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Nutrition is an important component of Family Planning!
Family planning requires many components or building blocks, however, family planning and nutrition should always be used together.
More specifically, targeted nutrition prior to conception (if possible) and followed through during the gestation period should be at a priority level in the components.
Nutrition should be a targeted nutritional program, based on a variety of nutritional screenings and formulated through a thorough understanding of nutrient interrelationships that would ultimately be the most ideal.
Nutrition is an important component of family planning; however, it isn’t just the mother-to-be that should be properly nourished but the father-to-be as well!
Why is this important?
The maternal mortality rate in the United States has for many years exceeded that of other high-income countries. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show rates worsening around the world in recent years, as well as a widening gap between the U.S. and its peer nations.
The U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis Continues to Worsen: An International Comparison
Albeit this is only one reference, a simple internet search will reveal thousands of such articles for reference. Equally important, this does not include the number of children in the US being born with medical issues. Malnutrition, or more specifically subclinical malnutrition, in both the mother-to-be and father-to-be is never at the forefront of any conversation for healthy offspring.
For mothers-to-be, nutritional imbalances and toxins are passed on in utero. For fathers-to-be, nutritional imbalances and toxins diminish sperm health and can change the epigenetics of your genome that can negatively affect your offspring.
However, the three-month preconception window recommendation for optimizing your nutrition is not sufficient. This recommendation should be a minimum of one year.
This may seem like an extended period of time to plan a pregnancy but in reality, this is a minimum amount of time needed for a targeted nutritional plan to begin shifting your current nutrient excesses and deficiencies and releasing toxins for elimination.
Remember, you and your partner have a unique nutritional/toxic element status. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an absolute time frame that may be required too dynamically rebalance either person’s nutritional status or elimination of toxic elements.
“Assessment of dietary intake can never provide an assessment of nutritional health (the state consequent on the ingestion and utilization of nutrients).”
World Health Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency & Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (1996). Trace elements in human nutrition and health. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/37931
Nutrition affects your reproductive/sexual health.
You may not realize that, whether you are male or female, myriad factors influence your reproductive/sexual health. The more common factors include:
- Stress
- Toxic elements
- Chemical toxins
- Medications (prescription and OTC)
- Improper food and dietary supplement choices
Each of these factors are so common in your daily life that you probably don’t realize their affects. Each of these factors, normally in combination, disrupts your nutritional balance and in turn, your reproductive/sexual health.
Does malnutrition contribute to infertility?
Today, clinical malnutrition is not common in developed nations however, subclinical malnutrition appears to be more common yet it is rarely addressed. However, subclinical malnutrition may easily be seen as a contributing factor for infertility in both women and men.
Subclinical malnutrition creates a plethora of imbalances between all essential nutrients (nutrient excess and deficiency) that could easily affect fertility. Keep in mind, essential nutrients play different roles in the reproductive/sexual health for women and men and many are involved in nutrient transport systems.
For women, family planning may have included the use of several forms of contraceptives. Several contraceptives have the potential to create nutritional imbalances. For example, many oral contraceptives or a copper IUD has the potential to raise or create an excess of copper. Copper is an essential nutrient.
In women, copper is closely associated with estrogen and zinc is associated with progesterone. An excess of copper potentially disrupts the synergistic relationship between copper and zinc, iron, phosphorous, potassium, and vitamins that include B6, B5, B3, A, and C. Imbalances of these nutrients also create amino and fatty acids imbalances as well.
For men, zinc is absolutely necessary for reproduction and sexual function. Zinc is an essential nutrient and a key element in several seminal reactions. Zinc deficiencies can be associated with, to name a few, low quality sperm, sperm motility, and concentration. However, too much zinc (excess) can also contribute to infertility because there are many other essential nutrients required for male fertility. Yes, this also includes copper! This is only one reason why the zinc/copper levels and ratio is important for both women and men.
In addition, it is also important to recognize the antagonistic effects toxic elements and chemical toxins produce on essential nutrients that could easily affect your fertility. Toxic elements can create deficiencies of essential nutrients and in some instances, replace essential minerals in the cell.
This is only one example of how essential nutrients and toxins can influence fertility for both women and men. In reality, all essential nutrients are important for reproductive and sexual health!
How does epigenetics factor into family planning?
Epigenetics is an important consideration for family planning. Even though the science of epigenetics is not a common household term, the ramifications are enormous and generational. Epigenetics reveals how nutrition plays key roles for healthy offspring.
“We are what we eat” or more correctly, “we are what we, our parents, and grandparents ate.” How well you prepare your mind and body, nutritionally, can have consequences for generations. Some studies suggest that the effects of epigenetics can last for three generations!
What is epigenetics and why should I care?
Epigenetics is the mechanism by which your body modifies your genetic code. Epi (meaning above) genetics. The epigenome is often referred to as the “switches” for the genome. Turning any of these switches on or off changes the genetic code without actually changing the DNA.
Therefore, by flipping these switches either on or off, we end up with variable outcomes from the same set of genes. Consequently, this not only make us healthy, it also predisposes us to a variety of degenerative diseases from the time of conception to birth to old age.
For example, one can see how this works with the Agouti gene (switch), named due to the Agouti mice experiments. By flipping the Agouti switch from the on position to the off position, with a couple of nutrients, mice normally born with yellow coats and obese are born with a dark coat and a normal weight.
In the Agouti experiment, the effects of flipping these switches were seen in the offspring, not the mother.
Healthy eating is important for Family Planning.
Healthy eating is important for family planning because of the potential long-term health effects it can produce in your child.
Healthy eating, requires eating healthy foods specific to your unique nutrient needs that not only helps reduce nutrient excesses and increase nutrient deficiencies; it also helps detox the body.
This helps prepare both parents-to-be to become more nutritionally balanced and may play an important role for a healthy child. Unfortunately, we are only beginning to see the prevalence of many degenerative diseases in both young and old alike that may be the result of improper nutrition.
As you know, our society is experiencing a rapid rise in autism, ADD, ADHD, diabetes, immune deficiencies, cancers, and on and on.
These should not be childhood problems!
Ask yourself; is this a consequence of our current dietary choices and stressful lifestyles?
How can hair analysis help with family planning?
A hair analysis (hair tissue mineral analysis) is a simple and economical lab analysis that can be beneficial for your reproductive/sexual health – family planning. A hair analysis can:
- help reveal your essential mineral excesses and deficiencies
- help reveal your toxic element exposures
- help you detox the body
If you take a moment and read through some of the references below, you will see a sampling of how important essential minerals are for family planning. You will also see the adverse effects toxic elements produce on your reproductive and sexual health.
In addition, a hair analysis may help reveal if your toxic element exposures are the result of your home environment. By following a hair analysis program, you may be able to discover different sources for these harmful elements and eliminate potential exposures to your newborn.
Are you ready to check your nutritional and toxic element status?
Click here to order your Hair Analysis today!
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