Many of the phone calls and letters we receive every day are from men and women with questions on fertility that are raised when they are trying to start or expand their family. We thought this time of year would be a great time to touch on this topic!
There are several steps couples can take to naturally support their fertility. These can be categorized into three main areas:
Cleanse and Tone
Balance and Regulate
Support and Enhance
Cleanse and Tone
Our liver is responsible for sorting through everything we take into our body. It doesn’t matter if we breathe it in, put it on our skin, or swallow it down. If it goes into our body, our liver sorts it and determines what to do with it. That can be a LOT of work! When our liver is feeling overwhelmed with the number of things coming at it every day, it may take those toxins it is finding and bundle them into a fat cell to store and deal with later when it’s having a slower day. The problem is, for many people that slower day doesn’t happen. We then end up carrying around toxins that can be the root cause of many varying health concerns, including concerns in reproductive health.
We typically suggest starting with Whole Body and Colon Programfor both partners. This is a gentle 3 month cleanse to help support the body’s eliminatory pathways (liver, intestines, colon, kidneys) while also gently nudging toxins out of storage in the body and off to the liver to be processed for elimination.
In the second month of that cleanse, we suggest adding Para-Rid or ClarkFx to your cleansing regimen as intestinal dwellers are thought to contribute to infertility, and they are an unnecessary burden to your immune system.
Once you have completed the 3-month regimen, we suggest addressing areas of discomfort:
Yeast overgrowth has been found to be a root cause for a wide variety of health concerns. From the typical yeast infection, we women dread, to dandruff or yellowed toenails, the symptoms yeast can cause are quite varied. We would suggest supporting healthy yeast levels with our Total Yeast Detox Package for both partners as yeast is thought to be shared during intimacy. If you find you are expecting in the first 4 weeks of using this detox, you will want to switch to Olive Leaf Extract and not take the Candida Flush. The Herbal Flora Plus is considered safe during pregnancy.
If you feel you have been exposed to heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, etc..) then you may want to give the Complete Metal Detox a try. Should you become pregnant before completing the detox you will want to stop the regimen.
For women, many who have uncomfortable cycles have found T & C Formula to be one of their favorites cleanses as it helps to cleanse and tone the female reproductive system. We suggest this cleanse for 3-6 months for most women. It can be alternated with our Hormone Balance Formula (discussed in Balance and Regulate below) as well. For some women, this formula seems to be what is needed and they find out they are expecting before they have finished their regimen. If this happens for you, we suggest stopping T & C Formula as soon as you learn what you are expecting.
Balance and Regulate
Many don’t realize it, but our endocrine system is a series of chain reactions. One gland reads how much of a particular hormone another gland has put into the bloodstream, and that tells it what job it needs to do next. When our endocrine system is working well, it is a chain reaction of great things happening! But when one piece of the puzzle is not working so well, it can cause a downward spiral of imbalanced hormones.
Men and women experiencing that late afternoon or early morning slump and/or finding they don’t handle stress as well as they used to find Adrenal Aid to be a welcome support. For a positive, overall hormone change in both men and women, it is essential to normalize adrenal activity. Should you become pregnant while using Adrenal Aid, you can switch to Adrenal Aid II which was designed for the expectant and nursing mom.
A possible cause of fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and dry skin for men or women can be low levels of thyroid hormones in the blood. Herbal Thyroid Care helps support the thyroid gland in maintaining optimal levels of thyroid hormones. Should you find you are expecting you can switch to Herbal Thyroid Care II which was formulated specifically for expectant and nursing moms.
Women who are experiencing irregular cycles may benefit from Hormone Balance Formula. The herbs in this formula specifically target reproductive hormones to help support regular cycles. When our reproductive hormones are balanced, our chances of conceiving are more strongly supported. Should you find you are expecting while taking this formula, we suggest tapering off over a week's time. For example, drop down to 1 dropper three times daily for 2 days, then 1 dropper twice daily for 2 days, then 1 dropper once daily for 2 days, then stop completely.
Support and Enhance
Once we have cleansed our bodies and balanced our hormones, the next step is to support the body’s ability to stay balanced and gently enhance our body’s natural fertility.
Women:
For women who have regular cycles, Fruitful Vine may be used to enhance fertility. Women may also add Vitamin C to their Fruitful Vine regimen as there is evidence this vitamin may support ovulation.
We suggest on Days 1-12 of your cycle taking 7,000 – 10,000 mg per day divided into 3 doses and dropping down on days 13-28 to only 3,000 – 5,000 mg per day divided into 3 doses.
Once you have become pregnant, you would stop the Vitamin C regimen, and wean yourself off of Fruitful Vine by dropping the dosage slowly over the course of a week. An example would be dropping down to 1 dropperful 3 times daily for 2 days, then 2 times daily for 2 days, then 1 time daily for 2 days, and then stop taking it altogether.
Some women find they still need additional support for optimal levels of progesterone. We offer Progesta-Yam Cream for these situations. Dr. John R Lee, MD suggests that 20-30mg daily can go a long way in bringing balance, improving low libido, and easing the symptoms of menopause. Should you become pregnant while using Progesta-Yam Cream, you can continue to use it without taking a day off for 3-5 months. After 3-5 months you would start to taper off of the cream and you want to have stopped using it altogether by month 7.
Another option for supporting desire in women is Eden’s Response. If this is an area you struggle with, you may find the balancing and stimulating herbal tonic to bring natural relaxation and relief.
Men:
For men who want to support the production, quality, and quantity of sperm, we would suggest giving Legacy Herbs a try. For best results, it is suggested to be used for 3 months because the body takes over 70 days to produce and mature sperm.
We also have an option for men who are experiencing lower desire than they would prefer. ProGentor VI was formulated in response to customer requests to support male desire, sustained ability, and natural performance.
For men who find themselves waking up at night to use the bathroom, a little support for the prostate gland may be beneficial. Try our Prostract 10 which has become popular among senior men.
Both Partners:
A good multi-vitamin can also go a long way in supporting fertility in both men and women. We offer Herbal Vita-Mom for women who are trying to become pregnant, are pregnant, or are nursing. For men, we offer Every Man, a multi-vitamin formulated with their reproductive health in mind