Unlock Your Fertility: Nourish & Renew

Sharon Stills, ND

Hi. First of all, it’s nice to be here. I do find intermittent fasting helpful for some women. For some women, it can stress their adrenals. It can stress their thyroids.  These are areas that I often find need a lot of TLC to be able to conceive. I often find that if I have to, I just pick the top couple of things that are getting in the way. I would say there could be low thyroid function that hasn’t been recognized, low progesterone, adrenal stress, and nutrient deficiencies. Intermittent fasting is not like a yes. At least, my practice is not 100% that everyone needs to do this. But interestingly enough, ProLon is something that everyone needs to do. I like you as a naturopathic physician. I remember, and it was years ago, when I first got introduced to ProLon, and I rolled my eyes, and I was like do this. When they’re trying to sell me something, they’re saying, Here’s a kit, and it’s one size fits all, but I do have an open mind. I took a look, and I was like, I gotta unroll my eyes because this makes a lot of sense. 

Valter Longo of the University of Southern California did just such extensive research and studying and put so much energy and attention into this project that it makes sense. One of the things with intermittent fasting is that you never get to autophagy. With ProLon, you get autophagy while you’re eating a chocolate crisp bar. It’s doable because I’ve never been a good faster. It’s like my dreams are like, No, you’re not doing this. You can’t just walk fast for five days. However, I and many of my patients have been able to tolerate and thrive during a ProLon fast. It is something that is an important piece because autophagy, the cleansing out of the dead cells and proteins that need to go that are interfering with the body and interfering with the absorption of nutrients, is a real key player in getting ready to get pregnant. If you’re already pregnant, you’re not going to do this. But we’re talking about how you’ve been trying to get pregnant. It’s not working. Or, maybe you’re just here because you’re like, I just want to learn about other things I can do to enhance. I always get excited. I had a patient come in the other day, and she was like, I just want to stay healthy.

I get excited, and I get it. When a woman comes in and says, I want to get pregnant in a year or two and I want to do this preconception, what can I do to make my body the healthiest place to grow this baby? Pre-conception or if you’re having trouble, some of the reasons we can have trouble are things I mentioned before, but we can also have insulin sensitivity. We can have insulin resistance, which is common with PCOS, but also on its own. If you’re carrying around too much weight, if you have hypertension, if your inflammatory markers are high, if you’re not getting the right nutrients, and if you want me to dig deeper into each of those, I’m happy. But all of these cardio-metabolic processes are key players and can impact your ability to conceive. So ProLon it to five days a month, because when you start, I typically like a woman to do a kit, which is five days.  I guess you could say six days because you’re coming off of it once a month for three months. If you are struggling with excess weight or with these high inflammatory markers, this can be a wonderful and effective way to get those markers off of you. Also, one of the things I always talk about when I’m talking about ProLon to my patients is that, as women, a lot of us, if not all of us to some degree, have some eating disorder. We’ve been taught by the media, by society, maybe by our parents, by our siblings, and by our peers.

Every woman eats too much, we don’t eat the right things. We eat to stuff our feelings, and one of the things that’s not even just physiological, we can measure in the blood work but is that ProLon is one of the biggest things I’ve noticed personally and feedback I’ve gotten over the years from patients is, it changed my cravings. It changed the way they ate. It changed the way I interact with food. that is such a huge blessing when you’re trying to get pregnant, to get your relationship with food handled because we need you to eat a healthy, nutritious diet that’s going to feed your body and feed your growing baby.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

What is it about ProLon that’s helping with changing the relationship to food? I’ve had that experience. I’ve done ProLon a few times and very much enjoy it, minus the shake, which we’ll talk about in a minute. but it’s been fascinating to come out of that and say, I have less food cravings, I can see a significant difference in my satisfaction with food responses. That’s a specific hormone, leptin. I feel like it’s working on the leptin receptors or something. But that was what my experience was I don’t eat as much. I feel satisfied way sooner after a ProLon fast. What is it doing?

Sharon Stills, ND

Some of that, and I’m a clinician, so I don’t work for ProLon. I didn’t do the research, to be clear. I just love them as doctors. But they can’t because, of course, my brain went, well, why can’t I just reproduce this on my own? I’ll just eat some crackers and have a cup of soup. But they spent a lot of time, energy, and brainpower figuring out these specific macronutrients that you can still be eating. Because this is a water-mimicking fasting diet. You’re getting all the benefits of water fast, but you’re still getting to eat. Part of that is that you’re fasting, but you’re not fasting, and you’re realizing that you can be full on a lot less food because, like many of us, I’m guilty of this sometimes. We’re cooking dinner and we’re snacking, and it’s like, I’ve eaten like seven times the amount of the ProLon meal while I’m just, and then the dinner goes on the table. It makes you appreciate your food, sit down, and be present with your food. I always tell patients, “Don’t eat, don’t eat your ProLon meal while you’re scrolling on your phone, watching TV, or reading a magazine.” Be present with it.

One of the things that comes out of it is that we don’t need as much food as we think we do.  I’m not saying we need to starve ourselves, but when we’re properly true to our food when we properly sit down and breathe when we’re in a parasympathetic state, and when we’re more regulated nervous system-wise, we can get fuller and not need so much food. You can learn that because often, if you’re just eating and you have unlimited portions, you like to eat and you’re like, I want more, you eat, and we forget that there’s a Japanese term for it. It’s Hara hachi bun me or something. It’s like eating till we’re 70% full and then pushing away. I always say, if well, not when you’re in ProLon, but in general, if you’re still hungry, go back and eat. But most of the time, if you stop eating instead of eating until you’re like, I hate so much, my stomach hurts. If you stop at 70% after 20 minutes, you’ll notice, I’m good. I’m not that hungry anymore. ProLon starts to change our relationship. It starts to make us understand that we can eat less, and almost like, eat less and be fed more, is how I look at it.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

Earlier, you were talking about autophagy and the clearing away of these dead cells in our body. For those of the people who are listening who are like, What the heck is that? What are you talking about? Let’s just break down what this means. Why is this a beneficial thing to focus on?

Sharon Stills, ND

I explain autophagy. It’s just like the street sweepers coming through because we talk a lot about toxins and we have all these external toxins, whether it be heavy metals or EMFs and Wi-Fi or plastics, or, as I’m sure you’ve gotten into, it’s hard to have a conversation about infertility.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

Not without talking about toxins, for sure.

Sharon Stills, ND

But we have these internal toxins. Like metabolic byproducts or cells that are just done or haven’t been fed properly. autophagy is this internal process that then cleans it out. We’re going to sweep out the cells that are no longer functioning so we can rejuvenate, grow new cells, and strengthen our mitochondria, so that we can become bigger, better, and healthier. When we fast, when we get to day three, and I love ProLon, they give you likes on each box. It’s such a great thing; it’s put together nicely. It’s like in this wonderful box, five boxes for each day, and on is like today you’re entering autophagy. Go you. when we get to day three, we get there because we’ve been fasting. We’re now into the third day, and that’s why I was saying that with intermittent fasting, you never get there because you fast, and then you eat, and you fast, and then you eat. we need that length of time, which is why water fasting has been touted because it does give us those benefits. But water fasting can be dangerous.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

It can be very dangerous, depleting your minerals very quickly. I highly do not recommend it if you’re going to try to get pregnant.

Sharon Stills, ND

This is a water-fasting mimicking diet. Like, how cool is that? You get the benefits of water fast because there are, but you get them while eating safely. You’re maintaining your muscles. That’s one of the beautiful things about ProLon. Don’t lose muscle while you’re fasting. You can go about your life. You can, and you might feel a little off one day. You have to make sure to stay hydrated. That’s important. Tone down your workouts, but you can get on with your life. A lot of patients report that by the time autophagy kicks in and all, they’re like, I’m feeling good. It’s a great way to just tell your body that you’re going to do a little cleaning because we’re getting ready to expect big things from you, or little things to big things like that.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

I have to admit, I’ve used ProLon with clients specifically that need metabolic support or blood sugar reset insulin, like the metabolic dysfunction that a lot of people experience, or they’re having difficulty losing weight, and their IVF doctor is like, You need to lose 40 pounds fast. They come to me crying because they’re like, How do I lose 40 pounds? I can barely lose one. Those are the things that usually, for me, I’m like, well, let’s do a ProLon fast and maybe a series of fasts to try to get the weight off and reset your metabolism. All of that. As you were talking, though, I was like, I wonder if the benefits are broader than that and potentially applicable to a broader group of people who are struggling with fertility.

Sharon Stills, ND

I don’t believe ProLon has done any specific studies on it. But honestly, like a clinician, I’m like, put me in the trenches and let me see what happens. It is very broad-reaching, even if it’s just to give the body an overhaul, especially if you’ve been struggling and don’t know what’s going on. Maybe your mitochondria need a little bit of a turnover, or your cells or your gut need a break because you’ve been eating too much or you’ve been eating the wrong kinds of foods. ProLon is very anti-inflammatory. It is gluten-free and dairy-free. I love that, I’m like, I don’t understand why the billboard for ProLon doesn’t say things like fast, decrease inflammation, lose weight, change your experience food, or any chocolate while you’re doing.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

It is right, or you just have someone eating chocolate while it says all of those things, and you think.

Sharon Stills, ND

To me, I don’t know; I always focus on that because I like a little chocolate now and then and the fact that you get a chocolate bar.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

To add to that, I  love their soups. I love them. I’m like, Can I just have a whole bowl of this a lot? Like I would eat, it does.

Sharon Stills, ND

What we love and have, so there’s been through a few generations. the new generation of soups because we used to love the tomato from the first generation.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

The tomatoes are awesome. The keto one is delicious.

Sharon Stills, ND

Here’s the tomato. The kale crackers are like, we could eat this all day long. Then there’s the new generation of soups, like curry and leeks, and they’re delicious and interesting. one of the things I often hear. If you have a nut allergy because this has come up in my practice, unfortunately, you can’t do the cleanse. There’s just too much on nuts. But the other thing I hear all the time is that I don’t like olives, so I don’t want to. But I don’t like olives, so I pretty much like everything. But I do not like olives. I will like, pick them out of, like, or donate their dinner table. But when I first did ProLon, they were like, just try the olives. I was like, “Fine, I’ll try them.” By the end, I was like drinking the juice out of the bag. Those olives are so tasty. I don’t know if it’s also because you’re just a little more hungry, but you don’t have to shovel them down and run for water. They’re enjoyable. That comes up a lot. I’m not going to do it because I don’t like olives. But trust me, I’m with you. I don’t need olives anywhere else. But I eat ProLon olives.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

The other thing I’ve heard or experienced, I would say, is that you have to drink every night. What is up with that drink?  Tell us how to make it taste better.

Sharon Stills, ND

I don’t think I stabilize your blood sugars, so it is important. What I do is take the hibiscus tea and a mint tea and put them in the cup they give you to drink it, and it transforms the flavor because now you’re drinking as it overcomes it. You’re drinking hibiscus and mint, and you can do just a hibiscus. Sometimes I do all the hibiscus, sometimes I do mint, and sometimes I do hibiscus and mint, but it makes it palatable. I end up even enjoying it. There’s lots of little hacks on how you can do things. I saw someone in one of the ProLon groups that I saw on Facebook, where they took their olives and a martini glass and some water, and then pretended like they were drinking a dirty martini. That was clever. And you can split up your crackers on the day you have crackers. You can dip them in the soup. You can; there are lots of different ways to stretch the food if you feel hungry. I’ve found just doing it exactly as they tell you to do. It works well, it’s satiating, it gets you through to the next time, and it makes sure you’re staying hydrated. You’re drinking the tea. It’s also nice because you get to take a supplement break. Other than if my patients are on hormones, I tell them to stop all their supplements. You do get a few supplements in the ProLon kit, and I say, just take those and take a break from your supplements for a few days.

And you can do anything for five days. then when you’re like, you feel good, it’s like you create these positive neural pathways where you’re like, I can do this, I’m a winner, I can do this. there’s no detriment and so much on the upside that can be a contributing factor. and you could do ProLon, and that could be the key that was missing for you when you got pregnant. Or you could do ProLon, and it can be part of a comprehensive protocol that you’re following to conceive. I’ll just reiterate the cardio-metabolic issues. If you’re carrying too much weight or if you’re having insulin issues. You want to make sure you’re having your bloodwork checked. You want to see your C-reactive protein. You want to see your triglycerides. You want to see your insulin. You want to see your homocysteine. You want to see your fibrinogen. You want to see an iron panel with five ferritins.  If there’s an issue with those, I have had amazing results. I’m doing some things on the side, maybe some methylated bees or fish oil, whatever is needed. But if you do the ProLon three months in a row, you will see changes in those blood markers. That could be what’s in the way of your conception.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

For so many people, it’s the toxins, the inflammation, and the metabolic issues, and all of those get addressed through doing something like this. I see the benefits of incorporating this into a bigger strategy or plan.

Sharon Stills, ND

It’s like I said; it’s like one of those one-size-fits-all. I usually roll my eyes. But this is a one-size-fits-all that can benefit you, has so much upside, and is not if you’re afraid or if fasting has been something like that, it’s a good entryway with so many benefits.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

I want to get into just a few things that I hear too often. One is what you just said: I can’t fast; my body does not like it when I fast. Can you speak to that?

Sharon Stills, ND

When you have a hard time fasting, it could be that you’re carrying too many toxins and your body just starts to get flooded. Or it could be that your adrenals are depleted and they just can’t handle not having any nutrients coming in or protein coming in. This is why I have failed so many fasting attempts throughout my life. When I was able to do this, I was like, It’s amazing. With the ability to eat some food and nurture yourself, you can help your body get through. If you think that you can follow in my footsteps and be a proficient ProLon fast, even though other types of fast don’t work for you.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

The other thing I get sometimes is the cane sugar that’s in these bars. Are you sure you want me to do this? Part of me is like, It’s a small amount, but I’m curious what you say to that.

Sharon Stills, ND

 I had an astrologer tell me, years ago, we were talking about relationships, and she was like, if they were like, 80% of the relationship is good and 20% is bad, maybe then you’re doing something you’re never going to get, and that’s it. with ProLon because I have heard that this is more sugar than I eat or that I don’t usually eat so many carbs.  Because there’s like brown, it’s brown rice flour, like this flour in this, and then you’re getting crackers and so on. Sometimes we get in our way. It’s like it’s only been five days. Think about all the benefits you can go back to. I also don’t eat flour or crackers. I’m pretty grain-free in my life or what I’m on ProLon, I’m like, there’s little, different than I’m used to eating, but I step aside. It’s a little cane sugar; like you said, it’s a little bit. It’s all in the big picture. It’s all Valter Longo, who created it, and Doctor Antoun, who runs the company now.

Valter Longo has a book about the longevity diet, and it’s all about healthy eating. There’s trust that there’s a reason why they did what they did. It’s all working to give you that mimicking experience of a fast-water fasting diet. Sometimes we like to sabotage ourselves because we’re so naive. Think of the astrologer; think of the 80%, 20%. If you eat a little cane sugar, you don’t even get a chocolate crisp bar every day. There’s something you have to go without. chocolate crisp bar. I’ll tell you that right now I don’t want to have false expectations, but the benefits are so far-reaching, and it’s not like you’re going to eat that. Now,  like we said in the beginning, your cravings are going to change. What always happens for me, because it’s human nature? We’re told we can’t have something, do something, or have someone, and then we want even more.  When I’m doing the ProLon cleanse, it’s a bad day three or whatever. I start like, I don’t know, I start fixating on like, I  got to have sushi. I can’t wait to have sushi. Or sometimes it’s just something weird, like, I want a piece of salmon and some asparagus, so it doesn’t even have to be like an unhealthy food necessarily. But I’ll start thinking about it and be like,  day six is almost here. When day six comes, I’m going to go have a big bowl of sushi or whatever it is. I’m thinking Day Six comes, and it’s like the magic happens every time. It happens to patients too, because they tell me the same thing. It’s like day six comes, and you’re just like, That’s like, now that you can have it, you don’t even want it. It was a big piece of cake, or whatever it was. It’s like it just happens. It’s this internal change.  then you also can’t eat so much because your stomach is not used.

It’s shrunk, and it’s like no, so coming day six is important. That transition day is important. But staying with the small portions, the healthy meals, the clean, I like animal protein. There’s no animal protein. For those of you who don’t like animal protein, you don’t even have a problem with that. For those of you who do have animal protein and are going to say, Wait, there’s no animal protein; I need my meat for five days. 

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

You’ll be good for five days.

Sharon Stills, ND

I’m okay. You can have a piece of meat or a piece of fish or whatever on day six, but when we start to break it down and we think about it for a few days, you get a lot of benefits.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

From the clinical side, is there anyone that you would say should not do a ProLon fast like this?

Sharon Stills, ND

That’s great. I’m glad you asked that. If you are pregnant or you’re nursing, I wouldn’t do this. if you are underweight. We’ve talked a lot about if you need to lose weight, but if you’re underweight and having a hard time conceiving, you might need to put on some weight, so I wouldn’t recommend this for you as well. Then, of course, if you have an actual medical diagnosis, I’m a doctor, but I’m not your doctor. You just want to check your position and make sure it’s safe for you to do so.

Aumatma Simmons, ND, FABNE, MS

Thank you so much for joining us today. This was fun. I am excited that I got to ask all of my random, ProLon questions. I appreciate you being here and supporting us in this. It’s lovely to be able to share this information with so many women out there who need it.

Sharon Stills, ND

Thanks for having me.