Men make new sperm every day and those sperm come to fruition withing 72 days. This is good news for men who want to give their fertility a boost, because it means that within three months they can make a big difference to the reproductive health. For more detailed information it is worth checking out our book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility where Dr. David and I give specific advice to men based on their fertility type. Briefly though, here are five simple things men can do that have a big impact on sperm quality and quantity.

1. Keep them cool

It’s important that the testicles are 1- 2 degrees cooler than the rest of the body and so taking hot baths or sitting with a lap top on your knee can be contributing to diminished fertility. Likewise men who sit at a desk all day can become overheated so at the YinOva Center we advise them to get up a move around once an hour to air off their private parts.

2. Eat right

You will find more information in Making Babies about how to eat right for your fertility type but all men can benefit from eating a wide range of colorful fruits and vegetable, whole grains and lean protein. Poor intake of vitamin C and E and the minerals zinc and selenium can affect sperm quality and would-be fathers with borderline sperm counts might want to consider supplementation. Finnish men have some of the highest sperm counts in the world which is thought to be due to the amount of oily fish they eat. For this reason at the YinOva Center we suggest men use a fish oil/omega-3 supplement.

3. Limit your exposure to toxic chemicals.

In Making Babies we discuss how the average sperm count for American men has plummeted over the past few decades. Dr. David and I believe that environmental toxins and the main reason and so advise men to eat as much whole food as possible and to avoid processed foods. I have blogged about this here.

4. Drop some bad habits

Smoking, whilst it does not reduce sperm count, does damage sperm DNA which can lead to a greater chance of miscarriage. Excessive alcohol use can affect hormone levels and lead to atrophy of the semeniferous tubules, loss of sperm cells, and an increase in abnormal sperm. Marijuana use has been shown to reduce sperm and semen volume. If you need help dropping unhealthy habits come on in to the YinOva Center. We are happy to support you.

5. Get checked out for hidden infections.

Infections such as chlamydia or urea plasma can impair fertility and also lead to early miscarriages. Men should ask their doctors for a semen culture to make sure that they are not infected.

Once considered an unusual treatment, acupuncture has become a valued and more mainstream method of enhancing an IVF cycle. As successive studies point to it’s efficacy, couples are more comfortable about adding a course of acupuncture to their IVF protocol. You can read more about how we, at the YinOva Center, treat women who are going through IVF by clicking here.

Many of you are familiar with this German study that looked at 160 women undergoing IVF and split them into two groups. One group combined acupuncture with IVF and one group did not. Interestingly the group that did the acupuncture had a 50% better outcome than the group that did IVF alone. Likewise research published in the British Medical Journal showed that women doing IVF who underwent acupuncture were 65% more likely to have a successful embryo transfer compared with those who underwent a “sham” version of the treatment, or no extra treatment at all. You can read about this study here.

Now some new research may be casting further light on why acupuncture can be so helpful. The study, which you can read here, looks at how acupuncture when given twice a week for about 5 weeks regulates the stress hormones cortisol and prolactin and so improves pregnancy rates.

An IVF cycle can be very stressful. My patients talk about the financial pressure of having so much riding on the outcome of the procedure and how this combined with constant monitoring and taking large doses of stimulating drugs makes them tense and tired. Some studies, like this one by UCSD, have shown that the more stressed a patient is, the poorer the result, because of the way stress interferes with reproductive hormones. The reason this latest acupuncture study is important is that it shows that regular acupuncture treatment can offset the negative effects of stress by regulating stress hormones and so help a patient have the best possible outcome from IVF.

We love helping you have babies here at the YinOva Center and have helped thousands of couples achieve IVF success. Feel free to call and speak to one of our acupuncturists if you want to know more.

Today on the YinOva Blog I asked Fertility Coach, Dania Sander to write about her practice and how she works to support women while they are trying to conceive. Dania does not work at our center but I am big fan of her work. Her coaching can be a great help in moving forward when you feel stuck.

Dania Says: Thank you Jill for this opportunity to share with the readers of your blog, some thoughts and insights on re-wiring the brain to support the fertility journey.

The brain is designed to help us achieve whatever it focuses on – even pregnancy. By the same token, it can work against us when it perceives a threat. David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work and founder and CEO of Results Coaching Systems, talks about threats vs. rewards in our thinking. Our brain recognizes a threat much faster then a reward. It gives these threats a lot of attention and decreases our ability to have insights. By focusing on the perceived threat it prevents us from thinking, acting, or interacting creatively. We go into reactive mode and lose our ability to deal effectively with our problems, with people, and within our community. However, when the brain detects a reward, it triggers our creative thinking and we can feel as though we can achieve our goals, plan our lives in a productive way, stay inspired, be great team players and partners, and take action.

Fertility treatments are often emotionally charged and stressful. This triggers the brain’s stress reaction as it perceives “threats”. Negative thoughts can takeover affecting our perceptions, our behavior, and our ability to make good decisions. All of this inner turmoil can influence the end result.

By applying science of the brain to the fertility process, a coach can help you become aware of your thought processes and adjust your thinking to ensure that stress does not undermine your efforts. You learn how to stop the reaction to threats, or at least shorten their duration, just as you would apply the brakes in your car.

In our coaching sessions we set inspiring goals and move forward with strategies and actions to ensure we achieve them.

• Seek Simplicity: we learn how to reduce complicated thoughts and simplifying them and by that enabling ideas to become manageable.

• Prioritize: What is really important? Prioritizing is important for the brain because if we work on the important tasks first, we won’t become overwhelmed and panicked on our path to parenthood.

• Keep the Big Picture in Mind: The details of the complex fertility treatments can become overwhelming and prevent us from moving forward efficiently during the process. Taking that into account, we take things in chunks. With fewer details to process, there is less drama and we stay goal-oriented.

• Focus is the name of the game: During the fertility process accuracy is key. Following doctors’ instructions precisely is important for success and this demands that we stay extremely focused. We work on concentrating the brain’s attention to prevent a drop in “performance”.

Working with the brain-based approach to coaching and focusing on these elements and others, we help our clients re-wire their thinking and help them create new mental maps that support their efforts today. With that we strengthen their ability to have openness to any thought, which will bring more insights and creative ideas on how to solve problems. Connecting between things that didn’t make sense until that very moment. We help you maximize rewards and minimize threats in your thinking so you can experience yourself achieving your goals and getting rid of patterns that no longer support the new you.

The longer we stay victims of our negative thinking, the longer we will stay in the problem. As a coach I walk hand in hand with my clients on the path of solutions. Often seen that when focused on the solution, the problems get minimal.

The more we learn about the brain, the more we realize that it is easier to meet any challenge – mental or physical – when we put ourselves in the frame of mind to succeed. As your fertility coach I will listen to your concerns without judgment and help you to identify and access your inner strengths – strengths you may not realize you have.

If you want to learn more about how fertility coaching can support your process, please contact me at: info@yourfertilitymatters.com

Whilst moderate exercise helps relieve stress and prepare a body for a healthy pregnancy, spending too much time in the gym can impair a woman’s fertility, according to a new study of 3,000 women published in last month’s edition of Human Reproduction.

In our book, Making Babies, we suggest that women who are trying to conceive do enough exercise to maintain a normal level of fitness and but that they do it in a way that makes them feel good physically and mentally, not drained or exhausted.  This advice is seconded by Sigridur Lara Gudmundsdottir, who led the study, ” we found two groups who experienced an increased risk of infertility. There were those who trained almost every day, and there were those who trained until they were completely exhausted. Those who did both had the highest risk of infertility.”

The researchers believe that high levels of physical activity consume so much energy that the body experiences short periods of time where there simply is not enough energy to maintain all the necessary hormonal mechanisms that make fertilization possible.

This correlates with the way traditional Chinese medicine sees the effects of too much exercise on qi. Qi is the word used to describe the body’s ability to warm, move and make transformations. For thousands of years Chinese doctors have cautioned their patients not to deplete their qi, if they are trying to conceive, because weak qi can lead to failure to ovulate or affect the embryo’s ability to implant.

The key is moderation. Too much exercise depletes qi whilst moderate exercise can help build qi. This is supported by previous research which has shown that moderate physical activity gives women better insulin function and an improved hormonal profile. In this recent study there is no evidence of impaired fertility through moderate amounts of exercise. Gudmundsdottir advises that women who want to conceive should still maintain their fitness but avoid extremes.

‘We believe it is likely that physical activity at a very high or very low level has a negative effect on fertility, while moderate activity is beneficial,’ she said.

Several recent studies have explored the use of acupuncture to treat polycystic ovary syndrome with encouraging results. We see quite a number of women who are suffering from PCOS at the YinOva Center and have found that a combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs can be really helpful.

PCOS is a complex endocrine and metabolic syndrome that affects 5% – 10% of women of reproductive age and is characterized by small ovarian cysts, irregular menstrual cycles, abnormal hair growth, acne, and metabolic problems leading to weight gain. The cysts associated with PCOS cause a hormone imbalance that means that sufferers have increased male sex hormones. This can disturb ovulation and lead to infertility. Women who suffer from PCOS also have a higher risk of developing hypertension and diabetes and are at an increased risk of heart disease.

A study at Goteborg University in Sweden showed that electro-acupuncture may help some women with PCOS to ovulate. Electro-acupuncture was developed in China as an alternative to manipulating acupuncture needles by hand. It involves the application of a pulsating electrical current to acupuncture needles as a means of stimulating the acupuncture points, .

During the study, one group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome received acupuncture regularly for four months. A second group of women were provided with heart rate monitors and instructed to exercise at least three times a week. A control group was informed about the importance of exercise and a healthy diet, but was given no other specific instructions.

The study showed that activity in the sympathetic nervous system was lower in the women who received acupuncture and in those who took regular exercise than it was in the control group. The acupuncture treatment brought further benefits. “Those who received acupuncture found that their menstruation became more normal. We could also see that their levels of testosterone became significantly lower, and this is an important observation, since elevated testosterone levels are closely connected with the increased activity in the sympathetic nervous system of women”, says Elisabet Stener‑Victorin the lead researcher. 38% of women who received the electro-acupuncture experienced regular ovulation. However, the electro-acupuncture was not effective in the more severe cases (obese, highest waist-to-hip ratio, and highest testosterone and insulin individuals).

What causes PCOS remains a mystery, but we do know that PCOS sufferers have a higher sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity than other women so it may be that the acupuncture is calming the SNS and thus leading to a reduction in symptoms.

In Chinese medicine PCOS is usually attributed to Kidney Yang Deficiency (poor metabolism) and Damp Accumulation (fluid filled cysts) and has been treated for hundreds of years using a combination of herbs and acupuncture. Some herbs such as zao jiao ci (Spina Gleditsiae Sinensis) have the ability to dissolve the waxy coat around the ovarian cysts and at the YinOva Center we use them as part of a larger formula to reduce cysts. Other herbs such as bu gu zhi (psoralea) and xian mao (circuligo) help metabolic slowdown and insulin resistance and at the YinOva Center we usually combine them with herbs that calm an overactive system such as huang jing (polygonatum) and herbs that balance hormones such as dang gui (tangkuei).

In our book Making Babies we give the following advice to PCOS sufferers

• Lose weight if you need to. Studies have shown that losing just 10% of your body weight can result in normal ovulation in women with PCOS
• Cut down on animal fats and increase essential fatty acids
• Eat a wide range of fruits, vegetables and low fat protein such as chicken, fish and beans.
• Balance your blood sugar by limiting your carbohydrate intake. Don’t cut out carbs altogether, though, as that can lower serotonin levels and leave you feeling depressed. Instead eat healthy carbs such as whole grains.
• Take N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) to help reduce circulating testosterone, cholesterol, plasma triglycerides, low density lipoproteins and insulin.
• Get plenty of anti-oxident nutrients from foods and supplements. They fight inflammation which can exacerbate PCOS.
• Get regular exercise to increase your metabolism. Aim for a half hour of brisk walking a day.
• Practice stress management. Stress stimulates the production of more hormones, including testosterone, which makes PCOS worse. Try yoga meditation or a warm bath.
• See an acupuncturist for help restoring ovulation.
• See an herbalist about creating a formula that reduces cysts and balances hormones.
• Allow at least three months of treatment before trying to conceive. Follicles exposed to excess androgens will be of poor quality and lead to higher risk of miscarriage.