Latest / The Brilliant Fertility Podcast / Episode 073: How Much Protein Do You REALLY Need to Optimize Fertility

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Episode 073: How Much Protein Do You REALLY Need to Optimize Fertility · The Brilliant Fertility Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Brilliant Fertility Podcast.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Katie Rose, and this podcast exists to help illuminate the path ahead of you.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: With expert interviews, clinical pearls, and real client success stories, my intention is to bring you hope for what's possible on this journey and to give you tools and resources to navigate the ups and downs on the road before you.
• 0:28
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• 0:34
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• 0:57
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• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, all things protein today.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not just talking about, like, you know, literal animal protein.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: There are other sources of protein that we will dive into.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm bringing this to the table today because number one, as we talked about last time, seeing a lot of the uh ads for supplements, detoxes coming through.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you saw, but Mel Robbins just released her own protein product.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some kind of, you know, it's a pure genius shot of protein that is touted to have 23 grams of protein in this little teeny bottle.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I have thoughts on this.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure that we're clear about protein.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, this is not medical advice.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So please take all of your questions about protein to your provider, ideally, someone who actually has a significant amount of training in nutrition.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, a naturopathic doctor, a dietitian, a nutritionist, not all entities in the medical professional world have much in the way of nutrition training, unfortunately.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: My best friend who went to the University of Arizona Medical School had 20 hours of nutrition that was optional attendance.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So just because someone has that medical designation doesn't necessarily mean that they have a lot of background in education on nutrition.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you are vetting your providers for that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And let's go ahead and dive in.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a really common question that I get.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And because so many of the women and couples that I'm working with are really busy professionals, they're wanting as much shortcut as possible when it comes to getting adequate nutrition and meeting their protein needs.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I often see people who are already taking some protein supplements in the form of protein powders, protein bars, these protein shots or drinks.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if we were to kind of grade this on a spectrum of zero protein whatsoever and best quality, best options, you know, those shots and supplements I'm gonna put like towards the middle to not great quality.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want you getting protein, I want you eating calories.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's the bare minimum.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And while I'm really cautious about that perfectionist end of things, the quality of our food is truly so important.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's it's all kind of intricately enmeshed with our hustle culture.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So part of this conversation is about how do we slow down, how do we divest from this way of being that has us hurrying around and rushing through meals and not having time to like sit down and chew food and be in communion with someone else who is sitting down to chew their food.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like food is so much more than just the calories we are putting in our body.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a potentially pretty big conversation, but I do just want to narrow it down to protein as much as possible for today and have have this give you just some like quick wins for things you can implement this week.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: So with my cycling patients, not bicycling patients, my menstrual cycling patients, I am typically having them aim for somewhere between 80 and 100 grams of protein per day.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: To some of you, that may seem like a wild amount, like so much compared to what you're getting.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: To others, you may be already hitting like 175 because you've been in this world of macro counting.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to let you know that there's no like perfect across the board recommendation for protein.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: I can't make blanket statements and say like everyone should be aiming for this.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why individualized care is so important.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: But as a general, most people I'm having aim for like 80 to 100 grams per day and focusing on real food.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So high quality meat and fish and beans and nuts and tofu, adamame products, those are like main sources.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would absolutely include eggs on a list of fertility-friendly proteins.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: We just have to be mindful that one egg has about six grams of protein, which some people are surprised by how little that is compared to how filling an egg is.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're aiming for three meals per day and this breaks down to between 25 and 35 grams of protein per meal, if you're focusing on eggs being your sole source of protein at breakfast, we're going to need to zhish it up a bit, unless you want to eat four eggs at breakfast, which I can't quite stomach.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love a good scrambled egg or an over medium, but I've never been able to get four in at one time without feeling like, oh my goodness, I'm I'm just too full.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I am a fan of the big breakfast.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know that my friend and colleague Lily Nichols is a big fan of the big breakfast.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And for those of you who are coming from a world of skipping breakfast or drinking a protein drink for breakfast, the idea of moving towards this like really hearty breakfast that you have to sit down and chew, I know it feels so uncomfortable.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: But in order to actually meet that high quality protein need, you're probably gonna need to sit down and eat a real breakfast.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So this is again part of like divesting from hustle culture, which if you are working a corporate job and living in this world where like you have to be in a certain place by at a certain time, like how do we actually slow down enough and give ourselves the time to eat those meals?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a much broader conversation that I'm really curious to hear your questions about as we talk about this.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I also want to just remind people that breakfast doesn't have to be breakfast food.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Our society here in the United States, we're so obsessed with these certain foods that fall in the breakfast category.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So cereals and pastries and pancakes and breads and donuts and bagels, and those aren't bad foods, but they're not necessarily high protein nutrient dense foods.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I have seen the things like these high protein bagels.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not totally opposed to them, but I really want you getting curious about the ingredients in these because it often means that they're just heavily processed.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And just because they're high protein doesn't mean they're nutrient dense.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: So the quality of our proteins and the nutrient density that comes from the other vitamins, minerals that are in those foods is important too.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: We could have a diet that is empirically high in protein, but devoid of nutrients.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: If we're focused on getting our protein from these sources like the shakes and the powders, there's just not a lot to it.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that there are some of the powders that also have the greens mixed in and have a nutrient profile that on paper looks pretty good.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to think about the digestibility, how uh well those nutrients are being absorbed, how our cells are actually utilizing them, are those companies third-party testing for heavy metals, because there's been a lot in the news lately about protein powders uh having higher levels of lead in them based on the soil where those plants have been grown that are contributing to the protein.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, when possible, really, I am focusing on real food.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I give my patients and my brilliant fertility program clients some picture images of like what does 25 to 35 grams of protein look like in real food?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So in various meat sources, seafood sources, plant-based protein sources, so that they can start to eyeball because I don't want people falling into this trap of feeling like they have to track every single meal, every single gram of protein that they're getting.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: That can be a slippery slope into obsessive thinking and just taking a lot of mental energy.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's really not necessarily, we don't have to get that complicated.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: So when we can learn to eyeball, it just gives so much more freedom to go, like, oh, okay, I know that you know, a size of the palm of my hand serving of steak or chicken breast or salmon is gonna meet that protein need pretty easily.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: That gives us just a lot of freedom to build around that protein.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So why is why is protein so important in the first place?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when we break down protein, when we digest it into its smallest form, we're breaking it into amino acids.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we need those amino acids as building blocks.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: We do, as humans, produce some essential or we do produce some amino acids, and then we have what are considered the essential amino acids, which are ones that we cannot produce on our own.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to get those from the diet.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are on a plant-based diet, you have to be pretty mindful about how to pair your plant-based proteins in order to get all of the essential amino acids.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: We need these as the building blocks for our hormones, for our muscle tissue.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so like our you know, literal physical skeletal muscles, but also our heart.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: We need it as part of the building blocks for our mucosal membranes.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's just so much that proteins and amino acids are involved in the body, like it truly is such a necessary nutrient.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the reasons getting adequate protein can help aid fertility and hormone regulation.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not only are those amino acids contributing to the building blocks of your hormones, but when we are eating adequate protein as part of a balanced diet, having a balanced meal that has adequate protein, fiber, healthy fats, and carbohydrates, we're creating a balanced blood sugar response, a healthier insulin response.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: This helps to mitigate our stress hormone response.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So have you ever had a day where you rushed out of the house without eating breakfast, you snagged a coffee on the way somewhere, you maybe had a splash of soy milk in it, and you didn't actually eat lunch until 12 or 1.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And by two, you are just wondering why you feel so irritable, so tired, like you could just crash because you're like, what the heck?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just ate lunch.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: I had all this energy going through the day.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And part of what's happening in a day like that is when we're rushing, we're really relying on those stress hormones to fuel us.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we might not even have an appetite, but we're running on fumes, we're running on adrenaline.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when we finally are able to like settle in and eat something, and the body's like, oh, thank God, we finally got something into us, and we gotta like rush to get the blood sugar regulated again.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna end up with a scenario that creates a bit of a roller coaster in the stress hormones, a roller coaster in the blood sugar.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one day of that every once in a while isn't gonna break the bank, as they would say.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's not gonna be like the reason that someone can't get pregnant, or the reason someone has ragey PMS.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: But if that's something that's happening every week, even if it's just once a week, I've observed some significant issues that arise as a result of that.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, really setting the intention to start the day with real food.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're someone who is not getting 20 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast, or you're not even eating real breakfast, you don't have to start this overnight.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can slowly chip away at this over a few weeks.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I promise you it will benefit your energy, your mood, even your sleep.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Even though this is something that's happening early in the day, it's impacting the stress hormones in such a way that it will absolutely impact sleep later on.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that immediate effect we usually observe in the form of better energy, more stable mood, better focus for people who are prone to headaches, less headaches.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then over the broad scale, like from a one to three month perspective, this is where I usually start to see some regulation of menstrual cycles, some improvements with premenstrual symptoms, improvements with progesterone levels on our labs when we check that seven-day post-ovulation progesterone.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's so fascinating to me how I can start with someone who's like, I think I'm doing pretty good because they're not eating fast food every day.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, literally, they're not eating like McDonald's, but they're they're going so fast through their day that they're not actually getting adequate nutrient density and adequate protein.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And their progesterone might come back at about a nine.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is actually pretty common, where I see that they're likely ovulating.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: We can't actually like prove that without an ultrasound at that phase to see the corpus luteum, but they're likely ovulating based on what their cycle history looks like, what their progesterone looks like, but it's not ideal numbers.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's there's something impacting the ability of the body to get more progesterone production happening.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um there are things that I've observed for my patients who are working alongside an IVF clinic is thinner uterine lining, poor response to IVF stimulation.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: And when we really have a good chunk of time, minimum three months to focus on dietary practices and improving nutrition and slowing down, like slowing down to an uncomfortable level, we absolutely see positive changes with those responses.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So improvements in their IVF stimulation responses, improvements in their uterine lining thickness, um, as well as of course the improvements in energy and overall cognitive function.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: And just as a as a brief case study to this, um, one of my patients who is 44 years old recently had her beautiful baby boy.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she was a single mother by choice.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: So she was going through IVF in order to conceive because that was, you know, for her the best option to make sure that she was able to have a baby within you know that timeline.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And she went through a round of IVF at 40, that unfortunately uh did not result in viable embryos.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: She went through another retrieval cycle that did result in an embryo, but resulted in a failed transfer.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And at that point, she started seeing me.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we identified some things based on her symptoms that told us, okay, we really need to focus in on that nutrient density and protein.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: She was a really active person, had a very mentally stimulating job.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, she was using energy, and she was one of those who was finding that by 2 p.m.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: she was irritable and prone to headaches and um just really feeling not the best version of herself.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: We spent over six months really focusing in on the nutrition and slowing down.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, that wasn't the only thing by any means that we focused on.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: There was obviously a lot of emotional factors playing into this, a lot of question marks about am I doing the right thing?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Should I even be doing this at all?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Age question marks, is this compatible with my life question marks?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, her soul was just really tugging at this dream.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, I believe that the nutrition changes that we And the emphasis we put on eating enough protein, staying hydrated, regulating her blood sugar, getting her inflammation down, these made such a big impact.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So her baby boy is now here.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, in retrospect, we can look back on what do we think made the biggest difference?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we may never know if there was one thing, but surely a combination of those things over time made a really positive difference.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope this gets you thinking about protein differently and pausing before you rely on these protein type supplements to circle back to this brand new one that was just released by Mel Robbins.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: The concern is partly in the marketing.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think it says it has 23 or 24 grams of protein, which it's like, wow, gosh, how easy.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like get this quick hit of protein and you don't have to work for it at all.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: But when you actually look through the ingredients, it's water, whey protein, and collagen.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't have a problem with any of those ingredients, but we have to understand that there's um like a protein quality metric called the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score and a big mouthful.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And whey has a quality score of one, which is a perfect score.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: But collagen actually has a score of zero, because collagen is considered a lower quality protein in the sense that it is not a complete protein.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: It does not contain all the essential amino acids that we require.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And while there are some pros to collagen in the sense that it does give us a higher glycine portion, a higher proline portion, we do still have to digest all of those, all of like the collagen structure down to its amino acids.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then if our goal is to rebuild collagen like in our skin or improve hair or nail function, we still have to rebuild that.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if we're relying on collagen alone as a protein source, it's it's not gonna cut it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it really should be used as like supplemental for a specific reason.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: It should not be used as your protein source.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're like, oh, but I put collagen in my coffee in the morning, like that's my breakfast.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I am sorry to tell you, it's not gonna cut it.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have to eat real food, we have to get all of the essential amino acids.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so if we were to choose a form of protein to add to a smoothie or add to baked goods or some way of like bulking up our protein, whey is often my choice as long as someone doesn't have a sensitivity to dairy or an allergy to whey protein.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that can be like rather complicated to really suss out, but that would be my preference as a true protein source.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, of course, there's such a range of products that exist that are plant-based.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And with those, we just have to make sure that you truly are getting a complete protein.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: And again, that it's third-party tested.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's a naturopathic physician named Dr.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Gonzalez, who has been doing a really fun practice over the last couple of years of contacting all of these companies to obtain their third-party testing and answer any questions about transparency.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been really interesting to see what companies are actually following best practices, answering questions in a timely manner, and actually have ingredients that match what's on their label and quality ingredients and that testing to make sure that we're not getting those heavy metals.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: So go check out Dr.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Gonzalez.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: He has you know several great PDF resources on like what are the best quality of various things like greens powders, electrolytes, protein powders, prenatal supplements.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's been really fascinating to watch that uh experiment playing out.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have questions about individualized nutrition, um, please just do your homework research, who you might be working with, make sure that they have the education, that they can answer all those questions effectively for you.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're looking for an overall holistic fertility approach, please don't hesitate to reach out.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: You can set up a discovery call with me by going to the show notes, clicking the link to book a discovery call, and we can dive in to see what's missing in your fertility protocol, what we need to be looking at next.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something on the nutritional, physical plane, maybe it's something on the mental, emotional, or spiritual level.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to remember that it's usually more than one thing going on.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And as the fertility journey is so much more complex than we could ever rationalize, we often need a little more support.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: It truly takes a village sometimes to get pregnant, as well as that village to raise a child.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope this answered a lot of the questions you had about protein.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know if you have any others.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Shoot me a DM on Instagram.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: We've fallen a little bit behind in replying to DMs, but I promise with my new assistant helping out, we're catching up soon.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope you have a great rest of your day.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being here.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, sending you so much love.