Just like all roadblocks in life, dealing with a fertility challenge requires a new strategy, often with your lifestyle. These 3 lifestyle habits are essential to improve your chances of increasing your fertility, and to make this time period more enjoyable.
Fertility Enhancer #1
Stress Management – I hear it all the time, “but I love my life, I’m not stressed!” Let’s define stress then; a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances, and, pressure or tension exerted on a material object. This would obviously include life events such as a death in the family, working for a demanding boss, or day to day financial struggles. However, your body can be stressed physiologically too – if it is dehydrated, inflamed, and sleep deprived. Certain foods and drugs can alter certain hormones which increase cortisol and make your body feel “stressed”. This can lead to hormonal imbalances and nutrient deficiencies – i.e. placing pressure and demand on certain systems. All of these factors (and of course there are many more) contribute to the stress that causes certain types of infertility.
Recognize what aspect of your life may need re-arranging. If your type of stress is one of perception, then meditation and yoga will have a big impact, along with affirmations and for some, prayer. If you acknowledge that you may be eating a SAD (standard American diet) then you will want to target nutrition. This is Fertility Enhancer tip #1 for a reason – stress management is the most important part of fertility enhancement.
Fertility Enhancer #2
Sleep – dare I say that sleep is more important than nutrition? Well…..these days, most health conscious women are eating cleaner, however more and more women are stressed and sleep deprived or have sleep disruption. Our sleep cycles permit hormonal function; continuous sleep troubles or decreased sleep times will cause lower growth hormone and melatonin. This leads to weight gain and hormonal imbalances ….and more stress! What a vicious cycle!
Rejuvenating your sleep habits can be done. The typical advice stands – dimming the lights around 9 pm, ending screen time early, drink a warm tea, and keep bed-time at a constant of 10 – 10:30 pm. The suggestions in Tip#1 are also helpful for sleep. Many people find their sleep dramatically improves when they exercise during the day, remove wheat from their diet, along with balancing their blood sugar with protein and high fiber foods. Sleep interruption is usually caused by hypoglycemia.
Fertility Enhancer #3
Castor oil packs – Castor oil is a powerful oil that can be used to help detoxify and regenerate the organ or tissue that it is placed over. I recommend this strategy for most fertility patients because it also is de-stressing (tip #1) and improves sleep (tip#2) when done before bed. What a great deal! Depending on the person and their other health concerns, I recommend placing the oil over the liver to help with detoxification, pelvis to help remove masses or cysts, or entire abdomen to target the digestive tract too. During the 30-45 minutes that it is covering the body, I recommend to do deep breathing or visualizations.
These lifestyle strategies are simple yet powerful ways to enhance your fertility, and the health of your future baby.
Dr. Donata Girolamo, naturopathic doctor specializes in naturopathic fertility treatments and has helped many women conceive beautiful healthy babies. Contact her today for more information www.naturopathstcatharines.com
