Infertility can be a symptom of many aspects of your overall physical and mental health. It may be just one thing, or multiple things combined. What ever methods you are trying to conceive, whether naturally or using any assisted methods; the end result is that a foetus needs a healthy foundation, being the egg and sperm cells and a healthy womb within which to grow and develop.
First Step to Natural Fertility
The first step in any fertility program is to ensure good health in the 4 months prior to conception. This 4 month period is vitally important, as it is during this phase that whatever you ingest is becoming part of the cells that will in turn create the eggs or sperm for fertilisation and your red blood cells, which circulates to your womb.
Substances to Avoid
Avoiding or limiting certain foods, cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine and toxic exposure such as many beauty products, household cleaners and electro-magnetic fields will all assist in providing healthier cells. Substances such as alcohol and caffeine decrease your body’s ability to absorb key nutrients such as zinc.
Zinc is the most important nutrient for fertility; the key roles are in cell replication, egg & sperm health, immunity and assisting the liver to clear out toxic waste. Most people take zinc as a supplement, along with the rest of their pregnancy care vitamins and minerals yet in reality, very little of these nutrients are actually absorbed by the body, due to digestive disorders.
Do you suffer from any of the following?
- Constipation (less than 1 per day is classed as constipated.)
- Diarrhoea
- Bloating
- Wind
- IBS
- Crohn’s Disease
- Celiac Disease
If you answered yes to any of these complaints, you have a weakened digestive system which means that it is likely that you are not absorbing as much of your food and supplement as you need. Therefore, it is a good idea to start by optimising your digestive health, so that not only will you be able to absorb the nutrients, but your future baby will gain optimum nutrients as they grow inside you!
Problems with Conceiving
If you are having trouble conceiving or have experienced miscarriages, there may be an underlying health problem which is causing this to occur. New research shows that 40% of unexplained infertility and 80% of unexplained miscarriages are due to an immune problem. As 80% of your immune cells live within your digestive tract, this is another reason to restore digestive health.
Boost Fertility
If you are trying for a baby, you will want to give yourself the best possible chance for success.
Making some simple lifestyle changes may increase your chance of conception and help to ensure a healthy pregnancy. However, there are some factors, such as age, ovulation problems, sperm disorders and damaged fallopian tubes, that you can’t change, and for these you may need to seek advice from your doctor or fertility clinic.
Changes you can make
Eat well: if you’re a woman, a balanced nutritious diet will help improve your general health and wellbeing, ensuring that your body is able to nourish a developing baby. If you’re a man, eating well is also important for healthy sperm production.
Watch your weight: being overweight or very underweight can disrupt your periods and affect conception. A woman with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 29 or less than 19 may find it more difficult to conceive.
To work out your BMI, divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared (your height in metres multiplied by itself) or use an BMI calculator. Fertility treatment may not be possible for very overweight or obese women.
Stop smoking: smoking has been linked to infertility and early menopause in women, and sperm problems in men. It also reduces the success of fertility treatments.
Drink wisely: the government advises women trying to conceive to avoid alcohol completely. Men shouldn’t drink more than three or four units per day, and should totally avoid binge drinking to prevent damage to sperm.
Be active: regular moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes a day will help to keep you fit for conception and help control your weight. Exercise also reduces stress and boosts levels of endorphins, the body’s own feel good hormones.
Keep cool: for optimum sperm production, the testicles need to be a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of the body. Avoid tight underwear and jeans, and excessively hot baths or saunas.
Manage stress: stress doesn’t cause infertility, but excessive anxiety can sometimes upset the menstrual cycle. Try to reduce levels of stress and give yourself time to relax.
Think about your job: occupations involving sitting for long periods of time, such as long distance lorry driving, may affect sperm quality. Exposure to environmental chemicals such as paints or pesticides is also thought to be associated with poor sperm counts. If this is an issue consider talking to your supervisor.
Detox & Fertility
What is a Detox?
A detox clears the body of toxins, enhances the digestive system to work more efficiently, assists the body to return to homeostasis (balance) and basically “wipes the slate clean” A detox should enable the liver to convert fat soluble toxins into water soluble so that the body can eliminate them via urine, faeces or sweat.
If toxins are left within the body in a “fat soluble” state, then they end up in your fatty parts; so those extra pounds you put on over Christmas will be storing more toxins, high levels of Toxicity leads to infertility or miscarriages!
Your digestive system needs to be enhanced to enable the body to effectively eliminate toxins and parasites. This is not a case of purely taking laxatives. Repairing the digestive tract will also mean better absorption of nutrients, which is one of the reasons this approach to detoxing is vital to Fertility.
Who needs a Detox?
Do you suffer with any of the following?
- Infertility
- Painful periods
- PMT
- Endometriosis
- PCOS
- Digestive complaints including IBS, constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, indigestion/reflux, excess wind, nausea
- Headaches/migraines
- Fatigue
- Energy dips
- Lethargy
- Skin complaints including acne, eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, dark circles under the eyes
- Allergies &
- Food Intolerances
- Poor immunity
- …the list goes on…
Most health conditions can be linked back to high levels of toxicity and inefficient digestion. A detox may start to clear many of the above conditions, giving your body the chance to be more fertile!
Do we really need to Detox?
The short answer is YES! Daily we are exposed to chemicals and toxins, from our foods to our beauty and household products, pollutants in the air to medications; we cannot escape them. It is true that our liver regenerates and is always trying to detox – however, it can only do this for a certain period of time before it becomes impaired and is less efficient. This is when a clinical approach to detoxing is needed. If you have any of the above symptoms, you will benefit greatly from a detox.
Avoid
Any commercial packages i.e “7 day detox in a box” sold in high street health food stores or chemists; these mainly contain laxatives, and so indeed, you will have a thorough clear out and will feel lighter – but you haven’t actually detoxed as described above.
A Natural Fertility Detox is intended to:
- REMOVE – RENEW – RELEASE
- Removing the parasites & toxins with liver support
- Renewing the digestive tract and liver support & repopulate with healthy bacteria
- Releasing the toxins effectively by supporting the liver, kidneys and digestive tract
A natural fertility detox can consist of juicing fruits and vegetables, Herbal remedies and Nutritional supplements. The detox will cleanse the body of unwanted toxins and chemicals; helping to restore balance to the body by adopting lifestyle & nutritional changes.
A great reference book for natural detox methods is “Medical Medium” by Anthony Williams. It’s worth while subscribing to his email list for delicious detoxing meals too. He has another great book which has recenty been released call “Liver Rescue” and this is specifically to help the Liver detox and immune function.
IVF & Detox
If you are planning to go ahead with IVF and have 2-4 months before this starts, you can implement a clinical detox to optimise your health, which will enhance your chance of successful cycles – saving you thousands of dollars….
Detox before conception
If your body is laden with toxins; your eggs and sperm will include toxicity; therefore, when you become pregnant, the embryo will start life with toxicity which has many detrimental health effects; for example birth defects, learning difficulties, ADHD or miscarriages.
Fertility and the Mind
The subconscious mind control over 90% of our bodily function. And it has been found to interfere with fertility too. You may have heard of “self-sabbotaging” or “limiting beliefs”. Our subconscious may have these around fertility and be blocking you from achieving your conscious goal to have a child.
NLP, Hypnotherapy, EFT, and Kinesiology are great techniques to help you identify and clear your limiting beliefs from the subconscious.
If you’d like further support and understanding regarding your unique situation, then a coaching session via Skype can be arranged. Simply email me with suitable days and times for a booking. Or you are also welcome to come to the clinic in person.
Wishing you optimal health and wellbeing.
Anne Barratt
Empowering Health
www.empoweringhealth.clinic
Annebarratt.com
ChildlessSupport.com
info@empoweringhealth.clinic
