Nutrition and Your Fertility

In Part Two, Shannon offers nutritional solutions to specific reproductive disorders and challenges. This is the part of the book that will become dog-eared by those of us with challenges!

For example, do you suffer from a luteal phase defect; in other words, is the time between ovulation and the onset of your next period less than 10 days? For women using NFP to avoid conception, a luteal phase defect means a very short infertile post-ovulatory phase (and therefore fewer "safe" days in a cycle). For women trying to conceive, a luteal phase defect may mean there's not enough time for a fertilized egg to implant. Either way, a short luteal phase can be very frustrating. Shannon writes that a short luteal phase can be caused by high levels of the hormone prolactin (such as nursing women often have). In studies, 200-600 mg/day of vitamin B6 alone lowered prolactin levels and returned women to normal cycles.

How about heavy or long periods? Heavy periods (involving excessive blood loss) or long ones (lasting more than 6 or 7 days) can decrease the number of "safe" days in a cycle and cause anemia. Interestingly, sometimes women with heavy and/or long periods show a vitamin A deficiency. Shannon provides an anecdote of a woman in her NFP class who consistently charted an 8-day period in 25-day cycles. After taking 5000 I.U./day of vitamin A for one month, this woman had only a 5-day period in her next cycle. It was the shortest menstruation she could remember in her lifetime! (Caution: Shannon warns that too much vitamin A is toxic - for example, don't exceed 8000 I.U. of vitamin A daily if you're trying to get pregnant, and use the guidance of a physician.)

Shannon goes on to provide nutritional solutions to many more reproductive challenges, including PMS, yeast infections, infertility, male infertility, premenopause, repeated miscarriages, and more. Nutritional solutions are no substitute for the care of a physician, of course, but they are the best "first resort" in the process of healing and the best way to a healthy life. I plan to keep Shannon's book on my reference shelf for a long time and to share it with friends!

Wishing you good nutrition and good health!

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