Fertility

[Edengirl]

I just read the below article and think that those of us on the Cohen's program wanting to get pregnant [me definitely!!] are on the right track, see below.....Eve


Article published in the Sunday Telegraph, April 12, 2009
By Nicola Conville

Want to boost your chances of having a baby? It can be as simple as cleaning up your act.

In Australia, it is estimated that one in six couples are infertile, a diagnosis reached when a couple have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for six to 12 months.

Our “must-have-it-now” society, coupled with the fact that women over 35 are often told that they have more chance of being struck by lightning than conceiving, means many infertile couples opt for expensive, invasive medical procedures.

According to a study by Access, Australia’s national infertility network, nearly 50,000 couples turned to assisted reproduction technologies (ART) for help in 2006.

But there are natural ways to boost fertility at any age, starting with simple dietary and lifestyle changes.

Natural fertility – which uses non-artificial methods such as naturopathy and nutrition – has a 78.4 per cent success rate among couples who could not conceive previously and has also been shown to increase the odds for couples undergoing IVF by 47.1 per cent, according to a 2006 UK study by Foresight, an organisation that promotes preconconceptual health care.

Cleaning up your diet
Sarah Dobbyn, author of The Fertility Diet (Simon & Schuster), pulls no punches when it comes to explaining the link between fertility and how we treat our bodies.

“It’s all too easy to eat rubbish, drink rubbish, smoke, take dubious substances, lose sleep, maximise stress and forget exercise,” she says. “And when your body fails to give you a baby after all the years of abuse, to say: ‘I’m getting older, what could I expect? I need IVF’.”

Gabriela Rosa, a Sydney-based clinical naturopath and fertility specialist, agrees.

“Optimum fertility begins with the nutrients that go into your body,” she says. “The best way to give a couple the best possible chance of increasing their fertility, overcoming any problems and having the healthiest possible baby is to ensure they are at optimum health at the time of conception,” she explains.

Rosa advises patients who come to her clinic who want to have a baby to follow a “clean-living” plan for 120 days before they even begin trying to conceive.

“Eggs and sperm take approximately 120 days to mature, so throughout that time it’s essential the correct building blocks are present to ensure the best possible outcome,” Rosa explains.

“At eight weeks gestation, a baby already has their health blueprint set for the rest of their life. So the time to optimise a child’s health, development and future outcome is prior to conception.”

So what changes need to be made? In a nutshell, toxins are out, and healthy,
organic food is in. Alcohol, caffeine, recreational drugs, junk food and smoking need to be eliminated, and replaced with fresh, wholesome foods and lots of filtered water.

“It’s simple, just be as super-healthy as you can possibly be,” says Rosa. “Basically, whatever supports optimum health is in, and whatever doesn’t support it, is out.”

Even just getting rid of “barren beverages” makes a huge difference, adds Dobbyn.

“Since the most commonly consumed beverages – tea, coffee, beer and wine – can reduce fertility by as much as 50 per cent, just eliminating alcohol and caffeine might be enough for you to hear the patter of tiny feet in nine months,” she explains.

Ditch the chemicals
While an optimal diet is vital when trying to conceive, detoxifying your immediate environment is equally important.

Dobbyn advises taking a large garbage bag and a pair of rubber gloves and removing all toxic chemical products from your home and garden – especially garden pesticides, herbicides and old tins of paint and solvents.

Replace your old cleaning products with safe, eco-friendly, fertility-friendly equivalents, or even better, clean your house the way grandma did – using natural ingredients from the pantry.

“A lot of ‘green’ cleaning products are not what they claim to be,” Rosa explains. “They might be less toxic than other products, but they are still toxic compared to natural products such as bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice.

“It’s easy to dismiss those options because we think, ‘Oh, that’s not going to clean anything’, or ‘What about the bacteria?’ but a combination of bicarbonate soda, vinegar and a few drops of tea tree or eucalyptus oil is super-natural and, in my experience, has an anti-microbial effect without the chemicals.”

Healthy outcomes
This regime may sound a bit strict, but it works. Studies show that not only does following a healthy lifestyle vastly increase the chances of conception, it also minimises possible complications, such as miscarriage.

A 1995 study by the UK’s University of Surrey on behalf of Foresight followed the progress of 367 couples trying to have a baby. The women were aged between 22 and 45, and the men were aged between 25 and 59. Thirty-seven per cent of the couples had a history of infertility and 38 per cent had suffered miscarriages.

All of the couples eliminated alcohol and smoking, ate more fruit and vegetables, cut down on caffeine, non-organic meat and dairy products,
and took individually prescribed mineral and vitamin supplements.

The results were astounding. By the end of the three-year trial, 89 per cent of the couples had given birth to healthy babies. None of the babies were premature and there were no miscarriages, perinatal deaths or birth defects.
Rosa says even couples who have had a long history of partying can turn things around in just a few months.

“The body has an incredible regenerative and self-healing power,” she says. “Your body knows how to conceive, it’s just about giving it the ability to do it, with healthy food, enough sleep and plenty of relaxation. Give it those things and often that’s enough.”

Rosa says most couples that optimise their health for 120 days conceive within three to six months. “And they have the most gorgeous, healthy babies,” she adds.

[new_ruby]

all sounds great & thanks for posting...
but as others will know, I 'completed' Cohens last December, and have been unable to fall pregnant for the last 5 months of trying...
...so this may help some, but obviously there are so many other factors to consider too.
cheers,
Ruby