A nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of nutritional supplementation on optimization of reproductive health in women. STUDY DESIGN: A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study was initiated to determine the effects of FertilityBlend (Daily Wellness Co., Sunnyvale, California), a proprietary nutritional supplement containing chasteberry and green tea extracts, L-arginine, vitamins (including folate) and minerals. Changes in progesterone level, basal body temperature, menstrual cycle, pregnancy rate and side effects were monitored. RESULTS: Thirty women aged 24-46 years who had tried unsuccessfully to conceive for 6-36 months completed the study. After 3 months, the supplement group (n = 15) demonstrated a trend toward an increase in mean midluteal phase progesterone level (from 8.2 to 12.8 ng/mL, P = .08) and a significant increase in the average number of days in the cycle with basal temperatures >37 degrees C during the luteal phase (6.8-9.7 days, P = .04). The placebo group (n = 15) did not show any notable changes after treatment in any of the parameters studied. After 5 months, 5 of the 15 women in the supplement group were pregnant (33%), and none of the 15 women in the placebo group were (P <.01). No significant side effects were noted. CONCLUSION: Nutritional supplementation may provide an attractive alternative or complement to conventional fertility therapy.

The enhancement of female sexual function with ArginMax, a nutritional supplement, among women differing in menopausal status.

We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study to determine the role of dietary supplementation on sexual function in women of differing menopausal status. One hundred eight (108) women, age 22-73 years, who reported a lack of sexual desire, enrolled as participants. Of these, 55 received ArginMax for women and 53 received placebo. ArginMax for women contains L-arginine, ginseng, ginkgo, damiana, multivitamins, and minerals. The 108 women, given definitions, self-reported as 59 premenopausal (PRE); 20 perimenopausal (PERI), and 29 postmenopausal (POST). After 4 weeks, PRE women on ArginMax primarily reported significant improvement in level of sexual desire (72%; p = 0.03) and satisfaction with overall sex life (68%; p = 0.007), compared with placebo group, according to the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Kaplan et al., 1999) scales. Frequency of sexual desire (60%; p = 0.05) and frequency of intercourse (56% p = 0.01) also increased among the PRE women. In contrast, among PERI women, primary improvements were reported for frequency of intercourse (86%; p = 0.002), satisfaction with sexual relationship (79%; p = 0.03), and vaginal dryness (64%; p = 0.03) compared with placebo group. POST women primarily showed an increased in level of sexual desire, with 51% showing improvement, compared with only 8% in the placebo group (p = 0.008). Nutritional intervention plays an important role in women's sexual health, but issues and areas of greatest improvement differ among women of different menopausal states. The largest number of attribute improvements were seen in PRE and PERI women, although attribute types vary among these groups. Level of desire was shown to increase significantly in POST women. Since ArginMax for women has been shown to exhibit no estrogen activity, it may be desirable alternative to hormone therapy for sexual concerns.