Supplements — What They Are, What They Aren't, and Where They Fit
A note before you start reading supplement labels
If you've spent any time in the fertility space — and I'm guessing you have — you've probably encountered some version of The Supplement List. You know the one. It circulates on Reddit, in Facebook groups, in blog posts with titles like "What I took before my IVF cycle that finally worked." It's usually long. It's often contradictory. And it almost always assumes that the right combination of capsules is the missing piece between you and your baby.
I want to offer you a different frame before we go any further.
Supplements — the isolated, bottled kind — are the least elegant tool in this toolkit. That's not a reason to dismiss them entirely. Some of them are genuinely useful in specific situations. But they're the last resort of a good strategy, not the first move. And for most of the women who arrive here having already tried CoQ10, DHEA, inositol, and everything else in the It Starts With The Egg appendix, the answer to why it hasn't moved the needle yet is almost never "you need a better supplement protocol."
It's usually that the terrain hasn't been prepared.
Here's the hierarchy we work from inside Fertility Club — and why.
The Fertility Club Supplement Hierarchy
Level One: Food as Medicine
This isn’t a platitude. The nutrients your body uses to build follicles, produce hormones, support egg maturation, grow a uterine lining, and sustain early pregnancy come — in their most bioavailable, most intelligently packaged form — from real food.
The research on this is consistent: dietary patterns matter more for fertility outcomes than any individual supplement. A whole-food diet built around nutrient density, stable blood sugar, anti-inflammatory inputs, and adequate calories is doing more for your egg quality and hormonal environment than a shelf full of capsules.
This is why nutrition guidance — from both Eastern and Western perspectives — runs through every stage of this program. Not as a nice-to-have. As a clinical priority.
The foods that do the heaviest lifting for fertility:
Organ meats, especially liver — one of the most nutrient-dense foods on earth, rich in folate, B12, retinol (the active form of Vitamin A), iron, zinc, and copper in forms the body can actually use
Pasture-raised eggs — choline, retinol, fat-soluble vitamins, complete protein
Wild-caught fatty fish — omega-3s, iodine, selenium, Vitamin D
Bone broth — glycine, minerals, gut lining support
Dark leafy greens (cooked) — folate, iron, magnesium, calcium
Colorful produce — antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber for hormone metabolism
Full-fat dairy (if tolerated/Stage dependent) — fat-soluble vitamins, calcium, saturated fat for hormone production
Fermented foods — live cultures for microbiome support
Shellfish, especially oysters — zinc, copper, iodine in very high concentrations
If your diet already includes these regularly, you're doing more for your fertility than most supplement protocols can offer.
Level Two: Whole-Food Supplements
For the gaps that real food isn't consistently filling — whether because of food sensitivities, dietary restrictions, sourcing limitations, or simply the reality of modern life — whole-food concentrates are the next best thing.
The key distinction from isolated supplements: these are concentrated foods, not extracted compounds. The nutrients come packaged with the cofactors, enzymes, and companion nutrients that make them biologically useful. Your body knows what to do with them.
The three I reach for most often:
Desiccated Liver Capsules Everything beef liver offers — retinol, B12, folate, iron, zinc, copper — in a capsule for people who don't eat liver regularly. This is the closest thing to a genuine fertility superfood in supplement form. I recommend looking for grass-fed, freeze-dried options sourced from New Zealand or Argentina.
On Fullscript: Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Beef Liver
Cod Liver Oil A traditional food supplement that provides fat-soluble vitamins A and D in their natural ratios, along with omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin D deficiency is extraordinarily common in fertility patients and directly impacts follicle development, implantation, and immune regulation.
On Fullscript: Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil Softgels
Oyster Capsules Oysters are the single richest dietary source of zinc, which is essential for egg development, fertilization, progesterone production, and immune function. They also provide copper, selenium, iodine, and B12 in whole-food form. If you're not eating oysters regularly, this fills that gap efficiently.
Level Three: Herbal Formulas
This is where the real system-level work happens in Fertility Club.
Herbs are not supplements in the conventional sense. They're not providing a nutrient your body is missing. They're communicating with your body's regulatory systems — immune function, digestive enzyme production, nervous system tone, circulatory dynamics, hormonal signaling — in ways that isolated nutrients cannot.
The herbal formulas used in Fertility Club are chosen for each stage because they support the specific physiological direction of that stage's work. They're not interchangeable, and they're not meant to be used in isolation from the practices, nutrition, and environmental work happening alongside them.
The Stage-specific herbal guides live inside each Stage document. If you're not sure which stage you're in, that's where to start — before reaching for any herb.
Level Four: Targeted Isolated Supplements
Isolated supplements — CoQ10, NAC, inositol, Vitamin D drops, magnesium glycinate, and the rest — have their place. Some of them are well-supported by research. Some of them will be genuinely useful for your specific situation.
But they work best when the foundational layers are already in place. Supplementing with CoQ10 before you've addressed the inflammatory burden affecting your mitochondria is like painting a wall you haven't primed. The paint goes on. It just doesn't stick the way it should.
The detailed supplement protocols — organized by condition and symptom pattern — live in the paid program section of Fertility Club. That's where the clinical specificity lives, with dosing, timing, and the rationale for why each one is appropriate for which presentation.
FAQ - The Supplements Everyone Asks About
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CoQ10 (as ubiquinol, the more bioavailable reduced form) is one of the most research-supported supplements for egg quality. It supports mitochondrial function in the developing egg — and follicle development is one of the most energetically demanding processes in the body.
The case for it is genuinely strong, particularly for women over 35, women with diminished ovarian reserve, or anyone preparing for an egg retrieval. Typical research dosing is 400–600mg of ubiquinol daily, taken with a fat-containing meal.
The caveat: CoQ10 is most effective when the inflammatory and oxidative burden on the follicular environment is already being managed. Stage One and Two work — reducing immune burden, improving gut health and nutrient absorption — sets the conditions that make CoQ10 actually reach and benefit the developing egg. Taking it without that foundation isn't wasted, but it's not optimal either.
On Fullscript: Pure Encapsulations Ubiquinol CoQ10, Designs for Health Ubiquinol-QH
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DHEA is an adrenal hormone that serves as a precursor to both estrogen and testosterone, and it plays a role in follicle development. Supplementation has shown promise in women with diminished ovarian reserve — specifically in improving response to ovarian stimulation medications.
The important distinctions:
DHEA supplementation is appropriate only when DHEA-S levels are confirmed low on labs (below 100 µg/dL)
It's a hormone precursor, not a vitamin — excess can cause androgenic side effects (acne, oily skin, mood changes)
Standard protocol: start at 10mg 3x/day and increase gradually to 25mg 3x/day only if tolerated and indicated by labs
Always assess with labs before starting; monitor while using
The Stage approach — particularly Stage One and Two — works on the adrenal and inflammatory terrain that contributes to low DHEA in the first place. For many women, supporting adrenal function through the program is more sustainable than supplementing a hormone.
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Myo-inositol (often combined with D-chiro-inositol in a 40:1 ratio) is one of the most well-studied supplements for PCOS-related insulin resistance. It improves insulin signaling, supports ovulation, and can reduce androgen levels over time.
If you have PCOS with confirmed or suspected insulin resistance, inositol is worth serious consideration. The research-supported dose is 4g of myo-inositol daily — typically 2g twice per day, taken with meals.
The Stage context: insulin resistance is a Stage Two pattern at its root — a digestive and metabolic systems issue. Inositol can be a useful support alongside Stage Two work, but the dietary changes (blood sugar stabilization, reducing inflammatory inputs, supporting gut health) are doing the foundational work that inositol is supplementing.
On Fullscript: Pure Encapsulations Myo-Inositol powder (2 scoops 2x/day in water)
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N-Acetyl Cysteine is a precursor to glutathione — the body's master antioxidant — and has genuine relevance for several fertility presentations: endometriosis, PCOS, poor egg quality, and conditions involving elevated oxidative stress.
For endometriosis and conditions with significant inflammatory and oxidative burden, it supports detoxification and reduces systemic inflammation. Research suggests 600mg 3x/day.
Where this fits in the hierarchy: NAC is a targeted isolated supplement most relevant for specific presentations (endo, PCOS, elevated oxidative stress markers). It's not a universal fertility supplement. The Stage framework works on the upstream drivers of the oxidative burden NAC is addressing downstream.
On Fullscript: Thorne NAC, Pure Encapsulations NAC
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Vitex (Chaste Tree Berry) is one of the most commonly recommended herbs for luteal phase support and progesterone-related issues. It works by modulating dopamine receptors in the pituitary, which can reduce elevated prolactin and support progesterone production.
It has a meaningful role in specific presentations — short luteal phase, premenstrual spotting, mildly elevated prolactin, and ovulatory irregularity. Typical dose is 1000mg in the follicular phase only.
Critical caution: Vitex is not appropriate for everyone. If you're already in Stage Three or beyond and your primary pattern involves Liver qi stagnation with heat, Vitex can aggravate rather than support. It's best used within the context of understanding your stage and pattern. Ask in the chat before starting.
On Fullscript: Vitanica Vitex 1000
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A quality prenatal is the one supplement that's appropriate regardless of stage. Look for:
Methylfolate (not folic acid) — the active, bioavailable form of B9 that the significant portion of the population with MTHFR gene variants cannot convert from folic acid
Methylcobalamin (B12 in active form)
Vitamin D3 + K2 together
Iron as bisglycinate (gentle on digestion)
No synthetic colors, fillers, or unnecessary additives
On Fullscript: Thorne Basic Prenatal, Pure Encapsulations Prenatal Nutrients, Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal
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DIM (diindolylmethane) supports healthy estrogen metabolism by promoting conversion of estrone to less potent estrogen metabolites via liver detox pathways. It's relevant for conditions with estrogen excess patterns: fibroids, endometriosis, estrogen-dominant PCOS, polyps.
Typical dose: 200mg daily with food.
Important: DIM is drying in nature. It should not be used alongside hormone therapy (including progesterone supplementation). It's not a good fit if you're both estrogen-dominant and constitutionally dry or depleted. Discontinue if you notice worsening of any dryness symptoms.
On Fullscript: Designs for Health DIM-Evail, Pure Encapsulations DIM
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Follow your clinic's recommendations. Your reproductive endocrinologist has your specific case in front of them and their protocol takes precedence.
Where Fertility Club supports IVF is in the foundational work — the Stage One and Two preparation that improves the systemic terrain your eggs are developing within and your uterine environment is operating in. That work runs parallel to, not in competition with, your clinical protocol.
For supplement questions that your clinic hasn't addressed — microbiome support, antioxidant support, specific nutritional gaps — bring those to the chat.
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Because there isn't one. The supplement that's genuinely useful for a woman with PCOS and insulin resistance is different from what's appropriate for a woman with DOR and thin lining. What supports a Stage Two pattern is different from what supports a Stage Four pattern. What's right for an IVF cycle is different from what's right for natural conception.
The comprehensive, condition-specific supplement protocols are inside the paid program — organized by diagnosis, symptom pattern, and stage. That's where the clinical specificity lives.
What this document is designed to do is give you the frame: the hierarchy, the philosophy, and honest answers to the questions that come up most. So that when you do look at a supplement list, you're reading it with a clearer sense of what's actually doing what — and why.
Questions about your specific situation belong in the Fertility Club Chat. That's where the personalized guidance lives.