Latest / The Home of Fertility with Liz Walton & Helen Zee / Naturopathic Wisdom for Pre conception and Fertility with Nicole Haak

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Naturopathic Wisdom for Pre conception and Fertility with Nicole Haak · The Home of Fertility with Liz Walton & Helen Zee

• 0:04
  Liz Walton: Welcome to the podcast.
• 0:06
  Liz Walton: We are two Mums.
• 0:24
  Liz Walton: We talk about it all.
• 0:29
  Liz Walton: In the quiet little body, or in a breakthrough that's finally made for you.
• 0:49
  Liz Walton: We are so glad you are here.
• 0:52
  Liz Walton: Hello, everybody out there.
• 0:57
  Liz Walton: Welcome to the Home of Fertility.
• 0:59
  Liz Walton: I am Liz Walton and one of the co-founders, and I'm very excited as I get to talk today to some amazing women.
• 1:06
  Liz Walton: And today I get to just talk to Nicole Hack, who is a fertility naturopath.
• 1:12
  Liz Walton: How are you doing, Nicole?
• 1:15
  Liz Walton: I'm very well, thank you, Lise.
• 1:17
  Liz Walton: Really looking forward to today.
• 1:18
  Liz Walton: It should be really fun.
• 1:20
  Liz Walton: Oh, fantastic, fantastic.
• 1:22
  Liz Walton: I think it'll be awesome too.
• 1:24
  Liz Walton: And I just want to share some words on who you are.
• 1:31
  Liz Walton: So the beautiful Nicole Hack, and I think you like being called Nikki, is that right?
• 1:35
  Liz Walton: Yes, that's correct.
• 1:37
  Liz Walton: Wonderful.
• 1:38
  Liz Walton: Nikki is a compassionate and experienced Melbourne-based naturopath, and she works online as well as in person and dedicated to supporting clients through a holistic, evidence-based evidence-based approach.
• 1:53
  Liz Walton: With a special interest in reproductive health, she offers care in natural fertility, IBF support, pregnancy, as well as postnatal health.
• 2:04
  Liz Walton: Nicole also works with hormone imbalances, digestive issues, sleep concerns, mood disorders, and low energy.
• 2:12
  Liz Walton: Oh my gosh, you're amazing.
• 2:14
  Liz Walton: An advanced diploma in natural coffee, and a certificate in natural fertility education.
• 2:25
  Liz Walton: She is an ATMF apprentice practitioner.
• 2:36
  Liz Walton: And also collaborates with other health practitioners and professionals to ensure comprehensive care.
• 2:43
  Liz Walton: Guiding clients towards improved well-being through education, empathy, and personalized personalized support.
• 2:52
  Liz Walton: Wow.
• 2:54
  Liz Walton: What a space to be in.
• 2:57
  Liz Walton: And it's so wonderful for the work that you're doing.
• 3:01
  Liz Walton: Now, Nikki, tell us how you got into this work and then why is preconception care so important?
• 3:10
  Nicole Haak: So when I had just finished studying to be a naturopath, so I was, you know, more of a mature age student.
• 3:18
  Nicole Haak: So, you know, came into it a little bit later in life.
• 3:21
  Nicole Haak: Um, I had just had my first child, my son.
• 3:27
  Nicole Haak: Um, and so I got a part-time job um at a natural fertility clinic, naturopathy clinic, and um for fertile ground.
• 3:38
  Nicole Haak: And I was working there in reception and um, you know, loved it, really enjoyed learning from these amazing naturopaths and acupuncturists and osteopaths and massage therapists and counsellors.
• 3:52
  Nicole Haak: Um, and just yeah, really started to, I suppose, put my teeth into more of that area of um naturopathy.
• 4:01
  Nicole Haak: Um, and you know, just looking at the beautiful herb mixes they put together and the different therapies and recommendations, yeah, just that's what sparked my deeper dive into that area.
• 4:14
  Nicole Haak: And over the over the years, I've just you know added in extra bits that I see that are important, like thyroids, so doing extra thyroid training, um, gaps, which is you know, all around gut and psychology syndrome in terms of that gut brain connection.
• 4:33
  Nicole Haak: And I've done further um gut study as such, um, just around the microbiome and and the impact of that and how to you know address um gut dysbiosis and things like that.
• 4:45
  Nicole Haak: So, and again, that relationship, you know, again, with um the gut and the hormonal imbalances that can occur.
• 4:54
  Nicole Haak: So um, you know, I've got a few other courses in my horizon again, around, you know, furthering um my, you know, my practice uh around hormone imbalances and fertility.
• 5:08
  Nicole Haak: And um, yeah, so that's sort of you know how I came to be here as such.
• 5:14
  Liz Walton: Awesome.
• 5:15
  Liz Walton: And I know once you start, you can never stop learning.
• 5:17
  Liz Walton: I love to learn.
• 5:18
  Liz Walton: So um, yes, I love that.
• 5:21
  Liz Walton: And again, yeah, what so why is what why is preconception care?
• 5:26
  Liz Walton: What's what why is it important?
• 5:28
  Liz Walton: And I I didn't understand that.
• 5:30
  Liz Walton: So I'm really great that you can share that this now.
• 5:34
  Nicole Haak: Yeah, so I think you know, there's so there's so much research, Liz, you know, that's ongoing and we're learning more and more about um the human body and and the impacts of um health and disease on the human body.
• 5:48
  Nicole Haak: Um, but I think sometimes we need to take it back to basics as well.
• 5:52
  Nicole Haak: And and preconception care is that sort of bringing it back to basics, you know, how, why is it so important to make sure that you, your health is as it at its optimum, right?
• 6:05
  Nicole Haak: Prior to falling pregnant.
• 6:07
  Nicole Haak: Because, you know, the egg and the sperm, they can take up to three and a half months, around a hundred days to develop.
• 6:14
  Nicole Haak: And so often um, you know, women are pregnant before they even know it, but the the laying down of the nutrients and the development of that um that those cells of that embryo is has already started.
• 6:31
  Nicole Haak: So we need to be ahead of the game.
• 6:33
  Nicole Haak: We need to be already prepared um and you know, in a in a place of optimum health already.
• 6:41
  Nicole Haak: And it isn't just females, it's also males and um the importance of you know that egg and that sperm coming together.
• 6:52
  Nicole Haak: Um you know, there was uh I can't remember where the study was from, but it was an accumulation of information.
• 6:59
  Nicole Haak: And basically this particular study said, you know, one in six um, you know, couples you know experience infertility, one in three things to do with male male.
• 7:10
  Nicole Haak: So basically half, essentially.
• 7:13
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 7:13
  Nicole Haak: So quite, you know, quite important that, you know, um wherever you can, in whatever circumstance that you have, um, that you do what you can, yeah, in terms of either getting your health optimum and or both of you.
• 7:29
  Nicole Haak: So yeah.
• 7:31
  Liz Walton: Absolutely.
• 7:32
  Liz Walton: No, it's it's so important and just realizing how important now male fertility is.
• 7:37
  Liz Walton: So, what does preconception care look like, you know, in the naturopathic perspective?
• 7:45
  Nicole Haak: So it's looking at lots of different factors.
• 7:48
  Nicole Haak: So, you know, looking at the person as an individual.
• 7:51
  Nicole Haak: So it is very personalized.
• 7:53
  Nicole Haak: Um, so we you know, from a naturopathic perspective, we'd be looking at, you know, from the very basics, you know, what's your diet like?
• 8:01
  Nicole Haak: Are you eating enough of the right sort of foods?
• 8:03
  Nicole Haak: Are they, you know, wholesome and nutritious?
• 8:06
  Nicole Haak: Are they containing all the right sort of nutrients that would be really important for egg development and um sperm health?
• 8:14
  Nicole Haak: Um then I'd also be looking at gut health because you can have a wonderful diet full of beautiful, nutritious food.
• 8:22
  Nicole Haak: But if you're not breaking it down properly and assimilating those nutrients into the body adequately, it's it's not going to be giving you the full benefit of those lovely nutrients that you're, you know, spending your money on.
• 8:36
  Nicole Haak: Um, you know, looking at sleep and stress and the importance that that can have on egg quality, um, you know, ovulation, um implantation, all those sorts of things.
• 8:50
  Nicole Haak: Um, looking at the immune system and making sure, you know, that there's um, you know, making sure that your immune system, most of your immune system lies in your gut.
• 8:59
  Nicole Haak: So again, that's that sort of gut relationship, really working on that and ensuring adequate nutrition.
• 9:05
  Nicole Haak: Um, looking at any uh like chronic health conditions that you might have.
• 9:10
  Nicole Haak: For example, you might have autoimmunity, maybe with your thyroid, for example, um, and making sure that you've got that under control.
• 9:18
  Nicole Haak: Um, and so that not only from a preconception perspective, that we can actually support you through pregnancy, which is the time where it can put added pressure and stress, okay, on the body.
• 9:32
  Nicole Haak: And so making sure that, yep, again, that you've got all those right nutrients that you need, um, that is, you know, supporting not only um your thyroid health, but also that developing um embryo.
• 9:45
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 9:46
  Nicole Haak: Also, you know, it looks at lifestyle, you know, are you getting enough um vitamin D sunshine?
• 9:52
  Nicole Haak: Are you exercising?
• 9:54
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 9:54
  Nicole Haak: Um environmental toxins.
• 9:57
  Nicole Haak: I mean, that's such a huge, huge, huge area.
• 10:01
  Liz Walton: So huge, isn't it?
• 10:02
  Liz Walton: Especially now.
• 10:03
  Liz Walton: Um, yeah, yeah, please say more.
• 10:06
  Liz Walton: Sorry.
• 10:09
  Nicole Haak: So um when I was I was doing uh a bit of uh I was doing an online sort of webinar around preconception care.
• 10:17
  Nicole Haak: Anyway, and so I was doing a bit of research um to sort of go with that.
• 10:21
  Nicole Haak: And um the research was saying, this particular research that I found was saying that um in China um they were doing some um semen analysis on on particular um yeah, these samples, yeah, and it showed 100% of the samples have microplastics in them.
• 10:42
  Nicole Haak: Which is just frightening when you think of frightening.
• 10:46
  Nicole Haak: So um, and then obviously also microplastics found in the ovarian follicular fluid as well.
• 10:54
  Nicole Haak: So it was mostly polystyrene, you know, that sort of breaks up and floats and yeah, just really bad.
• 11:00
  Nicole Haak: But again, what it's pointing to is these environmental toxins, microplastics, you know, whatever it may be, they're just becoming ubiquitous in our environment and how we need to do all that we can to lower our exposure and lower the tax because we're getting assaulted from you know lots of different ways and places places half the time we're not even thinking about.
• 11:26
  Liz Walton: So yeah.
• 11:27
  Liz Walton: I mean, could you could you go?
• 11:28
  Liz Walton: Where would these microplastics and so how do they get from the environment into our body?
• 11:37
  Nicole Haak: So we drink water, which would have microplastics in them.
• 11:41
  Nicole Haak: So, you know, really working on uh filtered water if you can, whether that be, you know, filtered drinking water, cooking water, maybe um, you know, the best possible thing would be getting a in-house in-house full filter, but you know, not everyone can afford that.
• 12:00
  Nicole Haak: So doing what you can.
• 12:01
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 12:02
  Nicole Haak: Um food, you know, so um, regardless of whether you know it's organic or whatever, I'm pretty sure we'd be exposed to some kind of things um, you know, through our food that we're taking in.
• 12:17
  Nicole Haak: Um and you know, the other the other places that we would be getting it would be through, you know, um uh facial products, body wash products, cleaning products, um cooking, you know, what we're cooking in or heating food up in, buying our foods in, you know, plastic trays with plastic wrap, you know, all of these sorts of things.
• 12:44
  Nicole Haak: We're just it's everywhere.
• 12:47
  Liz Walton: And it really known as our endocrine disruptors, is that correct?
• 12:53
  Nicole Haak: That's correct, exactly.
• 12:54
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 12:54
  Nicole Haak: And they basically um those plastics or those um those endocrine disruptors, um, they basically have a chemical structure similar to estrogen.
• 13:05
  Nicole Haak: And so they weakly stimulate the estrogen receptors um in the body and cause all sorts of uh disruption to our normal hormone balance, um, which can basically lead to, I suppose, what you would call an estrogen excess type of looking um situation, which can, you know, in terms of what would that look like, you know, it can look like um polycystic ovaries, it could like look like endometriosis or fibroids or any of those um more sort of uh chronic presentations, but also it could just look like some hormonal disruption in terms of um, you know, cycles with premenstrual symptoms and you know, uh, you know, heavy bleeding or pain or um it, you know, sore tender breasts, all these things.
• 13:59
  Nicole Haak: Uh, you know, the other part of that is um it's funny, isn't it?
• 14:03
  Nicole Haak: You start talking and you go on to all these little rabbit holes.
• 14:07
  Liz Walton: Absolutely.
• 14:08
  Liz Walton: This is a big rabbit hole.
• 14:09
  Liz Walton: I mean, what I find, you know, I I now have to keep to keep telling my husband, because my daughter's now 10, and you know, I had a fertility journey of 10 years, you know, don't I don't like a microwave, but he loves a microwave.
• 14:22
  Liz Walton: And uh, if you're gonna use the microwave only glass or uh pottery, you know, ceramics, not in plastic.
• 14:30
  Liz Walton: And I was saying, because when you heat plastic, so um, you know, make sure if it am I right, when you heat plastic with food, it creates a chemical.
• 14:42
  Liz Walton: Um, and um, I can't remember what that chemical is called, like dime methicone or dye something, and it's so bad for our system.
• 14:51
  Nicole Haak: Yeah, and it's particularly when plastics are heated, that's when the the issue is.
• 14:56
  Nicole Haak: So um even leaving a water, you know, like a disposable water bottle in the car and it heating up, like that's not good for you.
• 15:04
  Nicole Haak: Um yeah.
• 15:05
  Nicole Haak: And it's you know, it's even you know, uh perfumes and those sorts of things.
• 15:11
  Nicole Haak: I mean, IVF IVF clinics don't um don't any of the sort of lab technicians don't wear perfumes because they understand the impact of those chemicals on the um embryo development.
• 15:27
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 15:27
  Nicole Haak: Exactly.
• 15:28
  Liz Walton: I didn't know that.
• 15:30
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 15:30
  Nicole Haak: So, you know, it's really, really important.
• 15:33
  Nicole Haak: And it can, you know, it comes from various um places, you know, from pesticides and herbicides to yeah, plastic wrap, heating in plastic.
• 15:43
  Nicole Haak: Um, yeah, so I suppose back to the original question of, you know, what does preconception care look like, you know, from a naturopathic perspective, you know, looking at all of these areas and having that discussion and getting um, I suppose, step by step, you know, it's a lot to take in all at once.
• 16:05
  Nicole Haak: And so just really trying to sort of hone in on the immediate things and get those sort of sorted and then yeah, bring in those other areas that um need addressing um and getting people just more aware and and starting to look at their environments.
• 16:25
  Nicole Haak: Um because not only not only does it help, you know, the that immediate fertility goal, yeah, but it also has flow and effect to um future generations, right?
• 16:40
  Nicole Haak: So yeah, it's really, really important.
• 16:43
  Liz Walton: Yeah, because again, it's it's awareness, and I didn't know until I had to know.
• 16:48
  Liz Walton: And for me, it was just really learning to detox my skin products, the products in um how I cleaned my house and also looking at my clothes, you know, all of these things that I did not know until something happened where I had to learn to know.
• 17:06
  Liz Walton: And uh I find it fascinating.
• 17:09
  Liz Walton: And then even, you know, since having my child as aware, just being aware of what's good for her.
• 17:14
  Liz Walton: So, like you say, for the next generation, you know, because it's like it's almost going to get worse before it gets better, but you know, until we're aware, we don't know.
• 17:24
  Nicole Haak: That's right, exactly.
• 17:25
  Nicole Haak: And I think, you know, slowly but surely people are becoming aware.
• 17:28
  Nicole Haak: But I you know, I worry about, I mean, I've got a 14-year-old daughter, and you know, she loves the the um, you know, lots of makeup and you know, perfumes and all of those things.
• 17:44
  Nicole Haak: And yeah, you know, that's that hard balance as a parent as well, isn't it?
• 17:48
  Nicole Haak: You know, around uh allowing that exploration, but getting that understanding in terms of what's healthy and what's not for your body is very hard sometimes.
• 18:01
  Liz Walton: Yeah, and look, I'm absolutely glad I've just heard that because that is so much my daughter, and um that's a really good awareness for me.
• 18:10
  Liz Walton: I should be a bit more aware of her curiosity with some of the makeup that she comes home with.
• 18:16
  Liz Walton: You know, just like that she might come home because a friend's given it to her or something.
• 18:19
  Liz Walton: So thank you for that.
• 18:21
  Liz Walton: Um so right, okay, health concerns being important um on top of all of our health concerns, um, our hormone imbalance, our immune systems, digestive issues.
• 18:36
  Liz Walton: And I think what something I'm curious about is your gut and vaginal microbiome.
• 18:42
  Liz Walton: Um, can you enlarge on that?
• 18:43
  Liz Walton: I think that's super interesting for people to know.
• 18:47
  Nicole Haak: Yeah, so the gut, um basically the bacteria in the gut um metabolizes your uh your hormones, your estrogen in particular.
• 19:00
  Nicole Haak: And um and if you've got gut imbalance or dysbiosis, um then it's going to affect that metabolism of an excretion of estrogen, right?
• 19:12
  Nicole Haak: So um, and that can lead to us, you know, again in inverted commas, that estrogen excess, okay?
• 19:20
  Nicole Haak: So irregular cycles, um, PMS symptoms like tender breaths, mood changes, um, heavy bleed, um, you know, again, endometriosis or P COS, um, but can also impact, you know, egg quality as well.
• 19:38
  Nicole Haak: So um, you know, part of making sure that that microbiome is nice and balanced is, you know, diet, making sure that you're eating what you need to eat to enhance uh that microbiome.
• 19:53
  Nicole Haak: Um and look, there's testing that you can do to sort of see what your microbiome's like, um, and you know, work from a whole food perspective to try and rebalance that, um, as well as you know, making sure you're uh eliminating every day back to that good old, you know, are you using a bowel motion every day?
• 20:13
  Nicole Haak: Yep.
• 20:14
  Nicole Haak: Um and you just in insofar as you know getting back to that basic, how are your digestion?
• 20:20
  Nicole Haak: Are you moving your bowels?
• 20:22
  Nicole Haak: You know, are you eating a wide and varied diet?
• 20:25
  Nicole Haak: Um, and you know, um, and the impact that has not only on the gut, but on the vaginal microbiome, and that impact on fertility, the certain flora that is present, and the um the impact of uh you know egg development and um egg quality and yeah very, very important.
• 20:50
  Liz Walton: So important.
• 20:51
  Liz Walton: And um, yes, I suppose that makes complete sense.
• 20:55
  Liz Walton: Gut, vaginal, and uh, but yes, just have again having that awareness.
• 21:01
  Liz Walton: Yeah, yes.
• 21:03
  Liz Walton: So um what what what tests would you recommend a couple has when they're you know at the beginning of trying to conceive, what's what's the best thing for them to do?
• 21:17
  Liz Walton: What would you recommend?
• 21:20
  Nicole Haak: So from a um an initial sort of perspective, you know, if someone comes to see me um around fertility, I'd be looking at some nutrients.
• 21:31
  Nicole Haak: So I'd be looking at you know things like you know, what's your iron like, what's your vitamin D, what's your zinc, um 9 and B12, I'd be looking at you know, full blood exam and blood sugar, um, in insulin, um cholesterol, those sorts of things from a basic perspective.
• 21:52
  Nicole Haak: I'd also be looking at um doing some hormone testing.
• 21:57
  Nicole Haak: So, you know, looking at your etrigen and your progesterone and your follicle stimulating hormone and lutinizing hormone, um any androgens if that was um indicated, um, those sorts of things.
• 22:11
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 22:12
  Nicole Haak: Um, and then you know, if there's any autoimmunity, then you know, looking down that sort of pathway as well.
• 22:19
  Nicole Haak: Um yeah, so it really depends again, it's you know, the depends on the person in front of me at that time.
• 22:27
  Nicole Haak: Yeah, but there are some basic ones, as I mentioned uh earlier, that I would, you know, regardless of what you were coming to see me with, I would recommend.
• 22:37
  Nicole Haak: Um and from a male perspective, really doing a thorough semen analysis.
• 22:45
  Nicole Haak: Um, yeah, ensuring and that that that semen analysis is done um at a reputable organization, like one of the fertility clinics, for example, yeah, um, where they're looking at DNA fragmentation as well as all the other markers of semen quality.
• 23:03
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 23:04
  Liz Walton: Beautiful.
• 23:05
  Liz Walton: So from what I hear from that, it's like coming and having those first building blocks, you know, where is your body?
• 23:12
  Liz Walton: Let's have a look at all of the markers, because then we can move forward, really.
• 23:18
  Nicole Haak: That's right, exactly.
• 23:19
  Nicole Haak: And then, you know, if we need to go a little bit deeper on a certain area, so um, you know, for example, for example, with thyroid, if I'm suspecting that there's some kind of thyroid impact going on, maybe, and then sorry, and I should say that thyroid would be one of those basic markers that I would look at as well.
• 23:38
  Nicole Haak: Um, but if we needed to go further down that pathway, because what is um tested, say, through your GP, for example, um, would only be TSH and less indicated.
• 23:54
  Nicole Haak: Um, so i.e.
• 23:56
  Nicole Haak: your TSH is outside the range, and then they would test further.
• 23:59
  Nicole Haak: Um, but I would if I suspected uh that there might be some thyroid you know implication, then I would recommend um going further with some thyroid testing.
• 24:13
  Nicole Haak: And again, that's a discussion um because as I said, the GEP or the you know the the um system in which we operate, uh, and uh we'll only test TSH.
• 24:28
  Nicole Haak: And if that's outside of the range, that's when they test further.
• 24:31
  Nicole Haak: But for example, from a naturopathic perspective, um, we we m we operate more from a optimal range.
• 24:41
  Nicole Haak: Okay, so for example, with TSH, um the range is 0.5 to 4.
• 24:47
  Nicole Haak: From an optimal perspective, it should be between 0.5 to sort of 1.5 to 2 at most.
• 24:54
  Nicole Haak: Um anything above two, I'd be sort of concerned.
• 24:58
  Nicole Haak: And so I would then be recommending um further testing.
• 25:01
  Nicole Haak: So unfortunately, unless your TSH is above four, you're not going to get that um support through the medical pathway.
• 25:10
  Nicole Haak: And so doing some um you might need to pay for these tests um through external organizations, uh, for example, like Nutropath, for example.
• 25:19
  Nicole Haak: Um yeah, you should go and get further testing.
• 25:21
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 25:22
  Nicole Haak: Um, and you know, really have an understanding of what's going on because there are a lot more markers around thyroid than just TSH that need to be looked at and nutrients as well, right?
• 25:34
  Nicole Haak: So there's a whole lot of nutrients that play into that.
• 25:37
  Nicole Haak: And so, you know, again, I'd be looking at all of that information and making a decision, you know, where do we need to go for you, the person in front of me?
• 25:46
  Nicole Haak: Yeah.
• 25:47
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 25:48
  Liz Walton: And this is what you know, I always say to my clients, have your crew around you.
• 25:52
  Liz Walton: And your crew is um, you know, maybe it's a massage therapist, you know, your your fertility doctor, your naturopath, your acupuncturist, you know, and whoever that may be, because you know, I know, well, I mean, for I'll use me as an example, you know, things weren't right, they weren't working.
• 26:10
  Liz Walton: You go and see your doctor from your doctor, they will do an amount.
• 26:14
  Liz Walton: But you know, at the end of the day, our doctor only tends to have 10 minutes and usually a huge room full of people waiting to see them.
• 26:22
  Liz Walton: And so, as you say, there's only so much that there's time enable to do.
• 26:27
  Liz Walton: And then we get um sent off usually to the fertility doctor.
• 26:32
  Liz Walton: The fertility doctor can, in a way, be the same.
• 26:35
  Liz Walton: You've only got an amount of time.
• 26:37
  Liz Walton: And so that's why I think the natural path is so important.
• 26:41
  Liz Walton: You have that time to do that deep dive into whatever's needed for that client in front of you.
• 26:47
  Liz Walton: And you, like you said, you can get and start looking at the building blocks, what's going on with all the different parts of your body hormonally, um, you know, what imbalances, you know, what's, you know, what's happening with all of your different, you know, like your microbiome.
• 27:02
  Liz Walton: And I think this is where we, the individual that's on the journey, can start to feel that um it's sort of powerless, feeling like we've got a bit more power.
• 27:12
  Liz Walton: I can I can understand and do something about my health now, and I can understand why or what might be going wrong and how to bring my body back into balance.
• 27:23
  Nicole Haak: Yeah, that's right, exactly.
• 27:25
  Nicole Haak: Um and, you know, from a naturopathic perspective, I mean, the first appointment goes for at least an hour.
• 27:32
  Nicole Haak: So we're competing with you and we're hearing your story, and we are discussing together, you know, the pathway forward.
• 27:41
  Nicole Haak: Um, and yeah, it it it does feel very the sense I get from my clients is there's a sense of empowerment that comes from that.
• 27:51
  Nicole Haak: And oh, right, there's a you know, light bulb moments.
• 27:54
  Nicole Haak: Yep, okay, understand this is what we've got to do, and this is why.
• 27:58
  Nicole Haak: Um, and you know, ultimately what what you hope for as a naturopath is that that person walks out feeling better within themselves, their health.
• 28:08
  Nicole Haak: Um, they're putting good health practices in place, um, not only for their goal, their immediate goal of you know, falling pregnant and having a family, but the family's health ongoingly.
• 28:22
  Nicole Haak: Um and, you know, yeah, they have um some really good practices and procedures as such that they've already got in place in their in their home because it's not just now, it's actually, yeah, for the entire family ongoingly.
• 28:39
  Liz Walton: Yeah.
• 28:39
  Liz Walton: I I absolutely agree.
• 28:41
  Liz Walton: I I loved my naturopath, and I still pop back and see that lovely lady.
• 28:46
  Liz Walton: Um because I it it really helped me learn, you know, um, and take on the information and and and grow it from there in my own time and I could go back and ask questions.
• 28:58
  Liz Walton: But I think it I just really recommend always having a naturopath for your health, you know, depending on where you are in your journey.
• 29:07
  Liz Walton: But for me, the you know, being on my fertility journey and having a naturopath that understood fertility was to me key.
• 29:16
  Liz Walton: So I think your work is awesome.
• 29:19
  Nicole Haak: Well, yeah, no, I definitely um, yeah, I I think so too.
• 29:27
  Liz Walton: So um I know one of our questions is is, you know, if you had a superpower, what would it be?
• 29:32
  Liz Walton: And um, I loved your answer, so please do share.
• 29:37
  Nicole Haak: Well if I could be able to look into the future and um, you know, see the that the particular nutrients that I was recommending for you, or the particular herbs that I was recommending for you, that I could see that they, you know, had the um impact that I was wanting for my client in front of me.
• 29:58
  Nicole Haak: So I sort.
• 30:00
  Liz Walton: of you know the silver ball the silver ball i love that yes you know the the the superpower of vision so i love that this shows your passion doesn't it and i i just um i just love that and i i really admire and acknowledge and honor the work that you do on this journey because it's such a tumultuous journey i always say it's a bumpy ride and how can we traverse it in the best way possible yeah definitely yeah it absolutely can be and for um for couples being able to support them yeah just to hold them and support them in that journey um yeah is really really um quite a privilege actually and then yeah it's it's you know because you're often one of the first people that they communicate very good news to um and you can hold it very sacredly because you know that they're holding and not telling many other people yeah absolutely and you know with that is tears and understanding and I think you know it is about the naturopath is where it's a space where you get held and you get heard and supporting with ways to move forward.
• 31:17
  Liz Walton: So you know well done you Nikki so um as we finish off um I was wondering if you could share like what would be a top tip that we can leave um the listeners with um that you would share what would be your top tip because it can it only be one top tip it can be whatever I don't know it can be and it's difficult ever to choose one but if you wanted to share I don't know one or two absolutely you can share one share a couple then because I find it difficult just to choose one.
• 31:53
  Nicole Haak: I'm sure I'm sure yeah that was that was rude of me cruel um one of my top tips would be to have at least uh three cups of vegetables every day um so three cups one cup being you know a dark green leafy vegetable so whether that be spinach or rocket or silver bead or broccoli or you know whatever it may be so one of those three cups being a dark green leafy and the other two you know rainbow seasonal organic where possible vegetables so good I like that yes and the second top tip would be to eat more good fats in your diet so yeah making sure you're getting those good anti-inflammatory fats um so from your you know small oily fish avocados organic butter coconut oil olive oil nuts and seeds all those yeah good fats and then lastly because I go in threes um I like threes too um you know making sure you have a source of protein at every meal yeah oh I love it those are good top tips and uh yeah excellent thank you so much for that now Nikki where can people find you I know I I have this all on the show notes but let's also let's share um um so people can hear where's the best place for people to find you thank you so um my website so nicolehark.com.au um also work at a clinic called empowered health so again empoweredhealth.com.au um I'm on uh instagram as Nicolehark underscore naturopath um yeah so that's yeah where you would find me I love it Nicole thank you for your time today for sharing your knowledge information and wisdom and I absolutely loved your top tips I wish you a beautiful day and thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to chat with us and to share your amazing work.
• 34:04
  Nicole Haak: Thank you so much for having me Liz I'm really looking forward to the Fertility Summit and meeting you in you know person.
• 34:12
  Nicole Haak: And um yeah thanks so much for having me today.
• 34:15
  Nicole Haak: I really loved it.
• 34:17
  Liz Walton: Enjoyed it.
• 34:17
  Liz Walton: Absolute pleasure and yes I'm looking forward to seeing you too at the Australian Fertility Summit because it's presenting the Melbourne Fertility Expo which is happening on the um 8th of November at the Box Hill Town Hall and I'll be able to give you a squeeze and a hug.
• 34:33
  Liz Walton: Yay so I've also just share that tickets are on sale at the moment so give that gift and maybe it might be to yourself and let's share because the more we talk about this the more then the stigma will disappear.
• 34:48
  Liz Walton: So Nikki thank you my so much my lovely thank you Liz and good light cheering thanks for joining us at the Homer Fertility we hope today's episode brought you clarity comfort and connection.
• 35:06
  Liz Walton: If this podcast resonated please share it leave a review or subscribe this helps us support more people that are on this path.
• 35:15
  Liz Walton: And if you'd like to connect or share your story find us on Instagram and Facebook at Australian Fertility Summit.
• 35:24
  Liz Walton: Remember the missing piece might be waiting in a story your body's wisdom or something new just made for you.
• 35:33
  Liz Walton: Take care and we'll see you next time