Nutrition-Related Fertility Busters

Imagine my surprise when my husband approaches me at the book store with a book titled, "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Getting Pregnant." Whoa, charlie! What's going on?!

"Uhhh..." I said, looking at him to crack a smile or something. I feel my cheeks redden. He is deadpan.

"I was looking in the nutrition and health section and for some reason this book jumped out at me. Have you thought about looking into how nutrition relates to fertility, for, uh, your blog?" he says quickly, noting my looking around.

Okay, so that's it? A new topic related to nutrition? I can breathe now.

I sat down with a pile of books to look at and started by looking through this one. I know we're all adults, here, but I couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the book topic. I made sure the book cover was firmly pressed against my lap.

I flipped through and immediately found a lot of great information. I dug through my bag for my little black notepad. I would have to take notes. I already had a "to buy" pile of books that was falling off the arm of my chair, so I would have to take some notes from this book instead of buying it.

If you or your partner are interested in getting pregnant, and wonder what nutritional factors are related to being successful or not in this endeavor, read on. Personally, I have not given this topic much thought, but once I learned that refined sugars may have something to do with fertility, I couldn't help but be interested. I know too many people who are having fertility issues.

I hope the following helps inspire you to eat healthier and do more research of your own:

"Simple sugars and refined starches deteriorate health and create the following negative effects:

• Hormone imbalance. That energy 'rush' from a candy bar or glazed doughnut lasts all of 15 minutes to half an hour. It comes from a sharp rise in your blood sugar levels, but that 'high' soon switches direction and plummets downward, leaving you drained and exhausted....You are in a state of emergency because your adrenal glands are secreting extra cortisol--the so-called flight or fight hormone--in an attempt to replenish your system's sugar levels because sugar is essential fuel for every body system. Over time, too much cortisol stimulated by chronic low blood sugar levels weakens your adrenal glands to the point where they produce lower levels of sex hormones. This can lead to hormone imbalance that impacts fertility.

• B vitamin deficiency. Manufacturing excess cortisol eventually uses up nutrients needed for proper hormone balance and fertility. These include the B vitamins, especially B6 and magnesium. Vitamin B deficiency may make you vulnerable to some harmful affects of stress, another fertility buster.

• Overly high insulin levels. In order to get all this sugar out of the blood and into cells, where it's converted into energy, the pancreas has to keep secreting insulin. Excess insulin secretion eventually causes insulin resistance, which is known to be associated with infertility.

• Compromised immune response. Some research shows that just a single teaspoon of sugar can reduce immunity for up to four hours.

Your best bet is to avoid sugar.... altogether. Satisfy your sweet tooth with plenty of fruits. For example, treat yourself to a fruit smoothie by blending fresh fruit and ice cubes. Maple syrup in small amounts is okay, especially in cooking. Stevia, a South American plant with even more concentrated sweetening power than sugar, does not affect your blood sugar levels."


Source: "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Getting Pregnant," by Raymond Chang, M.D. & Elena Oumano, PhD., pgs. 167-169

Other resources for additional information/medical advice on fertility:
American Board of Holistic Medicine
National Infertility Association
National Institutes of Health
NCCAM