If you've been trying to conceive with no success, it's very normal to think that it's because you're not doing enough, or something is seriously wrong with your hormones. As a result, you try everything that a well-meaning blogger or influencer or friend suggests. However, what they night not know is that some of these tips and tricks are not appropriate for everyone, and can actually delay the entire process.
In this episode, we explore the evidence behind these popular fertility super herbs, and discuss whether or not they really help with fertility.
Follow me on instagram @dradriennewei
Website: www.adriennewei.com
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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, I wonderif you feel the same way, but
(00:44):
there's no shortage ofinformation on how to boost
fertility on the internet thesedays.
But there's just so muchinformation and you have to sort
through all of this data andthen figure out what's right and
what's wrong.
But in order to do that, youwould have to do more research,
and that brings up moreinformation and cause more help
(01:06):
and cause more overwhelm.
So then, we rely on bloggers,influencers and other women who
have found success to see whathas worked for them, and I
believe this is where myths likeeating McDonald's french fries
after IVF transfer comes from,or eating pineapples can help
with the implantation.
You hear personal stories likeI ate pineapple cord during my
(01:29):
two-week wait and now I'mpregnant.
So just to be clear, I'm nothere to tell you to stop doing
these things because, hey,pineapple is delicious, it's a
healthy fruit.
If you'd like to eat it, be myguest, even though, from
hundreds of food sensitivitytests that I have done, I would
say that more than 50% of thetime someone has a sensitivity
(01:50):
to an enzyme found in pineapple.
If you're just having a fewpieces, I don't see any harm,
but there's zero evidence thatit actually helps with
implantation.
And you know, if eatingMcDonald's fries make you feel
like you're proactively doingsomething to boost fertility,
even though it's unhealthy oncein a while, is not going to hurt
(02:11):
you.
What I want to talk about todayisn't the food-based rituals.
I want to talk about superherbs for fertility that are
very popular but cause more harmthan good, specifically evening
primrose oil or EPL, maca,vitex and trebulus.
Again, these herbs haveanecdotal success stories
(02:34):
associated with them and nodoubt they can work for some
people, but just taking themwithout understanding what they
do to your body is a recipe fordisaster.
Again, I'm not here to be aDebbie Downer and scare you.
I just need you to listen tothe pros and cons and then see
for yourself whether it's worththe risk.
Now I am a trained Chinesemedicine herbalist.
(02:56):
To begin with, I want to talkabout the differences between
Chinese medicine herbs and thesesuperfood herbs, and then we'll
get into how each of thesuperfood herbs work and how
they affect your body andexplore the evidence behind
these claims.
Chinese medicine herbs are nevertaken alone.
For starters, chinese medicineherbs are never taken by
(03:20):
themselves, with very fewexceptions.
There are some herbs that areeveryday foods, that you can
grab a handful and throw theminto a soup or a tea, like goji
berry, chinese red dates.
Those are the two that came tomind immediately.
The majority of the time,Chinese herbs are combined
together to form a formula.
(03:41):
Each formulation typicallycontains as few as four herbs
and as many as 15 to 20,sometimes even more.
A lot of topical formulas willuse more herbs, but the point is
you wouldn't see Chinese herbsgiven out by themselves.
Each herb in the formulation hasa very specific purpose.
(04:02):
They're strategically combinedto balance each other and
minimize side effects.
For example, if a formula has alot of hard-to-digest herbs,
you'll often see an herb calledfuling or poria in the
formulation If you need theeffects of the herbs to reach
many places in the body.
(04:24):
You would often see licorice tohelp guide the herbs to where
they need to go, becauselicorice has the ability to
reach all 12 energy pathways inthe body.
And lastly, chinese herbalmedicine addresses the root
causes.
They aim to resolve a patternof imbalance, not just one
(04:46):
specific symptom, because theidea is by resolving patterns of
imbalances, the body willbecome healthier, more resilient
and restore its natural abilityto heal, including hormone
balance and getting pregnant.
Yes, by regulating bowelmovements, by improving sleep,
by getting rid of night sweats,you will improve your fertility.
(05:09):
When I give you an herbalformulation, I get predictable
results.
I know what to look for.
When you take a random herb.
You don't know what you'regoing to get.
It could be a mixed bag ofresults.
The biggest problem I have withthese superfood herbs is how
they're marketed.
The attraction to them is toclaim that they balance hormones
(05:32):
.
That has become a buzzword andif you're trying to get pregnant
with no success, it's naturalto think that is because your
hormones are not balanced.
But my question is whichhormones are you trying to
balance?
And remember, hormones don'twork alone.
If something is not workingcorrectly, it can be caused by
many other factors.
(05:53):
So if you're just grabbingthese herbs off the shelf and
taking them without diggingdeeper to finding the root cause
, it can set you back.
So let's deep dive into theseherbs.
We'll start with the first one,evening primrose oil, epo.
The claim is that it helps withcervical mucus production.
(06:14):
Epo is actually a plant that'snative to North and South
America and some parts of Europeand Asia.
In addition to the claim thatit helps with the egg white
cervical mucus production, it'salso suggested for the use for
rheumatoid arthritis, dermatitis, irregular periods, pms.
It's recommended for usevaginally to induce labor.
(06:38):
Clinically, vaginal use of EPOalone has never proven to help
any of my patients, and I'vebeen in practice for 16 years.
Proven to help any of mypatients and I've been in
practice for 16 years.
So the active ingredient in EPOis an omega-6 fatty acid GLA
gamma-linoic acid.
Gla is a precursor to theproduction of prostaglandins,
(07:00):
which are hormone-likesubstances and, depending on the
type, it could either beanti-inflammatory or
pro-inflammatory.
Epo produces theanti-inflammatory prostaglandin
1.
Prostaglandin type 2 is thetype that causes inflammation
and can cause PMS menstrualcramps because it actually
(07:21):
stimulates uterine contractions.
So using it for labor inductiondoesn't make sense because EPO
doesn't produce theprostaglandin that would
stimulate contractions.
Epo actually doesn't produceany hormones or directly
influence estrogen orprogesterone.
There was a study on theeffects of EPO for women who
experience IBS prior to theonset of a period and 53%
(07:46):
reported improvement after threemonths of continuous use.
I also looked at seven clinicaltrials on EPA and how it could
help with PMS symptoms and noneof these studies found EPO to
work for any of the participants.
There's definitely no doubt thatEPO does have some
anti-inflammatory properties,but there are potential
(08:07):
downsides for using it,especially regularly.
For example, it can interactwith blood thinners and
anti-seizure medication,antidepressants and high blood
pressure medications.
It can also cause GI issues andeveryone will react a little
bit differently.
Again, no doubt that EPO hasworked for some people, but
(08:29):
taking EPO is no different thantaking a medication that covers
the root cause of a symptom.
Next up, let's talk about Vitexor Chesterberry, so so, so
popular and so so, so overhyped.
The results from Vitex arereally unpredictable and it can
(08:49):
make things worse by causingirregularities with your cycle.
Unlike EPO, vitex actually doesdirectly affect hormones, but
not estrogen or progesterone.
It acts on the hormoneprolactin, and this is where the
results from taking Vitex getsdicey.
If you fall into the categoryof having high prolactin, or
(09:14):
even if your prolactin is in thenormal range but it's on the
higher end, then you might beone of the success stories from
taking Vitex.
Because Vitex lowers theprolactin level and that can
help you get back into balanceand help with the production of
progesterone in the luteal phaseafter ovulation.
(09:36):
It might also help withregulating ovulation because
high prolactin suppresses theGNRH, the gonadotropin-releasing
hormone.
If your prolactin is highenough, you won't have a period.
We learned back in episode one.
The GNRH is the first hormonethat acts to start a menstrual
(09:58):
cycle.
But the problem here is that wedon't know exactly how the
prolactin levels affect yourcycle and hormones, because one
person's high might be justright for another person and we
also don't know how your bodywill react to the Vitex.
It might be perfect for theexact right person, but it might
(10:19):
cause problems for another.
What most bloggers don't talkabout is the serious side
effects of Vitex.
For one, if your prolactinlevel becomes too low, that can
affect your glucose metabolism,adipose fat storage and increase
your risk for developinginsulin resistance, weight gain,
(10:39):
non-alcoholic fatty liverdisease.
Low prolactin levels have awell-known link to the
development of type 2 diabetesand other metabolic disorders.
This is one of the reasons why,depending on which type of PCOS
you have, VITAX can make thingsmuch, much worse for you.
Same with EPO, vitax won'tsolve the problem of egg quality
(11:03):
issues.
It might lengthen the lutealphase and help with progesterone
.
Of egg quality issues, it mightlengthen the luteal phase and
help with progesterone, but ifthe egg quality wasn't great to
begin with, it's not going tohelp you sustain a pregnancy.
There is a supplement companythat makes a prenatal with Vitex
, and the instruction is to weanoff Vitex once you're pregnant
and not stop it abruptly.
(11:23):
The concern is that stoppingthe Vitex suddenly can cause the
progesterone to drop, but keeptaking Vitex during the weaning
process.
There's no well-establishedstudy that tells us exactly how
early pregnancy hormones will beaffected by Vitex, so it could
be causing more harm.
We just don't know and, to beclear, there hasn't been
(11:48):
evidence that Vitex causesmiscarriage in the first
trimester or during pregnancy.
But knowing that duringpregnancy the prolactin level
increases to prepare for breastmilk production and that low
prolactin can have consequences,I would think twice before
taking this herb.
(12:09):
Okay, next up is maca, anotherpopular herb.
Maca is actually a rootvegetable native to the Andes
and it's often marketed as asuperfood for fertility.
Most studies on maca are smalland mostly on animals in
postmenopausal women, not onwomen trying to conceive.
(12:29):
Most of the effects of MACAreported are increased energy,
libido, enhanced mood.
Maca does not act directly onany fertility hormones.
It's actually an adaptogen,which means it could potentially
have an effect regulating theHPA axis the hypothalamus
(12:50):
pituitary adrenals axis andmight help to reduce the
cortisol level.
So is that the reason forincreased energy in libido?
Maybe Could that indirectlyhelp with fertility and hormone
regulation, potentially.
We know that cortisol isnecessary for survival, but the
problem with our modern world isthat cortisol stays elevated
(13:13):
and that can trigger thefight-or-flight response,
therefore affecting fertility.
So should you take maca forreducing cortisol?
Not so fast.
The biggest reason why youshouldn't take maca is it
contains goitrogens.
I came across a blog promotingmaca and that the goitrogens can
(13:36):
help with thyroid function.
That's false.
Goitrogens are toxic to thethyroid.
They disrupt thyroid hormonesand cause goiters.
Goitrogens cause goiters andgoitrogens are found in many
cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts.
Another reason to cook thesevegetables, since heat will
(13:57):
destroy the goitrogens.
So maca contains thesegoitrogens actually can be very
toxic to the thyroid.
There's another reason why wemight want to think twice before
taking maca, and that's takingtoo much.
Maca can possibly cause thehyperstimulation of the HPA axis
and that could have theopposite effect, because instead
(14:20):
of reducing cortisol, it couldstimulate your adrenal glands to
produce more.
From a Chinese medicineperspective, we talked about how
each herb is paired togetherstrategically, and that's
because we take intoconsideration the properties of
the herbs, like which organsdoes it affect, what does it
(14:40):
taste like, what's thetemperature, what's the function
, what's the contraindication,and remember how we talked about
the yin and yang energies andhow they balance each other.
Because of the activatingproperties of maca, it's
considered an herb that's veryyoung and very hot in nature.
If you need an energy boost, itmight work for you short term,
(15:05):
but herbs that are very young innature are very drying, which
means it will start to affectthe cooling and lubricating yin
energy in your body.
Hopefully you remember from theprevious podcast that yin
energy is like estrogen anddirectly affects the egg quality
, and I've had patients thathave taken maca for an extended
(15:27):
period of time and they noticethat their egg white cervical
mucus starts to dry up as well,and that's again because maca is
very young and very drying innature.
I have one more herb that Iwant to discuss, because a
patient also asked me about it,and that is tribulus.
Tribulus is said to help withfertility because it can
(15:50):
potentially increasetestosterone production, boost
blood flow and hasanti-inflammatory properties.
Tribulus is actually an herbthat we use in Chinese medicine.
The Chinese name is baiji li.
Tribulus is combined with otherherbs to treat imbalances of
the kidneys and the liver.
Combined with other herbs totreat imbalances of the kidneys
(16:14):
and the liver, that translatesto symptoms like impotence, low
libido, low sperm count due tolow testosterone levels and
stress.
It can also be used to treatdizziness, headaches, vertigo,
that are typically associatedwith liver imbalances.
For men, tribulus might be safer, especially if the problem is
low testosterone.
But when an herb has a directimpact on hormones, that result
(16:38):
can either be really good orreally bad.
For women, some testosteronemight be helpful for certain
situations.
In fact, for IVF, some doctorswill recommend testosterone
before starting the stimulation.
That's because testosterone isa precursor to making estrogen.
So the idea is, if thetestosterone levels are low, you
(17:00):
might have low estrogen as well, but it doesn't take a lot for
the scale to tip the other way.
One of my patients did end uptaking too much and for too long
.
She started to notice facialhair more sweating and also a
lot of irritability.
Although tribulus isn't exactlytaking actual testosterone
(17:22):
hormone, there's absolutely arisk that you could end up
taking too much.
Research evidence on tribulusand boosting testosterone is
also very inconsistent.
That makes sense, right?
Everyone is different.
If you don't have atestosterone issue, this herb
isn't going to help you.
Okay, we are nearing the end ofthis episode.
(17:45):
My goal is not to scare you Atthe end of the day.
If you feel like taking one ofthese herbs is going to help you
, that's totally fine by me.
At least, I've done my job togive you the information that
you need.
When I begin working with apatient, I will typically do a
supplement audit and take themoff of these herbs.
My philosophy is if these herbsare not specifically tailored
(18:07):
to you, then I'm not sure whatkind of effects it will generate
.
It will take longer for you toget pregnant because you might
have to spend more time toreverse the unwanted side
effects, and maybe you've beenon this journey for a while and
you're feeling frustrated, butvery often it's not because
you're not doing something.
On the contrary, I think youneed to give yourself grace and
(18:30):
do less Taking an herbalsupplement because someone said
it would help with fertility,but they know nothing about your
specific situation.
It's just one more thing thatyou can take off your list.
All right, fertile friend, Ihope you found this episode
helpful.
Please do reach out to me ifyou have questions, and I have a
(18:51):
huge favor to ask.
Please leave me a five-starreview on the podcast.
It'll help the podcast to reachmore people, as always.
Thank you for spending sometime with me.
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, I wonderif you feel the same way, but
(00:44):
there's no shortage ofinformation on how to boost
fertility on the internet thesedays.
But there's just so muchinformation and you have to sort
through all of this data andthen figure out what's right and
what's wrong.
But in order to do that, youwould have to do more research,
and that brings up moreinformation and cause more help
(01:06):
and cause more overwhelm.
So then, we rely on bloggers,influencers and other women who
have found success to see whathas worked for them, and I
believe this is where myths likeeating McDonald's french fries
after IVF transfer comes from,or eating pineapples can help
with the implantation.
You hear personal stories likeI ate pineapple cord during my
(01:29):
two-week wait and now I'mpregnant.
So just to be clear, I'm nothere to tell you to stop doing
these things because, hey,pineapple is delicious, it's a
healthy fruit.
If you'd like to eat it, be myguest, even though, from
hundreds of food sensitivitytests that I have done, I would
say that more than 50% of thetime someone has a sensitivity
(01:50):
to an enzyme found in pineapple.
If you're just having a fewpieces, I don't see any harm,
but there's zero evidence thatit actually helps with
implantation.
And you know, if eatingMcDonald's fries make you feel
like you're proactively doingsomething to boost fertility,
even though it's unhealthy oncein a while, is not going to hurt
(02:11):
you.
What I want to talk about todayisn't the food-based rituals.
I want to talk about superherbs for fertility that are
very popular but cause more harmthan good, specifically evening
primrose oil or EPL, maca,vitex and trebulus.
Again, these herbs haveanecdotal success stories
(02:34):
associated with them and nodoubt they can work for some
people, but just taking themwithout understanding what they
do to your body is a recipe fordisaster.
Again, I'm not here to be aDebbie Downer and scare you.
I just need you to listen tothe pros and cons and then see
for yourself whether it's worththe risk.
Now I am a trained Chinesemedicine herbalist.
(02:56):
To begin with, I want to talkabout the differences between
Chinese medicine herbs and thesesuperfood herbs, and then we'll
get into how each of thesuperfood herbs work and how
they affect your body andexplore the evidence behind
these claims.
Chinese medicine herbs are nevertaken alone.
For starters, chinese medicineherbs are never taken by
(03:20):
themselves, with very fewexceptions.
There are some herbs that areeveryday foods, that you can
grab a handful and throw theminto a soup or a tea, like goji
berry, chinese red dates.
Those are the two that came tomind immediately.
The majority of the time,Chinese herbs are combined
together to form a formula.
(03:41):
Each formulation typicallycontains as few as four herbs
and as many as 15 to 20,sometimes even more.
A lot of topical formulas willuse more herbs, but the point is
you wouldn't see Chinese herbsgiven out by themselves.
Each herb in the formulation hasa very specific purpose.
(04:02):
They're strategically combinedto balance each other and
minimize side effects.
For example, if a formula has alot of hard-to-digest herbs,
you'll often see an herb calledfuling or poria in the
formulation If you need theeffects of the herbs to reach
many places in the body.
(04:24):
You would often see licorice tohelp guide the herbs to where
they need to go, becauselicorice has the ability to
reach all 12 energy pathways inthe body.
And lastly, chinese herbalmedicine addresses the root
causes.
They aim to resolve a patternof imbalance, not just one
(04:46):
specific symptom, because theidea is by resolving patterns of
imbalances, the body willbecome healthier, more resilient
and restore its natural abilityto heal, including hormone
balance and getting pregnant.
Yes, by regulating bowelmovements, by improving sleep,
by getting rid of night sweats,you will improve your fertility.
(05:09):
When I give you an herbalformulation, I get predictable
results.
I know what to look for.
When you take a random herb.
You don't know what you'regoing to get.
It could be a mixed bag ofresults.
The biggest problem I have withthese superfood herbs is how
they're marketed.
The attraction to them is toclaim that they balance hormones
(05:32):
.
That has become a buzzword andif you're trying to get pregnant
with no success, it's naturalto think that is because your
hormones are not balanced.
But my question is whichhormones are you trying to
balance?
And remember, hormones don'twork alone.
If something is not workingcorrectly, it can be caused by
many other factors.
(05:53):
So if you're just grabbingthese herbs off the shelf and
taking them without diggingdeeper to finding the root cause
, it can set you back.
So let's deep dive into theseherbs.
We'll start with the first one,evening primrose oil, epo.
The claim is that it helps withcervical mucus production.
(06:14):
Epo is actually a plant that'snative to North and South
America and some parts of Europeand Asia.
In addition to the claim thatit helps with the egg white
cervical mucus production, it'salso suggested for the use for
rheumatoid arthritis, dermatitis, irregular periods, pms.
It's recommended for usevaginally to induce labor.
(06:38):
Clinically, vaginal use of EPOalone has never proven to help
any of my patients, and I'vebeen in practice for 16 years.
Proven to help any of mypatients and I've been in
practice for 16 years.
So the active ingredient in EPOis an omega-6 fatty acid GLA
gamma-linoic acid.
Gla is a precursor to theproduction of prostaglandins,
(07:00):
which are hormone-likesubstances and, depending on the
type, it could either beanti-inflammatory or
pro-inflammatory.
Epo produces theanti-inflammatory prostaglandin
1.
Prostaglandin type 2 is thetype that causes inflammation
and can cause PMS menstrualcramps because it actually
(07:21):
stimulates uterine contractions.
So using it for labor inductiondoesn't make sense because EPO
doesn't produce theprostaglandin that would
stimulate contractions.
Epo actually doesn't produceany hormones or directly
influence estrogen orprogesterone.
There was a study on theeffects of EPO for women who
experience IBS prior to theonset of a period and 53%
(07:46):
reported improvement after threemonths of continuous use.
I also looked at seven clinicaltrials on EPA and how it could
help with PMS symptoms and noneof these studies found EPO to
work for any of the participants.
There's definitely no doubt thatEPO does have some
anti-inflammatory properties,but there are potential
(08:07):
downsides for using it,especially regularly.
For example, it can interactwith blood thinners and
anti-seizure medication,antidepressants and high blood
pressure medications.
It can also cause GI issues andeveryone will react a little
bit differently.
Again, no doubt that EPO hasworked for some people, but
(08:29):
taking EPO is no different thantaking a medication that covers
the root cause of a symptom.
Next up, let's talk about Vitexor Chesterberry, so so, so
popular and so so, so overhyped.
The results from Vitex arereally unpredictable and it can
(08:49):
make things worse by causingirregularities with your cycle.
Unlike EPO, vitex actually doesdirectly affect hormones, but
not estrogen or progesterone.
It acts on the hormoneprolactin, and this is where the
results from taking Vitex getsdicey.
If you fall into the categoryof having high prolactin, or
(09:14):
even if your prolactin is in thenormal range but it's on the
higher end, then you might beone of the success stories from
taking Vitex.
Because Vitex lowers theprolactin level and that can
help you get back into balanceand help with the production of
progesterone in the luteal phaseafter ovulation.
(09:36):
It might also help withregulating ovulation because
high prolactin suppresses theGNRH, the gonadotropin-releasing
hormone.
If your prolactin is highenough, you won't have a period.
We learned back in episode one.
The GNRH is the first hormonethat acts to start a menstrual
(09:58):
cycle.
But the problem here is that wedon't know exactly how the
prolactin levels affect yourcycle and hormones, because one
person's high might be justright for another person and we
also don't know how your bodywill react to the Vitex.
It might be perfect for theexact right person, but it might
(10:19):
cause problems for another.
What most bloggers don't talkabout is the serious side
effects of Vitex.
For one, if your prolactinlevel becomes too low, that can
affect your glucose metabolism,adipose fat storage and increase
your risk for developinginsulin resistance, weight gain,
(10:39):
non-alcoholic fatty liverdisease.
Low prolactin levels have awell-known link to the
development of type 2 diabetesand other metabolic disorders.
This is one of the reasons why,depending on which type of PCOS
you have, VITAX can make thingsmuch, much worse for you.
Same with EPO, vitax won'tsolve the problem of egg quality
(11:03):
issues.
It might lengthen the lutealphase and help with progesterone
.
Of egg quality issues, it mightlengthen the luteal phase and
help with progesterone, but ifthe egg quality wasn't great to
begin with, it's not going tohelp you sustain a pregnancy.
There is a supplement companythat makes a prenatal with Vitex
, and the instruction is to weanoff Vitex once you're pregnant
and not stop it abruptly.
(11:23):
The concern is that stoppingthe Vitex suddenly can cause the
progesterone to drop, but keeptaking Vitex during the weaning
process.
There's no well-establishedstudy that tells us exactly how
early pregnancy hormones will beaffected by Vitex, so it could
be causing more harm.
We just don't know and, to beclear, there hasn't been
(11:48):
evidence that Vitex causesmiscarriage in the first
trimester or during pregnancy.
But knowing that duringpregnancy the prolactin level
increases to prepare for breastmilk production and that low
prolactin can have consequences,I would think twice before
taking this herb.
(12:09):
Okay, next up is maca, anotherpopular herb.
Maca is actually a rootvegetable native to the Andes
and it's often marketed as asuperfood for fertility.
Most studies on maca are smalland mostly on animals in
postmenopausal women, not onwomen trying to conceive.
(12:29):
Most of the effects of MACAreported are increased energy,
libido, enhanced mood.
Maca does not act directly onany fertility hormones.
It's actually an adaptogen,which means it could potentially
have an effect regulating theHPA axis the hypothalamus
(12:50):
pituitary adrenals axis andmight help to reduce the
cortisol level.
So is that the reason forincreased energy in libido?
Maybe Could that indirectlyhelp with fertility and hormone
regulation, potentially.
We know that cortisol isnecessary for survival, but the
problem with our modern world isthat cortisol stays elevated
(13:13):
and that can trigger thefight-or-flight response,
therefore affecting fertility.
So should you take maca forreducing cortisol?
Not so fast.
The biggest reason why youshouldn't take maca is it
contains goitrogens.
I came across a blog promotingmaca and that the goitrogens can
(13:36):
help with thyroid function.
That's false.
Goitrogens are toxic to thethyroid.
They disrupt thyroid hormonesand cause goiters.
Goitrogens cause goiters andgoitrogens are found in many
cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts.
Another reason to cook thesevegetables, since heat will
(13:57):
destroy the goitrogens.
So maca contains thesegoitrogens actually can be very
toxic to the thyroid.
There's another reason why wemight want to think twice before
taking maca, and that's takingtoo much.
Maca can possibly cause thehyperstimulation of the HPA axis
and that could have theopposite effect, because instead
(14:20):
of reducing cortisol, it couldstimulate your adrenal glands to
produce more.
From a Chinese medicineperspective, we talked about how
each herb is paired togetherstrategically, and that's
because we take intoconsideration the properties of
the herbs, like which organsdoes it affect, what does it
(14:40):
taste like, what's thetemperature, what's the function
, what's the contraindication,and remember how we talked about
the yin and yang energies andhow they balance each other.
Because of the activatingproperties of maca, it's
considered an herb that's veryyoung and very hot in nature.
If you need an energy boost, itmight work for you short term,
(15:05):
but herbs that are very young innature are very drying, which
means it will start to affectthe cooling and lubricating yin
energy in your body.
Hopefully you remember from theprevious podcast that yin
energy is like estrogen anddirectly affects the egg quality
, and I've had patients thathave taken maca for an extended
(15:27):
period of time and they noticethat their egg white cervical
mucus starts to dry up as well,and that's again because maca is
very young and very drying innature.
I have one more herb that Iwant to discuss, because a
patient also asked me about it,and that is tribulus.
Tribulus is said to help withfertility because it can
(15:50):
potentially increasetestosterone production, boost
blood flow and hasanti-inflammatory properties.
Tribulus is actually an herbthat we use in Chinese medicine.
The Chinese name is baiji li.
Tribulus is combined with otherherbs to treat imbalances of
the kidneys and the liver.
Combined with other herbs totreat imbalances of the kidneys
(16:14):
and the liver, that translatesto symptoms like impotence, low
libido, low sperm count due tolow testosterone levels and
stress.
It can also be used to treatdizziness, headaches, vertigo,
that are typically associatedwith liver imbalances.
For men, tribulus might be safer, especially if the problem is
low testosterone.
But when an herb has a directimpact on hormones, that result
(16:38):
can either be really good orreally bad.
For women, some testosteronemight be helpful for certain
situations.
In fact, for IVF, some doctorswill recommend testosterone
before starting the stimulation.
That's because testosterone isa precursor to making estrogen.
So the idea is, if thetestosterone levels are low, you
(17:00):
might have low estrogen as well, but it doesn't take a lot for
the scale to tip the other way.
One of my patients did end uptaking too much and for too long
.
She started to notice facialhair more sweating and also a
lot of irritability.
Although tribulus isn't exactlytaking actual testosterone
(17:22):
hormone, there's absolutely arisk that you could end up
taking too much.
Research evidence on tribulusand boosting testosterone is
also very inconsistent.
That makes sense, right?
Everyone is different.
If you don't have atestosterone issue, this herb
isn't going to help you.
Okay, we are nearing the end ofthis episode.
(17:45):
My goal is not to scare you Atthe end of the day.
If you feel like taking one ofthese herbs is going to help you
, that's totally fine by me.
At least, I've done my job togive you the information that
you need.
When I begin working with apatient, I will typically do a
supplement audit and take themoff of these herbs.
My philosophy is if these herbsare not specifically tailored
(18:07):
to you, then I'm not sure whatkind of effects it will generate
.
It will take longer for you toget pregnant because you might
have to spend more time toreverse the unwanted side
effects, and maybe you've beenon this journey for a while and
you're feeling frustrated, butvery often it's not because
you're not doing something.
On the contrary, I think youneed to give yourself grace and
(18:30):
do less Taking an herbalsupplement because someone said
it would help with fertility,but they know nothing about your
specific situation.
It's just one more thing thatyou can take off your list.
All right, fertile friend, Ihope you found this episode
helpful.
Please do reach out to me ifyou have questions, and I have a
(18:51):
huge favor to ask.
Please leave me a five-starreview on the podcast.
It'll help the podcast to reachmore people, as always.
Thank you for spending sometime with me.
Until next time, take care ofyourself and your amazing body.
You are one fertile cycle awayfrom getting pregnant.
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