Infertility rates are higher than they have ever been in American and other developed countries. Especially here in Dubai, where obesity and diabetes are a large part of fertility issues but these disorders, as I’ll discuss today, are most likely on the rise from another problem at work in our world at large—toxins.
Every single day we learn about a new source of toxic chemicals in something we once thought was harmless.
Myself, when I go to the store anymore, I feel everything I consider putting in my cart might have an invisible skull and crossed bones on it and the words — “danger, do not eat me, do not smell me, don’t let me absorb into your skin, and DON’T get me near your kids.”
Perfumes and bodywashes we once slathered all over our bodies in ignorance, from Bed, Bath and Beyond’s Cherry Blossom body wash to J. Lo’s innocent-smelling, baby powder scented world-favorite, Glo, as we are learning from the Environmental Working Group, contain some 8 – 17 neurotoxins and hormone disruptors. (You can read this in-depth report, titled Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Hidden Chemicals in Fragrance here.
Not to mention, guys, men’s cologne—Axe’s scents and bodywashes scored very high on the EWG’s list and, in fact, the worst of all colognes in the world, of all men’s or women’s fragrances, scoring in at some 19 neurotoxins and hormone disruptors (some of which directly impact sperm quality, btw) was Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio for men.
But anything with fragrance in it, period, contains parabens, phthalates, and other dangerous chemicals as deadly for you as pesticides, and which can directly impact fertility.
Eleni Roumeliotou of Primal Baby comments,
One of the first things I check with my fertility patients is how much they are exposed to reproductive toxins in their daily lives. Fragrances, perfumes and personal care products are the usual suspects and more often than not, I find that they contribute substantially to fertility problems.
And fragrance means everything from those lavender-scented dryer sheets to fragrance oils—which are not the same as essential oils, to any fragranced personal care products. Most household cleansers are toxic and many contain fragrance, as you should know by now.
Not to mention all the BPA we’ve been consuming eating all that nice, lo-cal, low-fat soup growing up. If you haven’t heard yet, cans of food are lined with BPA or other synthetic substitutes for BPA like BPS, that are just as hormone disrupting.
So, that hot cup of Campbell’s tomato soup waiting for us after a day of causing havoc in our youth, we learn, contains endocrine disruptors that impact our estrogen signaling mechanisms and other hormones significantly.
Even in Canada, a country still rich in forestry and huge, untrammeled vistas of space, the last known study (in 2011) on the prevalence of infertility in the country found that infertility had increased some 15.7 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent since 1984. That’s an astonishing increase in fertility rates in 27 years. See study.
In fact, I became moved to write these past two articles on infertility and libido from listening to my clients here in Dubai, who were complaining about not being able to get pregnant. I’m talking about women in their 20s and 30s mind you.
So, I got online and found out some alarming statistics about declining fertility rates here in the UAE. As per the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) latest findings, around 50 per cent of women in the UAE face issues pertaining to infertility.
In fact, researchers estimate that in Dubai alone the incidence of infertile women seeking treatment per year could nearly double from 5,975 cases in 2015 to 9,139 cases by 2030.
But then, infertility is becoming a big problem everywhere. Here’s some recent statistics on the problem of infertility today and how widespread it is:
Infertility by the Numbers
You can read more of these alarming stats at the CDC’s page on infertility statistics, here.
As Dr. Aumatma Shah notes, “Infertility is increasing at every age, from adolescence to mid-life. However, doctors have been ignoring the ‘toxic soup’ which evidence suggests is at the cause behind so much ‘unexplained’ infertility.
So, ladies and gents, if you’re wanting to make a healthy baby these days, rule number one is to detoxify your home and your habits. Period.
I recommend high quality reverse-osmosis water filters, and you’ll need filters for your shower heads too, as shower steam can be more toxic than the water pouring on your skin. Also, a very good, high quality air purifier in the home—or two, or three, for a very large home. These help greatly to rid you from worry of toxic water and air, at least indoors.
There, I’ll climb down off the soap box and talk about how to enhance fertility – which you can do, once you get every toxic product out of your homes, cars, yards, and pantries.
Enhancing Fertility 101: Let’s Make Some Beautiful Babies
So, what’s the modern guy and gal to do that wants to get down to baby making business who’s finding that it’s just not happening?
Well, start with Jackson’s mighty guide to baby making fertility here and if you need to get in the mood, read my last blog on enhancing libido while you’re at it. Click.
Between this guide and that guide, you shall be feeling inspired in the mood for love and all your hormones should be firing with renewed vigor.
Onward!
First, you must EAT Clean, Clean, Clean – and Organic (and fresh and local too, when you can)
You’ve got to put clean, healthy, nutrient dense food in your body if you want to have a healthy baby and get your sperm swimming swiftly and hormones on point.
First, there’s no sense throwing out all your toxic products if you’re still eating food that have been treated with pesticides. Look at your raspberries and blueberries.
These are highly toxic fruits if not bought organic. Why?
Look at the flesh of these fruits. Picture pesticides on them. Enough said. How can you effectively wash off a pesticide that’s penetrated that deeply and directly into the fruit? You cannot.
Not that that matters. Unless you’re buying from trusted farmers, many hybrid varieties of tomatoes are nothing more than sacks of sugar water, hybrid engineered to yield plumper, more water-engorged fruits and vegetables that look bigger, juicier, and tastier but are devoid of nutrients, vitamins, minerals – and largely, taste as well.
Eat organic everything right now. Especially with rice. Rice is full of heavy metals if not bought organic.
If you want an illustration of how hormone-disrupting pesticides are—know this.
Pesticides sprayed on lawns turn MALE FROGS FEMALE folks. Known fact.
Fellas, listen up. In scientific terms they call this “chemical castration” and “complete feminization—all courtesy of the most widely used chemical in all pesticides: atrazine. Check it out. Study.
Imagine these pesticides on food and that we breathe in while we’re out and about in the world, breathing in the fumes of everyone’s carefully trimmed lawns—and how these affect our baby-making sperm and estrogen.
The Best Foods to Eat to Enhance Fertility
What you eat has a crucial effect on your health, and your hormonal health as well. In fact, your body cannot even manufacture hormones without crucial nutrients and fatty acids.
Your body uses the nutrients from vitamins, minerals, fats, and trace minerals you eat to repair cells, muscles, conduct hormone signaling, and ultimately produce healthy eggs and sperm.
Of course, you don’t want to be dieting like crazy or creating any self induced stress from excessive training and nutrition choices.
Some athletes, gymnasts, and aggressive dieters experience great menstrual irregularity when in training, and if they lose enough fat on the body, amenorrhea—complete loss of one’s period. Meaning, your not getting pregnant either.
Some studies show that even an hour three to five days a week can reduce fertility in women up to 40% — so work out wisely, too. We’ll talk about this more momentarily.
Eggs: fresh, omega-three rich eggs from grass fed chickens
If you want to hatch an embryo, it’s wise to eat some embryonic foods.
Eggs, legumes, and seeds are all important for fertility. Let’s start with eggs. Eggs are packed with healthy fats, and essential nutrients and compounds you need to manufacture hormones and be optimally healthy.
After all, they contain the nutrients to turn a single cell into a young chicken!
Eating eggs has proven to have positive effects on fetal development and a positive influence on child growth and health as well. See study.
Some of the best places to find quality eggs are at the farm house (Al manzil) market or a good health food store like the organics cafe.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds, too, are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and other essential vitamins and compounds for hormone health like vitamin E, zinc, and protein. Walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, almonds, and pumpkin seeds are really rich in omega 3s, vitamins, and protein, all of which you need for maximum hormone and fertility health.
Nutritional Yeast (not to be confused with bakers yeast)
You cannot get as many natural B vitamins anywhere as abundantly as you can in nutritional yeast. I recommend it highly for health, period, especially for curing adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, and helping balance hormones.
Plus, it helps give you more energy for exercise, which, as we’ll discuss in a moment, greatly balances hormones for baby making bliss.
Grass-fed meats and poultry
You must avoid anything right now with artificial hormones in it, like conventional meat, dairy, and poultry. These hormones can have a highly negative impact on your hormone health as well.
Plus, these animals are typically fed GMO, pesticide-sprayed grains that will also impact estrogen levels and sperm quality. Avoid.
Good, grass fed, hormone-free meats, however, are very rich in trace minerals and protein levels you cannot get anywhere else. Liver—too—very, very rich in trace minerals and vitamins. I highly recommend it. If you can get past the gritty taste.
Dark green leafy vegetables
Most people aren’t getting nearly enough potassium for their health today. Potassium is crucial for the endocrine system and for all the signaling mechanisms in your body, including that all important sodium-potassium balance and hormone messaging as well.
They’re also rich in B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid and all kinds of other good for your fertility vitamins and minerals.
Eat richly of these.
Beet greens stir fried with some bacon and garlic are highly recommended. Just four cups of beet tops and you have a whole day’s worth of potassium—which is impossible to get with any other food in this little quantity. See, most foods only have about 400 mgs. of potassium tops. Even spinach.
But you need 4,700 mgs a day. So, beet greens, collards, and turnip greens are all highly recommended in abundance.
Vitamin C rich foods of all kinds
Vitamin C is very important for fertility in both men and women.
Vitamin C helps trigger ovulation in females and is necessary for the proper absorption of iron, crucial for fetal development if you do get pregnant. It’s also proven to help infertile women get pregnant. study.
Vitamin C is also crucial for men. It helps your sperm remain un-stuck together (something called sperm agglutination) and swimming swiftly. Study.
You cannot get much better than red and green peppers for vitamin C. They’re easy to snip up into omelets, salads, stir fries, soups, chili, casseroles, everything. Kale, kiwi, and citrus fruits, of course, all organic mind you, are great sources of vitamin C as well.
Exercise, exercise, exercise
One of the reasons you feel so good after you exercise is because exercise immediately impacts your hormones in a positive manner, releasing feel good endorphins and serotonin, helping balance estrogen and to increase testosterone and GH in the body when you add some resistance training.
A study in Obstetrics & Gynecology concluded that women who exercised 30 minutes or more daily had a reduced risk of infertility due to ovulation disorders. This reference here , is full of studies comparing the results of moderate, light and no exercise on fertility and live birth results over the past 20 years.
However, too much of a good thing is very unwise when trying to conceive, as I stated earlier. In fact, one study published in Fertility and Sterility journal revealed that women who engaged in vigorous exercise like running, swimming, and aerobics for five or more hours a week were 42 percent less likely to get pregnant than women who did not exercise at all. See study. As one fertility specialist explains,
Very vigorous exercise can affect ovulation, and thereby disrupt menstrual cycles . . . The pituitary gland interprets the strenuous exercise as meaning that this is not an optimal time to further stress the body with reproduction, and thus shuts down the signaling to the ovary to promote ovulation.
However, for men—a recent study proves that any exercise, even steady state cardio—is very good for sperm quality, number, and motility. In this study conducted over 6 months of 261 men divided into four groups, a high intensity steady state cardio group, a moderate intensity steady state cardio group, an HIIT group and a no exercise control group. Of all four groups, the moderate intensity steady state group.
Other recommendations
Other vital components for fertility are getting good, quality sleep every single night for repair and hormone production, and reducing stress.
Stop worrying about getting pregnant. Stress is highly impacting on fertility. In fact, in one recent study, researchers found that stress causes the release of a stress biomarker called alpha-amylase that doubly decreases a woman’s chance of conceiving.
See study.
So, follow all my recommendations today and read some of the linked sources I gave you here.
I hope I hear soon that you are happily expecting a bouncing, baby boy or girl~
Jackson