And then simultaneously, you're getting this mother to the healthiest mom. And also getting dad to the healthiest dad. Thank you. There's so much research about the male partners state of health and what impact that has on conception, on pregnancy. See, like so many of those factors relate back to the male. And what is the health of the future baby going to be. And that's also determined by both of your health.
Why am I not getting pregnant? We are missing out on opportunities to help couples conceive because we're not looking at the big picture. We're trying to help couples through protocols and automatic responses, and it turns out that every couple is unique. You can't help one couple the same way that you helped another couple. There's two whole bodies involved. In this episode we are looking at nutrition. We're looking at male factor fertility. We're looking at egg quality. And with our expert guest, doctor Aumatma Simmons. She is a naturopathic doctor and fertility specialist. She's been helping couples for years conceive holistically. We are really going to help you put these steps together in the perfect order. And once you do that, you can find that the secret sauce of getting pregnant is the four step process: reveal, remove, rebalance, and receive. And within that process, we can really customize and create unique protocols that are more individualized.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for having me, Doctor Mallorie.
Doctor Aumatma is a natural naturopathy doctor who has advanced training in endocrinology and fertility, and is really an expert in all things related to the woman's menstrual cycle and fertility. So we are really excited to dive in and really try to make this a hands-on approach to fertility.
Obviously, if you're struggling with infertility, then you want to make sure to work with a practitioner. So this won't be completely DIY, but I think there are a lot of things that you can do that are DIY, you know, to make sure that you're taking good care of your health. So we want to give a really good overview of how to approach your pregnancy by getting ready for pregnancy.
Does that sound okay? Yeah, that sounds great. Awesome. Well, so first tell us a little bit about your own journey. How did you come to be this fertility expert? Because you started as a natural path, taking care of a wide range of issues. What was it that drove you to get this specialized knowledge and really focus on this patient population?
Yeah, that's a great question. I was actually married to this man who wanted to have children. And every time he would say, baby, my uterus would literally go. And so it was a moment in time that I really like had to do some soul searching and figure out, like, yeah, actually, I really do want a child.
I'd prefer to have a child than not, but I'm very clear that it's not him that is going to be the mother of the children. So at that point I was like, that's true. And that is fertility drops off a cliff is true. Then I better get my feet together and figure out what I'm going to do about that.
Yeah. So I spent, essentially like nine months just researching every aspect of fertility that I could think of, mostly for myself, mostly like, how can I do this so that I can make sure that I can have a child when I'm ready? Like, I was going to be 42 by the time I find someone and I'm ready to, like, be buried and ready to have a kid.
So I really was like, okay, in that context, what can I do to preserve my fertility? There has to be something. And what I discovered as I was doing this research was just that a we have a lot of myths and misnomers about fertility that I wish I had known, because it would have definitely freaked me less out.
And as I started sharing about those with the people around me, they were like, wait, what? Yeah. Wait, what? Like, I didn't learn that either. How come no one's telling us these things? Then before I knew it, like people were coming to me for fertility. And I was like, oh, God, that's not my intention here. Like, I'm not trying to be the fertility person.
I had said no to the first two people and then the third one. I was like, okay, this is definitely a sign. And I scared her. I was like, this is going to be really expensive. And yeah, I have never helped anyone. So this is a great sales pitch. I, and I really just was convinced that this was not my path, right?
I was like, oh, my God, I don't want to be doing fertility before I do it. She came back and she was like, you're the cuckoo. This person I've talked to. But I intuit intuition is telling me you're like, you're gonna help us. And, she she ended up getting pregnant after three years of infertility and three pregnancy losses, and she freaked out.
She was like, oh, my God, I didn't expect to get pregnant so quickly. I've been through so many IVF cycles like nothing has worked. Now I'm pregnant. Type of freaked out that I'm going to have a pregnancy loss. Yeah, that was when I was like, gosh, like we really need to pay attention to that mental emotional side and like work on all of the layers before helping people get pregnant.
We need to do this differently. Like we really need a different approach that addresses all of the layers of us. Well, I'm so grateful you have. I think in our culture, it's sometimes easy to be like, oh, you're struggling to have a baby. Like, we all know someone who's been struggling to have a baby, but when you're the one that's struggling to have a baby, it's everything.
You know. It's it's a part of who you are and it's part of who you how you see yourself. It becomes part of you and your partnership of like, why can't we get this together? And I'll share just a brief part of my story. And then we'll kind of dive in a little bit. But I had fertility issues.
I got married in my mid 30s and then struggled to have a baby. And then just as we were getting ready to start fertility treatments, happened to get pregnant and then could never get pregnant again, so did fertility treatments. A lost a pregnancy, had had other fertility treatments, and now have three beautiful children, which I'm really, really grateful for.
One of which was in my 40s. And so a lot of like, I feel like I've had a lot of touch points in all of this and in my own journey as an ObGyn, I had way more exposure to the conventional side of fertility than anything holistic, and really didn't discover sort of the holistic approach until I think I was pregnant.
When when I met you. And so really didn't discover a lot of the holistic approach until I was already kind of invested in the conventional world. So I, I don't have that story where it's like I found holistic medicine and then conceived spontaneously, but I have the opposite side of like, man, I wish I would have known something like, I think some people have it in their mind that there's some gold star that if you get pregnant without any additional conventional medical help, that you're better, right, like that's more virtuous or something.
And in my approach, I don't think we have to have it as black and white. But what I care most about is what can we do to make you the healthiest woman and mother carrier possible? Because that's going to help you have a healthier pregnancy. However you get pregnant. And it's also going to help hopefully translate into your health in the postpartum transition and your health as a mother.
What is your approach along those lines? Yes, yes to all of that. Like a lot of people come to me thinking that I'm going to say absolutely no IVF ever. And it's quite the opposite, right? Like, I think that every every couple is unique and they have different paths to get to that point where they're going to have a baby.
But if we can shorten the amount of time that it's going to take to get there, that's valuable. And if we can make it more easeful, if they have to go through less IVF cycles, that's a win. That's for no or no. IVF cycles is also a win. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And and then simultaneously like what you said about getting this mother to the healthiest mom.
It also getting dad to the health. Yes. Thank you. Right. Yeah. And there's so much research about the male partners state of health and what impact that has on conception on pregnancy. Like, are you going to have a super nauseous pregnancy? Are you going to experience preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, like so many of those factors relate back to the male.
And what is the health of the future baby going to be. And that's also determined by both of your health. So it's so important that couples work together on their health and optimizing their fertility before conception, so that a they have an easier path to that family that they dream of, but they are also supporting the health of their future child in the process of it.
I am so glad you brought that up, because it's especially being a woman who has gone through IVF and gone through that fertility journey. We just take on 100% of the burden, right? The man does one semen analysis, maybe a couple if he's not lucky, but he just does one semen analysis. That's it. And then they say, oh, we checked him off.
It's all about you. And even in a situation, I think coming from a medical perspective, I didn't take as much like burden or shame. I think, as some women do. But it's still really difficult not to feel like, oh, bummer. Like, well, what? What's wrong? Like, what am I doing? What's wrong with my body? And and and it can also be really lonely and isolating for women going through this journey when the partner's like, I don't even really know what my role is like.
I'm. I'm happy to support you, but this is all your thing. You know, you need to ovulate and you need to get your uterus in shape and you need to get your health in shape. And when we bring it as a partnership, number one, the health of both parties is key to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
But also as we involve the partner, they also can share the journey together. And it's less of the woman like, well, I've got a eat this diet or I've got to take these supplements. And the man's over there, you know, like feet up doing nothing. You know, like we really want to make it a couple's journey. So I really want you to share your approach.
I think so many people, as they start down this journey, get super overwhelmed because there is so much information out there, but it man, it's all over the place and so many people will be like, well, so-and-so told me she tried that, so I tried that and it didn't work for me. And then I saw this thing on the internet that said to do this.
So I made sure that I never, ever involved this type of thing in my diet. And, you know, it can be it's so critical because you so badly want that baby that you feel like I will do whatever it takes, and you end up doing this random assortment of things just to try to make sure you're leaving no stone unturned.
So help us understand, how do you make sense of this? How do you take an orderly approach to this? I think it's really important to kind of start with this understanding that each couple is unique on this journey. Right? And if we take that as the founding context, then everything that we're doing should be evaluated from the lens of is this optimal for that?
Is this the right thing for that? Yeah. We absolutely cannot evaluate people from the context of this is your label and this is your protocol. Yeah. Because even for something so simple as like PCOS, for example, polycystic ovarian syndrome, which 1 in 2 women that have PCOS struggle with fertility all the way in, which is us just said, like, what did you say about simple?
Yeah. It's simple. Yeah. Oh, good. For me. I don't, although relatively speaking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they will often be put in this category of okay, let's give you this medication and this supplement and this supplement and this supplement, and then you're going to get pregnant. Yeah. Then they come to us and we're like, well, but why do you have that PCOS?
Right? And it's really like, are we getting to the underneath layers that are helping us understand this person's unique journey and why they have this thing that they have? So for me, it's less about the labels, more about how do we approach this. So we have a four hour process called restorative fertility and it's reveal remove, rebalance, receive.
And they're sort of in order. But they can also like flow differently if we need to. Right. So reveal is getting to the root cause. It's really understanding this couple's physiology in a way that has not been understood before. It's going beyond the semen analysis. And really looking at actually is the sperm optimal. But beyond that, what is your blood sugar level?
What is your insulin? What is your homocysteine like? Basic things that everyone should be asking, but no one is asking. Yeah. And what we find in that process is most of the time there are things that are going on on the male side that are not being talked about, that have never been addressed, that even their PCP is not testing them for because they don't have any symptoms.
And they're young, healthy, right? They're young and healthy. Young and healthy. Exactly. In quotes. Because what we think is healthy is not always what what's happening. So there should be a standard of care that doesn't exist in the sense that we don't have this idea of can we prevent things before they start? Right. So reveal helps us really understand the full picture of both of these partners and what else is happening under the surface.
If it's high estrogen, why is it high? Is your testosterone over converting to estrogen? Is your body making too much? Is your body not excreting it? There's so many layers of questions that really change how we're going to approach it. Once we know those answers. The second piece is remove and remove is getting rid of all the garbage that is the garbage in terms of toxins, which most of the people that work with us nowadays are already on it.
Right? Like everyone knows, take out the microplastics. Everyone knows, you know, like that toxic. Yeah, yeah, like phthalates and fragrances and the basics. Everyone's got it most of the time when they're dealing with fertility stuff. But it's those things that are like, this is a stressor that we're not relating as a stressor. And it's things often that we can do something about.
We're not saying go live in a bubble because that would be nice, but no one can do that. So we're always going to have some stress, but we need to address the stressors that are low hanging that we can be like, oh, we could actually shift this and we get so much bang for buck. So those are the things that we want to address in the remove phase.
And then in the rebalance we're really looking at we've got all of these underlying things. They're not really conditions yet. Those are the things that we want to help to optimize and rebalance in the body. So if we've discovered, hey, estrogen isn't clearing out as as well as it should, let's get that clearance going. Let's get it processing in terms of how we support the rebalance.
So we really start with that foundational thing and then go to the next tier and the next tier in the next tier, all the way up to the top of that pyramid. Yep. So when we talk about like egg quality and sperm quality, it's like the top of the pyramid. And that's where most people are going for fertility, right?
They're like, oh, we got to optimize mitochondrial function. And yes, mitochondrial function is important, but you're not sleeping. There's no amount of mitochondrial support that's going to fix that. Yeah. So really like thinking about it block by block instead of just kind of, willy nilly, like let's just support the egg quality. So that's the, the rebalance and then receive is the mind body component.
So this is where like building the stress resilience, it's working on emotional trauma that we might have from previous. So if someone has had a pregnancy loss, if someone has been on the journey for so long that they feel like they're questioning their trust with their body, those are a little micro traumas that are impacting the outcome at the end of the day.
So we have to address those things so that we can move into a different space where we're actually ready to receive this baby that is coming to us. And then in the receive phase, one of my favorites is control and the kind of like high achiever that so many of us are. And we all have this like tendency towards achieving and control that has done really well in our lives.
But when we get to that fertility period, everything gets question, because fertility is the opposite of that. Like, how do I let go of control and how do I let go of my timelines and how do I just let it be? Yeah, which is really challenging for so many of us. So those are the little like transformations that we're seeing.
And our process is when women are working on this mind state. Yeah. Like, for instance, a woman says, I finally let go. And I'm like letting the guy figure out when she's leaving. And you're in the driver's seat, you're initiating sex when it's time to bed. We've taken this burden off of her, which is huge, by the way.
Yeah, like no woman wants to be like, hey, honey, where are you going to be? How do I say, like, it's not what she wants to be doing. So when we take that pressure away and she can actually let go and release the reins, like things happen way faster. Yeah, like men feel so disempowered on this journey because it is the female body and they're like, oh my God, it's so complicated.
But it's actually not. Yeah. So if they can have some education and learning about the female body in the process, they can be back in the driver's seat, they can be back in control and they love it. They're like, oh yeah, this is what I was made for me. So yeah, that that's the four step process reveal, remove, rebalance, receive.
And within that process we can really customize and create unique protocols that are more individualized. Those are the little like micro things that are going to make a difference. Yeah. And I wish more people would get this message right. Like so many people on the fertility journey are like, oh, but but my neighbor said, but the Facebook group said this thing and man, if we had this system accessible to everybody, people would be on a path that's moving them closer to the goal instead of feeling like, oh, but I've tried it all and none of it worked.
Yeah. And it's like, well, yeah, but in making the things that they are doing count, instead of doing 18 or 25 different things, that maybe some of them are valuable to really make each one of them unknown. I think it's just kind of a scary process because you don't want to miss out. You know, you if you're doing these 3 or 4 things, you don't want to be like, well, but maybe it would work better if I did these other five things.
So I think it's helpful to have a guide who can help you understand, like, this is what your body is telling us that you need. So do these things and trust your body. Yeah. And do it in a step by step way. I think the other thing that a lot of people confuse is like, oh, I have a gut issue and a adrenal issue and a thyroid issue, an egg quality issue, all at once.
And I need to get pregnant. Yeah. So I'm going to take all the supplements and you end up before you know it, you're like, if you think of supplements as a signal like compound for directions for what the body should do, then if you have 15 signals going at the same time, your body's like, okay, well, I don't know which one you want me to do, so I'm not going to do anything.
I love that explanation. Yeah. So we really like we try to make it step by step. And so many of our clients will say, oh, okay, I do this thing. And but why does she have this other thing? I do that too. And, and it's like, we have to just keep reminding them, like, you're in a process. You will get there when it's your time.
Yeah, but you're not there yet. So it doesn't make sense for us to give you the supplement. I love that. So help us understand, because I think one of the first questions that people come to, and maybe one of the first misconceptions they have, is that time frame, you know, how much time does this take? Because of course, occasionally on social media, you're you'll see the clips that like, I worked with her for one month and then I had a positive pregnancy test.
Like, what is the expectation that you would give for a woman going on to this journey to consider in terms of that timeline of getting pregnant? I think it can vary a lot. But in general, we find that about 4 to 6 months is a good average amount of time to invest in optimizing your fertility before you try again.
Yeah. So and and yes, people do put a pause on their trying when they're doing that work with us because a lot of times we are wanting to get the most targeted, most direct path, which will often mean you're taking something that is a safe for pregnancy. Yeah, totally fine for fertility, but it's not safe for pregnancy. So we want you off of it before you start trying.
And this is super hard for people to hear, right? Because they come in and they're like, we've been trying. And you're like, great, stop trying and let's do these things. But it's so important. It's so important, so important. I think mentally too. Oh my gosh, that's exactly what I was going to say. So believe it or not, the hidden benefit of that stop trying is allows them to have a small break after being on this cog wheel for so long, and that break is a really nice reset.
And if they're able to, what ends up happening, and we've heard this again and again over the years, it's like when that desire had went away, that natural desire to have sex with your partner, when it becomes so contrived and controlled in the context of fertility, like taking a break from it and saying, you can only not have sex in this window.
Yeah, everything else is fair game and you don't like there's no end goal, like it's just your your relationship and your intimacy and being able to have that for a few months. People come back and they're like, oh my God, I didn't know, like what a difference it this fertility thing was making you. And being able to take that away for a little while was like, oh, such a breath of fresh air.
And then they're going back into it with the the man being in the driver's seat this time. And it's a very different experience when he's taking charge and he's like, oh, you're ovulating, let's have sex. Yeah. And she's like, wait, really? Okay, sure. And like, it's a it's such a different experience. I can't even put words to that.
But it's really magical when couples are like, we're just having sex because it was fun and we didn't think we were going to get pregnant at all. And it happened. So the the it becomes like the unexpected becomes very expected in my world. I'm like, that's usually, yeah, I've yet to have a baby. That's the best way to have a fertility clinic with a bunch of accidental pregnancies.
Yep. Yep. That's they're doing something right then. Because that's a really lovely outcome. I think especially I don't want to pit the conventional world against the holistic world. But, you know, the fertility journey of of the conventional approach when you're going through IVF, it's it's not fun, it's not at all enjoyable. And I think the longer you stay on it, the more stressed you get about it.
And then it's really hard to go into a pregnancy feeling like everything has just been taken out of you and now you're pregnant, and now you don't feel good. And so it's such a lovely idea. Ideal. You know, if we can say like, let's just pause, let's restore things, let's just restore the elements in your health as a couple and as individuals that need to be restored and, and just breathe for a minute.
And as we're doing this, you might accidentally get pregnant at the end of it. And like, what a lovely process that is in comparison to timing and needles and blood draws and ultrasounds and vaginal ultrasounds and like so much poking and prodding and I'm super grateful it exists because that's how I have one of my babies. So I'm super grateful.
But it's not great. It's not great. So yeah, it's it could be tough and like it's it's okay if you're going into it prepared. Yeah. Right. Like if you are, if your body is ready for this marathon that you're going to be on. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. But if you're, if you're in a marathon and then you're like, oh, I thought this was a three mile marathon, not a ten mile marathon, then you have a whole different relationship with it.
So totally. I think it's so helpful to be prepped to have your body in this, like, optimal place. Yeah. Are always like, why do I need to optimize my hormones? They're going to give me hormones. Yeah, yeah. And it's like, well, if you optimize these hormones and your body's able to process and do the signaling that it should do with these hormones that are communicating what they're communicating, then when they give you the hormones exogenous, you are going to have a different response than someone who doesn't have that training.
Yeah. You've already got in your body. Yeah. You've already gotten your body 80% of the way there. They just have to take you the next 20 instead of starting at 10%, and they have to take you 90. Like it just works better. Yeah, exactly.
Hey there, listeners, just a quick break to tell you about something that could make a big difference in your life or the life of a woman you care about here at uplift. For her, we specialize in integrative women's health, offering comprehensive support for every stage of life. Whether you're navigating menopause and need expert advice, looking to shed those stubborn pounds or seeking for help with your mental well-being, we've got you covered.
We combine the best of traditional and functional medicine with personalized health coaching and dietitian support here at our Salt Lake City based clinic, we ensure that your unique needs are met with the care and expertise you deserve at uplift for her, we are here to help you feel your best inside and out, ready to take the next step in your health journey?
Visit us at uplift for her.com or give us a call today. We have services available for those of you living in the state of Utah, and some services available for those of you outside of Utah. Now let's get back to the episode. Okay, so I want to be I want to lay out the rest of this episode because I think there's so many good things still to talk about.
I want to make good use of our time. So I do want to talk about male fertility and sort of what are some things that the I think most of my listeners are women. There are some men in there, but maybe the women can share with their partners. What are the top things that you would say for the male partner just to start doing from a lifestyle perspective of optimizing fertility?
And then I also want to get to a couple examples, maybe a little rapid fire about like, what about this more unique situation? What are some top things to consider and know about? So let's start first with that male fertility in preparation. Or there are some specific things that they should be doing. Yeah. Yeah. So yes you're right.
Male and female can do this. The most amount of research is around alcohol, marijuana and cigarets. They have the most research. The outside of everything that they can take. Those three things will get the most bang for buck. So they're doing any any of those three things they have. And I just want to point one thing out there as far as understanding, because I think it's so interesting and helpful in terms of the overall construct is the ovaries and the testes.
They're sort of the canary in the coal mine, right? They're they're the first one of the body's first warning signs that the body is taking on too much, whether that's toxic burden or damage to the cells. Reproduction is the they're the most some of the most sensitive cells that we have to damage and to find happiness. And so it's our it's our hormones and the male hormones, the male the sperm that are the some of the first things to start to lose quality.
And we want really great quality participants when fertility. So that it makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. On the male side also like adding if they will move towards a more whole to based diet. So avoiding things that aren't repair process and integrate more diversity, it's really, really important for your gut that you have good microbiome diversity.
And then if there was a third thing that was like absolutely foundational, I would say sleep would be really high up there. Sleep is going to impact your like all kinds of things that we don't think about everything from hormones, of course, to the rejuvenation that's happening in sleep. That doesn't happen any other time of the day. So if we have a high toxin burden, we have high stress, we have a lot of oxidative stress, which is our internal body stress.
All of those things are being helped to be better in our bodies with sleep and what's happening. Yeah. So we're not getting healthy, quality sleep. That's kind of really impact whether or not our fertility is going to be in a decent place. And then the last thing I would say, if toxins and we talked about toxins a little bit earlier, but I think a lot of men maybe haven't caught on to this, which is the microplastic in so many things is going to impact the hormonal function as well as the sperm health.
So that's the male picture. And then on the female side, I would say very similar things like I think for women coffee has a little bit more research as well. So for men not as important to quit as long if they're getting good hydration for women, it might actually be beneficial to cut back to like max 1 or 2 cups if you're to it, and then cutting out alcohol, marijuana and cigarets.
Same thing. And then eating a well-balanced diet, making sure you've got lots of a variety of vegetables, different colors is a good way to think about it. And then, we're living toxins and optimizing sleep. And for women especially, sleep is the foundation or the circadian rhythm. So our sleep wake cycle is the foundation of our hormones.
So the circadian rhythm is really, really crucial. And if we don't have that there is you can take all the supplements and herbs in the world. And it's not going to fix the circadian rhythm, which is going to continue to be the body saying that you're in fight or flight mode in any aspect of fight or flight mood, it's more important.
So winning because we are going to be the one stop our protecting that child, right? It's the protective mother energy that is at the core of whether or not shouldn't reproduce. And if your inner in a state where it's not safe, your body is literally saying not safe to come right now. Like please don't. Yeah. And whereas if a male perceives fight or flight, then it may just turn on their like, you know, their fight or flight mechanisms to go fight tigers.
But it's that the mother's body, the woman's body that's going to say like once that fight or flight gets to me, it's gotten through my partner, my defenses, like, let's not have a baby yet. That's a good point. Yeah, yeah. So and I will say, I will say as much of, you know, we talk about women's health versus men's health and it is very different.
And I want to empower women. But I do think it's worth acknowledging, like there are some parts of women's health that just feel a little unfair. You know, it's one of those things that you're like, well, why do I have to be the one that's like doing all the breathwork and he doesn't have to do it. He can just go like fight tigers at work.
And I have to be home meditating and being zen. And like, we can talk about the social aspects of it another time, but but I just want to I just want to point that out because it's easy as we talk about fertility, we when you talk about fertility, you really get back to the origins and sort of we talk cave one, right?
Cave people love like this is how the body was built. And there can be some parts that hit maybe hit a little funny of like, well, that's not fair. But if we just stick with the biology, but we can comment on the I just want to want to bring that up, because I think we do think about this as we listen of like, well, I guess, what do they have to do?
Right? I know, I know, and so I just want to bring it up, even though we don't have a great answer for it. Yeah, yeah, I have lots of theory about it. So maybe. Yeah. Oh, I have to talk about it. Yeah. Yeah. Well so wonderful. So we've gotten a framework. Was there anything else you wanted to add on to women, or was the stress component that that last.
Yeah, I think that's just component. And it's unique from the female side. And I think energetically, like men don't have that safety response in the same way. They are the protectors. They are way more capable and safe in the world than women are. So we have our physiology is just more sensitive to the safety or not response. And we like I think it's important to be aware of that.
So yeah, a lot of men can feel like they're in fight or flight or they have high levels of stress and their staff are completely okay. And I believe that that's part of the reason it's not. Yeah, their bodies are better adapted to stress. To fight or flight shouldn't be the protector should be the like person that could handle it.
Not that they should. Not that I'm like not trying to normalize it for them, but. Right. It's just more just talking physiology. Yeah, yeah. Their bodies are a little more resistant to that for that reason. Because when they're when they sense danger and or threat, their bodies should work better, right? Their bodies get turned turned up and ours due to.
But also as we start recognizing fight or flight our bodies, I use the word deprioritized. You know, we kind of push some of our other processes more to the background. And we see that our bodies are just physiologically more sensitive to that threat for, I think, for good reason, you know, from an evolution standpoint at least. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah. Okay. Awesome. I also want to draw attention to if any of our listeners are not actively trying to have a baby. I also think this is just how you take care of your hormones. And so as we talk about, you know, I see patients who are in their teens and their periods all are all messed up. They have painful periods or, you know, really terrible PMS.
And then I have Perimenopausal patients or postpartum patients who are like, what do I do? It's all the same. You know, restoring fertility is one of the best things that you can do for the health in general, because fertility is that first, it's that it's that pinnacle. Right? Our bodies will not prioritize, reproduction unless everything beneath it is really going well.
And so, as people say, like, how do I have an easy perimenopausal journey? How do you know I have help, helpful help, my daughter's periods? It's all the same stuff. It's the exact same thing. Because once the hormones are balanced for fertility, you can do anything. You're set. You're ready to go. Yeah. And working on your fertility and supporting your fertility.
It's moving your hormones as close to optimal as possible. Like, I wish I had this information when I was going through your regular periods, huddled over in bed in pain for days. Every single. Like in my teens and 20s. Yeah, yeah. And like I've been there. That was my like. And yes, absolutely. Like the way to support all of that for mental dysfunction is the same way that we support fertility.
And even if you're not trying to get pregnant right now, they're all signs that are pointing to why you should work on your trip. Telling me right now, and yeah, get it to that optimal and then stay there till you're ready to have it. I do know the initial response to a lot of people to that is going to be like, so you're saying this is my fault?
Like, you're saying I should just like be different or you're saying and I it's so easy and functional medicine and holistic medicine to come to that awareness. But but I will call people out on it and say, just pause for a second. Just ask whether it applies to you or not. Because all of these things are just tools.
And when I sit with a patient, you know, patients want to see the lab test that tells us where the problem is. And then we give them a pill or a supplement or a food to fix it. And everyone likes that because that means something was wrong with their body. Yeah, right. Something was wrong that was out of their control, so to speak.
But if you tell them like, well, that could be the way that you're perceiving yourself. It could be self-love or compassion. It could be, you know, the way that you're recovering from stress. We take offense to that and we say, don't you dare tell me that I'm doing it wrong. Like I'm doing the best that I can. And that's where we breathe and we say, I believe you are doing the best that you can right now.
Let me help you explore it. Let me see if there's opportunity to heal more deeply. And that's actually what I love about the healing journey. Because if you're healing right, you're not just healing your tissues and your cells. You're healing your whole being. Yeah. And that's really when people live much happier, healthier lives. So anything you want to add to that I like gosh, that's it's such an important point.
It's important to realize that athletes need, but I don't I don't think any practitioner comes into this space with like, you're doing this wrong. Exactly. But it's it's like some of these, links or awarenesses are just things that I've seen over the years that, yeah, even the women are not necessarily like, these are not the words that they use to describe it, but they're seeing this shift happen.
Well, I love that you bring that up as the example of like we as practitioner ers. We're really just trying to help you feel better. We're really just want you to be happy. And sometimes we see things that are harder to address and harder to pull out. But at the end of the day, it's not about us being like we are, right?
You were a control freak and that was like interfering with your psyche. Like, we don't care about that crap. Like we just really want people to feel, to get to reach their goals. You know, whatever their goals are, when we when they come to us, our job is to uncover and figure out and recognize patterns from seeing, you know, from 20 years of meeting women and meeting patients.
And like, that's what we get to do. And it's super gratifying when people have when they reach their goals, not our goals. When they reach their goals. So I love that you bring that up. Well, we're just about out of time. I don't know if we can do this justice, but we'll see how you do sort of rapid fire here.
What are your like top three things for these conditions that maybe a little bit more unique from the foundation that you've already mentioned. So the first one is, advancing maternal age. It's the rapid fire. Right? I know this is like a whole podcast in and of itself. Okay. So I'll I'll keep it relatable so it gets maternal age the best research thing.
It's called cute. Check. It has a lot of research on specific women of older years, over 40 that are struggling. Like we need to be in this short period reserve. Cookie ten. There are probably some other things that we should get into along with. Is it really your age? But that's the one. There was a great book.
Agreed. What about PCOS? Kind of a big. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Dart to the dartboard. What's what's your main the best dart is, my own dart at all. Plus anything comfortable like, all together. I love that you're very, very simple. I love that, and we are totally oversimplifying this, but I think it's sometimes helpful to simplify it for a minute.
Male fertility. Anything you want to add there for? Maybe someone whose semen analysis is not quite greater? Testosterone is not quite great. If the semen analysis and testosterone are shot, selenium. And if testosterone is okay. But a sperm, it's not so great. Coach, can you check? Love it. Okay, well, I'm going to leave it at those three conditions because it does get really complicated.
I think mostly if I can recap a little bit, you know, as couples are dealing with, why am I not getting pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant for that matter? I think you mentioned really focusing on a whole foods diet, cutting out alcohol, certainly smoking marijuana, maybe coffee for women and then supporting other decrease of toxins, whether that's microplastics, fragrances, phthalates, parabens.
I know in your clinic then you do support people through, supporting their detox pathways and helping. So we're diminishing toxic exposure but then boosting. And I think those three steps, besides the detox per se, those three steps people can and should do on their own, like that's great. I love it when patients come to me on that because it just saves time for that.
So Whole Foods, decreasing smoking alcohol, maybe coffee and marijuana and then decreasing exposure to toxins and then your next step is to really start with labs and to say, what are these? The lowest hanging fruit that are obvious things like nutrient deficiencies, thyroid dysfunction, a gut poor gut health, vaginal microbiome. What what else is in your top like that?
Your in your initial panel that you're looking for. And that reveals that that like hormone metabolism and stuff. It's like yeah big changer must do like a Dutch test or like looking at the balance of hormones. Yep yep Anything else I missed right there. And then just like insulin testosterone. Yes. Like yeah. Hormones in women, liver function all of those things also on the female side and those and then the guts and not initial.
Yes. And that's in that initial reveal lab evaluation. And then your next step after that is then to remove, which hopefully if they've done it on their own, then you're just focusing more on that detoxifying and really supporting, the body's excretion of whatever is still left around and then also removing other quote unquote toxins of stress and, you know, other issues, maybe lifestyle issues that need to be addressed there.
Yeah. Yep. And then that next step is to rebalance, sort of just get things in order, fix whatever you found in the reveal, support the body to heal, whether through lifestyle like sleep and stress and food and movement. And then also supplements, maybe medications. And then that receive is my favorite part because it's totally happy and I love every minute of it is preparing us as as future mothers and as couples to get ourselves in the right mindset, that of letting go of that control and being able to just prepare to receive a pregnancy.
And I just I think that that step alone is can certainly be combined with IVF, but it's so absent in the IVF process. It becomes so mechanical and so lab oriented. You know, you're literally taking an egg and taking a sperm and putting them together and shooting them up inside your uterus like it's just as it loses all of that.
And so really focusing back on like, how am I, who am I, what am I being? Who are we being and being able to receive this pregnancy? Did I did I miss anything in that regard? Got it. That's all. I love this, I love this. Fertility is one of my. It's so near and dear to my heart because of my own experiences, but also because it is such an emotional journey and it's so nice as a practitioner to be able to support people on that journey as they're feeling sad or sometimes ashamed or like broken or unclear of where to go next.
And it's so nice to be able to help them through that. Yeah, absolutely. Is there anything else that you just want to say at the end of this episode? Any final statement or recap when it comes to fertility or just your own personal heart message to women that you'd like to share? I think I would love to have women just realize that you can do with your body.
You can do this most of the time outside of like genetic things that you can't do anything about. Your body can do this and if you are struggling actively, like find a practitioner who can help, you gotta rally to really safe like people. But like, there are so many of us that are just like here and ready to be a support to couples because this is a growing problem.
And I think that that space that we're holding or the light that we're holding is really how do we do this in a way that empowers the health of mom, dad and baby? Right. And there are very few people, practitioners that are looking at it from that. What so really get support and and like people always make right like people always say, oh I want to try this thing for so lemon try this and I will try this.
And like if your goal is to do this the fastest way possible, find someone who can support you in doing it the fastest way possible. So yeah, but I think that it's probably the biggest thing to saying because, like, as much as you could totally do this on your own, it could take five years or ten. You.
Right. And and like keep chipping away and keep figuring it out and trying this showing that, trying it. So like the value of what, a skilled practitioner will provide is high in that. Yeah. Like taking your life back and putting it back into putting you in the place of, like, getting to that goal so that you can live the rest of your life.
Right. Like, this doesn't have to take forever. But so many people just wait and wait and like, oh, I'll just try this and try that and and struggle without the need to struggle, I love that. Well, thank you so much for being here. I know we could just sit and talk shop for hours, but we'll we'll stop for now.
Tell us, tell our listeners where they can find you. The best place is Instagram. Holistic fertility doctors send me a message. We're really active on there. And within the next week or so, we will have a chat, like a live clone chat with me on our website so you can go to Holistic Fertility institute.com if you just like.
And when I ask you, a bunch of questions that'll be available on our website. That's amazing. And where do you what states do you see patients from? So we don't actually we we have a different relationship with our people. It's not a doctor patient relationship where we're diagnosing and treating anything but more of a coaching relationship.
So we do that everywhere, anywhere. Great, great, wonderful. And they can find that on your website. Thank you so much. This is super fun feature. And I mean thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. A huge thank you to our guests for sharing their insights and time with us. We are grateful for the incredible support from our sponsors and to all of you listening.
We couldn't do this without you. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing on your favorite platform. You can find us on our website. Uplift for her.com, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you left. Listen. And if you found value here today, please share this episode with someone who would benefit from it. Leave us a comment or give us a review.
It really helps us reach more listeners like you. Thank you for being part of our community. Stay tuned for our next episode. Lastly, this information is for educational purposes only and not intended to be medical advice.
