Don’t wait to optimize your fertility & balance your hormones if you are a family-oriented woman who dreams of having healthy pregnancies in the future.
Whether babies are ten years away or you are actively trying to conceive, NOW is the time to optimize your fertility.
No matter where you are at in your family planning, your overall quality of life over time is linked to your fertility. Some even consider fertility & hormone function to be our 6th vital sign for optimal health!
Consequently, as women are waiting longer to start a family & our exposure to environmental toxins is higher than ever before, fertility rates in the United States have declined in the US since the 1990s.
However, don’t let this information scare you but inspire you to take action to improve the odds!
In this post, I’m going to share my personal fertility action plan based on my education & personal study.
As a holistic health coach specializing in hormone health, I’m here to encourage you with information and resources to figure out what is best for you!
This information is not medical advice. I encourage you to do your own research & hire the right professionals to help navigate your individual health & fertility journey.
Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog post.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Steps to Optimize Fertility & Balance Hormones
- Get Off Hormonal Birth Control
- Detox
- Maximize nutrition
- Minimize stress
- Track Your Cycle
Birth Control
Hormonal birth control can be a convenient way to prevent pregnancy but can also disrupt your natural hormone balance. If you are planning to conceive in the future, it is best to get off hormonal birth control at least 3-6 months in advance. This will give your body time to adjust and start producing its own hormones again.
Did you know hormonal birth control is a Class-A carcinogen? Which means they have the highest evidence of cancer risk.
“Naturally occurring estrogen and progesterone stimulate the development and growth of some cancers (e.g., cancers that express receptors for these hormones, such as breast cancer). Because birth control pills contain synthetic versions of these female hormones, they could potentially also increase cancer risk.” – cancer.gov
If you are worried about preventing pregnancy, there are natural ways to do that without disrupting your hormones & natural cycle.
Often, birth control is used as a band-aid to mask hormonal imbalances rather than addressing the root cause of the symptoms.
To begin with, you can get to the root cause of what was triggering the symptoms and give your body the foundation needed to heal itself holistically.
Detoxing & Cleanses
Supporting our body’s detoxification is very important for hormone balance, optimizing fertility & preparing for a healthy family.
Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins from food, water, air, and personal care products. These toxins can build up over time, interfering with hormone function and fertility.
You can do several things to detox your body, such as eating a healthy diet, drinking plenty of filtered water, exercising regularly, and using natural personal care products.
Detoxing has immediate health benefits for women’s hormone health and may have long-term benefits for future generations.
We are so polluted inside & out from these toxins; not even babies in the womb are safe from them!
Studies show babies developing in the womb are exposed to a “toxic load dump” from the mother’s toxic exposure built up over time.
Good news: there are things we can do to minimize these toxins and prepare the best that we can for our families!
Daily Detoxing
Our bodies are always detoxing every day.
Firstly, supporting our body’s regular detoxification systems is important daily!
Supporting our body’s natural detox processes can help with common hormonal imbalance symptoms such as acne or PMS.
Minimizing as many environmental toxins as you can will be a big help in supporting your detoxification pathways.
Keep in mind it’s impossible to avoid all toxins, but do your best to be mindful of the toxins you allow in your home and body.
Start minimizing endocrine disruptors found in food, water, beauty & cleaning products.
Commonly, these mainstream products contain harmful chemicals that disrupt our hormone system, which can lead to a wide range of significant health harms.
Daily physical activity, hydration, healthy foods with fiber, lymphatic drainage through massage or dry brushing, etc., are all ways you can naturally support your daily detoxification pathways of toxins.
Okay, I’m just going to say it: you need to be pooping every day! That’s a good sign you are detoxifying daily.
Having healthy gut health is key to healthy hormone balance & fertility.
Detoxifying Cleanses
Next, once daily detox pathways open, I like to do more intentional cleanses.
These are for fine-tuning my body’s detoxification processes. For example, cleanses are like taking a car into the shop for maintenance to guarantee everything is clean and running smoothly.
I think cleanses are best before trying to conceive if you can plan ahead.
I started my preconception detox protocol a couple of years before planning on starting a family, but a year out is a great place to start.
Personally, this calls for liver, parisite & heavy metal detoxes. In short, these are to balance my hormones & minimize the toxic load for my future babies.
These can be intense if you have never tried them, but you feel amazing afterward!
Ideally, these cleanses are for people who are generally in good health already and looking to improve and optimize their health.
Fertility Focused Nutrition
Prepare your body with the basic building blocks it needs to heal itself, function optimally & eventually make another human.
Eating a healthy diet is essential for overall health and fertility. Be sure to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, and excessive caffeine. You may also want to consider taking a prenatal vitamin.
Ideally, we should be getting all our nutrients from food, but with modern food preparation & agriculture, the nutrient density of our food is not as high as it should be.
You can take supplements and start working on improving the nutritional density of your diet.
I highly recommend looking into traditional food preparation methods, sourcing locally, and eating enough throughout the day to maximize your nutrition and minimize food stress.
Look into traditional foods and preparation, pro-metabolic nutrition theory, cycle-supporting, and fertility-boosting foods.
Lifestyle Stress
Stress plays a HUGE factor in women’s hormone health & fertility.
Naturally, you might think of emotions when I say stress, but I encourage you to view stress from a holistic perspective.
Stress is often physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually connected. I like to think of our hormones as the bridge between these three aspects of human existence.
For example, you think a stressful thought, and the hormones cortisol and adrenaline can shoot through your body, disrupting other hormonal functions & giving you symptoms of emotional anxiety.
The best place to start with managing stress is to start with the physical. You can do this by ensuring you are eating enough throughout the day, not over-extending yourself physically, getting enough sleep, and having rest days.
It seems simple, and it is! This was the most game-changing for me & other women I have coached on managing stress.
Minimizing physical stress can help manage emotional, spiritual, and mental stress much easier.
I’m biased toward working with a holistic health coach to help you holistically implement healthy lifestyle and nutrition habits to minimize stress, balance your hormones, optimize fertility & prepare your body for pregnancy.
Tracking Your Cycle
Tracking your cycle can help you learn more about your body and identify any potential fertility problems. It can also help you predict when you are ovulating, which is the best time to try to conceive or prevent pregnancy.
There are a lot of different apps & devices you can use, but I highly recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility to get a deeper understanding of how it works and how to track your cycle basically for free.
As you can see, now is the best time to balance your hormones and optimize your fertility because it is never too early to start preparing for a healthy pregnancy. Even if you are not planning to conceive for a few years, taking steps to improve your hormone health now can pay off in the long run and improve your overall wellness.
Here are some of the reasons why now is the best time to balance your hormones and optimize your fertility:
- Your fertility declines with age. As you get older, the number and quality of your eggs decreases. This means that it can become more difficult to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy.
- Environmental toxins can disrupt hormone function and fertility. We are exposed to toxins from our food, water, air, and personal care products daily. These toxins can build up over time, interfering with hormone function and fertility.
- Lifestyle factors such as stress, diet, and exercise can also impact hormone health and fertility. By making healthy lifestyle choices now, you can improve your overall health and increase your chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby.
If you are planning to conceive in the future, there are a number of things you can do to balance your hormones and optimize your fertility, such as:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Exercising regularly
- Managing stress
- Getting enough sleep
- Avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption
- Prioritizing Prenatal Nutrition
- Tracking your cycle
- Seeing a doctor for regular checkups and fertility testing
