Guest Blog by Julia Young, Nutritionist – IVF Matters
Published July 2022
Did you know that there is a strong connection between your gut health and your fertility?
That’s right, gut health highly influences our reproductive potential, so working on the balance of your gut health is really important before conception.
The role of gut health in fertility
Your gut does much more than just digest, absorb, and excrete the food you eat. Your gut influences the health of every system in your body. It is responsible for the proper functioning of your immune system, how you think and feel, how you make and use hormones, and it also influences your fertility.
Understanding, healing, and supporting your gut is essential, as our gut health highly influences our reproductive potential. Poor gut health affects the absorption of nutrients needed to support egg and sperm health and impacts hormone balance.
The gut microbiome, the trillions of good bacteria that reside in our guts, is responsible for converting bound oestrogen to active oestrogen. Without a healthy microbiome, oestrogen breakdown and function can become impaired and may lead to health issues including endometriosis, PCOS, and infertility.
Did you know that 70% of our immune system resides is in our gut?
When our immune system is not working optimally, our body may enter a state of chronic inflammation which can cause miscarriages, decrease progesterone, affect implantation and hormone imbalance.
Signs that your gut may need some support
There are a number of signs and symptoms of poor gut health, these include:
- Bloating
- Flatulence or excess gas
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Irregular bowel movements
- Stomach pain
There are also non-gut related symptoms that you might notice if your digestive system is not working properly, such as;
- Allergies
- Catching frequent colds or often feeling run down
- Food cravings
- Headaches
- Brain fog
- Skin issues
- Joint and muscle pain
- Mood symptoms
- Fatigue
- Unexplained infertility
Related Article: 6 ways to support good Gut Health for Fertility!
Julia Young is a Nutritionist at IVF Matters. You can arrange a consultation with Julia by visiting our website: https://www.ivfmatters.co.uk/pages/julia-young
