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TTC? How Cortisol & Nutrition Impact Hypothalamic Amenorrhea & Infertility
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If you are trying to conceive and doing all the right things but still not seeing results, your body might be sending you a signal you’ve not learned to read yet.
In this episode of The Bean Talk, Riannon and Jeremy unpack one of the most overlooked drivers of hormone imbalance and infertility: undereating. Because you don’t have to feel hungry or restrict intentionally for undereating to be quietly disrupting your hormones, ovulation, and menstrual cycle.
They explore how cortisol, nutrition, and energy availability send signals straight to your reproductive system and why, when your body senses stress or scarcity, it will always choose survival over conception.
This episode also breaks down the connection between thyroid health, stress hormones, and fertility.
In this episode, we cover:
- How cortisol impacts fertility and hormone balance
- Undereating and its effect on hormones and ovulation
- Hypothalamic amenorrhea and why periods can stop
- The link between nutrition and infertility
- Thyroid health and how it connects to fertility
- Why your body prioritises survival over reproduction
- Common signs your body is under-fuelled
- How to balance hormones naturally through nutrition
- Fertility diet foundations and what your body actually needs
- Preconception care and supporting your body for pregnancy
If you are TTC, struggling with irregular cycles, or starting to wonder whether stress and nutrition are playing a bigger role than you realised, this episode will give you a new way to understand what your body needs to feel safe enough to conceive.
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The information shared in this episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before starting, changing, or stopping any supplements, medications, or health protocols to ensure they are appropriate for your individual needs.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Bean Talk and Mungbean Health
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. Here at Mungbean Health, we're on a mission to unlock the secrets of fertility and natural wellbeing one episode at time.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to another episode with Rhiannon and Jeremy from The Bean Talk. Hi guys, welcome back.
Introducing Sproutly and Upcoming News
00:00:27
Speaker
It's been a big week. We've had a lot happening with our beautiful new brand, Sproutly.
00:00:34
Speaker
Which I feel like we're getting very close to telling you for what's happening. i know we know you're really dying to know and it's been a while of us teasing you.
00:00:47
Speaker
But we're getting close now, guys. Yeah, very much close.
Manufacturing Marvels of Mungbean Health
00:00:50
Speaker
We're very close. You guys can have a bit of a sneak peek because you are our loyal listeners. And so we can let you know that hopefully we will have it in... Once some you hear this. Yeah.
00:01:00
Speaker
Seriously, this is going to be a couple of weeks ahead. So I'll tell you that they've encapsulated. They have bottled and labelled and they were just doing their final checks on it. All very much state-of-the-arts manufacturing facility. Only the best for you guys. Yeah. And yeah, exciting time. So that has been taking up all of our brain power and well it's been big. It has, no, it has We have been, yeah, just doing all the things. So I would say that has just been taking up everything for us. and That has been totally consuming us. Me, definitely. How
Nutritional Basics for Stressful Times
00:01:37
Speaker
are you feeling? I feel good.
00:01:39
Speaker
So we have been really just trying to, I guess, in these stressful times when there's a lot going on, just coming back to the basics of making sure that we are eating like whole foods and healthy and just making sure that we're getting protein and healthy fats and good carbs in rather than stressing out about everything being perfect. It's more about the whole picture, which is super important because throughout these stressful times, often what can happen is you can actually under eat, right?
00:02:07
Speaker
Yeah. And this is not good for your hormones at all, which convenience, stress. If you're starting the day with a coffee and a muffin, not good.
00:02:20
Speaker
And it might happen sometimes. Don't get me wrong. You might be like catching the train to Sydney for work, or you might be rushing to go to an appointment and that's all you can get. Just make sure you eat the muffin before you drink the coffee, please.
00:02:34
Speaker
But under eating is actually so bad for
Consequences of Under-Eating on Health
00:02:36
Speaker
our hormones. So do you want to do little bean, big bean? I'd say all consuming with Sproutling, to be honest with you, just trying to, my big bean, little bean would be just maintaining. Take care bean. Yeah, maintaining the healthy, like a healthy diet, trying to home cook and just be prepared because otherwise you'd be having. No hair left.
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah, we're falling out. Because you'd be so stressed. but Let's talk a little bit more about under eating and why it's not good for your hormones. But under eating can happen when you are just consistently consuming fewer calories than your body actually needs to function optimally.
00:03:13
Speaker
Could be because of extreme dieting for people. If you do have an eating disorder, which we do actually see in clinic and it does affect hormones, obviously, but we can help. Over-exercising without eating enough for the activity level that you're doing or obviously stress-induced changes to your eating habits.
00:03:32
Speaker
which is a big one for most people in this day and age. It's not just about the calories. It's also about the quality of your diet. If your body isn't getting enough essential nutrients like protein, vitamins and minerals, macros and micronutrients, this can lead to deficiencies in the body and added stress, more stress on your body, which is no good.
00:03:55
Speaker
We all know that stress is not good for us. It's all about just doing things or putting things in place to support ourselves. It's important to note that under eating doesn't always correlate with being underweight.
00:04:06
Speaker
Individuals with normal or even higher body weight can also experience the detrimental effects of insufficient nutrition because they might be having empty calories, right? they could be having like some two minute noodles. That's not, where's the protein?
00:04:22
Speaker
got the carbs, I don't know if there's fats in there. I guess you put an oil with it sometimes, but not no nutrients, like no micro nutrients, like vitamins and minerals. And then you're gonna be eating like empty calories essentially.
00:04:36
Speaker
How does under eating impact fertility?
Under-Eating and Fertility Issues
00:04:39
Speaker
So we see under eating affecting fertility in clinic for both men and women all the time. In women, one of the most significant consequences of under eating is hypothalamic amenorrhea.
00:04:53
Speaker
Say that 10 times. It's a bit of a tongue twister, but it's a condition where the hypothalamus in the brain, which regulates our reproductive hormones, stops menstruation due to insufficient energy or calories that are available. So you willll hear about women that lose their period, especially athletes and dancers, because they become so lean and they're doing so much exercise but not fueling themselves properly.
00:05:18
Speaker
Your body relies on this part of your brain to produce the hormones needed for ovulation. But when your body's under stress from under eating, this system is disrupted. The hypothalamus also produces the gonadotrophin releasing hormones. which signals your pituitary gland, also in the brain, to release hormones like our FSH, which is our follicle stimulating hormone, and LH, which is our luteinizing hormone. These hormones actually regulate our menstrual cycle and stimulate ovulation. they talk to our ovaries and our reproductive system.
00:05:52
Speaker
So when you're under eating, your body produces less of these gonadotrophins, because it perceives that it's not the right time to reproduce. It's stressful, it's not good. A study published in Frontiers in Public Health highlights that dietary patterns, including low calorie intake, can influence fertility outcomes, underscoring the importance of adequate nutrition for reproductive health.
00:06:18
Speaker
How under eating actually affects your hormones.
Hormonal Disruptions from Under-Eating
00:06:22
Speaker
Hormones of the body's messages. You need to remember this. And coordinating various psychological processes all around the body, including our reproduction. So when the body perceives an energy deficient due to under eating, so when it's become that energy deficient due to under eating. It prioritizes essential functions that may suppress reproductive hormones because your body will literally always choose survival over reproduction.
00:06:48
Speaker
So key hormonal disruptions that are associated with under eating are certain hormones like leptin reduction. i Don't know if you've heard about leptin. Have you ever heard about leptin? They call it like a fat hormone.
00:07:00
Speaker
Leptin is a hormone that's produced by the fat cells. It signals energy sufficiency to the brain. So low leptin levels resulting from reduced fat stores can inhibit the release of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, leading to decreased production of luteinizing hormone, or LH,
00:07:20
Speaker
and follicle stimulating hormone, which is FSH, both crucial for ovulation. You need them both for ovulation. You've also got elevated cortisol, which most people will know that word. Chronic under eating can increase cortisol levels, the body's primary stress hormone.
00:07:37
Speaker
Elevated cortisol can disrupt the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal or HPG axis, impairing reproductive function.
00:07:48
Speaker
You've also got your thyroid hormone alterations as well, because we know how important the thyroid is for our reproductive health. Insufficient calorie intake can lead to a decrease in thyroid hormone production, slowing metabolism and potentially leading to hypothyroidism, which can further disrupt menstrual cycle and ovulatory function. Remember, hypothyroidism is slowed down thyroid. So it's not pumping out enough hormones and everything becomes slower. Supporting hormonal health through nutrition. So this is a really important thing that we can do and you guys can do at home as well.
Nutrient Importance for Fertility
00:08:25
Speaker
when you're not eating enough you're likely to not be getting enough of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body literally needs to function properly especially when it comes to our fertility remember we want to be in our optimal health for our fertility to thrive otherwise the body will become stressed not now now is not the time to have a baby let's wait until This gal is healthier, more optimally healthier and feeling better. So then we know she can house and keep a baby and essentially everything that comes along with that.
00:08:57
Speaker
So for example, if iron, vitamin D and folate, they're all obviously really crucial for our fertility, right? Undereating often leads to iron deficiency, which has been shown to negatively affect ovulation. Very similar to our vitamin D, if that's low, it's been linked to poor egg quality and lower pregnancy rates.
00:09:17
Speaker
And folate, which is especially crucial in the early stages of pregnancy, is often lacking in restrictive diets. So if you're not eating enough food or eating a highly restricted diet, you might be missing out on some key nutrients that directly affect your fertility.
00:09:35
Speaker
So thinking of healthy fats, I always love to talk about healthy fats with my clients. You want to incorporate sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, and oily fish to support hormone production from a base level. it's so important.
00:09:49
Speaker
Complex carbohydrates. So whole grains, legumes, and vegetables provide steady energy and support metabolic function. Protein. Ensure adequate protein intake from diverse sources to support tissue repair and hormone synthesis. Yes.
00:10:06
Speaker
Need that hormone. Micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, including zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins play critical roles in hormonal regulations. so important to be getting enough, right? So if you so suspect that under eating is affecting your fertility or hormonal health, consider consulting with a healthcare care practitioner like ourselves that's experienced in nutrition and hormonal health, especially for fertility, if that's what you're looking for, to develop a personalized plan for you that will address your unique needs.
Role of Supplements in Long-term Health
00:10:38
Speaker
You really want to make sure that you are going to someone who specializes in this area.
00:10:43
Speaker
And another thing too, like this is where we come in, our whole business structure is supplementation to help get them vitamins, minerals, protein, everything you you need to support. And yeah, look, not the whole picture because yeah, very important. Obviously we want to make sure we're nailing that diet as well, which we do as naturopaths, as you know, if you've seen us before, but supplements are, as Jeremy's just said, like they are really a big part of it, especially when people have come to us with 10 plus years of all these health conditions and Yes, we tidy up diet and make sure that helps us to maintain, but often they'll need to, they'll want to accelerate. So they might come to us at 35, 40, ready to have a baby, which can absolutely be done, but they might be coming with 10, 15, 20 years of really poor diet, really low nutrients. And it's like, okay, we can spend another XYZ amount of time getting this up via diet, or we can supplement and get you there way faster.
00:11:40
Speaker
And once we get you there, not only are you going to feel better, but then remember, we've also only got a 20 to 30% chance of falling pregnant every cycle anyway. And time is unfortunately the enemy when we are talking about fertility. Remember over 35, they call us a ge geiatric pregnancy.
00:11:57
Speaker
which actually I'm not quite there yet, but it is crazy that they do call it that from 35 and we'll see women 40, 45, even having babies. so yeah, it's something to definitely consider. The supplements are amazing and we try and nail the baseline while also supplementing so that then when you do eventually, you know, maybe not supplement or not supplement as much or change supplements,
00:12:21
Speaker
then you can maintain the diet. Yeah. So things like vitamin D or iron. We have clients that come to us and they just cannot get their iron up for the life of them. And they've tried for years. It's always been low. They have to have infusion after infusion, sometimes transfusions.
00:12:37
Speaker
And so low food alone, you're going to get it up. And then if they do fall pregnant, they pass that onto their baby as well. Then the babies usually become ah iron deficient and just stay iron deficient and don't get it up until they're much older if they do it all. Or they forever live with low iron as well because they just don't know the right methods in lifting it up. But that's where we come in. And so we can help. So we can lift it up, help you and your baby thrive.
00:13:01
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed this episode. Nice little quick one for you. Yeah. So this was just a quick short one for today.
Preconception Care and Fertility Tips
00:13:07
Speaker
but if you did like this episode, then definitely check out number 30. What you need to know about preconception care. Yes, that's a good one. And also there's another one, number seven, which has been very popular. piar Improving fertility at home.
00:13:23
Speaker
And let us know if there's anything specific that you want us to chat about. But we are going to continue obviously chatting about all things fertility. Yep, and if you want to get in contact with us, you can go onto our website at www.mungbeanhealth.com. You can visit us on Instagram at mungbean underscore health. And you can also now look for us on sproutling underscore supplements. Yeah, very exciting. Instagram and the website is www.sproutlingsupplements.com.au. Got to remember it. It's new, guys. It's new. Thanks for listening and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Bye. Bye.
00:14:09
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.