Infertility and Insulin’s Role

By Dr. Graper

Want to take a guess as to how much a round of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) costs? The pre-screening evaluation will run you approximately $4,000, IVF cycle is $12,000 and medications per cycle is around $3,000 for a grand total of $19,000 for just one round!! At this cost, it is worth learning more about what causes fertility issues and how to address them in ways that is a little nicer on the pocketbook and your health. The one cause I will dive into today is insulin resistance and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, also known as PCOS.

 Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a disorder affecting approximately 6% of females in their reproductive years and this is the biggest cause of infertility in the U.S. PCOS results in an imbalance in reproductive hormones as a direct result of insulin.

How in the world is insulin connected to fertility? It’s all about the hormones! There appears to be an association between insulin and androgen (male hormone) regulation.This results in an imbalance in hormones. An important piece if you’re trying to conceive a baby! Increased blood sugar promotes release of insulin and when insulin is floating around in the blood, more estrogen and testosterone is available resulting in an imbalance with progesterone. This is where those pesky chin whiskers come from

Of course, not everyone with insulin resistance ends up with PCOS but everyone benefits from making sure their cells stay SENSITIVE to insulin.

What can you do to stop the insulin resistance? Eat low-glycemic foods or foods that don’t spike your blood sugar. This means ditch the cereal, bagel, toast, etc for breakfast. Eating these foods is going to cause you to “crash” mid-morning due to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This crash makes you more likely to grab a caffeinated beverage or another sugary, gluten-filled treat. In the book Wheat Belly, Dr. Davis claims that a piece of toast spikes your insulin more than a Snickers! Make sure your breakfast includes a healthy fat source such as clean animal fats, pastured butter, coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil with every meal as well as some protein.

Increasing your chances of fertility is really about building a solid foundation to grow a healthy baby! Next blog post will discuss toxins and their role in fertility.

Call Family Focus Chiropractic, LLC at (952) 474-1949 to learn more about what functional medicine can do for you.