So we have a few clients who are trying to get pregnant and when we asked them about their lifestyle we got a lot of great feedback.  We decided to create a list of the top 10 ways to change your lifestyle before using hormone replacement therapy and in vitro fertilization.  Enjoy!

In Vitro

Have you been trying to get pregnant, but worry why it’s taking so long?  Perhaps you’ve already talked to your doctor about reproductive therapies like in vitro fertilization and hormone therapy?  Before you seek medical assistance, you should know there are many natural methods that can help you conceive.

Getting pregnant in today’s modern world can be tougher than ever.  Stressful lifestyle factors are making it more difficult to conceive than at any point in history.  A 2007 Newsweek article calls infertility a “common problem, besetting an estimated 6 million American couples.”  The author, Doctor Jorge Willet, quotes a huge study of more than 18,000 women which found “one in six women had trouble getting pregnant.”  Should this “common problem” be considered normal?

It may be surprising to find out that a few of your daily habits may work against a healthy quick conception.  If you are a man or a woman who wants to speed conception and increase your chance of a healthy baby, there are a few lifestyle factors you should consider before taking a trip to the fertility doctor.

It seems that conception is less likely to occur when you are stressed.  Stress from several realms can combine to cause reproduction problems.  Some of today’s “modern” stressful combinations are lack of movement, lack of nutrients, food toxins, disturbed sleep, household toxins, and negative mental/emotional thought patterns.  These stressors cause the stress hormone “cortisol” to become elevated in your body, which wreaks havoc on your reproductive hormones.  According to health researcher and lifestyle counselor Paul Chek, if your body is busy building stress hormones and dealing with stress, it will not have the resources to also build healthy and effective hormones for reproduction.  He suggests the key to a healthy conception is to remove as many stressors and toxins as possible and create an environment that is optimal for conception to occur.

In many ways, this is Mother Nature’s way of saying, “We have a few more things to take care of before having a baby.”    It’s probable that Mother Nature’s wisdom has been honed by evolution’s advisement that a woman who is in extreme shock or stress will not have the nutritional reserves to grow a healthy baby.  So here are ten facts that you can use to reduce the effect of stressful modernization, build a healthier you, and conceive quickly and naturally.

Fact # 1:  Stop Worrying
Relaxing and remaining stress-free can be the most powerful aid in a successful conception.  Not only will having a positive mental outlook help you to eat, move, and sleep better, but studies show it will help you conceive.  A study published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that “Women who worried about the conception process…were less likely to conceive.”  This study on in vitro fertilization found that women who were “concerned” had 19% fewer eggs fertilized and women who were “very concerned” had 30% fewer eggs fertilized and had a “very high risk of not delivering a live infant.”  One Mercola.com article discussing natural methods to overcome fertility worry and stress suggested using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves stimulating meridian points on your body.  EFT can be learned and performed in just a few minutes.

Fact #2:  Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
Avoiding low calorie substitutes may encourage a healthy pregnancy.  According to Doctor Joseph Mercola, who runs perhaps the largest “holistic” website in the world, Mercola.com lists “aborted pregnancy” as one of the toxic side effects of Splenda.  Doctor Louis Elsas, Director of Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, also recommends that “pregnant women avoid aspartame sweeteners,” like Equal and Nutrasweet.  Apparently, these sweeteners can “interfere with the growth of the fetus brain” and cause “decreased growth rate in newborns” as reported on Mercola’s site.  Instead, choose zero-calorie pure stevia, without additional chemicals.

Fact # 3:  Avoid Caffeine
Avoiding caffeine can help your chances of conceiving a healthy child.  The American Pregnancy Association suggests, “It is important to wean yourself off of caffeine” because it can “reduce fertility by 27 percent.”  It’s possible that this suggestion applies for both men and women.  Reuters London agreed in a 2001 report, that consuming caffeine can increase your risk of miscarriage.  In November, 1999, the New England Journal of Medicine not only reported an association of spontaneous abortions but proved “profound cardiovascular and neurobehavioral effects on fetuses and infants” who were conceived from caffeinated parents.  For healthy conception, choose caffeine-free.
Fact #4:  Avoid Pesticides
Avoiding pesticides may increase your chances of a quick and healthy conception.  Nutritionist Carol Simontacchi says, “The purpose of a pesticide is, after all, to either kill insect pests or make them sterile so they can’t reproduce.”  She also suggests that, if you do get pregnant, pesticides may disrupt the hormonal and nervous system of your growing baby.  Avoid pesticides as much as possible while choosing organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and meats.

Fact #5:  Avoid Soy
Avoiding soy foods may help your chances of quick and healthy reproduction.  Nutrition researcher Sally Fallon says that soy’s phytoestrogens are potent hormonal disruptors while a 2006 Medical News Today article says “There is a growing body of literature demonstrating the potentially adverse consequences [of soy] on the reproductive system.”  The reason why is because phytoestrogens act as estrogen in your body, and Endocrine Biologist Raymond Peat, PhD, whose career has studied the negative effect of excess estrogens in a woman’s body, writes how human fertility “has declined so steeply during the last 20 years as the result of…harmful estrogen-like effects.”  When in doubt, leave soy out.

Fact #6:  Remove Household Toxins
Changing some common household products may help your body conceive.  Many household products contain “endocrine disruptors” which can cause “reproductive risks to humans,” according to a risk assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and reported by Environmental Working Group in 2003.  The EPA assessment spoke directly about PFOA, a chemical found in Teflon cookware, stain repellents, food packaging, and cosmetics.  However, endocrine disruptors are also present in plastic containers, plastic bottles, and plastic wrap as Bisphenol A, and as phthalates in shampoo, deodorants, fragrances, hair spray, and nail polish.  If you put these products on your skin, eat foods that come in contact with these products, or simply breathe any of these products, they enter your body.  As an alternative, purchase your household cleaners and toiletries at health food stores, use glass containers, and cook with Teflon-free cookware.

Fact #7:  Unprocessed Foods for Her
You are what you eat.  In The Fertility Diet, Harvard Researchers suggest eating unprocessed foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, as well as avoiding trans fats and skim milk to increase a woman’s chances of conception.  It seems that processed foods like sugar and flour can reduce your chances of becoming pregnant.  We know that choosing unprocessed “true-foods” provides quality building blocks for everything your body manufactures, including reproductive hormones.  Unprocessed foods include fresh vegetables and fruits, hormone-free meats, fresh fish, eggs, brown rice, quinoa, barley, potatoes, unpasteurized dairy, olive oil, and coconut oil.

Fact #8:  Unprocessed Foods for Him
Your partner is what he eats too!  In her article, Eat to Get Pregnant, Nutritionist Victoria Greaves says conception may also depend upon what your spouse eats as well.  She mentions zinc for “good-quality sperm,” B12 to “increase sperm count,” selenium “has been shown to increase male fertility,” “Vitamin E increases sperm mobility and ability to penetrate the egg,” and Essential Fatty Acids can “prevent poor sperm mobility, low count or abnormal sperm.”  Similar to The Fertility Diet, the foods she suggests for dad are unprocessed and organic, including shellfish, egg yolks, nuts, seeds, whole grains, cheese, as well as organic fruits, vegetables, and meats.  She also says to drink plenty of water and don’t be afraid of healthy fats.  In terms of a healthy conception, Doctor Westin Price’s famous world travels in search of the healthiest cultures found “the general architecture of the body is apparently determined primarily by the health of the two germ cells at the time of their union.”  Referring to a range of possible facial deformities like cleft palate, he found “the male may provide the defect quite as well as the female.”  Dads share a good portion of the responsibility in creating a healthy baby.

Fact #9:  Get Regular Sleep and Sunshine
Good circadian rhythms can help your chances of conception.  Mary Kittel and Doctor Deborah Metzger, authors of Stay Fertile Longer, write that lack of sleep can lead to hormone imbalance and menstrual irregularity, factors that can “delay the time it takes to conceive.”  In an article called Guidelines for Sleep, Sunlight, and Fertility, they discuss world-famous circadian rhythm expert Doctor Daniel Kripke who says hormones that trigger ovulation, and even the sperm maturation process, are somehow tied into the body’s biological clock.  The article reports that because scientists have found our sleep-wake hormones are somehow tied to reproductive hormones for both men and women, these systems can affect each other.  Some of their recommended circadian-healing tips include keeping sleep and wake times consistent all seven days of the week, dimming lights as the evening arrives, and getting an hour of sunshine every day.

Fact #10:  Daily Movement
Daily movement can help conception.  Moderate exercise has been shown to improve just about every bodily function, including “beneficial changes to your…reproductive hormones” says Doctor Jeffrey Keenan of the Southeastern Center for Fertility and Reproductive Surgery.  In addition, a 2007 article in Human Reproduction reported that the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam has shown that obese women have a lower chance of becoming pregnant naturally.  It seems that exercise tells Mother Nature you are “fit” to give birth.

James and Kim are certified Nutrition & Lifestyle Coaches who assist pregnant moms and new parents to achieve optimal health.  They can be contacted at FitForBirth@gmail.com or through their websites GetFitForBirth.com and SecretsofPainlessChildbirth.com