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#20 How Naturopathy can support your IVF cycle
17 Plays7 days ago
The Bean Talk - Episode 20: How Naturopathy can support your IVF cycle
This week, Riannon and Jeremy dive into all things IVF – what it is, how it works, and why naturopathic support can significantly improve success rates. Whether you are considering IVF, already undergoing treatment, or exploring natural fertility options, this episode is packed with insights to help you navigate the process.
They break down key factors that impact IVF outcomes, including egg and sperm quality, stress, hormonal balance, and uterine health. Plus, they discuss the role of nutrition, key supplements, and herbs that can optimise fertility and improve implantation rates.
If you are on a fertility journey, this episode is a must-listen for practical, science-backed strategies to support your body and maximise your chances of success.
Our episode on sperm health: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-it-takes-two-to-tango/id1759674032?i=1000680453973
Connect with Riannon and Jeremy on Instagram @mungbean_health or visit mungbeanhealth.com for expert support.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Bean Talk Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Bean Talk with me, Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother, joined by my trusted partner in life and in the mission of Mungbean Health, Jeremy.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hi guys and welcome back. We have been off. We've had a nice break with Christmas. You guys might listen. We try to record in front so you guys might listen to this in a little while but we are back January getting stuck into it and yeah it's a lot.
00:00:41
Speaker
It's great to have you back and yeah we're trying to start the year off
Hosts' New Year Health Goals
00:00:45
Speaker
on a good foot. Yes can't believe it's already 2025. Isn't that crazy? Do have any goals for the year health-wise, Jerm?
00:00:54
Speaker
Yep. My health goals are to drink more water and go to sleep at a reasonable time. That's really great. I want to make sure that where, I say where because I usually am the one that cooks dinner. If I need dinner to be cooked or whatever, I'll just ask Jeremy and he'll do it.
00:01:12
Speaker
But I plan it, I guess. So if I've planned something that, Amazing. And if I haven't, then I'll take over. Jeremy will take over. if You do. I know you definitely will.
00:01:24
Speaker
But I'm trying to be really mindful of eating at home more because we are so busy and convenience is a thing. I feel like often we'll, if we grab a coffee out, we'll grab some breakfast there. But really trying to be mindful of having breakfast at home and other meals as well. Even lunch sometimes we'll get out. So I'm really trying to be conscious of taking lunch, which it's a lot when you're busy.
00:01:45
Speaker
yeah So that would be mine, New Year One. But, yeah, so that's your is that your little bean then is that your big bean? is that just your year goal? It's a pretty big bean for me because I've always struggled with sleep and water intake, like two things I struggle with.
00:01:59
Speaker
So just trying to be more mindful of that and, yeah, try and get my water intake and, like, doing them steps. We've discussed it before in another episode about minimising the light at night and really trying to calm down, put the phone away at a reasonable time and just trying to get to that routine doing the sleep hygiene. yes So good. um Yeah. I'd say my little bean is I definitely am trying to cut down coffee. Like I have decaf, but still i don't want to be having it every day. i want to have other teas and other drinks in there, um even just like a hydromum or a water or whatever, which I normally drink later on. But yeah, I, that's something that I'm trying to put in place.
00:02:36
Speaker
And then, yeah, big beam would be making sure that we're really being mindful of what we're eating and also minimizing waste. I guess the good thing in our house is Jeremy's mum comes over and looks after the kids four days a week.
00:02:49
Speaker
And if there's anything left over, she absolutely loves cooking, can turn anything into a meal. So if there's something that I'm like, oh, i don't know if we'll eat that before it goes a bit yuck, I'm like, do you want it? And she'll take it home for their her husband and the kids. She's got two other younger daughters, five kids in total, two other younger daughters that still live at home. So she'll take it home for them. So i feel like that's great because I feel like then nothing gets wasted, which I love. I hate wasting food.
Introduction to IVF and Naturopathy
00:03:16
Speaker
Anyway, we wanted to talk a little bit more around IVF because in our clinic we work with a lot of couples who are undergoing IVF to start their family and it's not just for infertility.
00:03:31
Speaker
So we do have clients coming for medical conditions or some are say same-sex couples or relationships or marriages and some are either starting out their journey or others have unfortunately had failed IVF attempts before and are looking for more support.
00:03:48
Speaker
This is where naturopathy comes in and it is so beautiful for this area. i obviously love it for fertility, but also really love it around IVF. I find a lot of people say, oh, I'm not doing the natural, I'm going to go down IVF, or I'm not doing IVF, I'm going to go down the natural, which we always love to see you do natural first.
00:04:07
Speaker
And then sometimes if there are medical conditions that we need to do IVF for, making sure naturopathy is going alongside that. Many studies have shown how amazing naturopathy Naturopathy is for making sure that there is a successful cycle.
00:04:21
Speaker
So many wonderful things that we can do to support that fertility journey in general, but yeah, definitely IVF.
IVF vs IUI: Key Differences
00:04:28
Speaker
So IVF is actually now called ART, which is assisted reproductive technology.
00:04:36
Speaker
So we'll just call it IVF because everyone knows it as IVF, but also it is now called ART, which is more of an umbrella of all the different assisted technologies now. Yeah.
00:04:49
Speaker
So let's talk a little bit about IVF so everyone's on the same page. I'm sure most of you would know it or know something about it, but you might not know exactly what it is. IVF is a medical procedure where the eggs are retrieved from the ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a lab, and then are implanted back in the uterus.
00:05:10
Speaker
IVF is very different from IUI as well, just so you know. i don't know if you've heard of i ui but IUI is where the sperm is directly placed into a woman's uterus to increase the chances of fertilization.
00:05:22
Speaker
So essentially taking out that travel time, getting the sperm where it needs to end up without all of that additional swimming time and all of the complications that can be associated with that, like poor um sperm parameters, like motility, progression,
00:05:38
Speaker
morphology and then there's also vaginal health as well and the microbiome not helping it so many that could be a whole podcast on its own but essentially helping that sperm get to where it needs to be so it's actually a much less invasive and less expensive option the IUI compared to the IVF which is that invertro fertilization and And it's often one of the first steps in assisted reproduction. So they usually will do IUI first if they're just trying to see.
00:06:07
Speaker
Because we have to remember the medical system obviously has an amazing place medicine.
Naturopathy's Role in IVF Support
00:06:13
Speaker
the world, but they don't look at it like, oh, let's try dietary approaches first. So let's try these nutrients you might be lacking, or let's try dietary.
00:06:22
Speaker
Let's work on that stress. Or they're just going, okay, all right, let's try IUI first, and then let's go to the IVF mark. People don't realize, I guess, that we are only supporting the body with nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.
00:06:37
Speaker
We're giving the body what it needs to do its job. Yeah. Exactly. Jinx. So this episode, we're going to talk a little bit more around IVF, but please know that we do work with both. We work with people on their IVF journey. People are maybe wanting to do their upcoming IVF journey.
00:06:54
Speaker
And those maybe who have had failed attempts and not wanting to go down that road anymore. But yeah. Really, we just meet you wherever you're at. Obviously, getting to us first is always best. But ah honestly, we are usually the last place that people will come and the only ones that can actually help them.
00:07:12
Speaker
But usually people will try a lot of other things first and then they'll hear from a friend or someone else or an auntie or something. Oh, have you tried naturopathy? I wish we were up there number one in the medical world. But if you're a natural family or you've been brought up in the natural world and you know a bit more about it, often will be the first place and people will do the work of preconception, which I know we've chatted about before, but how absolutely amazing it can be. Not only your health, it supports your fertility and the health of your child ongoing, which is obviously that is amazing.
00:07:43
Speaker
ah number one priority and should be any parents number one priority. Amazing. So I guess What you should know is that the process is really rigorous and can involve hormone treatments of IVF, yeah egg retrievals, multiple embryo transfers.
00:08:03
Speaker
Rarely does it happen the first time because, again, they're not looking for the root cause. They're just trying to make it happen. They're just trying to make you fall pregnant and then go from there, whereas we're always trying to find out why you're not falling pregnant, heal that, and then allow your body to do its job.
00:08:21
Speaker
I guess all looking at that same end mark though. So while IVF has bought hope to millions and millions of people, it can also be really physically, emotionally and financially taxing for people.
00:08:35
Speaker
It's a lot. I guess that's another reason why they usually try the IUI. Yeah. yeah But has your partner or your hubby, have they done any naturopathic work? Because obviously herbs and nutrients, they approved time and time again, looking at studies and testing in our own clinic of how amazing.
00:08:58
Speaker
we can change sperm health, things like the parameters of sperm, like the motility and the morphology. So the shape, do they have two heads? Do they have two tails? Are they swimming properly?
00:09:09
Speaker
Because obviously all those things are going to play a role in what we don't want. Yeah. So doing those things first might get you out of doing an an IUI cycle, often will, because trying those things first and along the way, you're going to get, or that the partner's going to get healthier as well.
00:09:26
Speaker
So yeah, definitely always recommend trying the natural first. And we're also supporting things like stress levels and emotional stress. side of things as well, not adding to it.
00:09:37
Speaker
And being fertile is a good indication of your health. Yeah, it's like the report card of your health. It's a real, really important thing. So if you're fertile, then a lot of the time, you'll be a healthy individual.
00:09:49
Speaker
If you're struggling to fall pregnant, it doesn't always mean you're absolutely an unhealthy person, definitely doesn't mean that. But it can indicate that there's obviously some other things going on. So What's standing in the way of that? Is it a hormonal issue? Is it a vaginal microbiome issue? Is it not you at all? And is it your partner? Is it nutrients that you're lacking?
00:10:09
Speaker
Are you not feeling your best self? Emotionally, are we really stressed and struggling? Are we in maybe ah a relationship that's abusive and that's playing a role? is there a genetic factor which obviously can play a role as well but yeah it can be a good indicator usually people who are super fertile are generally healthy individuals as well because we want your body to know that it's okay to fall pregnant um whereas i remember i don't know if i've mentioned this before but there's this study and i heard about it when i was in uni and it was about the women in war remember this
00:10:44
Speaker
And they did a study on women not falling pregnant in war because it was so stressful for them. And essentially it's your body saying like now is not the right time, your brain and your body. Like imagine being pregnant in war. Like I can't imagine any worse.
00:10:58
Speaker
So it's like that stress, whether you actually are in war or you're just feeling like you're at war every day because you're anxious. you're depressed, you're so stressed and you're always on the edge, your body really isn't going to know the difference because still hormonally cortisol's high, that adrenaline's up.
00:11:14
Speaker
So yeah, always important to work on that stress response.
Managing IVF Side Effects with Naturopathy
00:11:19
Speaker
But I will tell you our role as naturopaths, we are always supporting your health during this time and we are always wanting to optimize your chances of um conceiving, whether that's through IVF or not. So if you are wanting to do IVF, if you've been trying naturally for a while and you've already got it booked in and you've already got the wheels in motion, you can still do naturopathy to improve your chances of IVF. yeah But disclaimer, no one should self-prescribe.
00:11:45
Speaker
Very important. You want to work with a naturopath, starting any new supplements or herbs. Don't do something just because your friend told you that you should. There's many herbs out there that would be perfect for me and not perfect for my girlfriend because both of our hormones are doing different things and can actually make her case worse, my case better. So always important to be doing the right work and making sure that you're getting the testing and talking with a health professional.
00:12:12
Speaker
So some some things that we can do as clinical naturopaths to support you is definitely reducing that stress. Stress can impact hormonal balance, adaptogenic herbs like withania, romania,
00:12:25
Speaker
Siberian ginseng and rhodiola are all beautiful to keep stress in check as well as our nervous system. So stress, anxiety and depression are all put as three separate things.
00:12:35
Speaker
But if you're more anxious, then I'd be prescribing something more like a passion flower if you or a chamomile. Or if you're really like low mood and depressed, maybe St. John's wort or skullcap would be really nice for you.
00:12:48
Speaker
But again, not perfect for every case, especially things like St. John's wort. So don't just go and buy it. although it is an amazing herb when it's used for the right person, right? Yeah, absolutely. Optimizing nutrition is a big one.
00:13:02
Speaker
A nutrient-rich diet tailored to fertility is key. Foods rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and folate improve egg and sperm quality. We love utilising supplements to get you to your baseline faster and optimise levels whilst we educate you on your dietary changes.
00:13:21
Speaker
Absolutely. So we want to get you to that healthy baseline where you're sitting, you're healthy. It's not like a couple of days out of the week you're feeling healthy and then a couple of days you're back down feeling crap. We want you to your baseline to be really optimal, especially around that fertility. So absolutely optimising nutrition is super important.
00:13:39
Speaker
and antioxidants and fatty acids are so important, and folate, obviously. We want to also make sure that we're looking at improving uterine health. A healthy uterus is essential for menstruation or our period.
00:13:52
Speaker
It's important for fertility and the ability to carry a healthy pregnancy. We want to utilise herbs and nutrients to support uterine lining, ah the microbiome, vaginal and uterine, and circulation to enhance chances of implantation.
00:14:09
Speaker
We want to make sure that there is a specific thickness. So a lot of people will come to us that will have a thin uterine lining, which is not positive for a healthy pregnancy.
00:14:21
Speaker
We want it to be nice and thick for that beautiful egg to stick and stay. Supporting hormone balance is another very important factor. Yeah. Gentle support using supplements like vitamin D, magnesium and B vitamins ensures optimal hormone production during stimulation.
00:14:39
Speaker
We also get our clients to test their hormone levels and we may utilize specific herbs and nutrients to um optimize their ratio. Very important. So stimulation of different parts of an IVF cycle.
00:14:52
Speaker
um We want to make sure that there's certain nutrients in there for certain parts. So again, it's not just like take this the whole way through. It'll be like, take this, let's stop that. Let's start that. Let's do this. It's look, fertility is complex. IVF adds another layer, but there are different areas that we can maximize our chances.
00:15:08
Speaker
So yeah, definitely making sure that those hormones are balanced naturally because obviously then a lot of the time we're going to have hormones, synthetic hormones injected into you when you do it. So we want to make sure that we're not starting with hormones all over the shop and then just adding to that.
00:15:26
Speaker
Managing side effects. ah IVF medication can cause bloating, mood swings and fatigue. We might want to use supports like ginger for nausea. magnesium for muscle cramps, fiber for gut health, et cetera?
00:15:40
Speaker
So yes, I think that sometimes it's not always a, I don't know if i'd ever say it's a fun time. I think when there's the positive pregnancy test, that's when it's a great time and people would do it over and over again.
00:15:52
Speaker
However, I don't think going through the cycle is very fun for a lot of people. And it depends on how your body reacts to those synthetic hormones and the procedures. But a lot of the time, women will say that they're feeling very nauseous or moody, very hormonal, very fatigy, and just like struggling and just not feeling themselves. So Yeah, I think that's definitely important.
00:16:16
Speaker
And also manage the cause if required. So for a lot of couples undergoing IVF, there may be an underlying cause. As your naturopath, this is one of the main drivers of our treatment protocols.
00:16:29
Speaker
We can help the body with herbs, nutrients, alongside diet. and lifestyle modifications to support the cause. Is it hormonal imbalance? Is it PCOS, endometriosis, uterine dysfunction, poor egg quality or sperm health, etc. What is it coming from? There's so many different reasons and we're the detectives to try and find out why. Remember as well another component of IVF outcomes is enhancing male fertility.
Enhancing Male Fertility for IVF Success
00:16:58
Speaker
as we've suggested all throughout. Yes. Yeah. Naturopathy isn't just for women. Antioxidants like CoQ10 and zinc can improve sperm health, which is vital for IVF success.
00:17:10
Speaker
Remember, it takes two to tango. Head to our episodes where we chat all things male fertility. Yes, absolutely. So we did do a podcast on that and it's really important.
00:17:21
Speaker
Maybe you can even just show your partner or your hubby that podcast to say, hey, have a listen to this because I think people, again, I think a generational thing where it was always a women's problem back in the day.
00:17:34
Speaker
And then it's slowly become a shared problem because it is for both. And sperm, like the studies they've done in 50 years, they're saying we're going to be extinct. Obviously, we're going to do things. It's just this for the studies show. If we continue where we're at now with that decline, we'd be extinct because there'd be no more men producing healthy sperm to actually create healthy babies.
00:17:57
Speaker
And we obviously need egg and sperm. Like it's not just one or the other. And again, it's not just about that. Like you can get healthy along the way. Absolutely. That's the most important thing, feeling your best and feeling healthy and happy.
00:18:08
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. And there's so many people struggling out there that don't know what else to do. They might be on antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication, just not feeling themselves And they don't even know about naturopathy. So hopefully as we continue to educate, there's so much that we can do when you start taking herbs and we blend up individualised compounds with nutrients as well. You understand how amazing it can all be and how it can all feel.
00:18:36
Speaker
And I've already started on the next generation. Obviously, we have lots of kids in our clinic, but also our own. um i make sure that they take their supplements regularly um so that then I can support them the best way that I can.
00:18:49
Speaker
I think that's so important and duty of care for me as a mama.
Seeking Support and Contact Information
00:18:55
Speaker
So if you're a couple going through IVF or looking to start a family, all the best in that. And yeah, please reach out if you would like some more support.
00:19:03
Speaker
We'd absolutely love to help you. we will guide you through it all. It's nice when both parties, for obvious reasons, get involved because it takes you to tango but a lot of the time I find when the woman starts the men ends up coming over because he sees how good the woman feels and then he's oh maybe I should see the naturopath as well yeah get me booked in with your naturopath we see that all the time sometimes it's a little bit slower for one partner than the other but we're here to help both of you and yeah let's help we can help you make healthy babies
00:19:35
Speaker
Yep, you can now go to www.mungbeanhealth.com. Or you can find us on Instagram. We're very active over there, which is mungbean underscore health, M-U-N-G-B-E-A-N underscore health.
00:19:48
Speaker
We are on Facebook. I'm a little bit slack on that, but I do try and check it. So if you need to reach out there, you also can. Okay? Thanks for tuning in again. Thanks, guys. Bye. Bye.
00:20:01
Speaker
And that's a wrap on today's dose of wellness. I'm Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother. Thank you for joining us. Stay connected with us on Instagram at mungbin underscore health.