I think it must be the age I’m at because I’m hearing about more and more people (friends, friends of friends and clients) who are making plans to have babies. Case in point when my best friend from growing up said at her bachelorette a few weekends ago, “BABIES, BABIES & BABIES” when asked what her and her finance’s big future plans were. 😉
Did you know that an estimated 11-15% of couples deal with infertility*, which is defined as the inability to conceive, after having unprotected sex for more than 12 months?
More shockingly, the average couple that goes as far as needing to receive IVF and does conceive using IVF will have spent an average of $48,424* on all the treatment and medication. YIKES.
While for some couples, IVF may be the only option, I thought it would be worth a post on some of the natural solutions that work for many couples struggling with infertility. Today, I’m talking about it from the female perspective, but this is with the understanding that the men’s health also dictates fertility and it’s not a female only concern.
Keep in mind: Even if you’re not thinking of having babies, these are valuable tips for anyone with hormonal imbalances.
Let’s start with the obvious: your diet. It’s critical to be eating a whole foods diet that is low glycemic, meaning that your blood sugar is under control. If you are overweight, diabetic, have any insulin resistance or have low energy, these are all worth investigating. Luckily, with the right guidance and recipes, managing your blood sugar is a relatively easy and quick fix with the right combination of good carbs, fat and protein. It’s something I help my clients with all the time!
Next up is one that is highly under diagnosed in the traditional western medical field and that is the thyroid. Thyroid conditions are 4-7x more likely to occur in women than men. One of the reasons that thyroid problems go undiagnosed is that doctors typically only test your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels, and not your circulating T3 or T4.
While your TSH levels may be in the normal range, if the T3 or T4 is not, you may have an undiagnosed hypo or hyperthyroid. I recommend asking your doctor to test all 3 levels along with your antibodies TPO and anti-thyroglublin, and then taking it to a natural health care practitioner to interpret the results as they often have stricter parameters for the results to be in.
A study of 100 pregnant women who had histories of miscarriage showed that 30% had high levels of thyroid antibodies in their system. In another study, 14% of women who were unable to conceive tested positive for subclinical hypothyroidism (subclinical means there is a mild issue, but it’s still within the normal range a doctor tests for) and of those 14%, 44% were able to conceive after receiving thyroid medication.
Here are some signs that could be related to a thyroid condition:
Did you know that a lot of people are able to naturally balance their thyroid with stress management techniques, diet and a few supplements?1 Often synthetic thyroid might not be needed if you catch it early enough.
Within reason, age is of course important; however, an article published in The Atlantic this year actually suggests that a lot of the information touting that it’s impossible to get pregnant over 35 has actually been oversold, and that there is only a 4% decrease in fertility between ages 35-39 and 27-34. You can read more in the full article.
Got babies on the mind? Or just thinking about balancing out your hormones? Book a quick call with me, at no charge, and I can tell you more about how I help people like you regain their energy and balance out their hormones.
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