Enhancing Fertility through Functional Medicine

Description:

Enhancing Fertility through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility provides cutting-edge information and solutions to help support the worldwide rise of fertility challenges. It addresses common, yet not commonly known, root-causes of oxidative stress that are at the heart of reproductive issues (and all chronic health issues). These solutions can help enhance the outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) or support women to avoid them altogether.

Enhancing Fertility through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility will show you how to improve cell health (including egg and sperm), lower inflammation, balance nervous system functioning, and optimize genetic expression, allowing the body to return to its naturally fertile state. It details information on numerous root causes of health-derailing inflammation and oxidative stress, while the appendices discuss the genetic and biochemical pathways related to these topics.

Each chapter also provides easy “Action Steps” that can be implemented immediately. Chapter topics include iron dysregulation; oxalates; mold/mycotoxins; phase 2 liver detoxification pathways; fat utilization; introductory information on genetics, epigenetics, and nutrigenomics; everything one needs to know about histamine intolerance; and how these factors adversely affect metabolic and reproductive functions.

Enhancing Fertility through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility is the handbook for people wanting to achieve and sustain a healthy pregnancy. It highlights lesser-known causes of fertility challenges the reader can learn how to investigate. This book also serves as a reference guide for practitioners, providing them with additional tools to add to their repertoires when other protocols have not been effective. It may also provide clarity as to why other protocols did not work and will enable the practitioner to custom-tailor protocols for each patient.

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Foreword

I am grateful my colleague introduced me to Jaclyn Downs. She suggested that I add her lectures to my library at Healthy Seminars, an online continuing education platform for Chinese medicine, naturopaths, chiropractors, and other professionals interested in functional and integrative medicine. As the director of Healthy Seminars, I conduct due diligence before accepting speakers to lecture. As I assessed her knowledge and experience, Jaclyn suggested I read her new book as part of my process of getting to know her professionally. Immediately upon completing her book, not only did I acknowledge that she had the academic training and clinical experience to make her an authority on infertility issues, but she had some valuable insight and information to share with those struggling with infertility.

Chinese medicine has a poetic saying when it comes to fertility: “Nourish the soil before you plant the seed.” Have you ever neglected a plant to the point where the leaves turn brownish, and the plant appears slightly withered? Then by adding water, some plant fertilizer, and adjusting how much direct sunlight exposure it receives, you witness the plant regain its vigor and give off fruits and fowers. The plant always had the potential to give off fruits and fowers; however, its sub-optimal soil prevented it from reaching its peak fertility potential. You did not need to use donor roots in this case as it was the soil surrounding the roots and not the roots themselves causing the plant to wither. In this analogy, the soil is the cellular environment, and the seeds are eggs and sperm cells. Jaclyn provides us with a detailed road map on how to nourish our soil so eggs, sperm, and uterine receptivity can reach their peak fertility potential, whether trying to conceive naturally or with assisted reproductive techniques like in vitro fertilization (IVF). Jaclyn shares the same goal for those wanting to get pregnant, to conceive with more ease, and to deliver a healthy baby and healthy parent(s), too.

One of the most frustrating infertility diagnoses is unexplained infertility because no “standard” infertility testing has concluded a cause for the failure to get pregnant or maintain a pregnancy (miscarriage), so, without a known cause, there is not always an obvious treatment approach. Doctors can be challenged to suggest a specifc plan because they do not know where the infertility problem lies. What if your infertility was not unexplained? What if we acted like forensic auditors and searched for what is causing embryo quality issues or implantation failure? By digging for and uncovering the root cause, we could then devise a focused approach to address the causes leading to infertility or miscarriages. Before becoming a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, I had a career as a chartered professional accountant (CPA). I bring this auditor mindset into conducting fertility workups where my clinic provides our patients a fertility audit. We go well beyond the standard fertility workup and include a deep dive into your health by using naturopathic and functional medicine testing in addition to the standard work-up as well as the sage wisdom of Chinese medicine diagnosis in our clinic. This is why I was so happy when I received a copy of Jaclyn’s book, Enhancing Fertility through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility. Her book delivers the reader the tests used to conduct a thorough fertility audit. Jaclyn is intentionally using quotes around the word ‘unexplained’ in her title as oftentimes, what is considered unexplained through the lens of conventional medicine is explainable through the lens of naturopathic, functional, and Chinese medicine.

Jaclyn offers readers some of the common areas often overlooked in the fertility assessment. She uncovers how infammation can be one of the common causes for infertility and implantation failure and, more importantly, how to address it naturally. I often use the term “infamm-aging” because chronic systemic infammation causes accelerated biological aging that leads to degenerative diseases and premature fertility decline. This infammation can be caused by poor digestive function, past trauma, the foods you eat, invisible toxins and molds in your environment, nutritional defciencies, blood sugar issues, and stress, to name a few. She conveys loudly how oxidative stress can impair fertility, and she details some common but lesser-known factors that cause it. In her book, Jaclyn challenges the reader to search for the root cause using her road map. Her map guides us where to look, what tests to perform, and how to address the issue(s) causing infertility, implantation failure, and miscarriages. I invite you to use this book with your fertility health-care team as a resource. Reading Jaclyn’s book and following her action steps at the end each chapter may be the factors that can change a diagnosis from “unexplained” to explainable to being pregnant.

Embryo quality is dependent on egg and sperm health. The embryo requires a lot of energy to divide and grow (in the fallopian tube or in the IVF lab) and to implant into the lining of the uterus, and this energy comes from the mitochondria (battery of the cell) of the egg. It gave me even more confdence in Jaclyn’s thorough knowledge of reproductive health when I read her original paragraph on using low-level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as photobiomodulation, to optimize fertility by improving mitochondrial function. I am honored that she had me contribute to the section in her book on LLLT for fertility as I have observed this treatment modality as having potential and promise for addressing infertility and uterine receptivity.

It is my hope that Jaclyn’s book will act as a resource for fertility practitioners and the motivated layperson trying to conceive and hoping to sustain their pregnancy. The steps in her book outline how to look for common causes as well as frequently overlooked issues that ft into the fertility landscape. This book provides bite-size actions that can be implemented immediately and/or with the support of a functional medicine or Chinese medicine practitioner.

In addition to my role at Healthy Seminars, I am also the founder and clinical director of an integrative fertility practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I am the author of the book Missing the Point and the online book The Acubalance Fertility Diet, and I am the chair of the Integrated Fertility Symposium. I feel confdent when I say Jaclyn’s book will help practitioners and clients identify and address root causes of impaired fertility and help solve the infertility puzzle.

Lorne Brown DrTCM, BSc, CPA, FABORM, CHt

Chair of the Integrative Fertility Symposium

Clinical Director of Acubalance Wellness Centre (Vancouver, Canada)

President of Healthy Seminars

Author of Missing the Point and the online Acubalance Fertility Diet

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Endorsements
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Author Biography
Introduction
PART 1: Introduction to Functional Fertility and Oxidative Stress
Chapter 1 What Is Functional Genomic Fertility?
1.1 My Realization
1.2 The Statistics on Infertility and Miscarriage
1.3 ART Statistics
1.4 What Exactly Is a Hormone, Anyway?
1.5 A Word on Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Relation to Hormones
References
Chapter 2 Oxidative Stress and Inflammation as Major Root Causes of Reproductive Issues
2.1 Inflammation as a Cause and Result of Oxidative Stress
2.2 How Inflammation Affects Fertility
References
PART 2: Your 12-Week Functional Fertility Solution
Chapter 3 Improving Sleep Quality as a Solid Foundation for Fertility
References
Chapter 4 Get Salivary Genetic Testing Done That Goes above and beyond Just MTHFR and Methylation
4.1 First, What Is a Gene?
4.2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms
4.3 Enzymes Require Nutritional Cofactors in Order to Work
4.4 Epigenetics Describes the Way the Genome Interacts with the Environment
4.5 “Genetics Loads the Gun, but Environment Pulls the Trigger”
4.6 Food and Environment Are Information for Our Genes
4.7 Government Nutrition Recommendations Are Antiquated
4.8 Now That You Know All That, It’s Finally Time to Talk about MTHFR
4.9 Folic Acid Conversion to Folate
4.10 Methylfolate
4.11 Notes on Intermittent Fasting
4.12 Action Steps for Patients
References
Chapter 5 Eat a Nourishing Diet, Not a “Healthy” Diet
5.1 Water Nourishes the Body and Is Essential for Life
5.2 Here Are Some Basic Tips to Know If a Supplement Is Halfway Decent
References
Chapter 6 Address Stress: Your Physical and Emotional Health May Be Hindering Your Fertility
References
Chapter 7 Mold and Mycotoxins: Get the Mold Out
7.1 Mold Spores
7.2 Mycotoxins and Gut Health
7.3 Mold, Mycotoxins, and Reproductive Health
7.4 Testing for Mycotoxins in the Body
7.5 Clearing out the Mold
References
Chapter 8 Iron Behaving Badly: Understand Your Iron Status
8.1 While Hemochromatosis Isn’t All That Common, Iron Dysregulation Is
8.1.1 Iron Dysregulation and Its Effects on Fertility
References
Chapter 9 Investigate If Oxalates Are a Culprit
9.1 A Note on Oxalates and Estrogen Dominance
References
Chapter 10 The Importance of Proper Fat Utilization for Hormonal Balance and Fetal Growth
10.1 The Fat/Oxalate Relationship
10.2 L-Carnitine to the Rescue!
10.3 Other Helpful Nutrients for Proper Fat Usage
References
Chapter 11 Improve Egg and Sperm Health
References
Chapter 12 Toxins, Toxins, Everywhere: Prioritize Avoiding Toxins!
12.1 Toxins and Hormones
12.2 Toxins and Mitochondrial Energy Production (or Lack Thereof)
12.3 Plastics
12.4 Pesticides
12.5 Heavy Metals
12.6 Mold Exposure and Mycotoxins
12.7 Indoor Air Quality
12.8 Body Care Products
References
Chapter 13 Optimize Your Liver Detoxification Pathways and Detoxify with Precision
13.1 Drainage before Detoxification
13.2 Sulfation Is Critical for Hormonal Health
13.3 Sulfation Ability Impacts Thyroid Hormones
13.4 Vitamin D Levels Can Be Deficient If Someone Doesn’t Have Sulfate
13.5 Sulfite from Foods
13.6 Glucuronidation: The Unsung Hero
13.7 Glutathione Conjugation Pathway
13.8 Action Steps: How We Support Glutathione and the GST Genes
13.9 Acetylation
13.10 For All Acetylation Reactions, We Need Adequate Acetyl-CoA
13.11 Action Steps: Beginning to Support Acetylation
13.12 Phase 2.5 and Phase 3 Detox
References
Chapter 14 Show Your Guts Some Love
14.1 The Gut–Hormone Connection: How Gut Imbalance Leads to Inflammation and Hormonal Havoc
References
Chapter 15 Histamine Can Affect Reproductive Outcomes
15.1 What Is Histamine?
15.2 What Causes Histamine Intolerance?
15.3 Histamine Intake/Exposure
15.4 Histamine Production
15.5 Action Steps to Compensate for HDC Gene Upregulation and Slow Histidine-to-Histamine Conversion
15.6 Histamine Receptor Activity
15.7 Meet the Histamine Receptors
15.8 A Note on Antihistamines
15.9 The Ability to Clear Histamine from the Body
15.10 Nutritional Cofactors to Support DAO Activity
15.11 Excess Histamine Causes Poor Gut Health (and Vice Versa), Which Causes Low DAO, Which Causes Elevated Histamine
15.12 DAO Blockers
15.13 Methylation of Histamine
15.14 Testing for Histamine Intolerance
15.15 Acetylation of Histamine
15.16 Glucuronidation of Histamine
15.17 Probiotics: Harmful and Helpful
15.18 Histamine and Reproductive Outcomes
References
Chapter 16 Additional Support: Tighten Up Your Blood Sugar Levels: Why Addressing All the Previous Steps Will Help Balance Blood Sugar
16.1 Blood Sugar Imbalance = Rise in Cortisol = Reproductive Problems
16.2 The Blood Sugar Roller Coaster Constantly Relies on Cortisol to Save the Day
References
Chapter 17 Summing It Up/Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 4
DNA Structure
Ancestral/Wild Type versus Risk Allele
Upregulation and Downregulation, Also Referred to as Gain of Function and Loss of Function
Promotion of Autophagy to Keep mTOR in Check
References
Appendix 8
There Are Other Genes Relating to Iron Dysregulation besides the HFE Gene
References
Appendix 9
What a Urine Organic Acid Test Can Tell Us About Oxalates
References
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
NADPH Is Required for Glutathione Recycling
Now, on to NOX
NOX Must Be Kept under Control
mTOR Stimulates NOX
Homocysteine Stimulates NOX
Additional Nerd Notes on Homocysteine
Histamine Is Another Factor That Stimulates NOX
Glutamate Stimulates NOX
Natural Progesterone Promotes GABA and Suppresses Glutamate
Caveat for GABA Supplementation
Tamp down NOX Activity to Spare NADPH
NAD+ and NADPH: Not to Be Confused, But Definitely Related
What Are NADH and NAD+?
Action Steps for Supporting NAD+ and NADPH Levels
Let’s Go Upstream of NADPH
Nrf2: An Essential Component for NADPH Production, along with Controlling Many Other Processes
What Is Nrf2?
Nerd Note for My Nerdies: Genetic Variants and Autophagy
Nrf2, NADPH, and Folate
NAD+ Governs Mating Ability via the SIRT Genes
References
Appendix 13
Phase II Detoxification Conjugation by Acetylation
PANK Is Needed for Healthy Fats, Which Make Hormones
References
Appendix 15
Glossary of Terms
Resources
Index