Fertility

Eating Seeds? Yes! Seed Cycling? Not so much.

July 06, 2021

What is Seed Cycling?

I remember first hearing about seed cycling over 10 years ago as a new acupuncturist. The idea of seed cycling is that you can eat different seeds at different parts of your cycle to optimize your hormone balance. Which seed depends on the unique micronutrients in each one, with certain seeds thought to balance estrogen in the follicular phase (before ovulation) and balance progesterone levels in the luteal phase (after ovulation). The concept of being able to truly use your food as medicine and take control of your own health is really appealing of course! Who wouldn’t want a DIY answer to things like irregular cycles, painful periods, or other hormonal symptoms like premenstrual bloating and acne? Not to mention a little help with fertility?

Seed cycling seems to have surged in popularity on social media, so I wanted to take some time to really dig into the research to see if this is worth doing. Also, as a practitioner of East Asian Medicine (TCM), I am excited to discuss our medicine’s view of seeds and how they’re used, as well as some information on how our medicine would approach hormonal health at different phases of the cycle. Read more

Listen Up: Your Cervical Mucus Is Trying To Tell You Something

January 24, 2017

Vaginal discharge, cervical mucus, leukorrhea- it all refers to the same thing. Hereafter I’ll refer to it as “CM” (cervical mucus). It seems that generally speaking, women I see in my practice either are quite unaware of what changes in their CM mean or are worried that any CM is a sign of infection. I hope this article will help to de-mystify your discharge and, just maybe, make you feel a little amazed by it. Possibly even happy to see it? By knowing what to look for and what it all means, you can feel more empowered and make better decisions. Read more

What Is A Pulsatility Index, And Why Is It So Important For Fertility?

September 24, 2015

If you’re trying to get pregnant, you should care about your Pulsatility Index. What? One more thing to keep track of? By the way, what in tarnation is a Pulsatility Index?

A Pulsatility Index (PI) is a measurement of the blood flow through your arteries- specifically, the ones going to your ovaries and uterus. Read more

BBT Charting, Fertility and Acupuncture: What’s The Connection?

August 26, 2015

Whenever a woman comes to acupuncture looking to increase her fertility, in most cases I ask for BBT charts (or recommend she start charting). If you’re asking what a BBT is, click here for an explanation. BBT charts are clinically useful to me as an acupuncturist for many reasons. First, if there is a clear temperature shift midcycle, I know the woman is ovulating, and on which day ovulation is taking place. If the length of the follicular (pre-ovulatory) phase is consistently between 12-20 days, and if the luteal (post-ovulatory) phase is consistently between 11-16 days, I’m fairly confident that things are normal and any fertility issue is not with ovulation. In addition, the basal body temperatures should be within a certain range. If they are significantly lower or higher than I typically see, it could indicate a thyroid dysfunction which should be checked out by a physician. Read more

Just The Basics: BBT Charting

August 25, 2015

What if I told you there’s science-backed method to reliably prevent pregnancy- without being on the pill? Also-using this method you can predict the exact day you’ll get your period- two weeks out? Yes indeed, no more mid-meeting surprises or ruined white pants! It’s technically called FAM, or Fertility Awareness Method, but is more commonly referred to as BBT (Basal Body Temperature) Charting. It’s incredibly easy and takes no more time than popping a birth control pill every day. Here are the details: Read more

Posts Categorized: Fertility