Food First, then Supplements
I get it. It’s appealing to think that you can just take a prenatal or some other supplement and be good to go. Who wouldn’t want to be able to pop a few pills and then focus on basically anything/everything else knowing nutrition was completely taken care of? Yea, me too. And I get so many clients who seem to think that I’m holding out some miracle supplement or silver bullet that will just solve all their problems. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way it works. Believe me, so many days I wish it did! Good news is, Mother Nature is pretty stellar at offering us all we need, if we know how to look (and I can help you with that!). But, sometimes, supplements can help bridge the gaps or offer us a nice safety net, especially in critical times like trying to conceive and pregnancy!
SLEEP. STRESS. SWEAT. FOR YOUR FERTILITY
Beyond diet, we know there are a lot of other things that can affect your fertility. Inflammation is a massive factor and is influenced by diet, stress, sleep, and more. When I work with clients, I take a holistic, functional approach to their health and their plan. This means we don’t look at anything in isolation, but as part of the entire picture. The body doesn’t work in isolation, so why should our approaches to support it? My clients know that their plan is going to include working on more than just the food they eat (or don’t eat), with a huge focus on re-establishing balance through movement, breath, and more. It’s so tempting to think there’s this one, magical change you can make that will be the ticket to success, but the reality is, your body requires so many things to functional optimally, and while it may be able to compensate for some deficits or imbalances, that’s certainly not the ideal way to try to conceive or go into a pregnancy. So, let’s explore some other contributors to imbalance and obstacles to conceiving.
Fueling Fertility
When it comes to conceiving, there are plenty of things you don’t have much control over, but your diet is one element that you not only have control over, but that plays a massive role in improving (or damaging) your chances of conceiving. Remember that old adage, “you are what you eat”? Well, you are what you don’t eat, too. In other words, if you eat processed foods, foods that encourage inflammation, or foods lacking in nutrients, your body is going to have quite a tough time supplying quality eggs and sperm to try to make a baby.
IT TAKES 2 TO TANGO
Infertility. It’s something way too many couples are familiar with. In fact, 8-12% of couples experience infertility. Infertility is defined as not just difficulty with getting pregnant, but staying pregnant. As we’ll discuss in this post, while medical intervention may be necessary at some point, there are a myriad of things you can do to prepare for conception, increase your chances of successfully conceiving, and reduce your risk of infertility. And, even if you ultimately find yourself choosing to pursue more intense medical interventions like IVF, the strategies discussed in this series can improve your chance of a successful outcome!