Uncover The Link Between Gut Health And Fertility

Introduction to the Guests and Mission 0:00

Welcome back to The Super Fertility Summit. I'm your host. Dr. Cleopatra and I have a pair of amazing guests for you today. Dr. Nashat and Dr. Christina are both board certified physicians with over 40 years of combined clinical clinical experience. Ladies you met during your training at the Institute for Functional Medicine years ago, where you shared a vision to reimagine healthcare in the United States, and this vision focuses on creating health rather than on treating disease. I love that so much.

Doctors Nashat and Christina, you are two of only 1000. Institute for Functional Medicine certified physicians globally. You joined together to create Reimagined Health and Reimagined Fertility in order to educate and empower those interested in taking their health and fertility into their own hands. And your unique backgrounds led you to recognize the need for less invasive interventions for couples struggling with fertility issues. You've designed your online functional medicine education and coaching program, which identifies and reverses the root causes of infertility through holistic and personalized care that takes into account a couple's genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

And the best part is that you have an 85% success rate, even when everything else hasn't worked. Driven by a desire to empower couples on their journey to parenthood. You're on a mission to integrate functional medicine principles into the fertility landscape. Welcome, doctors. Christina and Nashat I'm so happy that you're here with us today. Thank you for having us. Yeah. Thank you. It's great to be here. What, what an important topic and message that we're sharing with the world. It's so true. It's so important.

And never has there been a time when it's more important. There. There was a study that showed that somewhere between 75 and 91%, depending on the data source you're looking at, of millennials are worried. And millennial females specifically are worried about their fertility. So we all know that fertility challenges are on the rise. But I think what's also interesting about this time that we're in is that there's awareness out in the world of fertility challenges being on the rise, and people are feeling anxiety about whether they might be one of those people long before they start trying, long before they're ready for children.

So I agree with you. What an important topic. Thank you, ladies, for the work that you do in the world. And thank you for coming to share it with us here at The Super Fertility Summit. Honored to be here. We're so excited. I mean, it's it's amazing. I mean, I really feel like we're facing this infertility pandemic. You know, and with sperm counts massively dropping, I mean, approaching, I think I think the statistic is. And correct me if I'm wrong, but in the next 50 years, I mean, we're headed towards zero and frightening.

Well, it it is it is really shocking. Over the past four decades, sperm count has dropped by more than 50% on average. And this is not in a clinical, quote unquote, infertile population. This is in the general population. So these are changes that we're seeing widespread changes out in the world. And the sperm counts are still within normal range, even after having dropped by more than 50%. But if if we continued on this trajectory, we would soon be in big, big trouble. And there are scientists predicting that a majority of couples will need some form of intervention to get pregnant by 2045, and that's not that far away from now.

Fertility Anxiety and the Rise in Infertility 4:10

It might seem really far to be talking about 2045, but here we are and we're not far from 2025. So that's 20 years from now and really 20 years go by in the blink of an eye. And evolutionarily speaking, it's like a little speck, right. So it's true. This is such an important topic that we're we're tackling here. And what I love is to you all have this approach. And this has really been a through line in the super fertility summit that all of us are really here to be the voice that says, you can take your fertile power and self authority back into your own hands.

It's not something that you have to wait for. This force outside of you to give to you. And I think that's really, really important. So I always love to start these conversations thinking from the end. So when we finish our conversation 25 30 minutes from now, what is the one thing that you want? The woman, man, human of any gender, listening to be able to take away from this conversation? Yeah, that's well, we both probably have a lot of things they need to take away. But yes. There's always an explanation I think is the bottom line.

And I think in the traditional landscape of fertility, we're often not addressing the root cause. Instead we're throwing Band-Aids. Dr. Christina and I are both traditionally trained physicians. So we also, during our medical training, we're taught all about the Band-Aid approach to health care and to fertility. And we, as traditional physicians are telling you that it doesn't have to be that way. And I think that's really what we want people to walk away with, is feeling empowered, to take back control over their fertility and to know that there's always a root cause, by approaching fertility from the bottom up and from the inside out, rather than from the outside in, can radically change the landscape. And even if everything else hasn't worked.

So even if people have failed IUI or failed IVF, all is not lost. we've had many clients come to us, you know, sad because their AMH, you know, has plummeted over time or their partner has come back with a bad, you know, semen analysis that, that, you know, doesn't look so good. And the reality is that all is not lost. Right. And I think we just really need to give them the tools. And that's the most important thing. And so glad that you are providing this educational summit for those who are interested in having some actionable items that they can do, because, again, we're giving them the power to do it.

We just have to educate them on what to do and when they have that knowledge. And really, what we do in our daily habits every day significantly impact not only our health and our fertility at the same time. So we just want to make sure we get that word out so they know that they are in control. That's right, I love that. Sorry. Go ahead Nashat. Yeah. Now one more thing that I think is really important that, a lot of people and a lot of couples who come to us walk away with an understanding is that when you optimize fertility, you're optimizing overall health.

And so through the fertility journey, we've been able to transform couples, both men and women, and bring them to their healthiest state because the body smart, right? The body knows when it's safe to conceive and safe to bring, a life into this world. And all we need to do is set up our bodies and our environments for success. So, you know, improving and optimizing fertility is optimizing, you know, taking a 360 degree approach and optimizing health in the process. Right? Absolutely. I love that so much.

So I want to really underscore one thing that you said, ladies, which is that there's always an explanation because there are a lot of people walking around in the world with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility, unexplained recurrent miscarriage.

Root Causes vs. Unexplained Infertility 8:35

And so and I've heard I've heard people say unexplained infertility is a lazy diagnosis. And I think those of us who really focus on root causes and we FPI a systems approach, we we really feel that they're there, that the unexplained infertility diagnosis is simply not looking at the bigger picture and the underlying root causes. So can you say a little bit about your perspective on the unexplained infertility diagnosis and your root cause? I mean, it's kind of it's kind of like the Band-Aid approach, right?

It's because it if you overcome that unexplained infertility diagnosis through IVF or Clomid or some other type of intervention that is putting a Band-Aid on the problem so that you can get to that next baby, it's not. It's circumventing the underlying root cause, so it's not addressing it, which means that whatever that underlying root cause or, or complex of causes is, is still at work and going to affect the probably fertility with the subsequent children, but also broader health and longevity.

So talk to us about this unexplained infertility diagnosis and the opposite of the Band-Aid approach. Exactly. So we we really think that nothing is unexplained. It's just that we haven't asked the question, why is it happening? And we know the multiple factors that can be underlying that is not real obvious from the surface that we need to take a little deeper dive into. and of course, having the functional approach that we do, we know there is a litany of potential factors that can't always be measured, can always be evident from the outside that we really need to focus on and be able to focus on that in both the male and the female.

So it's not just a one sided unexplained. Infertility is not just a one sided issue either. That's right. And and I also don't think that in the world that we live in, there is enough emphasis placed on egg and sperm health. And there is a broad misunderstanding that, you know, if you don't have good egg quality, well, you just don't have that quality, the good egg quality. Meanwhile, we can absolutely transform that, you know, in a period of 90 to 120 days. And I think that it's really important for our audience and the other women who are on their infertility journey, which, by the way, I was one of them.

I was one of the women that spent over $100,000 on Iowa and IVF, and all of my babies were born through reproductive technology, and it was because I didn't know then what I know now. And it's it's one of the, you know, main reasons that I'm forging forward in this field is to bring this message out to the world that I, too, was on that traditional journey, and I too couldn't see what I see now. And when I look back at my numbers, I actually didn't need any of those treatments. So it's like you because you as I mean, it might be shocking to people to hear an M.D.

say that I didn't know then what I know now. But you were trained in Band-Aid medicine, so and and you weren't trained specifically in fertility medicine, but except maybe broadly reproduction. Right. And so it's not surprise seeing I just want to put that in context for people who might be surprised to hear you say that and having that experience firsthand. And now understanding this could have been really different from me. Obviously, you're so happy and grateful for however your babies came to you, right?

Because at the end of the day, that's all that matters. We want that. And it it's really empowering to get to have them in the way that you want to. So, I thank you so much for sharing that personal aspect of your experience in this very real condition in our world, which is that there's this popular belief, even among some of the highest trained medical minds, that there's only one path forward for fertility help. And that's the kind of traditional, intervention assisted reproductive technology path.

And that that's a beautiful path when it's needed. And for whom? It's it's right. But it's one of of several paths. Absolutely, absolutely. And I think also, even when somebody is going down that traditional path of doing IVF, there is so much prep work that can be done to optimize the process. And, you know, and we have found that the couples we work with who, you know, end up doing IVF or whatever the reason is because sometimes there are physical issues in the body that make it, you know, impossible for a woman to conceive naturally. Right?

So we're not against Iowa and IVF, but we're about health optimization and obviously minimizing interventions and minimize and, you know, pharmaceuticals and medications so that we can get these dream babies in the most beautiful, natural, least painful, least invasive way possible. so, but, you know, kind of circling back to what we were talking about before, the fact that we can optimize egg and sperm health, you know, not only increases couples chances of of natural conception, it also increases their, you know, success rate with Iowa and IVF, with fewer pharmaceutical.

Right. And it also affects the outcome. Right. We have healthier babies as a result. When we optimize egg and sperm health prior to conception, whatever that method may be. Right? And believe it or not, when we do that, we really do take an approach. As you're in improving the health, we are going to improve egg and sperm quality and address a lot of these underlying factors that we know are foundational, whether it's gut health, you know, obviously hormonal health has a lot to do with our reproductive system, but it's not just about hormones, and it's all these systems of the body that work together.

And that's what we like to address, is really the whole body as we're educating and supporting our clients. I love this, and I want to dive deeper into gut health and testing of gut health with you ladies, because I know this is one of the areas that you eat one of your zones of genius. One of the things that you love to talk about. Before we go there, I want to ask a burning question that I can envision the people listening to our voices right now having, which is I have already tried everything.

I've already done all of the lifestyle things. I've already done all the things to improve egg health, sperm health, and nothing has worked. What would you say to them? Is most of them have not done everything, so it seems like they've done everything. You know, there's a lot of information out there and we feel it a lot of couples who are struggling with infertility don't know which way to turn. So they're trying to follow this supplement. They're following this book, they're following this diet.

There's multiple diets out there that no one is sure exactly what they should be doing. So we find that a lot have tried so many things, but have not really done it all at the same time. Addressing all of the factors at the same time as a couple and starting from the ground up. We really have to start with the foundational piece, which is most important for us as functional medicine providers as well

Optimizing Egg, Sperm, and Overall Health 16:20

as we always must heal the gut first before we can move on to anything else. And this there's a cascade of events that happens when you do that, that really optimizes and improvers improve so many systems of the body that connect with the gut, the communicate with the gut. So that's why we do feel like it's a foundational principle, as we know. And there's a lot more emerging research right now that is really supporting this now. So we've known it for a long time, but now they're finally doing more studies on it.

And it's also about like doing the right things in the right order. Right. So I feel like people go out and they kind of pick from here, pick from there. They read a book that go on a diet, the friend talks to them, they change their diet, and they end up like ping pong balls right all over the place. And the reality is that if you can get supported, you know, by a holistic or functional fertility specialist, we guide you through, we're doing things in the right order, in the right quantity, for the right length of time, personalized for your biochemistry. Because the other thing is that what worked for your friend may not work for you.

And just because it works for your friend and doesn't work for you doesn't mean that there isn't a solution. It just means you haven't found it. Yeah. Absolutely. All right, well, let's dive into that piece. That's the really the ground up, which is gut health. And I'd love to talk about gut health in general and also leaky gut with you. So can you can you take us paint the picture of just how important we call digestion the mother of our fertility and pregnancy system? So obviously this is hugely important.

But I think paint that, paint the picture for somebody who might be hearing this idea for the first time, please. Yeah. So I'll start, Chris. And then if you want to, if you want to chime in. But I think essentially the, the three main things that that are, that kind of happen as a result of a leaky gut are, you know, we get nutrient malabsorption. So I think that's one of the things we need to talk about. We need to talk about autoimmune disease. And then we also need to talk about the body being put in a chronic inflammatory state, because all of those things set off a cascade of factors that are going to directly impact everything from ovulation to implantation to estrogen levels and progesterone levels and length of cycles.

And, you know, endometriosis is and on and on and on. So all of these conditions that people are diagnosed with, right. Because there's probably a lot of viewers here that are not just unexplained infertility. They've been told they have PCOS and endometriosis and, you know, maybe they're not ovulating or maybe their cycles are too short or too long. and the reality is that the root causes for many of these conditions are the same, and a lot of it starts in the gut. Yeah. Right. Right. And if I could explain just a little bit about what leaky gut is, because not everybody maybe knows this term.

It's been around for a while. But we do know that, you know, a quote from a long time ago from Hippocrates with said that all disease begins in the gut. And in fact, we do believe that. And really, infertility is no different. but really, when we go back to what leaky gut is, it has to do with a gut permeability issue and our cells that line the intestinal tract. So it is a single cell, thick. And when these cells become broken apart a little bit and that that barrier is compromised and things start leaking out into the bloodstream, that shouldn't be there.

So what does your body do? It starts attacking. It's like, what the heck is that? So it's going to cause this inflammatory response. And that can lead to so many other things. So it is these, these junctions that go between our cells that become that allow it to become leaky. So really, it's our undigested food particles that get out into the bloodstream. Bacteria, you know, other pathogens, that can become problematic. And that's why our body is attacking it. And it can cause this inflammatory state.

So really healing the leaky gut is key. This is so, so important. And we now know from the scientific data that leaky gut is at the root of if not all autoimmune diseases then the majority of them. And so can you. Can you talk a little bit about leaky gut. This inflammatory process and then the development of autoimmune disorder to make the connection for people. Yeah, I think probably the easiest one to talk about that people are familiar with is Hashimoto's. Why? Because there's going to be a lot of people with autoimmune diseases that shows up as Hashimoto's.

Yeah. And the reality is that, gluten, you know, is one of the most inflammatory foods, you know, at least in the US, it's a little bit better in Europe, right, the way that gluten is harvested, but probably still very inflammatory wherever you go. I would think about. Yeah. Yeah. So but but the reality is like in, you know, in response to what Doctor Christina was talking about, when we get those spaces between the cells in our gut and, for instance, gluten leaks through the gluten protocol actually looks very much like a thyroid protocol to our body.

And so as a result, our bodies start creating thyroid antibodies, that are kind of going after gluten. And that is the reason that the research and the science has shown that once we go on a gluten free diet, a lot of times those antibodies start to decrease in quantity and we can actually start to improve, any thyroid dysfunction. So that's just one really palpable example that I think probably many people in our audience have been exposed to or have started to hear about, because Hashimoto's is definitely becoming more and more apparent in the landscape and and in the literature.

but the reality is that unfortunately, like Doctor Christina said, when our body starts attacking anything and everything that it's leaking through the wall of the gut, it creates this chronic inflammatory state. and when our body is fighting, it's probably not going to want to reproduce. It's not the right environment. I always say that energies of survival and creation are in opposition with one another. Right. It's like Maslow's hierarchy, right? You you've got to have your basic needs for survival met.

And even if you do, but your body and brain and ovaries and follicles aren't getting the signal, then you've got a problem when it comes to successfully ovulating, successfully getting pregnant and staying pregnant and growing a human, having a healthy pregnancy and intergenerational health outcome. So that's exactly, exactly right. What about. I'm really curious. I know as I'm listening, I always try to put myself in the in the mama's shoes or the daddies or the parents of any gender. And so the thing I'm thinking on their behalf as I'm listening, is, what if your digestion feels just fine?

Well, that's the thing. Could you still have gut issues? I mean, yes, the answer is yes, but tell us, tell us more. Yeah, that's most definitely so. So many people do think, oh, well, you know, I'm regular. I go every day. I don't tend to get bloating, I feel fine. I haven't had an issue. All of us have had assaults to our gut over time. and these assaults come from so many different directions. It's not just the use of antibiotics that really knock out our microbiome a lot. And we can talk about that maybe a little bit later.

Why Gut Health Is Foundational 24:15

but it's all of our assaults. Stress absolutely assaults our gut. Just emotional stress. There's poor sleep. All of these things actually impact our gut. So really, over time, if you didn't have a leaky gut years ago, you probably have one now. So we just to make this assumption when all clients come to us, whether they have digestive issues or not, and we also let them know about some of the other symptoms that can be going on that are related to their gut and believe it or not, this is the skin.

These are rashes, eczema, all of that 100% related to the gut. it is brain fog. It is anxiety, even joint pain. There are just just a litany of symptoms that can all be related back to the gut. Yeah, headaches, fatigue, you know, even those vague symptoms that they may attribute to something else can actually stem from the gut. It's it's amazing the little light bulbs that go off. I mean, we just had a we actually just had a client yesterday, you know, who was suffering from a parallel dermatitis.

And she's had it for over a decade. Oh my gosh. Nobody's ever asked her what's going on with your gut before, which is absolutely crazy. And by the way, that's associated with fertility challenges and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Right. So if you're somebody who's having issues with your oral health, you've got to get that squared away before going into conceiving for sure. So 100%. So it's really interesting you brought up anxiety. And it reminds me of the studies that show us that there are a lot of aspects that we think to be part of our personality, that are really a function of the composition of our microbiome.

And there are a lot of people in the world, who think of themselves as anxious people. They just tend toward anxiety. And yet if they had addressed their microbiome, they might feel like their personality is changing. So can you talk with us about the role of the microbiome and dysbiosis, specifically in fertility challenges and pregnancy complications, or having difficulty getting pregnant and staying pregnant? Yeah, absolutely. And really, just to define dysbiosis, it's really an imbalance of all of those good gut bugs that we have in our digestive tract.

So we all have trillions of bacteria that live in our gut. And they help us with our with optimizing our health. Really, the balance of our gut bugs are very important for just overall health in general. And when there is a dysbiosis or an imbalance in the gut bugs, it throws a lot of things off, including our hormones, believe it or not. and then our. Our transmitters to our gut, 90% of the serotonin that we produce comes from the gut. Right. Hence feeling anxious depressed etc.. Yes. Right. Exactly.

And when we have that dysbiosis too, you know, we do have trouble absorbing nutrients and this and nutrient deficiencies can contribute to that as well to anxiety as well. And we know that really in the gut when we have a dysbiosis we do it. It does impact an enzyme that's called beta glucan that is directly, directly impacts our estrogen levels, believe it or not. So when there is an imbalance, there's the beta glucan can be higher, which then actually cleaves our estrogen, allows it to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream and can cause even estrogen dominance in a lot of individuals.

So that's just one way that our gut health can impact our hormones. Yeah, and that's a great point, Doctor Christner. Because like essentially, if we can rebalance our gut and get our gut, well, integrity optimized, that can take an estrogen dominant woman who may have been suffering with PCOS and endometriosis her whole life, all of a sudden to normal estrogen levels. And and it's in normal. Periods. And. In normal cycles and orbital and normal ovulation. And it's mind blowing to me that it's not talked about and not even addressed in the traditional paradigm.

Yes, yes. Well, I we had a couple who came to us after they saw an IVF doctor and they brought some labs with them. And the male, in the couple, the male partner had, issues with his, his liver function according to his blood test. And the IVF doctor was like, this isn't relevant to IVF, so I don't know what's going on there, but we don't. It's not something we need to worry about. And yet, you guys, you are you ladies are laughing as basically was my response as well. Right. so it's it's just I've said this before, but if, if the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem you encounter is a nail.

And we just have to remember that there's a specific type of training. And, you know, in each place that you go that can really limit that perspective and solution finding. So that's critically important. What do you ladies think is are the best and worst fertility trends of 2024? Oh goodness. Oh my gosh. She's like so many bad. There's there's well bad ones right. Like I could. Tell by that reaction. Yes yes. And we see so many, so many couples coming to us that have really tried everything. And some of the things were like, really?

Well, where did you get that from? So there's just a lot of misinformation out there, that that causes this vicious cycle for them to keep trying other things without really having an overall plan and a stepwise approach to follow. So they are spinning in circles. you know, I'm trying to think of the best in the worst. why do you think as far as the best, I do feel like there is a general, space that people are moving to right now that is more embracing of other approaches. Right. And so I think that that I have experienced at least somewhere in the past 6 to 12 months, a lot of minds eye opening.

I mean, just the messages that I get on Instagram, you know, from my followers where they're really appreciative that, you know, that we're bringing a voice, to this message and to the world that there is another way. And, And I think that there and I think that, you know, men are also coming a long way in terms of realizing that it's not just about the woman. And we are also really putting a strong emphasis. In fact, when we work with we don't generally work with individuals, we work with couples.

You know, we really want to work with both the man and the woman because let's face it, one plus one is two. And that's how you that's how you ensure success. It's much easier to get to success when you do that. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And at the same time, I do think that there's a societal shift in understanding just how critical the role of the male is. We we always say it FPI, they're the person providing sperm is 50% or more of the equation, because we now know that there are pathways through which the sperm epi genetically programed.

The function of the placenta, which we used to think was exclusively of the mother and the pregnancy. Right. So even some things that we thought were the domain of, of the ones with the uterus, the ones with the eggs turn out not to be solely that which is critically important. And so I think there is this important shift. And I also think that there's it's still the case that the one looking for the resources, the one doing the research, the one up at night obsessing the one up at night, googling probably the majority of those listening to our voices are the female part of the equation.

If it's a heterosexual couple, and I don't say that to exclude any

Microbiome, Hormones, and Autoimmune Links 32:55

couples, I'm just talking about the person providing egg and the person providing sperm. So I think that at the same time, we really want to make sure that the person who's willing to step up and be proactive and find, locate where her power or her fertile power is and how to take it back into her own hands, still get to be rewarded, even if her partner won't participate or participate to the same degree. And yet, you're right, the greatest odds of success are when both people are all in. Because that's the way you get to your super baby, right?

Yeah, it's a. Critically important, critically. Important. We do find the beautiful thing that we do find is that, you know, when we do have women who come to us that may have a partner that is not completely on board, the beautiful thing that happens over time is that she, as she starts to shift and as her health starts to transform, healings and and so that's another really important message that I think that we need to share with our listeners is that if you are in a position where you're maybe frustrated and your partner is not completely on board, don't lose hope.

Because if by you starting to change and make energetic shifts in your body and your health towards your most fertile self, he's going to naturally he or you know, she whatever, you know, same sex or different sex partners. Your partner is going to lean in over time, as you start to transform. And we've seen that hands down across the board. Right. There's always a beneficial side effect. Right? Right. And that happens in our clinic all the time. When I see the wife, you know, for a period of time and she gets off the medicine, she loses weight, she learns how to cook better.

The husband, who I never saw once, loses 40 pounds, cancels his knee replacement replacement surgery, gets off his blood pressure, medicines, all the things without me ever seeing him once. Yeah, that's that's a normal trend we see. We see the exact same thing in the Prime Minister protocol, and I love it. It makes me so happy. Yeah. ladies, tell us a little bit about gut testing for people who are having trouble with their fertility. Definitely. You know, there are some options out there. You know, we make the assumption when anyone comes to us, they need some gut healing.

So even without having numbers we can do a lot. There is a way to take a deeper dive into, gut testing and seeing, you know, more of what the microbiome is made up of seeing what the beta glucan levels are seeing, if you need some support with your digestion or absorption, or exactly if there's an overgrown pathogen, a potential pathogen in the gut could that could be driving some inflammation. That's where we can kind of take a deeper dive and a closer look and be able to customize support a little bit better.

Of that so much. Yeah. And we can do that you know with lifestyle modifications with food as medicine and with you know nutraceuticals and natural supplements. So I think that's the other thing that is really important is you know that you don't need pharmaceuticals. You know, of course there are circumstances where pharmaceuticals, you know, are necessary. but we find for the most part that those are few and far between, and that we can generally, you know, especially when people are coming to us within that childbearing age window and even at the even at the at the older end of that, you know, there's still so much that we can do.

And we always say age is just a number. You know, when we look at your biochemistry, then we really know what's going on. We know, you know, what, what potential exists. and oftentimes it's much more than people think it is. Yes. Isn't that incredible? It is. And even when and and even, like kind of carrying that back to, to one of the things that I wanted to mention earlier that I think is really important is that the traditional labs and ranges and numbers that we are taught to adhere to are not optimal for fertility.

at all. And, you know, for the most part, they're based on what a middle aged, middle aged male. Right. So which of. Course. And also largely a clinical population, right. People who are having symptoms, who sought testing because there was something going on and they were trying to figure out what it was. Right. So what what's considered normative is not necessarily normal or ideal. So that's critically important information and tying it back in to autoimmune disorder. And the one the example that you highlighted with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the in the different indicators that we look at in a full thyroid panel.

Absolutely. The what's considered normal is not optimal for fertility and optimal for for feeling your best in general. Right. And that's something we educate our clients on all the time, is really to understand what their labs mean and what those reference ranges mean, and where they need, and they know the tools that they have at home to be able to get into the range that they need to be. and since you were talking about thyroid again, many who were diagnosed with thyroid problems years ago never even knew that the underlying cause was autoimmune because nobody ever check the thyroid.

I mean, the the antibody levels. That's right. And this is one of the things that when we do a full panel and you're able to look at the antibodies, even if the TSH seems to be in the normal range when there are antibodies, it's just a matter of time before it becomes a problem. And so this is where we get into the subclinical hypothyroidism. but you know, one autoimmune disease goes along with another autoimmune disease. It goes along with another. So again what does that mean to us. We've got to heal the gut first.

Yeah. To address all of that. That's right. Yeah. And I think the, the the the partners, the people here watching that have maybe male partners that have been told that their semen analysis is perfect. The reality is that it probably isn't. It's probably good enough for iron IVF because chances are the person giving you the answer to this is going to be, you know, somebody in the reproductive, you know, endocrinology world, perhaps a physician or a provider that is seeking to ensure that you have success with IVF, because generally that's what you're there for.

And the reality is that sperm optimized for arguing IVF is inferior to sperm optimized for natural conception. So there's always room for improvement. And I think that's really an important takeaway point and gut health in men also directly affects their sperm quality. Right. And many times the men haven't had even basic labs done. And in Cleopatra you were talking about liver enzymes too before. Many have never even looked at that. But we know there is another epidemic, that is occurring. And it has to do with now nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is 100% a lifestyle driven problem.

The many don't know they have, until they have some blood work done and there could be some liver enzyme abnormalities. Now they just have to they need to see their provider and rule out some other potential causes of that. But we're seeing this all the time. And in younger and younger populations. And the fact that we, you know, it makes us feel good

Practical Fertility Steps and Mind-Body Support 40:45

because we get them at a young age where this is 100% reversible before it becomes a problem years later down the road, where it could cause fibrosis of the liver and all the other things. So really being able to address it now is going to help their metabolic health, obviously, because they go hand in hand and improve their fertility at the same time. But if we don't know it's there, then it's hard for them to have a reason to do anything about it. That's absolutely right. ladies, I know this is a really hard question, but if you had to recommend just one thing, if somebody could only do only had the bandwidth to do one thing to take care of their fertility and the health of their future children, what in your mind is that one thing?

Oh, cleaning out the pantry comes to mind first. Okay. Really? Getting the processed foods out of the diet? The refined sugars out of the diet. Things that are in boxes and bags, whether it's chips, crackers, all of that. It drives inflammation. And we know it does. And a lot of times cleaning that out of the pantry and focusing on good whole foods, nutrient dense foods, more vegetables, more. Fruits. Having, you know, eating from the rainbow, we like to say, and we're not talking about Skittles, we're talking. About, oh, God, oh my God, that never even crossed my mind.

I like colorful. Fruits and vegetables, you know, that is so important because they have so many antioxidants in them that we know helps support both the male and the female when it comes to fertility and overall health. Just doing that, getting rid of the bad stuff, the junk foods, and focusing on the whole foods. And in the perimeter of a grocery store. I think. And I think that's huge. I think one other thing that I'm going to add, I'm not going to follow your rules, Doctor Cleopatra. I'm going to give you another.

That's okay. I was going to say you could choose. One thing, but. I'm not a real follower. No, I don't know. And I fully support that. By the. Way, those are. That's so. So I think one of the things that we haven't talked about that is critical to any fertility success story is doing the mind body work, getting into a place if you don't believe it's going to happen, it's not going to happen. I think a lot of that this, really stems from belief and, understanding that there's always an explanation and then really empowering yourself to take charge, your parasympathetic system.

So we spend our lives in fight or flight looking for the answer, looking here, googling, they're reading this book and we run around in circles and, you know, speaking of the gut, what are we doing? We're actually causing a leaky gut because when our body is in a fight or flight, all of our cellular processes take shortcuts and our body becomes thirsty for amino acids. And the first place it goes is to the wall of the gut. So if we can just slow down, if we can do maybe some vagal, vagal exercises or do work to put ourselves into a parasympathetic relaxed state on the regular, I mean, even doing something for five minutes a couple times a day goes a long way.

So I think that people often think, I know if I'm going to meditate or I'm going to go to yoga, it's like a one hour commitment. And I always say, don't start by overcommitting yourself because life is busy. Start with five minutes or even two minutes of circular breathing, you know, or just sitting down and and putting your hands in your heart and feeling yourself as a mama and feeling yourself as a baby with a baby in your room as it changes your biochemistry more than anyone talks about. And I feel like that is sort of the foundation of any, any couple's fertility journey is belief, right?

So beautiful. I love that so much. I, I do want to, pose our very last question so we can close for this interview, but I can't help myself. I have to ask, what if the woman the couple is struggling so hard to believe because all they have is evidence of failure and what? What would you say? Where where do you where do you locate that belief when it's failing you? Right. And you know, we see this a lot. There's a negative mindset that many have when they come in and they don't know where to turn.

And that's why we help teach them some tools to shift that. and it's why we do have we work on the mind body piece as well. And we have a mind body coach that helps and really focuses on this, because we can't control all those stressors that come their way, but we absolutely can teach them the tools to shift that and control that stress. And you know it's a difficult problem and we face it all the time. Yes we do I think just looking looking. I think also seeking the help of experts like all of us here because we've done this, it's proven in the literature that it's possible.

And as soon as you allow yourself to put somebody else in the driver's seat with you as an active passenger, that's the key. You have to be an active passenger. But let us guide you on your journey and let us elevate you to a place of belief. because it is possible, and we've seen it time and time again. We've had couples come to us after, you know, seven failed rounds of Iowa and 3 or 4 failed rounds of IVF. And then they come to us and they get pregnant naturally in eight weeks. Yes. Yeah, sure. Sooner than we want them to by accident.

They become. So fertile. Okay, ladies, last question and I and I will give you the opportunity to answer each of each of you. What does Super Fertility mean to you? What is it? What does it evoke? What does it feel like? What does it look like? Well, for me, I think it's having the power knowing that you as as an individual, as a couple, you have the power to make the changes to, to allow your body to be in its most fertile state. It's not somebody else doing it for you.

Belief, Super Fertility, and Closing Reflections 47:45

You just have to be given the tools and a little bit of education to get there. Your body can do it. You just need a little extra support to become super fertile. I love that, yeah. And I think Super Fertility is also just approaching fertility from a place of love and belief. and being willing to do the work. optimizing fertility and reaching a state of, of Super Fertility is very different from our, our approach in the traditional world. We're used to the Band-Aid. We're used to a pill that's going to turn everything perfect.

And the reality is that if you want to be super fertile, like that is not the way to get there. we need to be willing to look at everything and take a 360 degree approach to the body. And honestly, when I think of a super fertile person and I think about Super Fertility, I think about, you know, joy, I think about love, I think about energy, I think about radiance, you know, and, and we have witnessed our couples go through these transformations. Yes. We can sit and give you a long list of all the things that they have to do to get there, but I don't think it's irrelevant.

I think understanding what it means at the end, all of our couples that come to us will say they didn't know how good they could feel until they got there, because we're so used to this common denominator of not feeling fantastic. We're so used to waking up tired in the morning. We're used to having a little bloating or a little discomfort or a little afternoon crash. And the reality is that if we can transform the body, heal, begat, heal, the adrenals, get you into a state of belief and love and get you to that state of Super Fertility, not only are you going to conceive naturally as many babies as you want, but you're also going to feel amazing in the process.

And so when I think about super fertility, I think about that joyful, healthy, radiant state that is ready to welcome life into the world. I love that so much. Ready to welcome life into the world. Ladies, this has been so beautiful. Thank you so much, doctors Christina and Nashat, for being here with us today and for sharing your beautiful wisdom, perspectives, and all of the work that you've done. it's really an honor to have you. Thank you, Cleopatra. Thank you. It's been amazing. Thank you. It's been so fun.

And I also want to just note that we will have, a webpage with if you want to learn more from doctors Christina and Nashat, there will be a web page with links to resources so that you can continue learning with these brilliant minds. Thank you so much for being here for this interview, and I will see you on the next interview for The Super Fertility Summit.