Greens Formula: our newest ENDO-OPTIMIZE supplement brings many benefits to your fertility through its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties.

Posted By Braverman IVF & Reproductive Immunology || 12-Feb-2018

The latest addition in our dietary supplements range “Greens Formula” contains three of the most powerful natural anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents: Spirulina, chlorella and wheat grass, all in one-single tablet! Our newest formulation contains NO GLUTEN as wheat grass is not produced from the kernel!

Spirulina is a microscopic filamentous cyanobacterium (blue–green alga) that has a long history of use as food. Containing amounts of lipids, proteins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, vitamins, minerals, and unique pigments namely phycocyanin, its constituents exhibit anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities as well as very high nutritional values with a protein content as high as 70% per dry weight (1-2).

Spirulina was shown to be nontoxic, bioavailable, and provides protection to multiple organs against many toxic drugs or chemicals. (3).

b- Wheat Grass

Wheatgrass is the young grass of the common wheat plant Triticum aestivum. Its components include chlorophyll (the primary nutrient), flavonoids, a large variety of vitamins including vitamins C and E and many amino acids. Animal studies have shown its benefits in fighting oxidative stress, inflammation, diabetes and obesity. Clinical trials have also shown its benefits in cancer treatment attenuating the side effects related to chemotherapy.

c- Chlorella

Chlorella is a green unicellular microalga that contains a diversity of nutrients including proteins, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and minerals. Clinical trials have suggested that supplementation with chlorella can ameliorate hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia and protect against oxidative stress and cancer.


2- Green Formula: a precious asset to improve fertility

a- Hypoglycemic and Hypolipidemic agent

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic syndrome in which pancreatic β-cells fail to produce insulin resulting in hyperglycemia that affects many organs and contributes to several complications.

During pregnancy, diabetes can cause reproductive abnormalities (disrupting the menstrual cycle), pregnancy losses, congenital anomalies, alterations of fetal growth and neonatal mortality (4).

Several studies have confirmed that the likelihood of developing diabetes is higher among offspring of diabetic mothers (5).

In animal studies where diabetes has been chemically induced (by a cytotoxic drug destructing the pancreatic cells), a strong disruption of the reproductive system has been noted.

Hyperglycemic mice have a significant increase in duration of their estrous cycle (equivalent to woman menstrual cycle) when compared with control (6). This is accompanied with a:

- 15% increase in gestation length
- 69% reduction in litter count (lower number of pups)
- 88% reduction in survival of litter (increased miscarriage rate)

When spirulina is administrated at the time of diabetes induction, a recovery in all parameters was observed and resulted in:

- an increased fertility rates
- a significant drop in embryo losses
- a significant increase in pup’s survival rate

Thus, spirulina was found to be effective in improving the reproductive performance and minimizing the diabetes-induced teratogenic effects.

Spirulina’s effect on diabetes are mediated through its hypolipidemic activity as shown in animal and human clinical studies (7-10), lowering serum total cholesterol, LDL and VLDL fractions as well as triacylglycerol levels while increasing HDL cholesterol levels.

In a rat model with diabetes (11), wheat grass, another ingredient of our Green Formula was shown to restore levels of plasma glucose and insulin.

In addition, in hypercholesterolemic rats, wheat grass reduced, in a dose-dependent manner, levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and VLDL (12).

In diabetic patients, clinical trial showed a substantial decrease in glucose and HbA1c levels in people who ingested wheat grass over six months as compare to the control group (13). Similarly, to animal studies, in obese patients, levels of triglycerides and LDL decreased among those assigned to ingest wheat grass over a six-month period whereas no changes were observed in a control group (13).

Clinical trial have also suggested similar results in patients consuming chlorella where amelioration of hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia have been noticed (14).

b- Powerful scavenger of free radicals

Many in vitro studies have demonstrated the antioxidant activity of Spirulina extract that inactivates free superoxide radicals generated during an oxidative burst (15).

Further, a clinical trial with type 2 diabetes patients revealed that Spirulina ingestion at a dose of 8g daily for 12 weeks significantly reduced oxidative marker malondialdehyde MAD levels (16).

Oxidative stress largely contributes to the deterioration of oocyte quality.

It occurs through the accumulation of damage by free radicals that are generated during normal metabolism, and it is considered one of the major mechanisms underlying aging (17) and impacting oocyte quality and quantity (18)

Interestingly, a recent study showed that one of the spirulina’s compound, the phycocyanin, prevents low fertility by inhibiting the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in aged mice (17).

In this study, mice were injected with a chemical substance (D-gal) promoting oxidative stress by increasing the synthesis of ROS, especially superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide (group 1).

A subset of mice then received phycocyanin after the oxidative stress induction (group 2).

In the group 1 (oxidative stress with no phycocyanin administration), many fertility disturbances were noted as compare to healthy control mice (non- injected mice)

- oocyte morphology was abnormal - abnormal distribution of mitochondria in the oocyte (aggregates that interfere with the oocyte maturation process)
- significant increase in aneuploid oocyte rate
- abnormal spindle chromosome complex leading to oocyte maturation failure and aneuploidy
- antioxidant enzymes levels dropped (SOD)
In the group 2 treated with phycocyanin, many parameters were restored. Phycocyanin could rescue oocyte morphology and its developmental competence as well as mitochondria distribution which translates in:
- lower rate of abnormal (fragmented) oocytes
- lower rate of aneuploid oocyte due to the prevention of the spindle chromosome complex malformation

Moreover, Phycocyanin could: - reverse the expression of antioxidant genes (increasing SOD activity and decreasing MDA, a marker of oxidative stress)
- inhibit ROS production, which decreases apoptosis of the growing follicles
increase in the litter size after

In a randomized controlled study of 30 healthy young adults, supplementation with wheatgrass powder for 30 days resulted in Phycocyanin could rescue oocyte morphology and its developmental competence as well as mitochondria distribution improvement in markers of oxidative status, including decreased blood malondialdehyde (MAD) and increased vitamin C (19).

In Vitro studies in a pancreatic cell line (20), where oxidative stress was chemically induced by adding hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), showed that Chlorella:

- prevented mitochondria disruption
- maintained cellular ATP levels after the induced toxicity.
- normalized intracellular levels of ROS like those of the controls (untreated cells).
- Prevented cell apoptosis

Spirulina through its antioxidant compound phycocyanin as well as chlorella and wheat grass can significantly improve the deleterious effects that age and oxidative stress have on female fertility by improving oocyte quality and mitochondrial function (21) thus enabling oocyte maturation.

c- Anti-inflammatory potential

Phycocyanin (spirulina compound) inhibits proinflammatory cytokine synthesis such as TNFα (22). Similarly, to wheat grass (23), it suppresses cyclooxygeanase-2 (COX-2) expression (24) and decreases prostaglandin E production (25-26).

In addition, phycocyanin has been reported to inhibit the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) a master player of inflammation (27).

Another spirulina component, β-carotene could also suppress inflammation by inhibiting the transcription of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-12 in vitro (28). A decrease level in the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α has been reported in fatty liver disease patient supplemented with chlorella (29).

More interestingly, the exposure of human mononuclear cells to phycocyanin in vitro could promote the generation of Treg cells whose role in generating immune tolerance towards the embryo/fetus is crucial (30).

Wheat grass oral administration to mice with induced systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) resulted in decreased autoantibody production (31).

Our Greens formula is now available for purchase online, don’t wait to start improving naturally your egg quality!