What to eat and what you shouldn't be eating are two very popular questions that I get
asked often. And that's why this week, I'm going to be talking about the three things
that you need to avoid while you're trying to get pregnant. And I want to make sure that
you watch all the way to the end, because it might not be what you think.
My name is Dr. Marc Sklar, also known as The Fertility Expert and welcome to Fertility
TV, your YouTube channel dedicated to helping you get pregnant. I've been helping couples
from all over the world for the last 18 years through my online programs, my private group
coaching, and right here locally in San Diego at my clinics. And before we get started with
this ever important topic about the three foods that you should be avoiding while you're
trying to get pregnant, I just want to remind you all that I've got a free training at the
end of the month that you need to be at, because I'm going to be talking about diet and so
many other things having to do with fertility. All the different integrative things that
you need to be doing together to help you get pregnant.
But I can't talk about them all on this video because it's just going to be too long, which
is why I created a free training. I want you to join me for that free training and to do
that, you just have to register, use the link in the description below to sign up for the
free training. Let's start talking about the three things that you need to avoid when you're
trying to get pregnant. Now, we've talked many times about gluten,
and sugar and processed foods. And so I'm not going to talk about those things today,
but I do have three important tips that are going to, I think, really help you on your
journey to get pregnant. Tip number one is about the quality of the
protein that you eat. And in this case, specifically, fish, poultry and meat. We often talk about
the quality of our vegetables, because we want to make sure that they're organic and
that they don't have any chemicals or pesticides, but we often ignore the really important piece
about animal protein or poultry and fish. This is so important. Many of us eat a high
protein diet that comes, where the source comes from fish, poultry and beef. And those
items can have a huge amount of chemicals because of the way they're farmed. If you're
having conventional meats and poultry, then they are given a lot of chemically induced
feed, they have a lot of hormones attached to them and often they're controlled in these
bins and so they have to be given medication and antibiotics to make sure they don't get
sick. We don't want to consume all of that. And if that's what's being put into those
animal products, we don't want it either. So quality is so important.
A lot of the time when we hear and read these studies, that animal meat and poultry and
fish are no good for us. It's not talking about the reason why, and the reason why they're
no good is because of the quality, the things that are being given to them, the chemicals,
medication, and toxins that are being given to them, which then we end up consuming. So
we want to avoid that. So quality is so important, just like organic produce is so important.
And when we're talking about fish, we want to avoid the fish that are high in mercury.
And so one way that we think that we can avoid that is when we farm the fish in a farm, but
that causes other things. So the first thing that's really important is that we want our
fish to be wild. But with that, then we have to be careful of the high amounts of mercury.
So the fish that are bigger, the bigger fish, the more fatty fish are the ones we have to
be more careful with because they have higher amounts of mercury. I'm going to tell you
a list right now of the fish that are better to consume. So right now, anchovies, the smaller
fish, anchovies, catfish, clams, crab, which is shellfish as well. Salmon is a great one,
flounder, haddock, mackerel. I'm reading from my list here. Sardines, scallops, shrimp,
sole, tilapia, trout, whitefish. Those fish are really, really good because
they're low in mercury, but the bigger fish, the ones we often eat a lot of like tuna and
cod, sea bass. These are ones that have higher, or have the tendency to have higher amounts
of mercury. Now, the other variable that we have to take
into account with mercury is some of our bodies do a really good job of detoxifying. They
don't hold on to the heavy metals, but some of us don't do a good job of that. And that's
a genetic predisposition. So we have to be mindful of that as well. And just a reminder,
when it comes to poultry, we want to make sure that they're pasture raised, meaning
that they are free to roam on the pasture and the same thing with beef. We want it to
be grass fed, that they are able to go along the pasture and eat the grass and not just
be given the feed that is given to them. My second point is I want you all to avoid
low fat foods. I know that we've been marketed to and trained to believe that low fat is
better than high fat or full fat, but when it comes to hormones and fertility, that is
not the case. I'd actually even go so far as to say, when it comes to our overall health,
that is not the case, but this marketing has been fed into us and beaten into us to believe
that low fat foods or no fat foods are better for us. So, especially when we're trying to
be mindful of our weight and lose weight, we tend to gravitate to those things because
we're correlating the two, but that's not always the case. And I want to encourage all
of you to start to really look at your food products, your dairy products a little bit
differently, and don't be afraid of all the fat. As long as it's healthy fat, it's good
fat, it's good for your hormones and it's good for your fertility.
I'm going to read you a study that I think is going to hopefully change your mind if
we haven't already done that. And so there was a US study that suggested that eating
low fat dairy food every day can reduce a woman's fertility by affecting ovulation.
And the study showed that women who ate more than two portions a day, just two portions
of low fat, a day of low fat dairy foods were 85%, I want to say that again, 85% more likely
to be infertile due to ovulatory disorders than those who ate less than once a week.
That's right. That's a huge amount. And conversely, they also found that in this
same study, that women who ate full fat dairy foods, including ice cream, as long as it's
good ice cream, I'm a big fan of ice cream, more than once per day had a 25% reduced risk
of infertility due to ovulatory disorders, compared to those who ate full fat dairy foods
only once a week. So this shows you that if you're consuming a lot of low fat foods, you're
now increasing your likelihood of having fertility issues by 85%. Now I don't want you all having
buckets of ice cream as well. We have to make good choices, smart choices, and the right
choices. And there are multiple ways to get good, healthy, full fat products. It doesn't
have to always be ice cream, but I want you to take the point here that low fat is not
good for us. And that I want you to start to shop for healthy fats, to reincorporate
back into your diet. And point number three is about how regularly
we should be eating. I get this question all the time. Should I eat every two hours? Should
I eat every three hours? What about fasting? Well, I think the first thing that I want
you all to know is that this is not a one size fits all. It's important for each one
of you to understand some different things based on your individual needs and conditions.
And that might take some help and guidance by a healthcare provider who can really know
your case and guide you. But in general, there are benefits to fasting, to intermittent fasting.
Although it might not maybe for all of us, I do want to talk about the benefits of intermittent
fasting, because it might be the right thing for you. Here are some of the key benefits
of fasting, and in this case, we're talking about intermittent fasting.
blood levels of your insulin significantly drop, which can help to burn more fat and
reduce weight. We talked about HGH or human growth hormones before. These increase, and
sometimes as much as fivefold when you do intermittent fasting. Any time you are talking
about ovarian rejuvenation, reversing the aging process, anytime you hear the words
of cellular repair, that's a good thing. And that's also another thing that happens with
intermittent fasting, which many people have not been correlating with fertility and ovarian
rejuvenation, but definitely that correlation can be made. Gene expression is also another
benefit of fasting. And there are several benefits to several genes and molecules having
to do with longevity, which again goes back to the reversing the aging process, which
also would be translated to restoring ovarian health.
And one study, I'm going to read it. One study showed that intermittent fasting can reduce
oxidative damage, which we don't want, and inflammation in the body. And this should
have benefits against aging and the development of numerous diseases, which is fantastic.
So there's a lot of benefits to fasting if it's done the right way and if it's the right
thing for you. So talk to your healthcare provider to find out if it's something that
you should be trying. This is just a drop in the bucket of some
of the things that you can be doing to improve your fertility as it relates to diet and so
much more. And I'm going to be going so much deeper in my free training at the end of the
month to cover diet, giving you a fertility approved shopping list and talking about all
the other integrative things that you should be considering on your fertility journey.
So if you haven't already registered for my free training, then you can do so now by using
the link in the description below. I also want to ask all of you, did you find
any of this information useful? If so, let me know which one. Comment below, let me know
which one of these tips you found enlightening or new and how you're going to incorporate
it into your new fertility plan. If you want some more videos to help you on your fertility
journey, I'm going to leave those links right here for you to check out. If you haven't
already liked this video, then give me a thumbs up and let me know that you value it. Leave
a comment below so that I can know what you liked about the video, but more importantly,
so that you can allow this video to be seen by so many other women, which allows you to
help other people on their fertility journey. All right, if you're not already a subscriber
to my YouTube channel, make sure you hit that bell so that you can and get notified when
I put out a new video. And until the next video, please stay healthy, please stay safe,
and most of all, stay fertile.