From a Chinese medicine point of view, that’s a definite yes. In Chinese medicine the gut (we call it the Spleen and Stomach) is not only central to fertility health but it’s central to good health in general.
For hundreds of years the Chinese have spoken about the importance of gut health in fertility and I have noticed that in clinic it rings true as well. Many women come through our doors in search of support for fertility and conception. When they do, all aspects of their health need attending to, not just their uterus and ovaries.
Why Is Gut Health Important for Fertility?
This is the way I explain it to my clients: In order to take in nutrients, you have to be eating the right foods for you, but you also have to be able to absorb the nutrients.
If there are issues with absorption, then even the best nutrients will have trouble making their way into your blood stream.
Blood is the nutrient-rich product that feeds all parts of your body what it needs. The blood itself also needs to be flowing well to get to where it needs to go.
How We Assess Your Overall Health to Help With Fertility
When we look at how well you are absorbing nutrients from your food, we do the following:
- We need to check your digestive system to see how that is going. Do you get constipation or diarrhoea? Or alternate between these? Do you go regularly once a day or not? Is it well-formed? How much does it smell? Do you get any pains in your abdomen? When and where? What about wind? We ask a lot of questions to ascertain the state of your digestive system.
- We check the state of your Blood flow. We can do this by feeling your pulse, looking at your tongue and feeling your abdomen. Your pulse has a certain feel to it when the Blood isn’t moving smoothly, or when there is not enough Blood. Your tongue has a purplish colour to it when there is stagnation of Blood flow and your abdomen shows up with particular signs and symptoms also. Things like spider naevi or any issues with veins are also signs that there are Blood stagnation issues.
- We need to check all aspects of your cycle and what that’s telling us. We do this by asking you questions about how regular your cycle is, how many days you bleed for, what colour that is, how much pain you get, where you feel it, what other symptoms you have at the time and also in the lead-up to your period.
We put all of this information together to make up a picture of how your Qi and Blood are behaving. If there are imbalances, we look to correct those using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, lifestyle and diet advice.
Blood Stagnation / Blood Deficiency and Fertility
To give an example, if you’re someone who is diagnosed with Blood stagnation and you have a strong frame and you’re generally a robust character, we would recommend higher intensity exercise to move your Blood, to free it up.
If you’re someone who is more on the deficient side, who is a slighter frame then we may not recommend exercise that is as intense – it may tire you out and ultimately be taking away from your ability to procreate.
It’s important to look at each person individually to see what is going on for them – and their partner – to find out what is the best path forward.
Trying to Get Pregnant? Let’s Talk About Gut Health, Fertility and Chinese Medicine
Rebecca was asked to speak on the Get Pregnant Now summit. We’d love to invite you to sign up for your free seat – there is so much to learn, and so many amazing women to learn from. It runs from September 10 2018 for 10 days. Grab this awesome info while you can!
About Red Tent Chinese Medicine Fertility Treatments
As with all Red Tent treatments, we consider the service we provide to be in addition to the advice you are receiving from your primary health care provider; your GP, IVF specialist or gynaecologist. At Red Tent we believe in integrating east and west when it comes to medicine and health.