Fertility Spring Cleaning
Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. Buds explode everywhere, while the bleakness of winter is washed away with warm spring rain. A spring cleanse can wash away the burden of toxins your body endured and accumulated over the past year, or your entire lifetime if you have never done a cleanse to reduce your toxic load. Seen as a time of transition, Spring is an ideal time to slough off the old and usher in a fresh new start for physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
Cleansing, or detoxification, practices dating back to 2000BCE, were used around the world to prevent disease and improve overall health. Historic cleansing practices have fallen out of the “norm” in the USA, though still commonly practiced in other countries as prevention to illness.
Examples of cleansing practices include:
India: Panchakarma or 5 cleaning actions- purge (laxative), enema, vomiting, nasal cleanse, and bloodletting. Purification therapy that helps draw out toxins from the blood and deeper tissue, moving the digestive system.
China: Fasting (chlorophyll rich foods), movement (acupuncture, qi gong, tai chi, yoga, meditation) to decrease irritability and anger, and purge (saunas, detox teas, dry skin brushing, water, cupping, bloodletting) to help remove toxins out of the body.
Native Americans: Fasting gives the digestive tract a break to repair and recover, smudging can clear the lungs and balance the emotions, and sweat lodges is another way of eliminating toxins.
Religious sects: Fasting
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Liver and Gallbladder are associated with Springtime; the Liver controls the smooth flow of blood and emotions, while the Gallbladder is responsible for excreting bile and governs decision making, planning, dreaming, inspiration, and assertiveness (if your gallbladder has been removed, think about how difficult these tasks may be for you). This organ association emphasizes the importance of a Spring cleanse to support and heal functions of the liver and gallbladder, especially if you have a difficult time controlling your emotions or decision making. A healthy, properly functioning liver is needed to constantly rid the body of harmful toxins, medications, and even your hormones. Though TCM emphasizes the importance of Liver and Gallbladder function, all organs of elimination are addressed during a cleanse. The intestines are of utmost importance as they remove harmful by-products made by the liver.
Implementing a gentle cleanse prior to becoming pregnant can improve fertility outcomes and the overall health of your baby. A wide array of toxins have been identified as detrimental to male and female fertility impacting oocytes (eggs) and sperm directly; hence the importance of a detox prior to becoming pregnant. Research ten years ago showed an average of 212 industrial chemicals and pesticides, banned over 30+ years prior to the study, in the placenta of unexposed and unborn babies. Take this into consideration if you have never done a detox, and understand you ARE carrying a toxic burden from before you were even born. Give your babies a better foundation by allowing your body to rid itself of some of these detrimental toxins before becoming pregnant. Consider also that ten years ago the average number of beauty products used by women per day was 12 with 160 harmful ingredients-What is this number today?
Never perform a cleanse while actively trying to conceive or pregnant as you will release potentially harmful stores of toxins into the bloodstream for removal which can negatively impact the growth of your unborn baby.
A “Fertility Spring Cleanse” will:
1. reduce your toxic burden: increasing pregnancy outcome and decreasing exposure to your future baby
2. improve basic body processes-breathing, digesting, pooping, sleeping, sweating, thinking
3. leave you feeling revitalized and renewed
A gentle cleanse should NOT leave you feeling exhausted, run down, hungry, or irritable. Common annoying symptoms may occur and can be corrected with simple fixes. If you develop headaches make a tea from a common spice you likely have in your cupboard-rosemary. Or you feel grumbles in your stomach, eat more approved food. Loose stools, increase your fiber in the form of chia and flaxseeds.
A cleanse that enhances your fertility and chances of a healthy pregnancy does not have to feel depriving or lacking. If this is the first run at clearing your environment and body of toxins, try focusing on the add-ons to prevent becoming overwhelmed with feels of deprivation. Ideally removal of detrimental items is a must for overall cleansing/detoxing especially when preparing for pregnancy. The most resistance to removal is seen with “Modern Musts” and “Toxins of Choice.”
READ THAT AGAIN: TOXINS OF CHOICE!!
Alcohol, Caffeine, Poor Fats, Processed/Packaged and Fast Foods, Sugar/Sugar alternatives, Heavy Meat Meals, Electronics, Cosmetics, Personal and Cleaning Products, Plastics, Social Media
Hopefully if you are invested in doing a cleanse, you take it to the fullest extent. You may finally be at your limit of trying everything to become pregnant and a natural gentle cleanse is the next step. Trust the science that identifies many otherwise “innocuous” and “non-problematic” substances you are exposed to daily as the exact reason you need this cleanse. If you are interested in the full toxic exposure picture of your day to day living, check-out Environmental Working Group’s website. We are under constant toxic exposure that our bodies need help repairing and clearing. A good start to the detox process is a 10-14 day break from known exposures and aiding the body in gentle balancing with nutrient dense foods at the same time.
So here are some simple swaps, though not necessarily easy:
IN
Dark Leafy greens, Rainbow of vegetables
Whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, amaranth
More veggies!! onion, beet root, artichoke, celery
Deep water cold fish (salmon, cod, herring, halibut, sardines, anchovies) limited-none
1-2 tablespoons high quality oil per day: flax oil, fish oil, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Lightly steam foods
Dandelion root, chicory, or milk thistle tea
1/2 body weight in WATER away from mealtime
Start your day with lemon in water to improve processes of elimination and digestion
Exercise 30 minutes per day-walking, yoga, qigong, tai chi-think gentle movement
Deep, slow breathing (activates calming response) Improves circulation to uterus and ovaries too
Skin brushing & Epsom salt bath
Natural beauty
8-9 hours of rest/night
Full spectrum light exposure upon waking
Lights out an hour before bedtime and be to bed by 11pm
Put your Wifi router on a timer off 11pm-6am
Loving uplifting people
Glassware, ceramic, stainless steel, cast iron, wooden kitchen utensils
Vinegar, water, baking soda, lemon juice
Air purifier/filter, opening windows, houseplants
OUT
Canned vegetables, non-organic vegetables
Corn, gluten grains, dairy products
Packaged, processed foods, sugary foods
Deli meat, bacon, sausages, canned meat or fish, eggs, whey protein, conventional beef and pork, chicken, turkey
Butter, hydrogenated, saturated or trans-fat products, butter alternatives, palm oil, margarine
MICROWAVE
Coffee/Caffeinated beverages & ALCOHOL
Soda, Energy drinks, seltzer water (reduce carbonation), fruit juices
LIMIT TV, computer, phone time
Being sedentary
Shallow, quick breathing (activates a stress response with no effort from you) Triggers anxiety
Bath bombs/bubble baths with perfumes, fragrances, colors
Mainstream Cosmetics, nail polish, hair coloring, perms, straighteners
Late nights
Looking at your cell phone before being awake for at least 30 minutes
Light exposure all night while sleeping, Missing vital healing time from 10pm-2am
Constant exposure to Wifi
Toxic negative people
Teflon, non-stick, plastics
Mainstream cleaning products
Air fresheners, wall plug-ins, perfume (hormone disruptors)
The above list is not exhaustive of the ways you can gently improve your health with a cleanse. As you see it is more a wholesome living cleanse which you can continue after the 10-14 days. You should always seek the guidance of a practitioner knowledgeable of cleanses and the importance of detoxing. Giving your body a break to the burdens you subject it to day in and day out will give your organs of elimination a break, encourages you to be kind to yourself, and gets you moving with regular exercise. You need to find time to heal your body & lower the emotional, mental and physical stress that accompanies fertility struggles.
Written by Nicole Kerr, ND, LAc