Successfully implanting an embryo in the endometrium is a key to a successful pregnancy. Getting enough blood flow to the endometrium is crucial. If that does not occur, or if there is too much oxidative stress, there is increased risk that the embryo will not implant in women undergoing IVF.
Beets are a rich source of nitrates, which increase nitric oxide. Nitric oxide dilates your blood vessels, potentially improving blood flow to the endometrium and the development of the new blood vessels needed for the embryo to implant.
Watermelon is loaded in l-citrulline. Citrulline is an amino acid that is converted into arginine; arginine is converted into nitric oxide; nitric oxide dilates your blood vessels and improves blood flow.
Ginger is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It also prevents platelet aggregation and increases nitric oxide.
Combined, these properties make a juice made from watermelon, beet and ginger a perfect candidate for assisting women undergoing IVF.
To put that hypothesis to the test, researchers gave 436 women who were undergoing IVF either a juice made from fresh watermelon, beet and ginger every day or no juice from the day of embryo implant to the day of pregnancy test.
The results were remarkable. Successful implantation occurred in 20.5% of the control group but in a significantly better 25.2% of the juice group. But that was not the most important finding. The most exciting finding was that, while 22% of the women in the control group became pregnant, a significantly better 41% of the juice group did.
The juice did its work safely, which is so important for pregnant women. There was no difference in rates of miscarriage between the two groups.
This study offers the very exciting hope that “beetroot, watermelon and ginger juice may be considered a promising strategy for improving clinical outcomes” in IVF, which is very good news for a lot of hopeful couples.
JBRA Assist Reprod. 2023 Jul-Sep;27(3):490–495.