Aug 3, 2020

These blog posts titled “What a BFF (Best Fertility Friend) Would Say” are a hodge-podge of random tips to give you strength and assurance as you try to get pregnant.  I hope they help!

With appreciation for inviting me on your journey,

Julie

Align to Your Desire

Align your thoughts to your desires, instead of your fears.  Stop saying “I want to have a baby but… (e.g. I’m too old, my doctor says I can’t, my AMH is too low).

Contradicting your vision with doubts only slows down your momentum towards what you want.  Be deliberate about what you say regarding your fertility.  Instead say, “I want to have a baby and I’m proud of myself for making so many positive changes to set the stage for a healthy pregnancy.”

What type of exercise do lazy people do?

Diddly squats.  🙂  (I thought that was cute.)

Back to the subject at hand…

Getting enough exercise is important to improving your fertility.  That’s because moving your body gets your blood and energy flowing and THAT means more nutrients are delivered to your ovaries,uterus, and brain.  Our bodies are designed to move, not sit in a chair for most of the day.

One of the best exercises to improve egg quality is HIIT (high-intensity interval training).

Let’s go back to high school science for a minute…Mitochondria are the power plants of the cells, including eggs. They are crucial for normal egg maturation, fertilization, and development into a healthy baby. As you can imagine, to grow from one egg to an entire human being requires an enormous amount of cellular energy and that energy is provided by the mitochondria.  Not having enough mitochondria contributes to aging of the egg.

After fertilization, all of the mitochondria in the sperm are broken down, and the mitochondria in the embryo come entirely from the egg. The quality of egg mitochondria thus determines the quality of the embryo.

Studies have shown that HIIT helps cells rebuild mitochondria that deteriorate with aging. Exercise causes cells to make more proteins for their mitochondria, effectively stopping aging at the cellular level. Specifically,  HIIT in aerobic exercises such as biking and walking seemed most effective.

HIIT involves short bursts of very intense activity, interspersed with recovery periods of lower-intensity exercise.

One study showed interval training boosted the ability of the mitochondria within cells to generate energy by 69% in older volunteers aged 65-80yo, and by 49% in a younger group of 18-30yo.

So incorporate HIIT exercises into your routine.  It can be as simple as sprinting or walking quickly for 30-60 seconds then resting for a minute, and work up to doing this cycle for ten minutes. There’s no need to spend hours working out.  Do this routine 3-4 times a week which is only 40 minutes a week.  You’ll be shocked with the results it brings in short periods of time.

Clarity as the solution to roadway deaths

A massive electronic sign on the freeway (presumably paid by the city of San Diego) reads rather grimly, “Roadway deaths are preventable.  It’s up to you.”

That’s an awful message.  Why?

1) It’s not clear.  What’s up to me?  Signal when changing lanes?  Going the speed limit?  Leaving plenty of space between me and the car in front?  Don’t hit the skunk darting across the freeway (because that’s a roadway death and the only one I’ve ever seen, thank goodness).  What do you want me to do?

2) It’s not telling me what you want.  Don’t tell me what you don’t want i.e. deaths.  Tell me what you want i.e. being an attentive driver.  Again, not clear.

The point of this message…be clear about what you want (healthy baby) and how you get there (getting healthy – physically, emotionally, and spiritually).

Quit talking about what you don’t want e.g. your age, low AMH, miscarriage, etc. because by talking about it incessantly, you create more momentum in that direction.  So just stop.

How Magnesium Improves Egg Quality

One of my favorite supplements that I recommend to fertility clients is magnesium.  The reason is that eggs need a LOT of energy to fertilize, implant into the uterus, grow a new organ (the placenta), and develop into an entire human being. 

That energy is produced in your eggs by organelles called mitochondria. In order to do all that, increasing mitochondrial production and function is essential to make more energy for the eggs in the form of ATP, the main source of energy. 

However, for ATP to be biologically active, it needs to bind to magnesium (mg). Unfortunately, most people are deficient in magnesium because our soils are so depleted of minerals from improper farming practices.  It’s estimated that upwards of 80% of Americans don’t get enough magnesium.

In addition to ATP function, some of the other important roles that magnesium is involved in are:

• • ensuring proper blood supply to the uterus 
  • producing progesterone, one of the most essential hormones for a healthy pregnancy
  • reducing risk of miscarriage
  • keeping cortisol, the stress hormone, under control
  • detoxification
  • Improving sleep quality
  • DNA repair
  • Sperm quality 

Add a magnesium supplement to your daily routine to ensure that you have enough to meet the energy demands of your eggs.