Latest / Finally Get Pregnant Naturally: Holistic Fertility Support To Conceive Naturally and Stay Pregnant After Miscarriage / #249 | The Surprising Way Summer Is Aging Your Eggs, and What It Means for Your Fertility and Ability to Get Pregnant

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#249 | The Surprising Way Summer Is Aging Your Eggs, and What It Means for Your Fertility and Ability to Get Pregnant · Finally Get Pregnant Naturally: Holistic Fertility Support To Conceive Naturally and Stay Pregnant After Miscarriage

• 0:00
  Katie: If your egg quality is a concern for you, you need to hear the surprising way summer is actually aging your eggs and exactly how to restore your quality.
• 0:12
  Welcome to the Finally Get Pregnant Naturally podcast, the podcast helping women identify the real reasons you haven't conceived or stayed pregnant so you and your partner can finally grow the family of your dreams.
• 0:25
  I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:27
  Katie Wood.
• 0:28
  Let's dive in, shall we?
• 0:30
  Katie: Three things you'll gain from today's episode.
• 0:33
  Katie: What your sleep hormone and potent antioxidant actually does for your egg quality, the specific ways summer is depleting that antioxidant protection and raising oxidative threats to your eggs simultaneously, and what you can do right now to restore that
• 0:55
  Katie: protection across the 90-day development window that shapes your fall fertility So melatonin is the sleep hormone I'm referencing here.
• 1:09
  Katie: Most people know melatonin as the hormone that makes you sleepy at night.
• 1:15
  Katie: But actually, inside your ovaries, melatonin is doing something entirely different and far more significant for your fertility than you may realize.
• 1:28
  Katie: Melatonin is one of the most potent antioxidants produced in your body and in your follicular fluid, and that fluid that directly surrounds your developing eggs is saturated with it.
• 1:42
  Katie: I know.
• 1:43
  Katie: I was absolutely amazed when I first learned this too, because I had no idea that melatonin was more than the hormone that just helped you fall asleep at night.
• 1:53
  Katie: So let's talk about why this matters for your fertility.
• 1:57
  Katie: The process of egg development generates significant oxidative stress.
• 2:03
  Katie: Free radicals can accumulate in the follicular environment, and if they're not neutralized, they can damage the egg's DNA, impair mitochondrial function, and compromise the chromosomal division that has to happen perfectly for a healthy embryo to form.
• 2:21
  Katie: Now, melatonin is one of your body's primary defenders against that damage.
• 2:27
  Katie: Research has shown that melatonin concentrations in follicular fluid are directly associated with egg quality and that higher follicular melatonin levels are associated with better fertilization rates and embryo quality.
• 2:44
  Katie: Now, we're not having a supplement conversation here because this is your body's own built-in system, one that it produces naturally in sufficient quantities when the conditions are supported and allow it to, okay?
• 3:06
  Katie: And summer can be disrupting those conditions in more than one way all at once.
• 3:13
  Katie: So that's what we're gonna be talking about today, how summer can be weakening your body's Your egg's bodyguard, AKA melatonin.
• 3:24
  Katie: So number one would be late nights.
• 3:28
  Katie: Melatonin production is triggered by darkness and suppressed by light, specifically blue light wavelengths.
• 3:39
  Katie: And of course, during summer, daylight extends later into the evening, which is not part of the problem here.
• 3:45
  Katie: But with that comes more or later screen time, more social events under bright artificial light, and later bedtimes.
• 3:57
  Katie: Every extra hour of artificial light exposure after sunset is suppressing the melatonin your follicles need to protect your developing eggs.
• 4:09
  Katie: And because egg development is a 90-day process, the melatonin environment of July and August is shaping the eggs that will be available to you in October and November.
• 4:23
  Katie: Number two, we have heat and oxidative load.
• 4:27
  Katie: So heat can increase oxidative stress in the body, not to mention use up your mineral and electrolytes as well.
• 4:37
  Katie: When we have higher ambient temperatures, more time in the sun, warmer sleep environments, all of these can raise the free radical burden your antioxidant systems have to manage.
• 4:50
  Katie: At the same time that the summer habits and routines are suppressing melatonin production, right?
• 4:57
  Katie: That bodyguard that is supposed to be living in that follicular fluid.
• 5:01
  Katie: It's increasing the oxidative threat that it is supposed to be defending against.
• 5:07
  Katie: And then so therefore, the protection goes down while the demand for antioxidants is going up.
• 5:16
  Katie: That is a compounding problem when you think about it across that 90-day egg development window.
• 5:24
  Katie: Number three, disruptive sleep routines.
• 5:29
  Katie: So melatonin peaks in deep sleep, specifically in the earlier, deeper phases of the night.
• 5:36
  Katie: And then when you have things like summer travel, later social schedules, and warmer sleep environments like we had mentioned, these can all fragment sleep and shift sleep timing later.
• 5:48
  Katie: Even if the total hours look adequate "Oh, I'm getting seven to eight hours of sleep," fragmented sleep or mistimed sleep produces significantly less melatonin than consolidated well-timed sleep.
• 6:04
  Katie: And that reduction is showing up in your follicular fluid.
• 6:09
  Katie: Okay, last but not least, blood sugar swings.
• 6:13
  Katie: So summer eating patterns can look like more social meals, more alcohol, more refined carbohydrates, even reduced appetite from heat, leading to undereating and then potentially overcompensating later.
• 6:28
  Katie: This can create significant blood sugar variability, and blood sugar spikes generate oxidative stress directly.
• 6:37
  Katie: They also disrupt insulin signaling, which has a downstream effect on melatonin synthesis as well as your reproductive hormones.
• 6:45
  Katie: So as you can see, this is kind of like a vicious circle here.
• 6:49
  Katie: So a summer of unstable blood sugar is also a summer of chronically elevated oxidative stress in the very environment that your eggs are developing in.
• 6:59
  Katie: But not to worry, 'cause we're definitely gonna be talking about what you can do right now So that 90-day window means that what you're doing and what you're focusing on now, here we're at the end of July and
• 7:12
  Katie: August, is directly shaping the eggs that will be ovulated in October and November.
• 7:20
  Katie: So here's just a few general ways that I'm supporting my one-on-one clients to restore their egg quality support and protection.
• 7:28
  Katie: Like I said, these are just general.
• 7:30
  Katie: Of course, they're also getting very tailored and personalized recommendations for them, their unique bodies, and situations as well.
• 7:39
  Katie: But we want to top priority protect darkness.
• 7:46
  Katie: Protect your darkness.
• 7:47
  Katie: So you wanna dim your lights after 8:00 PM.
• 7:50
  Katie: You could use red light, Himalayan lamps.
• 7:53
  Katie: I have fairy lights behind our drapes here in the room.
• 7:57
  Katie: Those can be really, really nice to help limit the amount of artificial light that your eyes are being exposed to.
• 8:04
  Katie: You can use blue light blocking glasses in the evening, especially if you, quote-unquote, "have to do work."
• 8:11
  Katie: I definitely recommend staying off any screens at least an hour before bed.
• 8:16
  Katie: But if you have to be on a screen, blue light blocking glasses are your go-to.
• 8:21
  Katie: Keep your sleep environment as dark and cool as possible because these are not just nice-to-haves.
• 8:29
  Katie: These are melatonin production strategies with direct egg quality implications.
• 8:35
  Katie: Okay?
• 8:35
  Katie: And they're super easy to implement.
• 8:38
  Katie: Also, super-duper important, you wanna anchor your sleep timing and let your glymphatic system do its job.
• 8:46
  Katie: So a consistent bedtime between 9:30 and 10:30 PM is the sweet spot for melatonin production and your follicular antioxidant defense.
• 8:56
  Katie: Melatonin begins rising around nine to 10:00 PM in a well-regulated circadian system.
• 9:04
  Katie: And when you're asleep during that window, your body capitalizes on the full peak.
• 9:11
  Katie: Staying up past 11:00 PM, even occasionally, can cut into the most melatonin-rich hours of your night.
• 9:20
  Katie: Deep sleep is also when your brain's glymphatic system, its dedicated waste clearance network, runs its most active detoxification cycle, flushing the metabolic byproducts that accumulate during waking hours, including oxidative waste.
• 9:36
  Katie: So a well-timed, consolidated night of sleep is not just rest, it is your body's primary cellular cleanup and restoration window.
• 9:47
  Katie: So aim for the same bedtime every night, even in summer, even on the weekends, right?
• 9:54
  Katie: Even if you have to do 90/10.
• 9:56
  Katie: We still wanna enjoy our summer, but this is really important.
• 10:01
  Katie: And you wanna stabilize your blood sugar.
• 10:02
  Katie: So eating within one hour of waking, protein first at every meal, minerals in your water, no long gaps between eating.
• 10:12
  Katie: And a stable blood sugar means lower oxidative load and better insulin signaling, both of which support melatonin synthesis.
• 10:21
  Katie: And lastly, you wanna support melatonin production through food.
• 10:27
  Katie: Do I have some of my clients supplement with melatonin?
• 10:31
  Katie: Yes.
• 10:31
  Katie: But in very specific situations, okay?
• 10:35
  Katie: So you can support your melatonin through supplements.
• 10:39
  Katie: So before reaching for a supplement, let's look at what you're eating or what you could maybe start including in your diet as well, because several foods can directly support melatonin synthesis So tart cherries are one of the richest
• 10:52
  Katie: natural food sources of melatonin.
• 10:55
  Katie: So a small glass of tart cherry juice or a handful of dried tart cherries in the evening is well supported by research.
• 11:03
  Katie: I will link my go-to sugar, like no sugar added tart cherry juice in the show notes for you.
• 11:09
  Katie: We also have walnuts contain both melatonin and tryptophan.
• 11:13
  Katie: Eggs, particularly the yolk, provide tryptophan and choline, both of wh- both of which support the conversion pathway.
• 11:22
  Katie: Pistachios are one of the highest melatonin-containing nuts.
• 11:27
  Katie: Pumpkin seeds are high in tryptophan and magnesium, and magnesium is a critical cofactor in melatonin synthesis that most people are chronically low in, especially in summer when sweat is depleting levels faster.
• 11:43
  Katie: Fatty fish like salmon provide vitamin B6, which is required for the serotonin to melatonin conversion.
• 11:50
  Katie: And of course, avoiding alcohol in the evening because even one drink can significantly suppress melatonin production in the hours that matter most for your follicular environment.
• 12:02
  Katie: So let's recap.
• 12:04
  Katie: Melatonin is your egg's most important antioxidant defender, and summer is suppressing it from multiple different angles simultaneously while also raising oxidative load at the same time.
• 12:19
  Katie: Things like being exposed to light later in the day, especially past sunset, extra heat, disrupted sleep, blood sugar swings are all compounding across the 90-day development window that is actively shaping your fall fertility and chances of conceiving.
• 12:39
  Katie: You wanna protect your darkness, anchor your sleep between 9:30 and 10:30 PM, stabilize your blood sugar, and support melatonin production through food.
• 12:49
  Katie: 'Cause the eggs you protect in July are the eggs available to you as early as October if you start now.
• 12:59
  Katie: So I just wanna thank you so much for listening to this episode.
• 13:04
  Katie: If you are ready to start making meaningful changes for your fertility, and you are over and done with guessing and trying to meal piece things together to improve your fertility, there is a link in the show notes to
• 13:21
  Katie: book your free fertility strategy call.
• 13:23
  Katie: This is for both you and your partner to come on and join.
• 13:28
  Katie: We will discuss your fertility journey together.
• 13:31
  Katie: There's no strings attached.
• 13:32
  Katie: It's really just an opportunity for me to see if there is any way that I can help you achieve your goal of having a child, of expanding your family, creating your family, whatever it may be.
• 13:47
  Katie: The link is in the show notes.
• 13:48
  Katie: It's completely free.
• 13:50
  Katie: Go ahead and book that with your partner.
• 13:52
  Katie: Thank you so much for listening.
• 13:53
  Katie: I hope you have a beautiful day, and I'll see you on our next episode, released every Tuesday and Thursday.
• 13:58
  Are you ready to finally discover why you haven't been able to get or stay pregnant?
• 14:04
  The Ultimate Fertility Blueprint is a quick, insightful quiz designed to reveal your overall capacity to conceive and help you discover potential root causes and areas to address to improve your fertility so you can finally get and stay pregnant.
• 14:22
  You'll find the link in the show notes.
• 14:24
  As a quick reminder and disclaimer, this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.
• 14:32
  Always consult your doctor or healthcare provider before starting any new supplement or protocol, especially if you're actively trying to conceive or undergoing treatment.