Supporting gut health to support fertility is often overlooked but can be a make or break part of a fertility journey, especially if you have a history of miscarriage. Our gut microbiome impacts how we process and use hormones in the body. This can make it impossible to improve progesterone levels to support a healthy pregnancy. Our gut microbiome and function also impacts our immune system, which as we’ve covered before, needs to be working properly to maintain a pregnancy. When our immune system is functioning correctly, it’s able to recognize that a pregnancy is a desirable condition. The embryo will naturally suppress mom’s immune system and actually have it protect it from attacks. When the immune system is not functioning properly, this process does not occur and leaves the embryo vulnerable to attacks from the immune system. This is common with recurrent miscarriages. One of the common questions we get is how to know if gut health is a concern.
If we have a number of different digestive symptoms, that is a red flag that our gut needs support and likely some investigation with stool testing. Here are common gut symptoms:
We mentioned these last week when we discussed how gut health can impact egg quality, but we’ve had quite a few new faces join our email list since we hosted the miscarriage workshop this past Wednesday, so we wanted to highlight this again. We will often have women say they have no gut health concerns and then they will go on to share a health history of eczema, acne, mental health concerns, etc. and that’s when we always share that we don’t have to have gut symptoms to need gut support. Imbalances in the gut and immune system can present in many different ways. These are all signs our gut needs support that don’t have to do with digestion.
Skin Issues
Mental Health Symptoms
Fatigue & Sleep Problems
Immune System Dysfunction
Joint & Muscle Issues
Weight Fluctuations
Bad Breath & Oral Health Problems
Hormonal Imbalances
While symptoms can give us an idea as to whether or not someone’s gut needs further investigation and support, so can someone’s health history. We utilize stool testing when we work with women with a history of the following:
And all of the above symptoms.
One of the best ways to support your gut and immune system is by supporting healthy digestion. When we have poor digestion, we won’t break down our food well, which can negatively impact our gut microbiome and immune system. Our bodies know how to digest our food well and will naturally make enough digestive juices and enzymes and break things down and absorb them properly. It’s typically stress that gets in the way of digesting our food well. Digestion starts in our brain. Let’s go through three ways you can start supporting your digestion at home now.
Our bodies need to be in a relaxed state in order to carry out digestion properly. The best thing you can do to support healthy digestion is to relax during your meals. Eating while scrolling on your phone or working is a recipe for poor digestion. If we can aim to eat in an environment that relaxes us or at least has minimal distractions, that can be really helpful. If you have a hard time not being on devices or multitasking while eating, a great way to easily relax is to eat your meal outside.
The vagus nerve, also known as the “wandering nerve,” is the longest cranial nerve in the body and plays a crucial role in regulating various bodily functions. Stimulating the vagus nerve can have a calming effect on the body and be very helpful for supporting healthy digestion.
Once you have worked on the environment and relaxing before your meals, you can consider additional support. We prefer to use digestive bitters or apple cider vinegar 10 minutes or so prior to meals to help support our body’s natural digestive process. These help you make more of your own digestive juices rather than using something like a digestion enzyme, which is an exogenous source. There is a time and place for digestive enzymes, we use them with clients, but we like to use bitters or ACV first to see if that can get the results we want.
Here are some other great resources you can look into for improving your gut health:
reminder: i’m currently accepting people into my Nurture Your Fertility program. you can learn more here about the program and fill out an application!
