January 22, 2025 • 19 mins
Do you ever feel like getting pregnant is starting to feel like a job that you're not getting paid for? In the process of searching for answers, you've spent thousands of dollars on supplements, lab tests, and treatments. What you might not realize, however, is that spending more money isn't going to help if you're not consistently taking action on a daily basis. In fact, there are many things you can do that can boost fertility and don't cost you a dime.
In this episode, you'll learn practical advice on enhancing fertility through simple and cost-free actions. Here is what to expect:
• Three core principles of the Practically Fertile® Methodology
• The five simple yet powerful tweaks to make today
• How focusing on small, sustainable changes leads to significant results
Download the list of 10 things that are free, click HERE.
Follow me on instagram @dradriennewei
Website: www.adriennewei.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Practically Fertile Podcast.
I'm Adrienne Wee, doctor ofAcupuncture and Chinese Medicine
, functional MedicinePractitioner and Functional
Nutritionist.
I specialize in using anevidence-based method, blending
principles of East Asianmedicine and modern functional
medicine to help women optimizefertility and get pregnant.
(00:22):
I believe in a world whereevery woman who wants to be a
mother becomes one.
If you're tired of being toldthat you're infertile and you
want to take the right steps toget pregnant naturally and
quickly, this podcast is for you.
Hey, fertile friend, welcomeback to the podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
(00:42):
Before I get into today's maintopic, I want to take a moment
to introduce the idea behindPractically Fertile.
Practically Fertile has twomeanings.
Number one I believe that everywoman can get pregnant.
She's always one fertile cycleaway.
She is practically there, justneeds to figure out what the
(01:05):
obstacles are and come up with aplan to overcome these
obstacles.
Number two I've designed myprotocols to be practical and
each step would build on theprevious step.
Nothing extreme, easy to followand inexpensive, sustainable.
Trust me, you don't have totake a thousand supplements a
(01:26):
day.
You can tuck that money awayfor nursery decorations.
You don't need to spendthousands of dollars on lab work
.
There are easier and quickerways to figure out the
underlying causes.
Let me share with you the threecore principles of the
Practically Fertile methodology.
It's the guiding principlebehind how our protocols work.
Core principle number oneinfertility is not a disease.
(01:50):
It's a reflection of yourhealth.
If you're experiencing a delayin getting pregnant, it's not
because you're infertile.
So get it out of your headright now.
You are not infertile.
What you're experiencing isyour body's way of telling you
that something isn't quite right.
Core principle number two rootcause is the cure.
(02:12):
Having PCOS is not a root cause.
Endometriosis is not a rootcause.
Low AMH is not a root cause.
It's important to discover thetrue underlying issues,
otherwise Band-Aids don't fixbullet holes, borrowing a line
from Taylor Swift.
But it's true.
You have to get to the bottomof the reasons why and then
(02:35):
you'll know how to fix them Allright.
Core principle number threeSmall actions add up to big
results.
Most people underestimate thepower of tiny baby steps.
The go big or go home methodnever works.
I don't know if you're familiarwith this guy named James Clear,
but the example that he used toconvey this concept is genius.
(02:59):
He says ice melts at 32 degreesFahrenheit or zero degrees
Celsius, and water boils at 212degrees Fahrenheit or 100
degrees Celsius, but until theyreach that threshold, it seems
like nothing is happening.
Have you ever tried to watch apot boil or watch an ice cube
(03:22):
melt to water completely?
It takes a long time.
It's a very slow process, butthe thing is behind the scenes.
Something is happening.
Water temperature is increasingsteadily, one degree at a time,
and this is the same whenyou're trying to achieve a goal
like getting pregnant you haveto reach a certain threshold in
(03:43):
order to see results.
Getting pregnant, you have toreach a certain threshold in
order to see results.
You have to keep putting onefoot in front of the other.
So today's episode alignsperfectly with this core
principle.
Number three I want to sharewith you five practical and
powerful tweaks you could makeright now to boost fertility
without spending a dime.
They're all completely free andthey will have huge impacts on
(04:06):
your fertility.
So let me get started.
What I'm seeing a lot right nowis the online fertility
coaching space.
They use this fear-basedmessaging tactic.
I mean, come on, are you reallynot going to get pregnant if
you eat regular bread versussourdough bread, or if you have
(04:27):
one cup of coffee in the morning, are you not going to get
pregnant?
You might have felt this way,right.
As a result, you might havespent hundreds, if not thousands
, of dollars on supplements,coaching programs, gut tests,
whatever lab work, and you stillfeel like you're not seeing
results.
Yes, other times when you doneed to do these things, though,
(04:48):
of course and that's how Idesign my protocols is to take
you through a step-by-stepprocess so that you can
seriously boost your fertilitywithout blindly throwing money
at the problem right off the bat.
Tests and supplements should beadded in strategically when you
need them.
Anyway, my point is there aremany, many things you could do
(05:10):
on a regular basis that aresimple yet powerful.
In fact, they're so simple youdon't even think that it could
possibly make a difference.
I have made a download for youwith the 10 things you can do to
boost fertility that are free.
I'm going to go over five ofthem here, but you can download
(05:30):
the entire list and keep it foryourself and see if you can
incorporate them into your lives, and then take notes of how you
feel and see if you feeldifferent.
I'll tell you at the end of thepodcast how to get your hands
on this.
All right, the first thing thatyou should do, that you could do
, is take a walk.
That you should do.
(05:51):
That you could do is take awalk.
This doesn't have to beanything strenuous, and you're
not walking for exercise.
That's a whole different thing.
You're simply going to take astroll around the block.
Here's why Even just 10 minutesof walking will reduce your
cortisol level.
Walk for 20 to 30 minutes.
Your body releases endorphins.
That's that feel-good hormone.
This isn't always practical,though, depending on your
(06:14):
schedule, but if you choose towalk around lunchtime, that's
even better, because you'll geta boost in vitamin D production.
Vitamin D is made from sunlighton our skin naturally, and low
levels of vitamin D have beenlinked to low AMH.
And if you're walking rightafter lunch, the added bonus is
blood sugar regulation.
(06:34):
It improves insulin sensitivity.
If you have time, walking for45 to 60 minutes fully reset
your nervous system and promotesthe parasympathetic nervous
system, and that is the rest anddigest nervous system response
that we want.
Any walking outside is good foryou anyway.
(06:54):
You look at it and again, thisis low stress, not focusing on
calorie burning type of walking,just taking a stroll around the
block.
Second thing you can do is tocut off screen time an hour
before bed.
There's a lot of research onthis.
Blue light disrupts melatoninproduction and can disrupt sleep
(07:15):
.
It makes your brain think thatit's daytime instead of
nighttime, and why do we careabout sleep?
If you're not sleeping, you'renot resting, and if you're not
resting, your body can't recoverfrom the stress that it
accumulates during the day, andso many of our biological
processes happen at night, whenwe're resting.
(07:35):
If your sleep is disrupted,your body can go into a fight or
flight survival mode.
Instead of screen time, you canread a book, or another thing
I've been teaching a lot of mypatients to do is use this time
to process any negative feelingsthat you have accumulated
during the day.
Give yourself half an hour toan hour set of time, and it's
(07:59):
very important to set a timer.
Use this time as your stew anddwell time.
The challenge is, though, is tocut yourself off when the time
is up.
The challenge is, though, is tocut yourself off when the time
is up If you're having troublerelaxing before bed.
That tells me that there's animbalance that needs to be
resolved, and Chinese medicinetakes sleep very seriously, so
(08:19):
definitely cut off screen timeand prioritize sleep.
Moving on to number three, youcan practice gratitude.
That is absolutely free.
This doesn't have to be a bigdeal either.
It can simply be thinking aboutsomething you're grateful for
while getting water, whilegetting the mail, while you're
(08:40):
walking outside.
It doesn't have to be anythingformal, structured, or you don't
have to have a dedicated timefor it.
It's whatever works for you.
You don't have to have adedicated time for it.
It's whatever works for you.
Practicing gratitude isn't assexy to talk about as the latest
supplement or a new superfood,but the impact is tremendous and
more, way more, than the latesttrend.
(09:01):
And here's what the evidencetells us Gratitude practices can
lower cortisol levels.
It's that stress hormone.
Again, it can interfere withfertility.
Practicing gratitude can helpyou sleep better and longer if
you practice it before bed, andwe just talked about how
important sleep is for fertility.
(09:22):
Grateful individuals alsoexercise more, they eat better
and they have betterinterpersonal relationships.
So these three things that wejust talked about can all help
to reduce stress and promoteemotional well-being.
When you're in a better mentalstate, you think differently,
you're more resilient, you feelmore hopeful, you feel less
(09:44):
anxious and depressed.
Depression fuels the risk ofinfertility.
Infertility struggles fueldepression.
In this latest preconceptiondepression study, published in
2024, of the 16,521 couplesanalyzed, the risk of
infertility increased by 17.8%if the woman was diagnosed with
(10:07):
depression.
8% if the woman was diagnosedwith depression.
It increased by 46% if bothpartners were experiencing
depression.
Not that these couples werenever able to conceive in the
study.
The study only followed themfor 12 months, and the technical
definition of infertility istrying to conceive longer than
12 months.
The researchers found that thedepressed couples just take much
(10:29):
longer to get pregnant.
So mindfulness practices arenot just new agey woo-woo.
They have a real impact onfertility and your health.
All right, the next two itemsI'm going to discuss with you
are based on the tried and trueChinese medicine principles.
They might seem a little weirdat first, but they I want you to
(10:55):
stop putting ice in your waterand stop drinking cold drinks.
Okay, iced water and colddrinks is a big part of the diet
in Western culture.
The water that comes straightfrom the fridge is cold.
The water at a restaurant iscold, sparkling water is cold,
so why should you drink roomtemperature water or non-iced
(11:17):
water?
All right, to start with.
Did you know that therefrigeration is a modern
invention.
The concept of refrigerationdates back to the late 1800s,
but by then only the wealthycould afford it.
The first electric refrigeratorwas not invented until the 1913
in America by a man named FredWolfe.
(11:39):
So up until that point, manypeople didn't have the means to
make ice or chill their drinks.
When it comes to taking the iceout of your water, of course,
the scientific data on this isvery, very limited.
A study that I found said thatthe blood pressure increases
temporarily when drinking coldwater.
I think, since it's temporary,it's probably not a big deal,
(12:00):
but just to show you that thiscould have been caused by a
stress response from the coldwater.
Another study I found showedthat drinking cold water slows
down the movement of thedigestive tract, which makes
sense to me, because cold makesthings slow down and contract.
The argument from the study wasthat the participants ate less
(12:22):
because they felt full forlonger periods of time.
I do think that's a terribleargument for weight loss.
The fact that the digestivesystem slows down can cause so
many other problems.
The nutrient isn't absorbed atthe right time, it could mean
constipation and the toxins willstay in the body longer.
So this to me seems to make theargument that drinking warm
(12:45):
water is better for yourdigestion.
Chinese medicine has alwaysadvocated for warm drinks
instead of cold, and here is why.
First of all, we just said coldcontracts, warmth expands.
Cold slows down the blood flowand warmth increases the blood
flow, and this seems to match upwith a previous study that
(13:08):
mentioned the digestive tractslowdown Through the
interconnectedness of the body'ssystems and meridians.
The coldness that wasintroduced to the body will
affect all parts of the body,including you guessed it ovaries
and uterus.
If you already have circulationissues, like cold hands and
feet, chances are adding morecoldness to the body will not
(13:32):
improve your circulation.
It will make it worse.
Another reason has to do withbalancing and shifting of
available resources.
The function of the stomach inChinese medicine is to process
the food and grind them into aslurry to be used by the body,
and this is the same as Westernmedicine.
So I think it's pretty coolthat the two medical systems
(13:55):
seem different, but in fact theyactually have a lot of
similarities.
They just interpret thingsdifferently.
The foods that we eat need tobe ground up so that it's easier
to extract the nutrients.
To do this, the stomach isnaturally at a higher
temperature than the core bodytemperature of 98.6 degrees
Fahrenheit, depending on thesource.
(14:17):
Some say it's 99.6, degreesFahrenheit, depending on the
source.
Some say it's 99.6, some sayit's 100.
When ice-cold water, typicallyat 32 degrees Fahrenheit or zero
degrees Celsius, is introducedto the body, it causes a
temperature difference of 68degrees between the water and
the stomach temperature.
If that's not a huge shock tothe body, I don't know what is.
(14:39):
And then, after you've ingestedthis ice cold water, now the
stomach has to work extra hardto bring the temperature back to
where it needs to be in orderto function properly.
So if your stomach needs to theextra energy, it's going to
have to borrow it from somewherein the body very quickly.
It needs fire to heat up thecoldness.
(15:00):
Think about how long it takesto boil a pot of cold water.
When the stomach needs toborrow energy, it borrows from
anywhere, and this could impactthe amount of energy available
for the ovaries and the uterus.
Clinically, when my patientsstart to ditch the cold water,
they feel warmer, they have moreenergy, their digestion
(15:21):
improves, which means they'reabsorbing the nutrients better.
Some of them get pregnant andthat was the only change they've
made.
So it's a small change that youcould do, that you can make
today.
That could make a huge impact.
We're not going to talk too muchmore about the Chinese medicine
digestive system on thisepisode.
We will in the future.
(15:42):
Let me move on to number five.
The last thing I want tomention on this podcast also has
to do with improvingcirculation and blood flow, and
that is taking a warm foot bath.
If you can do it every night,that would be fantastic.
If not, every couple of days ora couple of times a week, it's
better than none.
And if you really don't havetime, do it every night.
That would be fantastic.
If not, every couple of days ora couple of times a week is
better than none.
And if you really don't havetime, do it during your period.
(16:04):
And also do it during the lastweek of the luteal phase, about
a week before your period is due.
Warm foot baths directlyintroduce the warm energy into
your body through the bottom ofthe feet, into your body through
the bottom of the feet.
That also happens to be wherethe kidney meridian starts.
Kidneys are the most importantorgans for fertility For now.
(16:27):
Just know that they are thefoundations of life and they
contribute to every singleprocess in the body, like
reproduction.
The kidney energy can't bereplenished, it can only be
conserved.
They also have similarfunctions to the Western
medicine definition of kidneysand adrenal glands.
Anyway, the kidneys providereproductive energy for
(16:48):
menstruation, puberty,conception, pregnancy, birth,
delivery and then menopause andbeyond.
Anytime you have to borrowenergy, like in the case of
drinking cold water, you areborrowing it from the kidneys,
so it has less for other things.
Keeping the body warm is agreat way to reduce the drain on
(17:10):
the kidney energy.
Taking a warm foot bath is agreat way to introduce the
warmth into the body.
This is especially importantduring the last week of the
cycle.
If there's implantation andpossibly pregnancy.
You want the uterus to staywarm.
The uterus in Chinese is knownas the child's palace.
(17:31):
Isn't that great.
I love that name.
We want the child's palace tobe nice and warm and cozy and
inviting, not cold and chilly.
This also doesn't have to be abig deal.
You can just draw up a footbath and stoke your feet for
10-15 minutes or until the watergets cold.
You can also use this time tounwind and meditate and practice
(17:55):
gratitude.
So there you have it, virgofriend, here are the five things
that you can start doing todaythat won't cost you any money
but will have major impacts onyour fertility.
You could take a walk, practicegratitude, stop putting ice in
(18:15):
your water, draw a warm footbath and cut off the screens an
hour before bedtime.
Keep in mind that life doeshappen.
You won't be able to do everysingle thing every single day,
but remember, small actions addup to big results.
It's not about being perfect.
It's about being consistent,stepping one foot in front of
(18:38):
the other and making your waytowards a big fat positive.
If you haven't downloaded the10 things to boost fertility
that are free, you can do so atadrienneweecom.
Slash 10 things and that's thenumber 10.
One, zero things.
All right, fertile friends.
That's all I have for today.
(19:00):
Thank you so much for tuning inand please do subscribe to the
podcast.
If you haven't done so already,and if you know anybody that
could benefit from it, pleaseshare it with them.
Until next time, take care ofyourself and your amazing body.
You are one fertile cycle awayfrom getting pregnant.
Welcome to the Practically Fertile Podcast.
I'm Adrienne Wee, doctor ofAcupuncture and Chinese Medicine
, functional MedicinePractitioner and Functional
Nutritionist.
I specialize in using anevidence-based method, blending
principles of East Asianmedicine and modern functional
medicine to help women optimizefertility and get pregnant.
(00:22):
I believe in a world whereevery woman who wants to be a
mother becomes one.
If you're tired of being toldthat you're infertile and you
want to take the right steps toget pregnant naturally and
quickly, this podcast is for you.
Hey, fertile friend, welcomeback to the podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
(00:42):
Before I get into today's maintopic, I want to take a moment
to introduce the idea behindPractically Fertile.
Practically Fertile has twomeanings.
Number one I believe that everywoman can get pregnant.
She's always one fertile cycleaway.
She is practically there, justneeds to figure out what the
(01:05):
obstacles are and come up with aplan to overcome these
obstacles.
Number two I've designed myprotocols to be practical and
each step would build on theprevious step.
Nothing extreme, easy to followand inexpensive, sustainable.
Trust me, you don't have totake a thousand supplements a
(01:26):
day.
You can tuck that money awayfor nursery decorations.
You don't need to spendthousands of dollars on lab work
.
There are easier and quickerways to figure out the
underlying causes.
Let me share with you the threecore principles of the
Practically Fertile methodology.
It's the guiding principlebehind how our protocols work.
Core principle number oneinfertility is not a disease.
(01:50):
It's a reflection of yourhealth.
If you're experiencing a delayin getting pregnant, it's not
because you're infertile.
So get it out of your headright now.
You are not infertile.
What you're experiencing isyour body's way of telling you
that something isn't quite right.
Core principle number two rootcause is the cure.
(02:12):
Having PCOS is not a root cause.
Endometriosis is not a rootcause.
Low AMH is not a root cause.
It's important to discover thetrue underlying issues,
otherwise Band-Aids don't fixbullet holes, borrowing a line
from Taylor Swift.
But it's true.
You have to get to the bottomof the reasons why and then
(02:35):
you'll know how to fix them Allright.
Core principle number threeSmall actions add up to big
results.
Most people underestimate thepower of tiny baby steps.
The go big or go home methodnever works.
I don't know if you're familiarwith this guy named James Clear,
but the example that he used toconvey this concept is genius.
(02:59):
He says ice melts at 32 degreesFahrenheit or zero degrees
Celsius, and water boils at 212degrees Fahrenheit or 100
degrees Celsius, but until theyreach that threshold, it seems
like nothing is happening.
Have you ever tried to watch apot boil or watch an ice cube
(03:22):
melt to water completely?
It takes a long time.
It's a very slow process, butthe thing is behind the scenes.
Something is happening.
Water temperature is increasingsteadily, one degree at a time,
and this is the same whenyou're trying to achieve a goal
like getting pregnant you haveto reach a certain threshold in
(03:43):
order to see results.
Getting pregnant, you have toreach a certain threshold in
order to see results.
You have to keep putting onefoot in front of the other.
So today's episode alignsperfectly with this core
principle.
Number three I want to sharewith you five practical and
powerful tweaks you could makeright now to boost fertility
without spending a dime.
They're all completely free andthey will have huge impacts on
(04:06):
your fertility.
So let me get started.
What I'm seeing a lot right nowis the online fertility
coaching space.
They use this fear-basedmessaging tactic.
I mean, come on, are you reallynot going to get pregnant if
you eat regular bread versussourdough bread, or if you have
(04:27):
one cup of coffee in the morning, are you not going to get
pregnant?
You might have felt this way,right.
As a result, you might havespent hundreds, if not thousands
, of dollars on supplements,coaching programs, gut tests,
whatever lab work, and you stillfeel like you're not seeing
results.
Yes, other times when you doneed to do these things, though,
(04:48):
of course and that's how Idesign my protocols is to take
you through a step-by-stepprocess so that you can
seriously boost your fertilitywithout blindly throwing money
at the problem right off the bat.
Tests and supplements should beadded in strategically when you
need them.
Anyway, my point is there aremany, many things you could do
(05:10):
on a regular basis that aresimple yet powerful.
In fact, they're so simple youdon't even think that it could
possibly make a difference.
I have made a download for youwith the 10 things you can do to
boost fertility that are free.
I'm going to go over five ofthem here, but you can download
(05:30):
the entire list and keep it foryourself and see if you can
incorporate them into your lives, and then take notes of how you
feel and see if you feeldifferent.
I'll tell you at the end of thepodcast how to get your hands
on this.
All right, the first thing thatyou should do, that you could do
, is take a walk.
That you should do.
(05:51):
That you could do is take awalk.
This doesn't have to beanything strenuous, and you're
not walking for exercise.
That's a whole different thing.
You're simply going to take astroll around the block.
Here's why Even just 10 minutesof walking will reduce your
cortisol level.
Walk for 20 to 30 minutes.
Your body releases endorphins.
That's that feel-good hormone.
This isn't always practical,though, depending on your
(06:14):
schedule, but if you choose towalk around lunchtime, that's
even better, because you'll geta boost in vitamin D production.
Vitamin D is made from sunlighton our skin naturally, and low
levels of vitamin D have beenlinked to low AMH.
And if you're walking rightafter lunch, the added bonus is
blood sugar regulation.
(06:34):
It improves insulin sensitivity.
If you have time, walking for45 to 60 minutes fully reset
your nervous system and promotesthe parasympathetic nervous
system, and that is the rest anddigest nervous system response
that we want.
Any walking outside is good foryou anyway.
(06:54):
You look at it and again, thisis low stress, not focusing on
calorie burning type of walking,just taking a stroll around the
block.
Second thing you can do is tocut off screen time an hour
before bed.
There's a lot of research onthis.
Blue light disrupts melatoninproduction and can disrupt sleep
(07:15):
.
It makes your brain think thatit's daytime instead of
nighttime, and why do we careabout sleep?
If you're not sleeping, you'renot resting, and if you're not
resting, your body can't recoverfrom the stress that it
accumulates during the day, andso many of our biological
processes happen at night, whenwe're resting.
(07:35):
If your sleep is disrupted,your body can go into a fight or
flight survival mode.
Instead of screen time, you canread a book, or another thing
I've been teaching a lot of mypatients to do is use this time
to process any negative feelingsthat you have accumulated
during the day.
Give yourself half an hour toan hour set of time, and it's
(07:59):
very important to set a timer.
Use this time as your stew anddwell time.
The challenge is, though, is tocut yourself off when the time
is up.
The challenge is, though, is tocut yourself off when the time
is up If you're having troublerelaxing before bed.
That tells me that there's animbalance that needs to be
resolved, and Chinese medicinetakes sleep very seriously, so
(08:19):
definitely cut off screen timeand prioritize sleep.
Moving on to number three, youcan practice gratitude.
That is absolutely free.
This doesn't have to be a bigdeal either.
It can simply be thinking aboutsomething you're grateful for
while getting water, whilegetting the mail, while you're
(08:40):
walking outside.
It doesn't have to be anythingformal, structured, or you don't
have to have a dedicated timefor it.
It's whatever works for you.
You don't have to have adedicated time for it.
It's whatever works for you.
Practicing gratitude isn't assexy to talk about as the latest
supplement or a new superfood,but the impact is tremendous and
more, way more, than the latesttrend.
(09:01):
And here's what the evidencetells us Gratitude practices can
lower cortisol levels.
It's that stress hormone.
Again, it can interfere withfertility.
Practicing gratitude can helpyou sleep better and longer if
you practice it before bed, andwe just talked about how
important sleep is for fertility.
(09:22):
Grateful individuals alsoexercise more, they eat better
and they have betterinterpersonal relationships.
So these three things that wejust talked about can all help
to reduce stress and promoteemotional well-being.
When you're in a better mentalstate, you think differently,
you're more resilient, you feelmore hopeful, you feel less
(09:44):
anxious and depressed.
Depression fuels the risk ofinfertility.
Infertility struggles fueldepression.
In this latest preconceptiondepression study, published in
2024, of the 16,521 couplesanalyzed, the risk of
infertility increased by 17.8%if the woman was diagnosed with
(10:07):
depression.
8% if the woman was diagnosedwith depression.
It increased by 46% if bothpartners were experiencing
depression.
Not that these couples werenever able to conceive in the
study.
The study only followed themfor 12 months, and the technical
definition of infertility istrying to conceive longer than
12 months.
The researchers found that thedepressed couples just take much
(10:29):
longer to get pregnant.
So mindfulness practices arenot just new agey woo-woo.
They have a real impact onfertility and your health.
All right, the next two itemsI'm going to discuss with you
are based on the tried and trueChinese medicine principles.
They might seem a little weirdat first, but they I want you to
(10:55):
stop putting ice in your waterand stop drinking cold drinks.
Okay, iced water and colddrinks is a big part of the diet
in Western culture.
The water that comes straightfrom the fridge is cold.
The water at a restaurant iscold, sparkling water is cold,
so why should you drink roomtemperature water or non-iced
(11:17):
water?
All right, to start with.
Did you know that therefrigeration is a modern
invention.
The concept of refrigerationdates back to the late 1800s,
but by then only the wealthycould afford it.
The first electric refrigeratorwas not invented until the 1913
in America by a man named FredWolfe.
(11:39):
So up until that point, manypeople didn't have the means to
make ice or chill their drinks.
When it comes to taking the iceout of your water, of course,
the scientific data on this isvery, very limited.
A study that I found said thatthe blood pressure increases
temporarily when drinking coldwater.
I think, since it's temporary,it's probably not a big deal,
(12:00):
but just to show you that thiscould have been caused by a
stress response from the coldwater.
Another study I found showedthat drinking cold water slows
down the movement of thedigestive tract, which makes
sense to me, because cold makesthings slow down and contract.
The argument from the study wasthat the participants ate less
(12:22):
because they felt full forlonger periods of time.
I do think that's a terribleargument for weight loss.
The fact that the digestivesystem slows down can cause so
many other problems.
The nutrient isn't absorbed atthe right time, it could mean
constipation and the toxins willstay in the body longer.
So this to me seems to make theargument that drinking warm
(12:45):
water is better for yourdigestion.
Chinese medicine has alwaysadvocated for warm drinks
instead of cold, and here is why.
First of all, we just said coldcontracts, warmth expands.
Cold slows down the blood flowand warmth increases the blood
flow, and this seems to match upwith a previous study that
(13:08):
mentioned the digestive tractslowdown Through the
interconnectedness of the body'ssystems and meridians.
The coldness that wasintroduced to the body will
affect all parts of the body,including you guessed it ovaries
and uterus.
If you already have circulationissues, like cold hands and
feet, chances are adding morecoldness to the body will not
(13:32):
improve your circulation.
It will make it worse.
Another reason has to do withbalancing and shifting of
available resources.
The function of the stomach inChinese medicine is to process
the food and grind them into aslurry to be used by the body,
and this is the same as Westernmedicine.
So I think it's pretty coolthat the two medical systems
(13:55):
seem different, but in fact theyactually have a lot of
similarities.
They just interpret thingsdifferently.
The foods that we eat need tobe ground up so that it's easier
to extract the nutrients.
To do this, the stomach isnaturally at a higher
temperature than the core bodytemperature of 98.6 degrees
Fahrenheit, depending on thesource.
(14:17):
Some say it's 99.6, degreesFahrenheit, depending on the
source.
Some say it's 99.6, some sayit's 100.
When ice-cold water, typicallyat 32 degrees Fahrenheit or zero
degrees Celsius, is introducedto the body, it causes a
temperature difference of 68degrees between the water and
the stomach temperature.
If that's not a huge shock tothe body, I don't know what is.
(14:39):
And then, after you've ingestedthis ice cold water, now the
stomach has to work extra hardto bring the temperature back to
where it needs to be in orderto function properly.
So if your stomach needs to theextra energy, it's going to
have to borrow it from somewherein the body very quickly.
It needs fire to heat up thecoldness.
(15:00):
Think about how long it takesto boil a pot of cold water.
When the stomach needs toborrow energy, it borrows from
anywhere, and this could impactthe amount of energy available
for the ovaries and the uterus.
Clinically, when my patientsstart to ditch the cold water,
they feel warmer, they have moreenergy, their digestion
(15:21):
improves, which means they'reabsorbing the nutrients better.
Some of them get pregnant andthat was the only change they've
made.
So it's a small change that youcould do, that you can make
today.
That could make a huge impact.
We're not going to talk too muchmore about the Chinese medicine
digestive system on thisepisode.
We will in the future.
(15:42):
Let me move on to number five.
The last thing I want tomention on this podcast also has
to do with improvingcirculation and blood flow, and
that is taking a warm foot bath.
If you can do it every night,that would be fantastic.
If not, every couple of days ora couple of times a week, it's
better than none.
And if you really don't havetime, do it every night.
That would be fantastic.
If not, every couple of days ora couple of times a week is
better than none.
And if you really don't havetime, do it during your period.
(16:04):
And also do it during the lastweek of the luteal phase, about
a week before your period is due.
Warm foot baths directlyintroduce the warm energy into
your body through the bottom ofthe feet, into your body through
the bottom of the feet.
That also happens to be wherethe kidney meridian starts.
Kidneys are the most importantorgans for fertility For now.
(16:27):
Just know that they are thefoundations of life and they
contribute to every singleprocess in the body, like
reproduction.
The kidney energy can't bereplenished, it can only be
conserved.
They also have similarfunctions to the Western
medicine definition of kidneysand adrenal glands.
Anyway, the kidneys providereproductive energy for
(16:48):
menstruation, puberty,conception, pregnancy, birth,
delivery and then menopause andbeyond.
Anytime you have to borrowenergy, like in the case of
drinking cold water, you areborrowing it from the kidneys,
so it has less for other things.
Keeping the body warm is agreat way to reduce the drain on
(17:10):
the kidney energy.
Taking a warm foot bath is agreat way to introduce the
warmth into the body.
This is especially importantduring the last week of the
cycle.
If there's implantation andpossibly pregnancy.
You want the uterus to staywarm.
The uterus in Chinese is knownas the child's palace.
(17:31):
Isn't that great.
I love that name.
We want the child's palace tobe nice and warm and cozy and
inviting, not cold and chilly.
This also doesn't have to be abig deal.
You can just draw up a footbath and stoke your feet for
10-15 minutes or until the watergets cold.
You can also use this time tounwind and meditate and practice
(17:55):
gratitude.
So there you have it, virgofriend, here are the five things
that you can start doing todaythat won't cost you any money
but will have major impacts onyour fertility.
You could take a walk, practicegratitude, stop putting ice in
(18:15):
your water, draw a warm footbath and cut off the screens an
hour before bedtime.
Keep in mind that life doeshappen.
You won't be able to do everysingle thing every single day,
but remember, small actions addup to big results.
It's not about being perfect.
It's about being consistent,stepping one foot in front of
(18:38):
the other and making your waytowards a big fat positive.
If you haven't downloaded the10 things to boost fertility
that are free, you can do so atadrienneweecom.
Slash 10 things and that's thenumber 10.
One, zero things.
All right, fertile friends.
That's all I have for today.
(19:00):
Thank you so much for tuning inand please do subscribe to the
podcast.
If you haven't done so already,and if you know anybody that
could benefit from it, pleaseshare it with them.
Until next time, take care ofyourself and your amazing body.
You are one fertile cycle awayfrom getting pregnant.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.