Fertility Matters

Boost Your Fertility with this Essential Mineral

Do you crave chocolate in the second half of your cycle? Does stress have a toothbrush at your house? Are caffeine and sugar a fixed staple on your weekly meal plan and shopping list? If you answered yes to any of these, you likely are in need of magnesium. 

Magnesium is an essential mineral for your health and fertility.

​It’s responsible for 700-800 enzyme systems in your body. It supports chemical reactions in the body, helps you detoxify the fertility muggers through your liver, and is responsible for converting the food you eat into cellular energy. 

Magnesium is life-enhancing, but if you don’t have it becomes life-threatening. 

Most Americans – around 80% – are deficient in magnesium. Because the western diet is so focused on grains and processed foods, the majority of the magnesium that is in the grains is lost when foods are processed. Eating refined sugar also depletes magnesium. In the Women’s Health Study at Harvard, where 17,000 women were studied, women with a high carbohydrate diet were seen to be more infertile than those that ate fewer sugars. These high sugar diets are responsible for increased insulin resistance, which is often seen in women with PCOS. This can lead to an ovulatory dysfunction. Magnesium-rich diets help preserve insulin sensitivity and ovulatory function. 

Because magnesium is responsible for so many functions, there are numerous benefits to making sure you have enough magnesium in your diet. 

Magnesium supports stress and sleep.

When you are trying to conceive and not having success, I know how stressful it can be and your sleep may be affected too. Magnesium can be depleted in times of stress, so having enough magnesium will help you relieve stress because it’s a powerful relaxation mineral. It works by keeping your cortisol levels under control, so your insulin levels do not spike, which drops your blood sugar. Keeping your blood sugar stable is a key component of what I teach with my fertility clients. Steady blood sugar ensures steady energy going to your cells. When you take magnesium before bed, magnesium can also help you get a restful night’s sleep, which is THE most critical lifestyle component to optimal fertility.

Magnesium helps balance fertility hormones progesterone and estrogen.

Magnesium controls follicle-stimulating hormone, or FSH, because estrogen-dependent on magnesium status, and FSH is the hormone that stimulates the ovaries. Low magnesium can also signal to low progesterone levels, which can lead to a short luteal phase and increased miscarriage risk. Finally, for those of you that struggle with PMS, magnesium should become your friend. Magnesium levels fall before your period, so ensuring enough magnesium helps you produce serotonin and feel good. 

Magnesium also helps decrease inflammation. 

If you are trying to conceive with IVF, this means that having a diet rich in magnesium can improve your chances of a successful embryo transfer. This is because you are lowering your overall inflammation and increasing the chances of implantation. 

Magnesium is anti-aging. 

Fertility is often about turning back the clock, and magnesium can help with this. When your body is deficient, it ages at an accelerated rate. Many of you may be taking CoQ10 to support your cellular health, including egg cells and sperm cells. And while CoQ10 supports egg quality, it is responsible for only one (of eight) of the steps related to converting food into energy. On the other hand, magnesium is necessary for six of the eight steps where carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are converted to energy. In other words, for improved sperm and egg quality, continue taking the CoQ10, but also supplement with magnesium.

Magnesium supports your male partner’s fertility.​

In many instances, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and magnesium is responsible for enzymatic functions in your partner’s body as well.  Male factor infertility has also been associated with men have lower magnesium levels, so be sure to share your magnesium foods and supplements with your partner.

What are the best magnesium-rich foods?

Typically foods rich in dietary fiber like green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, are good sources. Additionally, seaweed and low sugar, dark chocolate are as well, but I would hold off on too much chocolate. While craving chocolate in the second half of your cycle is common, the better solution would be to supplement with magnesium.

There are a couple of ways to supplement with magnesium. 

One way is to take a powdered form or ionic form of magnesium. Natural Calm and ReMag are two brands that I recommend. Natural Calm may have a laxative effect on some people, so sip it throughout the day instead of taking it all at once and start on a lower dose (based on the label recommendations). Another effective and calming way to absorb this mineral is to take an Epsom salt bath (or foot soak), which is a great way to receive magnesium transdermally or through your skin. Simply, add a cup of Epsom salt to your warm bath, and step into the tub for a dose of relaxation and self-care. 

I believe your fertility is a function of your whole health, and sufficient magnesium is a necessary mineral for you as well as your future child.

Ami Chokshi is the Center’s Integrative and Functional Nutrition Health Coach. As a former IVF patient and RESOLVE Group Support Leader, Ami guides fertility patients towards optimal wellness and helps them navigate their fertility journey. Through lifestyle and behavioral adjustments, she provides patients with education and support to achieve their health-related goals. She also partners with your provider to help implement their recommendations for your health and treatment plan.

To contact Ami for a complimentary consultation or register to receive her fertility lifestyle tips, please click here to go to her webpage.

Make Dreams Come True While Pursuing Your Own

Become An Egg Donor

Did you know that February is not only Valentine’s Month – but also National Donor Month? This is a great time to raise awareness and explain how someone like you could possibly help make dreams come true by becoming an egg donor. In fact, just one donor can help multiple couples achieve their dream of having a child.

The Egg Donor Program at The Center for Advanced Reproductive Services assisted in conceiving the first child born from a donor egg in New England in 1987. Since then, we’ve helped many women conceive with donated eggs and our program continues to grow. The gift egg donors provide is truly the answer to many couples’ dreams and we are reaching out to healthy women between the ages of 21 and 32 to help identify more potential donors.

The Process of Becoming A Donor

Candidates interested in becoming an egg donor go through a careful screening process that helps us determine if you are medically and genetically appropriate and emotionally prepared for donation. All information is kept completely confidential. Insurance coverage is provided, and there is no cost to potential donors for any tests or consultations.

Here’s a look at the process to become an egg donor:

Compensation 

To complete an egg donation cycle, donors commit time, energy and emotion. Donors who complete the cycle will be compensated $8,000 for their time and inconveniences. Following the experience of egg donation, most donors feel a great deal of satisfaction from this act of giving.  

To Learn More

If you think you would like to be an egg donor at The Center, please call our Coordinator at (860) 321.7082 EXT 8014 or visit www.donoreggct.com.

The ART of Radical Self Care

“Creating a habit of radical self-care enables you to be more in control of your thoughts and emotions and builds resilience during fertility challenges.” Check out this guest blog from the Center’s Health Coach, Ami Chokshi, in Circle & Bloom.

Overcoming Valentine’s Day Challenges When Infertile

Many holidays we celebrate are focused on families—and for those struggling with fertility—on the babies they don’t yet have. While Valentine’s Day is really focused more on couples, still, it can bring its own kind of stress.

While some couples can consciously reconnect with their partners and indulge in the many standard Valentine’s Day romantic options, others can feel burdened and become more anxious by the added expectations society places on this “lovers’ holiday”. 

Those without fertility challenges will never understand how disruptive fertility treatments necessarily are to the romance in a relationship. What used to be private and intimate has suddenly been thrown into the light, exposed, and placed under the literal microscope. While most prospective parents don’t think twice about sacrificing some privacy in the quest for a baby, fertility treatment can temporarily impact their love life.

Fortunately, continued advancements in assisted reproductive technologies and higher success rates for IVF can mean shorter infertility journeys for many patients. But if realizing that baby dream is taking a bit longer than expected, the daily grind of testing and treatments, semen collecting and/or timed intercourse can make it hard to keep the passion in lovemaking. 

When all a couple wants is takeout pizza in sweatpants and midnight baby feedings, a Valentine’s Day focused on chocolate hearts, satin sheets, flowers, and champagne fall far short of what the heart needs. And those who are single—by choice or by circumstance—and are unable to have a baby of their own also suffer on Valentine’s Day. In fact, having neither a partner nor a baby on Valentine’s Day can be extra painful for those who wish for both.

Infertility is hard on even the strongest relationships. There will be bad days and not-as-bad days. But if the time comes where are you or your partner feel you can benefit from professional counseling, the Center offers support that can help ease the tougher times. HealthCircle, our holistic approach to fertility care, can help you enhance your fertility treatment plan with programs that are meaningful, relevant and personal, including supportive counseling. We offer many individual and group solutions that can help overcome fertility obstacles, provide relief from emotional stress, and support and guide you on making the best decisions for treatment. 

The most important thing to remember–you truly are not alone.

Elective Single Embryo Transfer

By Claudio Benadiva, MD, HCLD

You are probably familiar with the issues of multiple births resulting from fertility treatments. Some of the health and ethical problems have been a focus of the news since the birth of octuplets to a California woman in 2009. IVF procedures are not perfect and come with risk, so it became standard practice to transfer more than one embryo to improve success rates. Transferring multiple embryos can result in multiple births, which carry a number of risks, including prematurity, low birth weight, learning disabilities and developmental problems for the infants, and preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and cesarean section for the mothers. And of course, this also increases the costs for delivery and subsequent hospital stay. Some estimates for the 2009 octuplets placed the hospital costs alone between $1.5 and $3 million.

But years worth of advancements and better clinical management, along with guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, have greatly improved the results for elective single embryo transfers (eSET). Here at the Center, the majority of our births are singleton deliveries, resulting in healthier moms and healthier babies. In fact, our most recently published data from the Society for Advanced Reproductive Services from 2016 shows that 81% of our IVF births were singleton births. 

Today, with better techniques for growing and selecting the best quality embryos, transferring one embryo instead of two or more is a viable option for many women, depending on their age and other fertility-related issues.  Women/couples who don’t want to risk multiple pregnancies or who have a preexisting medical condition for which a multiple pregnancy would not be safe should consider single-embryo transfer, and we advise you to consult with us to see if it makes sense for you.

Our Center’s goal is to achieve the highest live birth from single embryo transfers and to continue to improve outcomes for all IVF patients.

Congrats to Dr. Nulsen, Dr. Benadiva and Dr. Grow

Congratulations to Dr. John Nulsen, Dr. Claudio Benadiva and Dr. Daniel Grow as having been named by their peers to the 2019-2020 Best Doctors in America®List. Approximately 4 percent of U.S. doctors are named to the list, according to Best Doctors, Inc.

“The physicians included in the Best Doctors in America database provide the most advanced medical expertise and knowledge to patients with serious conditions – often saving lives in the process by finding the right diagnosis and right treatment,” according to Best Doctors, Inc.

To be selected for the list, physicians must be nominated and then voted on by existing members of the Best Doctors in America List.

As one of the largest fertility programs in the country, we are proud to have played a role in the births of over 13,000 babies.

Acupuncture in the News

Today, the Center was featured on WTNH’s Connecticut Families with Sarah Cody. She spoke with Helen BetGivargis, the Center’s acupuncturist, about acupuncture and how it can be helpful in fertility treatments, as well as with a couple who spoke about their experience. We hope you enjoy the piece as much as we do! And don’t forget…if you’re interested in learning more about acupuncture, come to our Community Fertility Acupuncture event on October 27th. Navigate to our News and Events page for more information and to register.

3 Things You Can Do if You are Trying To Conceive with PCOS

by Ami Chokshi
Fertility & IVF Health Coach

September is PCOS month, and PCOS-related infertility affects so many women these days. PCOS symptoms often include:

• Irregular periods,
• Weight gain or weight loss resistance,
• Hair growth on your face or body,
• Acne, and
• Dark patches of skin

…. but you already know this if you have PCOS.

So, let’s talk about how you can manage your symptoms to support your fertility journey.

Insulin resistance is often a major factor associated with PCOS, and this means that your body cannot respond properly to the insulin it makes. Keeping your blood sugar steady throughout the day will help you sustain healthy hormone levels, keep your mood even, and support a more regular menstrual cycle.

I work with women who want to maximize their chances of getting pregnant by optimizing their health. These are women who are asking their doctors, “what else can I do outside of treatment.” These are some tips I share with them to get them started…

Step 1: The Winning Food Formula

Food is where I start, and the first step to managing your PCOS is to eat in a way that keeps your blood sugar steady. The winning formula is: Fiber + Protein.

I recommend eating both fiber – in the form of veggies – and protein in every meal. This dynamic duo will keep your blood sugar from spiking in either direction. And, it works regardless of what diet you subscribe to…from vegan to keto. It will keep you from feeling hangry, irritable, or sleepy. And it will help you keep your weight in check. If you are trying to lose weight, remember this catchy phrase…

“Fiber and protein in every meal makes losing weight no big deal.”

You can apply this to your daily meals by:

• Adding spinach to your scrambled eggs,
• Including kale with a low sugar smoothie and a plant-based protein,
• Eating a big salad with chicken for lunch, and
• Covering half of your plate in veggies plus a protein for dinner. 

Step 2: Move Your Mass

Next, incorporating high intensity interval workouts decreases insulin resistance and is the best exercise to mobilize excess body fat.

This can look like a 20 minute HIIT workout from Fitness Blender (check out some the HIIT workouts here🙂

…or 3 sets of the Scientific 7-Minute Workout (here is the app).

If you have had a heavy meals and need a quick blood sugar stabilizer, lace up your sneakers and go for a walk. Even 10 minutes around the block will help lower your blood sugar.

Step 3: Flush it out

Finally, drink your H20.

 I know you know this, and you have heard this a dozen times… But, how often are you doing this? Staying hydrated helps remove excess sugar from your blood through your urine. Half of your body weight in ounces is often the guideline, so if you weigh 150 pounds, aim for 75 ounces of water. Another way to know is to check the color of your urine. Aim for pale yellow.

Hydration isn’t only about drinking water.It also means making sure you have an adequate electrolyte balance. Electrolytes – like potassium, magnesium, and sodium – can be added to your water and are critical for replenishing needed minerals and feeling hydrated. They support chemical reactions that take place in your body for optimal hormone health.

A basic rule of thumb is this: if you have go to the bathroom within 5-10 minutes of drinking water, consider adding electrolytes (or even a pinch of pink sea salt) to your to your next glass.

Stick with these basics and be sure you are sleeping 7-9 hours, and you will notice results…from better energy and weight loss to calmer hormones.

Want help getting started? Check out my free PCOS 7 Day Meal Plan. Simply share your email here, and I will send it (plus additional fertility tips) to you right away!

Our Docs Are Tops!

Congratulations to the Center’s Dr. Nulsen, Dr. Benadiva and Dr. Grow for making the 2019 Best Doctors in in America® List which includes the nation’s most respected specialists and outstanding primary care physicians in the nation.

Mental Health and Infertility

“Infertility treatment, which typically involves a multi-faceted physical, emotional and financial investment, can be psychologically debilitating for some. For many patients, infertility is perceived as the most distressing experience they’ve ever gone through.” Read “The Mental Health Provider and Infertility: An Option for Support” by Kim Crone, PhD.

Click here to read the entire article