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alternative-health, fertility

August Herbal Blog Party: Herbs for Fertility

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There are many ways herbs can help a couple deal with fertility.  A simple red clover infusion  can  kick off a pregnancy for many women.   Herbalists can make specific formulas for the five parts of the menstrual cycle identified by Chinese medicine or more simply incorporate menstrual charting with formulas, using herbs to tonify the yin or yang phases of the menstrual cycle as needed.  One may even managed to open a blocked fallopian tube with a phlegm stasis formula.  Or reduce insulin resistance in PCOS.  Or improve sperm quality and motility in the male partner.  Or use flower essences with a frightened first time mother. We can even use plants to deal with the residues of sexual abuse so that a prospective mother can embrace her fertility.

Here are the results of our August Herbal Blog Party where different people wrote articles on various aspects of fertility:

The indomitable Henriette Kress’s article Trying to Get Pregnant? looks at stress, tight jeans, model-thin proportions and discusses going off of carrot seed or taking lily and peony.

Kristena Haslam at Dreamseeds Organics has written a tribute to Exotic, Erotic Damiana and even has a picture of the (in)famous Mexican Liqueur bottle shaped like  a sitting pregnant woman.

Gail Faith Edwards of Blessed Maine Herbs has  had 25 years of women bringing their red clover babies to her and writes Red Clover Is Not Just for Healthy Women Who Want to Conceive, It Is for ALL Women Who Want to Conceive. She recommends that men with low sperm count smell roses too.  Note you must have Facebook access to read the piece.

Karen Vaughan has written Staging Herbal Formulas to Enhance Fertility, taking the stance that the yin and yang parts of the cycle deserve different formulas, since women have cyclical tides of hormones and discusses how menstrual charting can be used for more than finding fertile days.

Rosalie de la Foret’s very comprehensive Holistic Herbal Perspectives for Challenges With Fertility discusses preparing yourself for conception, nutrition, dosing and herbs.

Angela Ferri’s piece on Herbal Fertility Support Within A Mayan Abdominal Practice discusses herbs for vata imbalance and boggy uterine tissue.  She brings the experience of a body worker who looks at physical connections with the internal chemistry.

Darcey Blue of Gaia’s Gifts wrote Nutrition for Pregnancy which looks at nutrient dense foods and micronutrient requirements from a combined Paleo-diet and modern nutrition perspective.

Please copy and repost links!

alternative-health, fertility

Full Fat Dairy Helps Ovulation in the Infertile

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Women who eat at least one portion of high-fat dairy food per day have more productive ovulation, by 27% than women who eat low-fat dairy. Women who eat 2 servings or more of low fat dairy have 85% more ovulation-related infertility.  Is it the dairy, the fat, or a combination?

‎”The risk of anovulatory infertility was found to be 27 percent lower in women who ate at least one portion of high-fat dairy food per day compared with women who had one high-fat serving of dairy per week, or even less. Women who ate two or more portions of lowfat dairy foods a day increased their risk of ovulation related infertility by 85 percent.”      Human Reproduction 2007;doi:10.1093/humrep/dem019.

Butter, A Source of CLA
Butter, A Source of CLA

We live in a world where low fat is treated as the holy grail of health, yet we forget that fats and fats alone contain certain essential nutrients, including those used to form hormones used in reproduction.  The fat from pasture-raised cows contain  has as much as five times the CLA (a fatty acid which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster) as fat from grain-fed cows.  The Omega 3 essential fatty acids are found in similar proportions to deep sea fish.  Grass-fed milk contains rumenic acid (a CLA), DHA, vaccenic acid, branched chain fatty acids, butyric acid, lecithin, cysteine-rich whey proteins, calcium, iodine and vitamin D all of which have value from reducing cancer to increasing fertility.

Butterfat contains glycospingolipids, a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastro-intestinal infection, which would be protective during pregnancy.  Raw butter is the only source of an anti-stiffness factor which prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland- and which may prevent stiffness and adhesions of the fallopian tubes.

There is a case to be made that one should not take milk, and by milk I mean organic grass-fed milk, unless it comes with all of its fat. The balance of the drink is quite different, and there are constituents that mimic insulin and can stimulate insulin-resistance about which I have written before.  Insulin resistance may affect the ability of sperm to penetrate the egg more than anovulatory infertility. Butterfat in the milk will slow insulin spikes, since we know that having some fat in the meal will lower an insulin curve after eating. The second statistic about two servings or more of nonfat dairy causing 85% more anovulatory infertility may indicate that there is an additional mechanism.

But is it the lack of milk fat or the lack of fat altogether that causes a reduction in ovulation?  The study was not clear.  Women who tend to drink low fat milk also tend to reduce fat overall in their diets.  And I see women all the time who are thin, cold and infertile who have very little fat in their bodies or in their diets, usually of non-animal origin. Fat is needed for reproduction.

Among hunter-gatherers, fat is the preferred part of meat.  Inuit hunters will frequently eat the vitamin-rich fatty organs and fat, giving the muscle meat to their dogs.  Fat is what forms your brain, your hormones and allows your cell membranes to function.  And animal fat like the important Omega 3s, DHA and EPA, are not easily converted from plant-based forms- in fact a significant portion of people lack the genetic mechanism to convert plant fats to these essential animal fats, which is why flaxseed oil is not a good substitute for fish oil.

DHA Molecule
Image via Wikipedia

I think that fats, particularly animal fats, are an important factor in fertility.  Fat is the substance of  the phospholipid bilayer that surrounds cells, including eggs, and lets nutrients and sperm through the membrane.  Fat in the form of cholesterol makes up the building blocks of hormones needed to trigger ovulation and implantation.   Young women who have very low fat in their diets and very little body fat frequently lose their menstrual periods and suffer bone loss due to lack of estrogens.  This of course leads to fertility problems.

alternative-health

Insulin Resistance and Infertility

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infertility
Infertility

It is well known that insulin resistance is the basis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) which is a major cause of infertility, but insulin resistance affects other infertility conditions as well.

Many infertility doctors are aware of this.  I had one, non PCOS, client whose fertility doctor prescribed Metformin, a diabetes drug that improves insulin sensitivity, but failed to suggest to her that she had blood sugar problems  (at a stage in her life where she might be able to make changes to avoid diabetes.) Doctors routinely suggest weight loss for infertility which is also known to correct insulin resistance.

But drugs are not the first resource for insulin resistance.  Diet is.  In this piece we will discuss insulin resistance, inflammation and how it affects fertility.

First of all, when you eat sugar- and by sugar I mean not only refined sugar, but starches like bread (even whole grain), pasta, and potatoes and even sweet fruit.  All of these cause blood sugar to significantly rise, which causes an insulin spike.  In a person with normal metabolism, the elevated blood glucose level causes beta (β) cells in the Islets of Langerhans located in the pancreas to release insulin into the blood.  Insulin ferries sugar into the cells under normal conditions and when the sugar is delivered, is broken down.  The beta cells then sense the lower blood glucose and stop producing insulin.

Normal cell
Normal Cell
Insulin Resistant Cell

The cells in our bodies are surrounded by a membrane made up by fats and watersolube compounds called the phospholipid bilayer.  The overdose of Omega 6 fats compared to Omega 3 fats makes that layer stiff.  In the bilayer are receptors and gates which require minerals in the form of enzymes to ferry in nutrients like sugar, neurotransmitters and even sperm into an egg.  Our diets are bereft of most minerals, chiefly magnesium and trace minerals.  As a result, the sugar/insulin compound cannot easily get into the cell.

With sugar in the modern diet, we have a second problem.  There is just too much for the cells to absorb.  So the cell starts shutting down GLUT4 receptors, creating insulin resistance.  And the sugar and insulin builds up in the blood vessels.  The pancreas, which senses high blood sugar, sends out more insulin.

fibroids
Fibroids stimulated by insulin growth factor can interfere with fertility

The problem is, that insulin and other carriers can be very caustic and inflame the blood vessels, further shutting down receptors.  As a result the level of inflammation grows in endothelial tissue in a vicious cycle.  This causes the body to “bandage” the inflammation with cholesterol.  And that reduces circulation which is necessary for proper development of sex cells, and fetal development.

Insulin also promotes Insulin Growth Factor, which causes things to grow- like cysts, fibroids and even cancer cells.  This can further promote problems with fertility.

Elevated insulin levels contribute to or cause the abnormalities seen in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis as well.  This affects hormone levels.  Adaptogens can be used to rebalance the HPA axis after insulin sensitivity is regained.

PCOS and Insulin Resistance
PCOS and Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance leads to abdominal fat.  Visceral fat tissue possesses aromatase, an enzyme that converts androstenedione to estrone and testosterone to estradiol. The excess of adipose tissue in obese patients creates the paradox of having both excess androgens (which are responsible for unwanted hair growth and virilization) and estrogens (which inhibits FSH via negative feedback.)

So if you suspect the begining of any sort of blood sugar problem, there are things you  can do.  Weight loss will lower aromatase levels and reduce insulin resistance.  Exercise reverses the loss of GLUT4 receptors.  At least alter your diet so that most of your calories come from leafy vegetables, protein and fat, as lower carbohydrate diets lower insulin resistance.  Exercise after eating to bring your blood insulin levels down and don’t eat between meals.  And have a very low carbohydrate breakfast- say a vegetable omelet- so that you have the long stretch between dinner and lunch when blood insulin is low.  When blood insulin is low, you can lose weight, build muscle and balance hormones.  Take anti-inflammatory fish oil (with enough DHA to make 1000mg/day), Vitamin D to get your levels up above 50ng/ml of 25 Hydroxy D, magnesium, chromium and vanadium.  And get enough sleep since lack of sleep is known to increase insulin resistance.

Red clover (Trifolium pratense), Wellington, N...
Image via Wikipedia

Acupuncture and herbs can be quite useful in dealing with insulin resistance and infertility issues.  From cinnamon and fenugreek for insulin sensitivity, to bitter herbs to stimulate proper digestion, to adaptogens and hormonally balancing herbs like shatavari and red clover, your herbalist can find an individualized treatment that addresses your underlying issues.

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