The Home of Fertility with Liz Walton & Helen Zee

From Endometriosis To Evidence: How Nutrition And Supplements Shape Fertility Health chats with Stefani and Monique from Arxi

• Liz Walton and Helen Zee • Season 2 • Episode 8

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We sit down with fertility nutrition experts Stefanie Valakas and Monique Cormack to explore how targeted food choices, evidence-based supplements, and body literacy support conception. Personal stories of endometriosis, egg freezing, IVF, and twins keep the science honest and practical.

• endometriosis diagnosis and advocacy through surgery and nutrition
• IVF lessons, system gaps, and identical twins from one embryo
• why nutrition shapes egg, sperm, pregnancy, and child health
• supplements as therapeutic tools, not quick fixes
• coq10 doses and what food cannot deliver alone
• foundations first: sleep, stress, hydration, movement
• common pitfalls: restrictive rules, under-eating, fear-based choices
• soy foods reality check and plant-leaning protein
• body literacy beyond apps: signals, cycles, timing
• two takeaways: eat seafood or omega-3s, three-color vegetables

Trying to get pregnant can feel like solving a puzzle with missing pieces. We brought those pieces into the light with two fertility nutrition experts, Stephanie Valakas and Monique Cormack, who blend hard-won personal experience with clear, science-backed guidance. From an endometriosis diagnosis that reshaped a career to an IVF journey that delivered identical twins from a single embryo, their stories reveal what the data often can’t: timing, context, and compassion matter as much as protocols.

We unpack what truly moves the needle for preconception health—nutrition patterns that support egg and sperm quality, therapeutic supplements used at evidence-based doses, and the daily foundations that make it all work. You’ll hear why antioxidants and omega-3s play an outsized role, how CoQ10 can’t realistically be “eaten” to study-level dosages, and where a smart supplement can complement your prenatal rather than replace a solid diet. We also challenge common myths, including the fear around soy foods, and explain why restriction-heavy plans often backfire by driving under-eating, stress, and nutrient gaps.

This conversation doubles as a toolkit: body literacy beyond period-tracking apps, recognizing signs that deserve medical attention, and two simple, high-yield habits—eat oily fish or add an omega-3, and build plates with three different colored vegetables at lunch and dinner. If you’re navigating IVF, egg freezing, endometriosis, male factor issues, or just starting to plan, you’ll leave with practical steps and a calmer mindset.

If this podcast resonated, please share it, leave a review or subscribe, share with someone who needs encouragement, and leave a review to help more people find evidence-based fertility support. Your next best step might be one colorful meal away.

Details for Arxi Stefanie and Monique,

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@from.arxi

Image Link:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0891/0389/2796/files/Arxi-145.jpg?v=1731132247

Links for Stefanie
Website: https://thedietologist.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_dietologist/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_dietologist
Fertility Friendly Food the Podcast: https://podcast.thedietologist.com.au/

Links for arxi
Website: https://fromarxi.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/from.arxi/

Links for Monique
Website: https://moniquecormack.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquecorma

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Home of Fertility, a space for real conversation and expert insights about fertility, healing, and creating family. I'm Liz Watson.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm Helen Zay. We are two mums who've walked this path and are passionate about supporting you on your journey. Emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

SPEAKER_01:

We talk about it all. Fertility treatment, holistic support, relationships, mindset, and the emotional highs at least.

SPEAKER_00:

Because sometimes the missing piece lies in someone else's story, in the quiet wisdom of the body, or in a breakthrough that's finally made for you.

SPEAKER_01:

We are so glad you are here. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_02:

Hello, hello, beautiful ladies. Absolutely lovely to have you both here with me today, talking at the home of fertility and um all of the amazing things you do. So, Stephanie, it was wonderful. I was really honored to chat with you last year on my the first incarnation of the Australian Fertility Summit. And now as we grow to the Melbourne Fertility Expo, I'm so honored that you're coming with that. And now you have a wonderful business partner and you've both created this amazing brand called AUCSE and creating nutrition for all these amazing women and couples that are on their nutrient, nutritious, should I say, um, fertility journey. How are you both? That's Monique and Stephanie.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, we're really well. Thanks for having us, Liz. We're excited to chat with you today.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I'm excited to chat too. So I think let's um let me share with everyone who you are, and um then we can go from there and go into our lovely conversation. So um, first of all, we have Stephanie, Stephanie Valakas, and she's an accredited practicing dietitian and nutritionist, founder of The Dietologist, which is one of Australia's trusted authority in fertility nutrition. And um, I do follow you on Insta and I love everything that you're doing. At The Dietologist, Stephanie and her team believe that everyone deserves that right the right to have their own fertility story, committed to offering inclusive, comprehensive care to help couples, individuals, optimizing their fertility reproductive health. And um, you know, really understanding nutrition as well. So, no matter the circumstances and choice, your experience, her experience with the fertility experts will help you take control of your fertility story through flexible online services that support you at every stage of your fertility journey. I love that. God, I so wish I had you guys when I was trying. So, whether you're looking to improve your fertility health, enhance fertility, or support a healthy pregnancy, you know, they'll empower you with the knowledge to make informed and confident decisions on your reproductive health so you can get and stay pregnant and have that healthy, gorgeous little baby, but on your terms. So, together with Monique through ARCSE, hopefully I've uh pronounced that okay, Stephanie brings to life science and nutrition and nutritional products that positively impact the lives of those trying to conceive or navigate both reproductive health challenges. And then beautiful Monique, your bias are explaining who you are. Monique Cormac is an experienced clinical nutritionist specializing in fertility, IVF, and pregnancy nutrition. She helps individuals and couples navigate the complexities of conception of IVF and pregnancy through tailored nutrition strategies. Her passion for this field is deeply personal, having faced infertility, fertility treatment, and now proudly an IVF month. Oh, exciting, that's lovely. She understands firsthand the challenges of the journey to parenthood. Monique's approach is both practical and empathetic. Ensuring her clients feel supported and empowered on their reproductive and health journeys. Fantastic. And Axie, from the Greek word the beginning, is your science-backed companion helping you start from day zero. It's Australian-owned, TGA listed, awesome. And I know that would have taken a long time to get TGA listed, so well done, you, and created by fertility nutrition experts. ARCSE delivers innovation, evidence-based supplements. And it's starting with the Overgold, which is the Hero 5-in-1 antioxidant formula to support preconception health. And we're here to simplify fertility and nail your preconception with credibility, compassion, and clinical grade innovation. Wow, ladies, that's awesome. Well done, you. I just really honor it. It's a huge journey just to take all of that in, isn't it? Just to create all of that. Now I understand you both have your own fertility journeys, um, which is, you know, which is huge in itself. So please share with us and speak about your own fertility journeys and the reproductive health journeys that you have, um, staff. And then Monique, that would be great to share that.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, thanks so much. Um, I think for me, my reproductive health um came into focus when I actually started doing this work. And I was seeing clients in clinic and you know, hearing their stories about pain with their periods and fatigue and nutrient deficiencies and um all these different signs and symptoms that were associated with their condition. In this case, it was endometriosis, and I thought, hmm, this sounds awfully familiar. And I had been going to appointments and asking questions, and the word endometriosis I brought up a couple of times, but was told um wouldn't be possible because I was on the pill, which is not true. Um, and so it was really through seeing people. Um, I worked up a bit more courage and advocacy to go and ask my GP for referral to um a surgeon and a gynecologist. I had a few other things going on at the time as well. And yeah, I it was he happened to be across the hall from where I used to practice in person. And I said, Oh, hey, I think I might have endometriosis. And he was like, Okay, let's go and find out. You know, that's not a problem at all. Let's go see what's going on in there. And he was like, You free next week? And I was like, Oh, I didn't expect, I didn't expect to be uh seen so soon. He was like, of course, we'll just get it sorted out, no worries. Um, I was not free next week, so it took a few more weeks, but um in 2019, um, I was diagnosed with stage two endometriosis by laparoscopy, um, which was very validating for me. I'd had a number of, I would say, more subtle endometriosis symptoms, not the overt image that gets painted in the media of um people on the floor crying from period pain or people being hospitalized for pain. That's a very valid and important experience to share. But I think it also creates very little room for people that do have more silent, quieter symptoms, which sometimes uh, as we see in our practices, it comes up when they're trying to conceive. And the only symptom that they do have of endometriosis is fertility challenges. Excuse me. So um, for me, that was kind of the um start of my own personal reproductive health journey. And then from there, I was learning to kind of navigate the endometriosis diagnosis post-operatively with combination of medical and also nutritional strategies. And I'd seen um acupuncturists and pelvic physio and all that kind of stuff as well, um, and just learning lots about that area and um really cemented my passion for helping people with endometriosis. And when I was 27, I was um single at the time. I had had a slew of kind of short-term relationships that didn't really work out. And I thought, well, I definitely know I want to be a parent one day and I'm single and I don't know when I'm gonna find somebody. And I also don't know when I don't want that pressure of um, you know, hurry up, we've got to have a baby soon, because I thought that that would really cloud my ability to select a partner, which is a really important piece, I feel, of the kind of uh baby making equation if you are wanting to have a partner to do it with. And so I decided to freeze my eggs. And during that uh kind of work up, I found out I was also a genetic carrier for um spinal muscular atrophy as well. So that was further kind of motivation for me to freeze my eggs. So yeah, I went through and froze um eggs when I was 27, much too many people's controversy, everyone telling me I'm too young. But I find it's quite ironic you're never the perfect age for the fertility. Well, you're either too old or you're too young to do things, and you're never quite right. And so I really made a big point um on my social media that everyone talks about age being the biggest factor for fertility outcomes, and yet I'm doing something proactively at a young age, and yet I'm still being criticized for doing that. So I was very much like, well, we can't be telling people that you know age is the thing and yet egg quality is all about age, and then crucify people for doing things young. So yeah, I don't have any regrets about freezing my eggs, and I found it a very illuminating process to go through and really helped me understand the steps that people were going through in IVF. Obviously, it's not the full spectrum of IVF, but I could really see the emotions that can come out, not just from the medication. I just felt like, oh my goodness, if I didn't get any eggs from this cycle, I would be devastated and I could really put myself in the shoes of people who have walked that path before. So yeah, that's a little snapshot, I guess, of my reproductive the abridged version. The abridged well done.

SPEAKER_02:

And and well done to keep being, you know, following your path and what's right for you because we can be swayed. So, you know, awesome. Well done, you. Um, yeah, thanks for sharing that, Stephanie. And though, lovely Monique, how about you? Tell us about your path and what sort of brought you into all of this um health business and wealth, health, health and wellness. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, yeah, I mean, the wealth would be nice too. I'm still waiting for that to sort of arrive. Um but um so I guess yeah, I have quite a I guess quite a different journey. Um, so I in my original career, when I finished high school, I actually became a lawyer and I was very high-functioning, busy, you know, on the go kind of person. Definitely wasn't really contemplating a career in nutrition, but uh a couple of you know things happened to me in a corporate environment which left me fairly um unhappy. And I was actually uh pursuing uh uh a nutrition science degree um when I was getting married and uh had had sort of struggled with um an eating disorder when I was younger. And it sort of all, you know, then I sort of got married and was like, oh, I want to have a baby. And lo and behold, uh it turned out to not be that simple for me to have a baby. Um and so for me, it kind of my realization that I was going to struggle with my fertility came at a juncture where I was also studying nutrition. And, you know, I mean, gosh, I wish what I know now, I wish I had known then. But I kind of like it's interesting. We were talking earlier about, you know, you want to you want to give people the knowledge before they actually have to go through it. But I, for me, with my fertility and understanding nutrition, I was one of those people who was trying to figure it out as I went along. So um unfortunately, I was unable to conceive naturally. Um so I went through um ovulation induction and a couple of rounds of IBF in order to achieve my first pregnancy. And actually, my experience of that and the way the system works and privatized it is, and the kind of support you receive, and the kind of tools and resources that I felt were lacking is what sort of brought me to doing what I do today. Because, you know, I actually, despite only being in my early 30s when I did IVF, I thought I was going to be a great candidate and have this great result, and I was gonna freeze 10 embryos and have all these children on ice and all these things, and it was just a complete flop. Like it just wasn't like that at all. And so I was very, very lucky to actually have a pregnancy out of all of that. So I actually had ended up having identical twins, which is like just the most miracle, right? I only got one embryo and I got two babies. The rest, no, I didn't get anything else from all my fertility treatments, just that.

SPEAKER_05:

Wow.

SPEAKER_04:

And but going through that really opened my eyes to the fact that, like, my gosh, there is so much more that we could be doing, and not in like a, you know, I I come from a background of, you know, disordered eating and anxiety, like not from a background of we need all these rules, people need to be doing more and doing better, but more like, wouldn't it be so nice if we were supporting people more and giving them more proactive and positive tools and resources in order to help them with their fertility? And it's not just the tools and the resources, but the education, because, you know, just like me, many other people walk into this realm of struggling with infertility, not even really knowing how everything works. Um, and so we need to equip people with the knowledge and then we need to let them know that support is available and give them these proactive and positive tools. And so that's yeah, that's really how I came to do what I do, and it's actually how I met Steph. Um, and it's one of the huge motivations behind me and starting ARCSE. And, you know, I mean, I so after all of that, actually, a couple of years after I went through IVF, I actually crazily after twins decided I did want to have another baby. Um, and I conceived in two months naturally, and I was just, it was literally I found out a week before my 35th birthday. So, you know, I was getting to that point where everyone's like, oh my God, it's gonna be harder, this and that. And I was like, actually, for me, it was just the complete opposite, like night and day to what it was to my first conception. It was just, but I was such a different person. Do you know what I mean? And so that really kind of almost reinforced my belief. Like, gosh, there is a better way. Do you know what I mean? And I'm not saying that, oh, a magical natural conception is gonna happen for everyone because I don't believe in magic. Uh, but I do believe that we there is a lot more that we could be doing. And I know that you definitely probably agree with that.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I love that. And I think you know, every year we become a new person because we grow and we learn and our bodies do. So um, you know, you had you had information that you didn't have before. And um, yeah, absolutely. So what what is the role of nutrition, do you think, and diet, you know, not just in your own fertility storage, but also in, you know, with your clients and and also what doing the work that you do?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think nutrition is one of those things that is both uh simultaneously underutilized, underacknowledged, thought about at the last resort. And that's what I see a lot in my practice, people who've done many years uh or many rounds of fertility treatments or have been on a protracted journey to conception, and they think, ah, I haven't turned over the food stone because I think I'm doing all right. And then they come and invest some time and money and energy into it, and they're like, oh, wow, I didn't expect all this other stuff to be thought about or be optimized. And so I think that is definitely happening and still happening, which I always find fascinating. I've been doing this work for about seven years now, and I feel like I say the same things all the time about the role and the benefit of nutrition, not just for fertility and actually conceiving, but actually for setting yourself up for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, because ultimately the fertility journey doesn't end. Well, it the fertility journey doesn't really end when it comes to just a pregnancy test. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, allergies, asthma, eczema, all these things that we worry about, treat, spend time, money, energy on later in life or in early life that we could potentially be laying the groundwork for now. So, yes, it is about conceiving. And we know that nutritional status is important in conceiving for both female and male fertility. And we have lots of um, the Harvard study, five simple dietary changes enhances fertility by 69%. They're not very difficult dietary changes, but many people don't do them. And so we have data and we understand the science, the application of the science to each individual's unique set of circumstances. Me with Endo Monique, who had hypothalamic amenorrhea. We would be we both would have fertility challenges on paper, but the way that we would support Monique nutritionally and lifestyle-wise would be quite different to how you would support me, even though on paper we could be a similar age, a similar AMH, a similar whatever else. But in reality, the way that we tailor and customize things is really important. So the role of nutrition is really important. But on the flip side, like thinking about Monique's story, where it was characterized by things like disordered eating and anxiety and mental health, we also don't want to have nutrition as a burdensome or you should be doing this finger-wagging kind of approach either. Because I'm also a big believer that ultimately if doing things for yourself from a nutrition and lifestyle viewpoint is adding stress, anxiety, worry, um, pressure to already a very full plate, that's not really productive either. So it's not about being perfect to get pregnant, it's about nourishing yourself with a bigger perspective beyond just how many embryos am I getting? Is this a positive pregnancy test? Because it's the immediate goal. I'm always trying to think for my clients bigger. I'm trying to think what kind of behaviors do you want to role model to your three-year-old in four years' time? Do you want to be role modeling healthy lifestyle behaviors or do you not? And for me, the reason I got into fertility nutrition because I was a children's dietitian and I could see that I was already too late at this point. And so I went back in the life stages to try and intervene at an earlier point. So for me, fertility nutrition became a byproduct of actually caring about people's children, uh, wanting them to have healthy children. And then the fertility stuff came along with that because I was seeing people in that preconception phase. So yeah, there's a big role for nutrition and lifestyle to play in fertility, but it must come from a place of um desire and sustainable change and building blocks rather than uh knockdown rebuild. As I always say to my clients, we're not doing a knockdown rebuild, we're doing a room-by-room renovation where you're still living in your house. You need to go through and kind of optimize and improve and paint the walls and patch up that hole, which is what you're doing at the moment, and improving things rather than bulldozing the whole house and starting in because it's too overwhelming of a project when you're in the midst of appointments and injections and blood tests and ultrasounds, it's not going to work.

SPEAKER_02:

No, and I I so I so agree with that. And I suppose some of my takeaways from that was nutrition, understanding your nutrition now, um, when you're looking at becoming a parent, or even if you know you're realizing fertility isn't working, and so I need to look at my nutrition, just sets the individual up. For me, you know, I never really understood about nutrition, you know, apart from obviously you need to eat healthy, but my fertility journey allowed me to understand it more. And with that, that now really set me up for you know, my pregnancy, but also afterwards, and my daughter now understanding all those little things about um, you know, how I can show her to honor her nutrition and her body. And you're so right, it it is all about setting it up uh when we're interested in getting pregnant, really. But it's these things aren't really taught to us in school.

SPEAKER_03:

No, no, and and what 18-year-old is gonna listen to that?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you don't care.

SPEAKER_03:

No, everyone talks about the school needs to change, and the school should change, but I don't know, I didn't care about trying to get pregnant when I was 17. No, no, no, no. So it's yeah, it's not the right time to come in with that information. But yeah, I certainly I think you know, healthy eating and eating for fertility are not dissimilar, but they the specificity that we can get to with things like nutrition, specific foods, specific dietary patterns, specific supplements for fertility does does deviate significantly from healthy eating. And I think ultimately if we if we as a population were doing healthy eating anyway, the statistics wouldn't be so grim. And the statistics are extremely grim. 4% of people in Australia eat enough vegetables every day. So people come to us and say, Oh, I'm eating quite well. And everyone's definition of eating well is different.

SPEAKER_05:

Very different.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. And it's not it's not to pick on anybody, but that's actually genuinely the state of play. And so we all had that bias within ourselves. You know, everyone thinks they're a few centimetres taller than they really are, everyone thinks they're eating a bit healthier than they really are, everyone thinks they're drinking a bit more water than they really are. But that's not anybody's fault. That's just like human psychology, and like we know that. But like that that's what's that's the gap between where you could be and what what can really optimize outcome and where you actually are, and where you need to be, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

And um, like you say, we've all got different paths that have led us to where we are now, and setting up that healthy path with information, with education that is custom for that individual is is so powerful. So yeah, I love I love this, I love this. And of course, now we've got that rise of supplementation and having different kinds of supplements, which I know I needed at the time, and so we we have supplementation and trying to conceive. And as you are both co-owners, co-owners of your amazing supplement, ARCSE, um, and you're dedicated to delivering, you know, the innovation of nutrition and supplements for reproductive health. What do you consider is the role of supplementation within the fertility area?

SPEAKER_04:

So I think um there's a couple of different ways you can look at the role of supplements. And certainly, you know, Stephanie and myself, we're fertility nutrition professionals. So a huge part of our day-to-day role as clinicians is actually to also work on diet. And so definitely we're not taking supplements as an easy way out or a quick fix or some kind of replacement. But when it comes to fertility, and if we look a little bit broader and we think about preconception, there are a couple of roles that supplements do play. So most people, I think, uh, when it comes to planning a pregnancy, are probably aware that supplements do play some sort of role for pregnancy. Oh, I need to take my pregnancy multivitamin. I need all these things. And there is a definite role there, and perhaps a slightly bigger role than some people might think, because uh as uh Steph was just saying, uh the statistics on nutritional intakes uh in Australia are not great uh in terms of meeting dietary targets. So certainly supplements do play that role in relation to preconception. But when we really want to hone in a little bit more on fertility, because that's what we're here talking about, really. So we're talking about that bit before conception. So, what role can supplements play? I think this is where we do really get quite nuanced when it comes to fertility and distinguishing things we're doing for fertility versus healthy eating generally, because people are like, why do I need a supplement? Can't I just get it from my diet? You know, uh they're it's just it's not necessary. What we really need to do is actually take a little bit of a closer look at the research because people read, oh, this thing is good for fertility. I should be taking coenzyme Q10, I should be doing this, I should be doing that. And so they're like, oh, well, I can just, I'll just eat more X, Y, and Z. Now the thing is when you start looking at fertility research, the the the dosages that researchers are looking at, which may improve fertility outcomes. So outcomes like number of eggs collected, uh, embryos, uh, metaphase two eggs collected, like all these different markers of improved outcomes, right? Which and every little, I mean, every little milestone is so huge, right? When it's your fertility journey.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

When we're trying to optimize every outcome we can, it's just that oftentimes, even if you have the most incredible diet, um it would be physio, like just impossible to consume some of these nutrients. And that's where when it comes to looking at that fertility phase, that pre-conception, optimizing eggs and sperm phase, we're really looking at supplements to address sort of and achieve therapeutic dosages that we could not get through our diet. So there is actually quite a defined role for supplements when it comes to that fertility phase. And it's very different to even thinking about prenatal multivitamins and things like that. Yeah, it's not when we think about supplements in relation to fertility, people are like, oh, pregnancy multivitamins. And I'm like, no, those are thinking about things that you're definitely going to need when you're pregnant. Absolutely, when you're trying to grow another human, there are going to be increased nutritional needs, and we should absolutely manage those effectively. But when it comes to fertility and supplements, there is this really defined role. Um, unfortunately, as the supplement world is not particularly well regulated internationally, and also, you know, supplement it things go trending, people start talking about things. Yeah, there is a real risk that the role of supplements and what they can potentially deliver gets a little bit hyper-inflated and it's a very difficult industry to maintain, I think, scientific rigor and ethical standards. So, you know, there are challenges. But truly, when you look at the evidence, there is this role for supplements and um it's about yeah, figuring out how to get that information out there.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Well, I think there's some like, for example, 300 milligrams of coenzyme Q10, coQ10, which is one of the most popular, most well-researched antioxidants for preconception and reproductive health. You'd need to eat 39 kilograms of salmon in a day to get 300 milligrams of coq. And there is no other food like that we can get that's really close to that to make that come down significantly. So it's not like, hey, you just need to eat a few tomatoes and you'll be right. Like it is uh it is therapeutic amounts that are not really physiologically possible to a cheap diet. And still want you to eat that. It's exactly yeah. It's an adjunct, it's not a replacement. And there are people who come to us, like in our clinical practices, who are on slews of vitamins that they've read about in books or on blogs or on Reddit or gone shopping on Amazon or whatever, and um it out of often out of desperation or out of a desire to try and fix um uh another kind of issue that they've got going on, whether a medical or um lifestyle related. Oh, my diet isn't good because I work shifts and so then I do this and then I do that. So then I bought this supplement because I'm hoping that that will like counteract what I'm doing. And supplements can't really do that. Um the foundation, if you don't sleep enough, if you don't eat enough, if you don't eat, you know, broadly speaking, okay-ish, um, if you don't drink any water and you don't move your body, like those things, if you're not doing them, taking a supplement isn't gonna fix anything and it's not designed to fix anything. It's really there as a topper, or like I always tell my clients, like, do you make a cupcake and just put icing in sprinkles? No, you have a cake, that's the foundation, you need the cake, you need the sleep, you need the exercise, you need the food, you need the stress management, whatever. And then you've got your icing, which is like corrective nutritional supplements. Your vitamin D is low. Well, we need to fix that. Your iron sucks. Okay, well, we need to fix that too. Great. You need a pregnancy multivitamin, excellent. Okay, now that's the icing. Great, we have that. Now you want the thing that's gonna give you the one percenters. Or the thing that's going to make things enhanced further. That's your sprinkles, that's your decoration, that's whatever. That's when things like Overgold come into play, where you can go, actually, I've done a couple of rounds. This is this isn't really working. What else can I look at that might help me, you know, further from that? And so that's how like we kind of construct things. And even when we do consultations with people and we're talking about vitamin plants and supplement plants, we often talk about essential and nice to have and when to time things in relation to egg collection and transfer and when things need to stop once you're pregnant because you don't need it forever and things like that. So it is a very um, you can get very hyper-specific and very um focused on specific things at specific times, but that's not necessarily going to be what everybody needs, you know. Um, and your level of time, energy, and investment in things like supplementation, for example, is going to be different depending on who you are as a person, what journey you've been on. I have clients who've been trying to conceive for 10 years. Let me tell you, when they roll into my clinic, they're like, give me whatever you got. Whatever I want the full list. Give me a kitchen sink. I don't want no anything missing. Okay, that's very different to someone who's like, hey, me and my partner are going to start trying in a few months for the first. I have no medical history. Okay, well, let's not load her up with 18 products. That doesn't make sense. I don't know what's going on for them yet, if anything. So all those things come into play, not just like science and nutrients, which is of course really important, but it's also about the person that you're talking to.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, yeah. Again, it's just such a meaty subject. And it all, this is we're all so different, and it all depends on what's going on for us and our needs. Absolutely. So, what what do you find are the most common sort of myths or mistakes that you sort of see with your clients that they might be making with their diet and lifestyles?

SPEAKER_04:

Um, well, I mean, I think, I mean, I don't know what Steph's gonna say. She might have a similar, I feel like we're probably like we we talk all the time, so we're probably gonna have similar ones. But I think certainly uh the most common sort of myth, or really the most common mistake I see um is when things get difficult, and I think I understand it. It is almost like a little bit of a trauma response, right? Like when things get difficult and when things aren't working for us, including our fertility, which actually we don't have complete control over, we go, I'm not trying hard enough, I need to try harder. So I'm gonna find some rules that I can follow, and that's what I'm gonna do with my diet. So out goes, I'm never eating bread again, I'm never having a coffee again, I'm never finding any joy in food again because I need to eat this particular rigid diet. And oftentimes what happens is I think two things happen. One, people end up with so many rules that they end up on a, they end up missing critical nutrients. So, you know, like they don't have any gluten anymore, or they don't have any dairy anymore, or whatever it is that, well, they don't have anything anymore. And so they tend to be nutrient deficient. And actually, something I really see, particularly among like my female people with ovaries cohort of clients, which would be most of the people that I see, is that actually a lot of people don't eat enough. Um I find that overeating becomes quite common because they're so worried about what everything is going to do, and they've got so many specific rules and ideas about what they have to be eating. It doesn't really leave much left. And I think that that it sort of just it actually becomes quite difficult to eat. And I do, I do genuinely find that this the fear-based way of looking at food and that that there's a misconception. I mean, I mean, just a misconception about when they eat something and it goes into their body, what it could possibly do to their egg quality. And yeah, I mean, like we were saying before, diet and lifestyle and supplements and all of those things are those tools that we can use to support our fertility, but we don't want to be doing it in a way where it becomes burdensome. And actually, I think a lot of people that I meet do walk into my clinic and they are, it is a burden. And it's burdened to the point where they're under-eating, they're incredibly stressed, and you really have to wonder about like that mental toll because there's a lot of blame going on. So I think that for me, the biggest mistake is just this sort of almost like a deprivation. Um, and I I do wonder if it's a it's sometimes I feel like it's a bit of a coping mechanism. And I mean, personally, I found with my infertility, yeah. I mean, I got um the whole reason I ended up with infertility in the first place was because I was using food as a coping mechanism in that I just didn't eat it. Um, and my way of coping was to control things. So I do see how tempting that is when your fertility might be struggling, but we actually want you to have more because you want to have a baby. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

What about you, Steph?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, biggest myths, mistakes. Um oh god, where do you even begin? I think you wanna myth. So many boo-boos. Um, okay, let's talk about soy. Let's talk about soy. So everyone's really concerned about soy foods because of the phytoestrogen, natural phytoestrogens that are available in soy foods. So think edamame, think tofu, think soy milk. I mean, I can recall a time years ago where a cafe owner questioned a man about why he was um drinking soy milk in his cappuccino because isn't that going to give him man boobs? Wow, really. And I was like, wow, there are so many things wrong. Not only is this an inaccurate statement, but like, why are you judging the man for his coffee like he's just trying to have a coffee, you know?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But phytoestrogens are not necessarily a problem when it comes to trying to conceive, they do weakly bind our estrogen receptors, which are in multiple places in our body. Um, and in high estrogen states, they may have a beneficial role because they're competing for our natural estrogen. So if you've got high levels of circulating estrogen, that might be beneficial. And we know in menopause, postmenopause, when there's low estrogen, that phytoestrogens are quite um useful for sensor control for things like hot flushes. So we think that it's got more of a buffering effect rather than a yes or no effect. Now, we're talking about unprocessed soy foods like edamame and tofu and soy milk. We're not talking about hyper-processed um, you know, fake meat products that are, you know, super highly denatured soy.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Yeah. And of which is become quite commonplace in processing.

SPEAKER_03:

So, and in in the data that we have available on preconception cohorts and phytoestrogen intake, we think it's wholly beneficial, if not um like neutral to beneficial is its benefit. So avoiding soy foods for fear it's interfering with your hormone picture in a negative way is silly. Particularly if you're relying on soy foods as a valuable source of protein. If you are plant-leaning or you are vegan or vegetarian, eliminating soy foods is a silly idea. Because we actually need protein from something, right? So that's a that's a decently common, common myth. And I know me, Monique talks more broadly about like just rules in general, gluten, dairy, etc. And like there's no real good science for anything in that net general group of people that are trying to conceive that should avoid that. But yeah, I I think soy is another one that comes up a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no, soy's a big one. So I'm I'm glad you said that. Oh, yeah, that's interesting to know and and bizarre that a man was challenged. How interesting on his coffee.

SPEAKER_03:

I know, I know. I know. And there is one case study of a man who did grow excessive um like tissue in his chest from drinking six liters of soy milk a day. So it's and you also have like a gene defect or something. So it's not, yeah, it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen if you're a normal.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Okay, so what what is something that um you wish that you your younger self knew about fertility, you know? What would what would you like to say to your younger self now, I suppose? Do you want to go first?

SPEAKER_04:

Oh gosh, I don't know if I can even remember my younger self. I think I'm getting going back in time. I think for me, um, because of the way my fertility journey unfolded and it was so actually intricately connected to all the rules and uh anxiety and panic I had about food, I I actually wish I could just go back and say, you know, like the things that the things that are important to you right now and the things that you think you are controlling for, they're not they're not things that they're not things that are gonna impact your future life. Like you what but the decisions that you're making now are laying the foundations for uh like what actually is gonna end up bringing you a lot of sadness. And I know that's a pretty harsh message to bring to my younger self, but I think I was so naive um about how my diet and how my nervous system and how all of those things were gonna impact my ability to have a family. I just thought that it would be okay, I'd just stop and I'd get pregnant. And um, unfortunately, I was just one of those people that tried to fix things quickly, but my fertility didn't return. And I wish that I could have just gone back and said, you you don't like you think this is something that you're just doing in the now, but the foundations that you're laying could have repercussions. And yeah, I I kind of did need a bit of a wake-up call at the time. Um yeah, it's a bit of a harsh one for me, but it's true.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and look at it, and it's all us learning, you know, it really is about nourishing the self in so many ways, isn't it? Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? What about you, Steph?

SPEAKER_03:

I think for me, as someone who hasn't started trying to conceive or been pregnant before or like walked a trying to conceive challenging path, I always find people are always like, oh, what's your story? And I guess for me, fertility um isn't just about that immediate trying phase. Yeah, fertility is also about your ability to become pregnant one day if that's what you desire. And how do we actually support that months, years, sometimes decades before you're actually up to that point? And not always it being at the forefront of everybody's mind because your health is more than just your fertility, but it's still an important marker that needs attention before you get to that point of like, hey, doc, I'm I'm ready to get pregnant now, now what? And then you unveil, you know, you excavate and you find all these issues, right? And for me, I think I'm very lucky because through my work, I was exposed to this area and I learned at 23 I had endometriosis. And I if I worked in any other role that I would not have found out till I started trying to get pregnant, probably or at all. And so for me, I think fertility is also about the knowledge and the understanding. And if you are somebody who at 17 goes on the pill and there's nothing wrong with the pill, any kind of contraception at all, but if you go on the pill and you come off and you think you're going to get pregnant right away, and if that happens for you, that's so exciting. But not having any awareness of what are your cycles doing? What are you having pain? What is your discharge? I know it's not sexy conversation, but it's very necessary. And I'm so always I'm somebody who's so in tune with my own body. I know the second something is off, I feel it. And I now I'm big, I I trust it a lot, but I see so many women who have not a single clue. Like, I'm like, Do you think you can tell when you're ovulating? And they're like, My app tells me. And I'm like, your app isn't telling you nothing. Your app did a math equation. Yeah, and I'm asking how how you feel. I'm not saying did your phone tell you? Did you get a tap, what's it called, a push notification? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how do you feel and like the connection with yourself. I know it sounds a little woo-woo, but like, how do you interpret what your body is telling you? Because it's almost always if something is off or not right, or when it is right, it's giving you messages and are you listening? Because I think that that is the foundation of if we're talking about very young people in their late teens and their early 20s who may not be initially interested in trying to get pregnant anytime soon, but they might want the option later. Fertility education is about understanding the signals that your body is sending you, listening to them and knowing what to do with that information within the healthcare system environment. And I think that for me is like what I wish I knew. And I'm I guess I'm very lucky I knew things very early because of my work.

SPEAKER_04:

So but actually, I that's actually I must say that was one of the things that happened to me because I'm a bit older than Steph. Like I am from that generation where we just went on the contraceptive pill and we didn't need to think about it. And it was this really fuss-free way of dealing with contraception and actually cycle, skin, everything. It was this way of sort of maintaining things. And I, because I did start off my career in a non-health related field, I went through completely with that naivety. And some of that naivety followed me into my fertility journey because I was like, surely it's just gonna be fine. And actually, what happened to me is I did go off the pill after a very long time and I just never ovulated ever for years. We're talking about many years.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, so and in converse, I was on the pill for many years and bled through every single pill. And so people were telling me, Oh, that's completely normal. And I was like, No, it's not. So that's not right.

SPEAKER_04:

So yeah, things that we do, we need to find a way to weave in an understanding of reproductive health at the right time, I think.

SPEAKER_02:

It's really education.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, wow. Uh and yes. So I suppose for me, I I can really resonate with what you were both saying, you know, about understanding, first of all, what is fertility? What is it to be fertile and to understand our body? Uh, because it wasn't until I had difficulties that I started to realize about I need to connect with my body and understand my cycle. And like you say, feel when you're ovulating, feel all these different areas and understanding the body. And that was a massive eye-opening opportunity for me. And I I remember being so grateful for you know, sometimes something has to go wrong before you, you know, you reconnect. And it's a lot of my coaching is about reconnecting. And um, yeah, with you, Monique, I understand that. I mean, being older than probably the pair of you here, um, you know, that was it. You went on the pill, and you know, that was the best sort of course at the time. So, you know, and it's all about education and learning to nourish your body, your mind, and reconnecting back to the self in every way. I love it, I love it. Uh, and I just love what you're both doing and creating this supplementation and knowledge education and creating that all for your clients and the outside world. So, as we come to the end of our conversation, what would be from each of you? I don't know, a top tip. I know it's difficult to choose one. Um, with people that are on their you know journey to being parents that you could partake as um a leaving uh a leaving top tip?

SPEAKER_04:

Um I'll make it a quick one. And I know if there are a thousand things that I could say, but I'm gonna pick a really quick one, and that is um if you are looking for a food to include to support fertility for both people, so uh male or female, I would recommend eating seafood. Um and if you're not going to eat seafood, uh you don't like it, you're allergic, there are many reasons, then I definitely be looking into optimizing your omega-3 status through some kind of supplementation. Uh, there is so much positive research looking at seafood consumption for fertility for both females and males. Um, and it's just a really, you know, particular oily fish, it's really difficult to replicate that nutrient profile. So yeah, I'll keep it nice and it's very like a targeted thing, but definitely something that's positive that can be included. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03:

My tip is to eat, try and eat three different colored vegetables at lunch and dinner. If you're an overachiever, you can do breakfast as well. And that's really become like a signature strategy for us at the dietologist because the three different colours helps you to focus on adding things in, not restricting, which is a really important mindset shift. But also each different color is going to offer its own unique profile of antioxidants. And we know that maximizing antioxidants is important. And the little cheeky side effect is we're also increasing your plant variety. And plant variety is really important for the microbiome, health of gut microbiome, which is relevant, which is relevant in hormone metabolism, it's relevant in the profile of the vaginal microbiota. So there's lots of little sneaky ways that that also helps too. But I always hone in on kind of the antioxidant additive approach. It looks nice to eat a colorful meal compared to something that's very beige or all green or any color, right? So I think that that's a really simple and um easy strategy. And it's something that clients say that they remember years and years after we've worked together. So that's always, I know that then that's a strategy that um sticks because people will send me a message to be like, I'm still doing my three colours.

SPEAKER_02:

And I'm like, I love it. Three colours, seafood, three colours. I love it. Microbiome and the body. Um thank you, thank you, thank you both so much for taking this time out of your busy schedules to chat to me and um to create more knowledge of yourself, your your job and your business, as well as nutrition. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for having us.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, the honor is all mine. So I think with that, remembering to have your seafood and three veggies um at three times a day. And um thank you so much. Well, well, with that, I will send love and blessing to everyone and thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for joining us at the Home of Fertility. We hope today's episode brought you clarity, comfort, and connection.

SPEAKER_01:

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SPEAKER_00:

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