After one of her breaks, Vanessa came to me for a relaxing acupuncture treatment and caught me up on her journey. She felt frustrated, like nothing she did was ever enough, she couldn’t make the right choices, and things were out of her control. She worked hard to control the things she could, such as what she ate and drank.
We talked about how even eating and drinking must happen in balance. Many women I see obsess about their food intake, convinced that eating a spotlessly healthy diet will boost their chances of conception. Vanessa wasn’t giving herself much leeway; at her mother’s birthday she felt bad for not eating any birthday cake. When her mother said one piece wouldn’t kill her, she took a small piece but felt guilty about cheating. Imagine the stress of thinking a single piece of cake could ruin her chances of conceiving, thus wasting all the time, money, and effort they’d already invested. This is just not the way it works!
In Chinese medicine, we believe in living a balanced life. We expect you to eat and drink in order to nourish yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you have cut gluten, sugar, and dairy out of your diet and feel deprived, I say you are out of balance. Perhaps, instead of depriving yourself, you could consider healthier treats. For example, instead of a Mars Bar, you could buy some organic dark Belgian chocolate and eat with reckless abandon once in a while.
Eating for fertility: What to eat
The following tips will not only create a better environment for conception but will help you grow a healthy baby too:
•In general, pick easy recipes with simple ingredients and choose whole, unprocessed, high-fibre foods.
•Make soups with bone broth, ideally homemade. Bone marrow contains precursor cells for red and white blood cells. In TCM, the marrow is considered Jing essence, or kidney energy, which controls reproductive energy. Some people consider beef bones superior because the marrow is more concentrated, but they must also be cooked longer. With more and more people avoiding red meat, I recommend chicken bones and cartilage. Regardless, all bone marrow is very digestible yet filled with minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus), as well as good fats and simple proteins. (See sidebar on page 14 for a recipe for chicken bone broth soup.)
•Eat organic foods where possible to avoid pesticides and additives, which have been shown to cause menstrual irregularity, miscarriage, stillbirths, and developmental defects, as well as reducing fertility and increasing time-to-pregnancy.3
•For lunch and dinner, fill half your plate with cooked vegetables, such as spinach, zucchini, leeks, string beans, lettuce, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, peppers, artichokes, cucumbers, asparagus, dill, avocado, eggplant, bamboo shoots, escarole, sauerkraut, beans, seaweed, beets, onions, cilantro, parsley, garlic, mushrooms, okra, tomatoes, olives, celery, water chestnuts, peas, and ginger root. These vegetables help keep the body alkaline, creating a healthy environment for sperm to thrive.4 They also provide lots of nutrients, including vitamins A, C, B6, B12, K, beta carotene, calcium, vitamin E, folate, iron, niacin, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and selenium, all of which are vital to your overall health as well as to making a baby. Veggies are also good sources of dietary fibre, which keeps your bowels healthy and regular.
•In addition to the above vegetables, eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables, such as bok choy, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, turnips, and radishes. Research has shown cruciferous vegetables help to detoxify carcinogenic cells and reduce oxidative stress. In TCM, these vegetables are believed to help the liver cleanse your body of toxins (which is its primary role in our bodies) and excess hormones (which may accumulate during fertility treatments).
•Eat iodine-rich foods. Eating only cruciferous vegetables can reduce your iodine levels, which are essential to proper thyroid function, and thyroid function is essential to hormone production. You can counteract this by eating dried sea vegetables such as seaweed, wakame, hijiki, dulse, kombu, and kelp. In addition, Himalayan Crystal salts, cod fish, plain yoghurt, boiled eggs, navy beans, cranberries, strawberries, and supplemental iodine can keep your iodine levels healthy.
NOTE: Do not supplement with iodine or eat too much iodine if you have a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, where your body attacks your own thyroid gland, which is responsible for releasing hormones into your body. If in doubt, minimize iodine-containing foods, as an excess can be bad for your health, but consult a health care practitioner with extensive knowledge of supplements.
•Diversify your food intake to maximize nutritional benefits from a variety of different foods.
•Drink one litre of hot water with the freshly squeezed juice of one whole lemon as your first drink of the day. This gently wakes up your stomach, which decreases inflammation,5 aids digestion and eases constipation,6 eliminates toxins (by virtue of moving your bowels), calms anxiety by acting as a natural antidepressant,7 and helps with weight loss.8 Lemons also contain ascorbic acid, which protects sperm DNA and prevents oxidative stress.9 Think of juicy water-filled cells!
•Buy non-genetically modified foods (non-GMO) so you know they are derived from nature and not saturated with man-made pesticides.
•Eat protein at every meal because proteins are the building blocks of life. Protein sources include:
›Lean organic meats, like skinless chicken.
›Vegetable-based proteins in the form of legumes and nuts, such as chickpeas, lentils, split peas, quinoa, beans, nuts and nut butters (especially walnuts and almonds), sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, almond milk, and hemp milk. Eggs are a good source of protein, but make sure they’re from free range, organically fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free chickens.
›Fish. Smaller species are better as they are likely to have absorbed less mercury, lead, and other heavy metals, which can disrupt immune function and subvert the body’s ability to receive an embryo.10 They can also affect the reproductive system and can be toxic to the growing fetus via the placenta,11 posing a health threat to the developing brain and possibly leading to low birth weight and size.12
•Eat plenty of foods containing omega-3 fatty acids. Essential fatty acids (EFA) are naturally anti-inflammatory, and the older we get the more inflammation we tend to have in our bodies (kind of like rusting). The best EFA (DHA and EPA) are found in fish, but it’s important to stick with those with the lowest contaminant levels, such as wild salmon, Arctic char, Atlantic mackerel, sardines, sablefish (black cod), oysters, anchovies, rainbow trout, and mussels. Olive oil, garlic, flax seed, walnuts, dark leafy greens, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts contain another EFA called ALA. The body converts ALA to DHA and EPA, which are vital in pre- and post-natal brain and behavioural development.13 As well, one study showed fertile men had higher levels of EFA as compared to infertile men;14 this is known as a correlation rather than a causal relationship, but there are plenty of reasons for all of us to increase our EFA consumption. As well, for women, EFA appear to help with embryo quality.15
Chinese herbal chicken bone broth
Start with 1 large whole chicken, about 3 pounds (organic, free-range, hormone- and antibiotic-free). Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and rub all over with sea salt and pepper. Into the cavity, insert 1 lemon cut in half, 2 sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf, and some sprigs of rosemary or sage. Roast for about 1 hour. After 30 minutes, baste with cooking fluids and then baste every 10 minutes until done.
In the meantime, fill your largest stock pot with cold filtered water and add the following organic vegetables:
2 large carrots, peeled and cut in half
3 celery stalks
1 tomato cut in half
1 large onion cut in half
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
Add