Health and Fertility

Boosting Fertility in Autumn

You cannot pour from a cup that is empty.

Autumn is a time of reaping the harvest, it is about abundance.   It is about taking in all good things, storing it up to rest for the winter and eventual new growth of spring.  Boosting fertility in autumn is a time of year when you’ll want to think of ways to fill your cup.

Things you can do to fill your cup are:

1. Practice gratitude,
2. Rest,
3. Eat well,
4. Take exercise that rejuvinates like yoga, not boot camps that use up all your resources.  Click here for Barefoot yoga studio in Lucan and click here for Yoga Essence is Celbridge.

Think of ways you can be really really good to yourself.  Think of ways you can be really really kind to yourself.  Think of ways you can feel close to your partner.  Trying to conceive can often take over all your waking thoughts and you wind  up focusing on what you don’t have and what you want to get and you forget about all the good things you do have.  Starting a gratitude journal is a really great way of reaping your harvest and boosting fertility.  Every morning you can write down 3 things you are grateful to have in your day ahead.  At night write down 3 things that happened during your day that you are grateful for. Click here to read some great quotes about the power of gratitude.

Rest like an olympic athlete.  That is, reaslise the importance of rest.  Athletes know how important it is to balance out all their training with rest.  They need to recover from their day and so do you.  It’s getting darker earlier these evenings so take advantage of that time and go to bed before midnight at least, even better would be to get in bed at 10:00 with a good book or your gratitude journal and end your day feeling satisfied.  Even better would be to share your gratitude with your partner and reconnect with each other.

Menstrual Cycle Explained

You may have heard that a woman has a 28 day menstrual cycle and that ovulation happens on day 14.  That is a “textbook” menstrual cycle, but not every woman has a textbook perfect cycle.  Some women have longer or shorter cycles, which varies the day of ovulation. The good news is that things do not have to be a textbook 28 days perfect to be fertile and get pregnant.

The days from the first day of your bleed up to ovulation is called the follicular phase (the follicles grow during this time period).  The time period after ovulation is called the luteal phase.

Menstrual cycle Day 1

Day 1 of your menstrual cycle is the first day of blood flow. The amount of days women bleed varies significantly.  It can be anywhere from 1 to 10 days. Textbook menstrual cycle bleeding is about 3-4 days. Some women also experience spotting of blood before their full menstrual flow begins.  Day 1 is usually considered when the full flow starts.  If the full flow starts in the night, it is the following morning that is considered to be day 1 of your menstrual cycle.

Menstrual cycle Days 2-14

This is the follicular phase. Shedding of the womb lining can last any number of days during this time, the norm is considered to be 3-4 days of full flow.  Preparation for a new cycle also begins during the follicular phase.  Follicles on the ovaries become active, the endometrium (lining of the womb) starts to grow and thicken again and the fertile cervical mucous begins to thin.  One follicle becomes dominant, it grows higher than the others.  The egg matures inside this dominant follicle.

Menstrual cycle Day 14

This is considered to be midcycle (of a 28 day menstrual cycle) and is usually when ovulation takes place. Rising estrogen levels trigger the release of LH (Luteinising Hormone, also referrred to as an LH surge). This rising level of LH causes ovulation (which is the releasing an egg from a follicle). The timing of ovulation is not always on day 14 for all women; it can occur anywhere is the menstrual cycle, the timing of ovulation depends on the individual woman.

Menstrual cycle Days 15-22

This part of the menstrual cycle is referred to as the luteal phase. The follicle collapses down after the egg is released. This collapsed follicle is now called the corpus luteum, and it pumps out progesterone.  Progesterone creates a favourable environment for the implantation of an embryo into the endometrium (womb lining).

Menstrual cycle Days 23 to 24

If implantation of an embryo does not occur, then the estrogen and progesterone levels start to fall during these days of the menstrual cycle.

Menstrual cycle Days 25 to 28

The falling progesterone levels trigger the shedding of the endometrium (lining of the womb).

Why is it good to understand your Menstrual Cycle?

Knowing when your fertile window of opportunity is essential to getting pregnant.  As each woman’s menstrual cycle can vary in the length, thus making for a varied time of ovulation, you may want to try BBT charting or ovulation predictor sticks to help you pin point your fertile window, the best time to try to conceive.  Clearblue make a good quality Ovulation predictor stick, you can click here to read more about the menstrual cycle and pinpointing the time of ovulation.

Organic Herbal Tea is a great substitute for drinks with caffeine.

If you are trying to conceive and want to cut out the caffeine, we can help.  We have two new free organic herbal tea available for you in our clinic.  We have chosen to go with the Pukka range of organic herbal tea.  We love that every box of tea contains tea bags that are each individually wrapped.  This is very convenient for you to take with you when you are out and about.  This way you always have a good choice for tea on hand.  (If you would like to read more about how studies have shown that caffeine increases the length of time it takes to conceive, you can click here to read an article about it). The 2 varities of organic herbal tea that we have selected and made available for you to try are as follows:

1. Pukka Refresh Organic Herbal Tea- This free herbal tea is described on the Pukka website as “A tea to clear out and balance your body and soul, leaving you refreshed and calm.  So flow through your day with a soothing splash of peppermint leaf with the calm of sweet fennel seed and rose. Perfect after a meal to freshen your palate or anytime to freshen your day”.  “Take your stand and go with purpose, for your path ahead is clear: the soothing splash of peppermint leaf with the calm of sweet fennel seed and rose. In a sip, balance returns and the day ahead looks a whole lot brighter.”
   The ingredients of Refresh organic herbal tea are: Naturally caffeine-free and ethically sourced, 100% organically grown ingredients: Peppermint leaf (50%), licorice root, sweet fennel seed (10%), hibiscus flower, rose flower (5%), coriander seed.Naturally caffeine-free and ethically sourced, 100% organically grown ingredients: Peppermint leaf (50%), licorice root, sweet fennel seed (10%), hibiscus flower, rose flower (5%), coriander seed. It is not only organic herbal tea, it is also:
   • Caffeine free
   • Vegetarian
   • Vegan
   • Wheat free
   • Gluten free
   • Dairy free
   • Soya free
   • Nut free
   • Kosher

2. Pukka Chamomile, Vanilla & Manuka Honey Organic Herbal Tea- This free herbal tea is described on the Pukka website as “A soothing dip in an organic pool of calm. In stillness you are restored
   In the midst of chaos and clutter, there’s a pool that’s still. Finding your way there is easy – fresh water and heat awaken the magic of nature’s finest gifts: silky golden chamomile, exotic vanilla pod, and the golden balm of manuka honey. With a sip, stillness takes over. Enjoy your blissful moments.”

   The Ingredients of this organic herbal tea are: Naturally caffeine-free and ethically sourced, organically grown ingredients: Chamomile flower (68%), sweet fennel seed, licorice root, vanilla pod (3.5%), manuka honey flavour* (3.5%). (*contains non organic antioxidant: ascorbic acid).

Fertility Lifestyle Changes : A Harvard study

If you are looking to make some fertility lifestyle changes, you may be interested to know that a Harvard study found that “Women who followed a combination of five or more lifestyle factors, including changing specific aspects of their diets, experienced more than 80 percent less relative risk of infertility due to ovulatory disorders compared to women who engaged in none of the factors, according to a paper published in the November 1, 2007, issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The study was led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.”  For more details on how to improve your fertility, y
ou can read the Harvard study by clicking here.

“The key message of this paper is that making the right dietary choices and including the right amount of physical activity in your daily life may make a large difference in your probability of becoming fertile if you are experiencing problems with ovulation,” said Walter Willet, a senior author and chair of the HSPH Department of Nutrition. The lead author is Jorge Chavarro who is a Research Fellow in the HSPH Department of Nutrition. Both scientists have earned MDs and have appointments at Harvard Medical School.

Fertility lifestyle changes : What you can do

The Harvard researchers devised a scoring system on dietary and lifestyle factors that previous studies have found to predict ovulatory disorder infertility. The researchers assigned a “fertility diet” score of one to five points. The higher the score, the lower the risk of infertility associated with ovulatory disorders. The women with the highest fertility diet scores:

• ate less trans fat and sugar from carbohydrates,
• consumed more protein from vegetables than from animals,
• ate more fiber and iron,
• took more multivitamins,
• had a lower BMI,
• exercised for longer periods of time each day,
• and, surprisingly, consumed more high-fat dairy products and less low-fat dairy products.

The relationship between a higher “fertility diet” score and lesser risk for infertility was similar for different subgroups of women regardless of age and whether or not they had been pregnant in the past.   The researcher Jorge Chavarro said, “We analysed what happens if you follow one, two, three, four, or more different factors. What we found was that, as women started following more of these recommendations, their risk of infertility dropped substantially for every one of the dietary and lifestyle strategies undertaken. In fact, we found a sixfold difference in ovulatory infertility risk between women following five or more low-risk dietary and lifestyle habits and those following none.”  So the results seem to show that by implementing fertility lifestyle changes , you can make an improvement.

Fiona Uyema

Anyone who wants to eat healthy and delicious food should pay attention to Fiona Uyema and her easy to follow Japanese recipes.  Yes, her recipes are easy to follow and healthy and delicious.  I have personally tasted some of her recipes and they are yummy!  So, who is Fiona Uyema?  Fiona Uyema has been pushing boundaries and influencing the Irish foodie scene with her easy to follow Japanese style recipes for a while now. She has become the authority in Japanese cuisine appearing on TV and at the biggest food festivals in the country such as Ballymaloe Lit Fest, Bloom, and Taste of Dublin.  Fiona Uyema was a key feature at Taste of Dublin among some of the best chefs in Ireland and UK.  She offers hands on cooking classes to the public at Miele in Dublin as well.

Fiona Uyema showed the country how easy Japanese cooking is on TV3’s Late Lunch Live where she has been described as “Ireland’s Japanese Cuisine Queen!”.

Her recipes have also appeared on some of the biggest food publications such as Easy Food, FOOD&WINE, and the RTE Guide. To learn more about Fiona Uyema and her background click here.

In collaboration with photographer Harry Weir and editor Miriam Atkins, Fiona was successful in getting sushi featured on the front cover of FOOD&WINE Magazine along with a special 8 page feature on Fiona’s favourite Japanese recipes.

“Fiona’s gorgeous recipes celebrating the Hanami festival in FOOD&WINE Magazine offered readers a masterclass in Japanese cuisine, with lots of options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Her sushi stole the show, gracing our front cover.” Miriam Atkins, Editor. The photos below were taken by Harry Weir Photography and first appeared in FOOD&WINE Magazine.

Fiona Uyema ‘s Book

And now Fiona is delighted to have written her first cookbook titled “Japanese Food Made Easy”.  It was inspired by her time in Japan.  It will be published by Mercier Press and is now available to pre-order from her publisher, Mercier Press, at a discounted price, so be sure to check that out. I’ve ordered 2 copies already.  It would make a great Christmas gift and dare I say that there are only 18 shopping weekends til Christmas, so here’s a chance to get ahead of the game!  Here’s the link to purchase the book: http://www.mercierpress.ie/irish-books/japanese_food_made_easy/

Fiona Uyema ‘s Blog

Fiona Uyema writes a cooking blog called “Fiona’s Japanese Cooking”. Her easy to follow Japanese style recipes and useful tips will give you the knowledge and confidence to try Japanese cooking at home. Fiona’s recipes vary from washoku (Japanese traditional recipes) to fusion recipes mixing western and Japanese tastes.

Fiona Uyema Upcoming Events

• Japanese Food Made Easy – Hands on cooking class September 12, 2015 at 10:30 am – September 17, 2015 at 1:30 pm, Miele Ireland, 2024, Broomhill, CityWest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland.  Unique opportunity to learn the basics of Japanese cooking in a hands-on cooking class. Recipes from Fiona’s cookbook “Japanese Food Made Easy”.
• Japanese Food Made Easy book launch September 17, 2015 Dublin, Ireland
• Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival September 27, 2015, Galway City, Co. Galway, Ireland
• Japanese Food Made Easy – DEMO & BOOK SIGNING October 7, 2015 at 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Miele Ireland, 2024, Broomhill, CityWest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland. Fiona Uyema will demonstrate some of the recipes from her cookbook “Japanese Food Made Easy”.Price includes a signed copy of Fiona’s book.
• Japanese Food Made Easy hands-on cooking class October 10, 2015 at 10:30 am – 1:30 pm, Miele Ireland, 2024, Broomhill, Bianconi Avenue, CityWest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland. Unique opportunity to learn the basics of Japanese cooking in a hands-on cooking class. Recipes from Fiona’s cookbook “Japanese Food Made Easy”.