Popular fertility supplements contain ‘wide range’ of ingredients
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Key takeaways:
- Of 41 best-selling fertility supplements, 31 were female-focused and 10 were male-focused.
- Most fertility supplements for men and women contain common vitamins and minerals.
NEW ORLEANS — Popular fertility supplements contain common vitamins and minerals, with great variation in ingredients and listed dosages, according to a new study presented at the ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.
“Supplements are becoming increasingly common. Around 80% of adults are using some type of supplement,” Nicholas Stansbury, MD, a fourth-year resident in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, said during a presentation. “Specifically, female and male fertility supplements are a multimillion-dollar industry in the United States and multibillion dollar industry globally.”
Stansbury and colleagues analyzed the Amazon April 2023 best-seller list of fertility supplements. Researchers reviewed the top 41 products and collected the ingredient list for each supplement.
Thirty-one fertility supplements were female-focused and 10 were male-focused.
There were 107 different active ingredients in all fertility supplements.
The top five most common ingredients in the female-focused products were:
- myo-inositol;
- folate;
- vitamin C;
- vitamin B6; and
- vitamin B12.
The top five most common ingredients among the male-focused products were:
- vitamin C;
- folate;
- zinc;
- vitamin B3; and
- vitamin B6.
"Most fertility supplements contain a wide range of ingredients. ... Many of the common fertility supplements just contain common vitamins and minerals that you can find in an everyday multivitamin,” Stansbury said. “The listed ingredients not only vary among supplements but [also] the dose. ... Furthermore, supplements are not regulated by the FDA and they have limited quality control checks.”