Fertility Kitchen

The thyroid is a tiny gland with an enormous impact on the health and wellbeing of the entire body. Underfunctioning of this gland, or hypothyroidism, affects approximately 1 out of every 12 women. However, thyroid conditions can be sub-clinical or go unnoticed for many years. Every cell in the body needs small amounts of thyroid hormone for optimal functioning. So, when this gland is compromised, many aspects of health can diminish, including fertility.

Many women suffer unnecessarily with symptoms such as fatigue, decreased libido, hair loss, water retention, depression, insomnia, and menstrual irregularity and may experience fertility challenges such as recurrent miscarriages.

Chinese medicine groups many of these symptoms into the "Kidney" system, which loosely correlates to the endocrine system, including thyroid, adrenal and ovarian function. Chinese medicine practitioners assess not only standard lab tests (measurements of TSH, T3 and T4) but also delve into aspects of health history such as immunity, energy levels and sleep patterns that have interrelationships to the thyroid function in order to arrive at an understanding of the entire "Kidney" system.

Both Chinese and Western medicine recognize that stress, overwork and poor diet may negatively impact the "Kidney" or endocrine system. Conversely, applying acupuncture and appropriate lifestyle modifications may help improve endocrine health and in turn, reproductive function.

The insertion of acupuncture needles at specific points on the body propagates sensation to the brain (specifically the hypothalamus), which in turn helps regulate the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovarian Axis to impact hormone regulation and improve thyroid function.

Chinese medical nutrition traditionally employs substances from the sea that are rich in iodine, such as oyster shells and seaweed, to treat thyroid nodules. With the current availability of iodine (an essential component of the thyroid) in our regular food sources, these substances may not be as necessary, but a well-balanced diet, including good sources of protein (deep sea fish, hormone-free meat and poultry), complex carbohydrates (squash, asparagus, brown rice, beans, sweet potatoes), have shown to contribute toward healthy thyroid function. Foods to avoid include alcohol, sugar and goitrogens (peanuts, pine nuts, tapioca and sorgum).

Stress reduction techniques and immune-restoring activities such as yoga and meditation help to re-balance and restore thyroid function. Cognitive therapy has also shown an effect on the thyroid axis similar to that of antidepressant treatments.

Proper diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism can significantly improve reproductive health and overall quality of life.

Thankfully, breathing is involuntary, or we'd all keel over and die, but conscious deep breathing can be a simple and profound tool for everyday use. In 4 breaths you can ease your work tensions, feel more energized, and even boost your immunity.

1. Inhale into your lower belly, filling it up, letting it expand
2. Exhale and draw your lower belly back toward your spine
3. Inhale, imagining your breath going up the back of your spine to the base of your neck
4. Exhale, letting your breath wash down your arms into your palms

Then, begin the inhale again from your lower belly, and repeat until nothing can shake your calm.

My colleague, Tamara Falvai, L.Ac., is going to give birth any day now, and in her honor I've been thinking a lot about labor breathing.

We've all heard that patterned breathing during labor is a crucial way to get through the painful and scary process of giving birth. Breathing is also a great way to ground yourself through the ups and downs of daily life.

It's a natural human reaction to hold our breath when we are scared or in pain. But-as so many yogis have learned-breathing through difficulty is a crucial tool for coping and staying comfortably grounded in your body. That's one reason that breathing is emphasized so fully in learning the mindfulness-based practice of meditation.

Breathing is a do-it-yourself relaxation tool. It's inherently healthy. It's free, which costs a lot less than acupuncture or a massage. And, it's something absolutely everyone can do.

Here's how:

During labor, we encourage women to take a deep, relaxing breath at the beginning and end of each contraction. (By the way, do you know that I'm a trained doula?) During daily stress, practice bringing attention to your breath whenever you catch yourself in a moment of negative emotional or mind-based reaction. Take a long, deep, slow breath.

It can help to actually count the pacing of the breath to yourself. Try to match the length of the inhale to the length of the exhale.

Alternately, in certain meditation practices, teachers will instruct you to linger longer on the side of the breath that feels most comfortable to you. If you cling to the in breath as an invigorating infusion of energy, take a little longer as you breathe in. If you prefer the relaxing, letting-go sensation of breathing out, then stay longer on this side.

Also, be particularly aware of the pause between each in breath and out breath. This silent little pause is a great moment of contemplation where your body takes the time to shore up for the next breath.

You can practice mindful breathing in the car, while standing in line at a grocery store, while enduring a really boring conversation you simply can't break away from.... basically any time you find yourself feeling anxious, bored, scared, angry, or tense.

A chuckle a day keeps the doctor away, or so believe those who espouse Gelototherapy: prescribing humor for health.

Here's a link to a great article from the Canadian Medical Association Journal as found on the National Center for Biotechnology Information's web site.

On a lighter note, this time of year is perfect for hunkering down at home for a marathon movie session. Humor and laughter are guaranteed soul-healing activities, and they also have scientifically-proven health benefits, such as improving immune function, increasing tolerance of pain, and decreasing negative response to stress.

With that in mind, here are some of my fertility-boosting recommendations for movie night. (Netflix links are built in for you whenever possible!

1. The Baby Dance with Stockard Channing
2. A Smile Like Yours with Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly (netflix)
3. Raising Arizona with Holly Hunter and Nicholas Cage (netflix)
4. Funny about Love with Gene Wilder  (netflix)
5. The Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston (netflix)
6. Penny Serenade with Cary Grant (netflix)
7. Forget Paris with Billy Crystal and Debra Winger (netflix)
8. Maybe Baby with Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson (netflix)
9. Up (the Pixar animation) (netflix)
10. Juno with Ellen Page (netflix)
11. Baby Mama with Tina Fey (netflix)
12. Then She Found Me With Helen Hunt (netflix)

We can learn a lot about the relationship between stress and conception from studying how stressors affect other animals. Case in point: our super sensitive friends the pandas.

Pandas are not great breeders, which is one of several reasons why their species is in danger. For one thing, they ovulate for a mere 24 to 72 hour window every two or three years! And even during their optimal breeding time, they aren't known for their high sex drive or their libidinous skills. In China, efforts to restore panda populations are being taken very seriously.

Another poignant reason that pandas are a fading breed seems to be that pregnant pandas show a high rate of miscarriage when subjected to environmental stressors. A part of the reason for this is that the implantation phase of a panda pregnancy is a tedious three to six months. In women, on the other hand, implantation occurs within the first two weeks. We also ovulate roughly every twenty-eight days, so, comparably, we have a lot going for us.

But humans, unfortunately, are still subject to miscarriages. As a matter of fact, approximately one in three women experience this hardship. Although human miscarriage is certainly not as simple as just being about stress, the observation of the panda mamas shows us that stress may indeed be a contributory factor.

In my practice, I always address a client's lifestyle and stress levels when assessing how to improve the opportunity to successfully hold a pregnancy. Emphasizing stress-management during your pregnancy is not just for your uterus. It is important for the whole you to help you cope and be well, regardless of what challenges you may face while moving toward having a family.

Western science's viewpoint

There have been multiple studies conducted on stress's relationship to fertility and pregnancy. However, the fact-finding has been mixed. Most doctors will agree that stress has some negative influence on pregnancy. A hormone released by the brain during excessive stress—corticotropin-releasing hormone—may contribute to miscarriage because it happens to be the same hormone released during labor to trigger uterine contraction. Regardless of controversial theories, the general consensus is that excessive stress is not good for pregnancy or overall health.

The Chinese medicine interpretation

Stressors (both emotional and chemical) impact the uterine environment. Just as there is a link between environmental stress/toxins and infertility, there is a relationship between what we ingest emotionally and physically while pregnant, and the wellbeing of our pregnancy.

I see so many of my patients rushing in for their appointments while juggling their full time jobs, bustling social lives, and demanding family obligations. My advice to them, across the board, is to slow down, take better care of yourself, and make sure you are nurturing your body just as you would nurture a pregnancy. This starts to set the stage for a harmonious inner environment.

Looking on the bright side

Early human (and panda) life is fragile and unpredictable. However, people are born every day-every minute, in fact-and plenty of those births are resilient results of stressful pregnancies. Stress is a normal part of evolution. The lesson here is to take the best possible care of yourself, do your best to minimize stress through activities such as mindful breathing, hiking in beautiful places, yoga, etc... and most importantly, don't stress out about stress!