Supplements and Fertility

FERTILITY AND SUPPLEMENTS
There is a lot of information out there about supplements to boost fertility. I for one believe supplementation makes a big difference. I'll share with you the supplements I took, but please keep in mind that everyone is different and has unique needs. I encourage you to do some of your own research.

• Pre-natal vitamin - for women, to ensure sufficient levels of folic acid and other key nutrients to support a developing fetus. Ideally, this should be started months before you plan to be pregnant. (I was on them for years, waiting for that pregnancy to arrive.)

• Vitamin C (1,000 mg./day) - said to improve hormonal levels; its antioxidant properties helps  protect cells and strengthen the immune system; and for men, this vitamin improves sperm count, motility and viability.

• B-100 complex (1 capsule/day)- includes B12, B6 and folic acid, all of which improve reproductive health and fertility

• Royal Jelly (500 mg/day) - nutrient-rich bee products that help stimulate fertility

• L-Arginine (2,000 mg 2x/day) - an amino acid essential for sperm production; shown to increase fertility in women.

• Coenzyme Q10 (100mg./day ) increases sperm count; may increase egg quality.

• Vit.E  (400 i.u./day) - another pwerful antioxidant that increases fertility for men and women; may increase egg quality; studies show that this vitamin can increase sperm potency by 2 ½ times.

• Selenium (200 mcg./day) - This mineral is an antioxidant that helps protect against free radicals as well as help increase sperm counts in men that have low counts.

• Zinc (about 15 mg./day) is also helpful to fertility, but it gives me a bad reaction (as a supplement), so I didn't take it. Zinc is important for maintaining the production of testosterone in men, and in women, it helps the body use estrogen and progesterone more efficiently. Too much zinc can be toxic, so I would stick with the zinc that may already be in your pre-natal vitamin, and look for zinc sources in food: red meat (eat only organic, lean portions!) and seafood.
  

Here's some information on herbs, too, in this recent LA Times article.

An wonderful additional source on supplements here at BellaOnline.

Other links: Natural Treatments with Vitamins and the fertility shop.

photo by www.sia-hq.com/articles/20090805_2

Diet for Fibroids, Endometriosis and PCOS

EATING TO HELP FIBROIDS, ENDOMETRIOSIS AND PCOS
I wanted to talk a little this week about particular fertility conditions and diet.

FYI: Even if you’re on a fertility diet, it’s always a good idea to check in with a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility doctor). Knowing your particular medical diagnosis or circumstances gives you greater power in making treatment options for yourself.

The Fertile Kitchen™ diet, which is all organic and basically no sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, trans fats, processed foods – to list a few features – benefits your health in general and optimizes your fertility regardless of fertility diagnosis. Even if you have blocked tubes and can thereby only get pregnant via IVF, such a diet will still give your body the best chance for success.  As long as you can produce eggs or carry them, nutrition will make a difference! With this in mind, here are some particular dietary recommendations for the following conditions:

Fibroids –
It is relevant to note that fibroid growth is stimulated by estrogen. Dr. Christine Northrup has some great information on holistically treating fibroids on her website, which I recommend you check out. Here is an excerpt related to diet:

“Since the uterus is estrogen–sensitive, any dietary or alternative approach that counteracts estrogen dominance often works for fibroids. …Eating a diet high in protein and healthy fats and low in high-glycemic carbohydrates such as sugar and starch can help. "White" foods like sugar and starch increase insulin, which changes the way estrogen is metabolized, creating compounds that are more likely to cause cellular inflammation and fibroid symptoms, including enhanced growth of existing fibroids.”

Endometriosis –

Again, here is an excerpt from Dr. Northrup’s wonderful website:

“Anything that improves immune system functioning and increases the flow of energy in the body is apt to help [with endometriosis]. ...A whole foods, eicosanoid–balancing diet high in fiber that avoids trans fats can provide dramatic relief from symptoms of endometriosis. Many women have had remarkable pain relief from simply stopping consumption of dairy foods, eggs and red meats. Also avoid caffeine. Be sure to eat one to two servings daily of cruciferous vegetables, such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, cabbage, and turnips (or take a supplement containing Indole-3-Carbinol, the active ingredient in these vegetables). Additionally, a diet rich in phytohormones, such as those found in soy foods, helps endometriosis by blocking estrogen receptors from excess stimulation.

PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome) –
This is basically a metabolic disorder, or, as this website put it: “a condition in which the ovaries secrete abnormally high amounts of androgens (male hormones) that often cause problems with ovulation.”

A balanced diet is important. You also want to avoid foods that cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, and esp. doing so on a regular basis, which can lead to insulin resistance. The foods to avoid are processed sugar and refined carbs. An excerpt from OBGYN.net:

“High intakes of carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates (i.e., sweets, white bread, white rice, etc.) will quickly turn to sugar and cause elevated levels of insulin. Since high levels of insulin can cause a multitude of problems for women with PCOS, a better diet would be a low glycemic index diet. This is a diet that includes foods or combinations of foods that do not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar.”

So eat carbohydrates in combination with protein or healthy fats as opposed to by themselves.

(photo by http://nutrition.myjoyonline.com/carbohydrates-and-vision-loss-2)

Fertility and Possibility

My husband, Pierre Giauque, and I have been working many late nights to finish the last pieces and final edits on our specialty cookbook, which goes to press tomorrow! We're very excited about it. Finally, we can bring all we've learned about nutrition and fertility--through years of research and practice--to others in the form of a cookbook with simple-to-make recipes. It's called The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Optimizing Your Fertility, and it will be on the market in about a month. Email me if you'd like us to reserve a signed copy for you!

Because of our many late nights, I will make today's blog entry a little short. I thought I would use it to take a break from dietary tips to talk a little about possibility. You know what that is...it’s sometimes that small crack in the door that lets just a little light in. It’s up to us to notice it and open the door wider.

Whenever you’re dealt with a particularly difficult blow, such as: “your eggs are too old!,” “we have no idea why you can’t conceive,” “It’s impossible for you to get pregnant without an IVF” – it’s important to shield yourself from these negative thoughts… let them bounce or roll right off you, and remember possibility. Keep going back to it, back to that crack in the door.

I encourage you to see negatives only as obstacles you need to overcome on your journey, a challenge for sure and something to handle, but definitely not something to stop you in your tracks! Keep in mind always, you have a lot of power, often much more power than you think, to make a difference in your own fertility. Hold on to possibility, believe in it, surrender to it. It’s amazing what can happen when you do.

More next week!