What are Hormones?
Hormones play a crucial role in the body. They are chemical messengers responsible for a huge number of communications between the brain and the trillions of cells in your body. Hormones play a part in controlling many of the body’s systems and functions, and they help make sure that everything keeps working together. Glands in your body’s endocrine system are responsible for producing hormones. The endocrine system is made up of many different hormone-producing glands located throughout the body. Hormones are released into the bloodstream and are then carried to cells where they latch on using a lock and key mechanism which triggers a certain reaction.
Hormones and Fertility
So what do hormones have to do with fertility? The answer is… everything! For optimal fertility, your hormones should be as balanced as possible. This includes ALL your hormones, not just your sex hormones, although these are particularly important. Your endocrine glands must be working at their best so they produce the right levels of all your different hormones to maintain optimal fertility. You can look after your endocrine system and keep your hormones balanced by eating a healthy plant based diet, and getting enough exercise and sleep. We’ll talk more about this later.
Growth Hormone
One important hormone for fertility in particular, is growth hormone. This is produced by the pituitary gland which lies at the base of your brain. Growth hormone is important because it “plays a role in both male and female fertility, improving the effect of the reproductive hormones and in the production of sperm and eggs”1. The level of growth hormone in the body correlates with the levels of many other hormones necessary for healthy fertility and libido. As the level of growth hormone decreases it seems to trigger a decrease in all these other hormones as well. This is a problem because growth hormone usually starts to decrease with age. Interestingly though, it is not that the pituitary gland stops producing it, it’s just that the pituitary gland releases less of the growth hormone into the body. You can boost the amount of growth hormone that your pituitary gland releases by following a healthy diet and eating patterns, and getting enough sleep and exercise.
How to Increase Your Levels of Growth Hormone
There are lots of simple things you can do to encourage your pituitary gland to release more growth hormone, which in turn will promote more of other hormones that are also important for fertility.
Exercise
Exercising triggers your pituitary gland to start producing and releasing more growth hormone. Therefore making sure you maintain a healthy exercise routine will help increase your levels of growth hormone and improve your fertility.
Amino acids
There are many amino acids that can help improve your body’s levels of growth hormone. You can get plenty of amino acids by eating lots of legumes, nuts and seeds, wholegrains and fruits and vegetables. A plant based diet full of these healthy foods is the best diet to nourish your body and optimize fertility.
Fasting
Fasting can also help boost the amount of growth hormone that your pituitary gland releases. Intermittent fasting is a way of fasting that can be maintained long term, which involves fasting for a certain number of hours then having a window each day for eating. This could be 16 hours fasting then an 8 hour window during the day to eat, or you could fast for longer with a smaller eating window.
Appropriate Body Fat Levels
There is a direct link between your body mass index (BMI) and how much growth hormone your body produces. Having an excess of body fat is one of the biggest reversible obstacles in the way of growth hormone release. There’s also a direct link between your BMI and your fertility in general. Fortunately, following a healthy plant based diet, doing intermittent fasting and getting enough exercise are all things that can help you maintain a healthy BMI.
Sleep
The anterior pituitary is most active in its production of growth hormone when we achieve our deepest sleep state, about one or two hours after falling asleep. If sleep is broken or fitful, this can lead to less growth hormone being released. This is why getting enough uninterrupted sleep is so important for improving growth hormone levels and in turn improving fertility.
Conclusion
So all in all, by maintaining a healthy lifestyle which includes good sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet you can boost your body’s production of growth hormone, and in turn other fertility hormones, in order to naturally improve your fertility.
References:
- Karlis Ullis, MD – Klatz, Ronald (1998) Grow Young with HGH, HarperPerennial, p. 131.
This article was based off the book “The Fertility Diet” by Sarah Dobbyn
Dobbyn, S. (2008). The fertility diet: And how to maximize your chances of having a baby at any age. Simon & Schuster.