Vibrant You

Enhancing Fertility with Functional Medicine: Genetics and The Missing Link in the Fertility and Pre-Conception Puzzle with Jaclyn Downs

• Bindi Stables • Episode 45

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If you're looking to (or trying to!) conceive within the next year, NOW is the time to start optimizing your health and fertility! ...and that all starts with this episode!

Today I'm chatting with Jaclyn Downs, a functional nutrigenomics practitioner, certified health coach, and doula with a master of science in holistic nutrition. Jaclyn helps clients and practitioners move past puzzling fertility roadblocks using genomic interpretation, functional lab testing, meticulous intake consultation, and personalized protocols.

Jaclyn is also the author of the book “Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility.”

In this episode you'll learn:

  1. What your doctor didn't tell you about your fertility
  2. Top 5 lab tests to run before getting pregnant for enhancing fertility
  3. Why fertility is NOT just a hormonal issue... and what to focus on instead!
  4. The #1 missing link in the fertility puzzle
  5. Top genes that may be influencing your fertility outcomes
  6. How long before conceiving you should (ideally) be working on your health
  7. The functional fertility advice you need (that you won't find on Google!)
  8. Top supplements to enhance fertility for a happy, healthy pregnancy
  9. Lifestyle hacks and daily habits to support fertility

Links:

Learn more and connect with Jaclyn:

  1. Visit Jaclyn's website at jaclyndowns.com
  2. Follow Jaclyn on Instagram @functionalfertilitysolutions 
  3. Buy Jaclyn's book Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be SO grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify, that way we can inspire and educate even more people together.

I’d love to connect with you on IG: www.instagram.com/bindistables

Visit my website for more resources and ways to work with me: www.bindistables.com

Bindi:

Welcome to the Vibrant you podcast. I'm your host, bindi Stables, and here we talk all things wellness and vibrant living. You'll learn about integrative health, functional medicine, holistic biohacking and enjoy raw and real conversations on personal growth, mindset and motivation. Optimize your body and mind and become the happiest, the healthiest, most vibrant. You Enjoy the show. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Vibrant you. I'm so excited we have a very special guest coming on the show. Today we have Jacqueline Downs, who is a functional nutritionomics practitioner, certified health coach, doula, and has a master's of science and holistic nutrition. Jacqueline's magic is that she really helps clients and practitioners move through these puzzling roadblocks when it comes to fertility and women's health. She individualizes protocols through the use of genetic interpretation or genomic interpretation. She does functional lab testing and has a meticulous intake consultation process. Jacqueline is also the author of the book Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine Using Nutrogenomics to Solve Unexplained Fertility. So I'm so happy you're here, jacqueline. Thanks so much for being here.

Jaclyn:

Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.

Bindi:

Yay, if you are in the preconception phase, you're looking to start optimizing your health to conceive with your partner in the next year, or maybe you're in a position where you've been trying to get pregnant over the last months and maybe struggling to fall pregnant. This conversation with Jacqueline today is going to be so helpful and so supportive. So I'd love to start off off Jacqueline Just you introducing yourself a little bit. Tell us your story. How did you get to where you are today doing this work that you now do?

Jaclyn:

So I've been interested in nutrition since I was a child because my dad was in the nutrition field as a nutritional biochemist and I just grew up knowing that there was more to nutrition than what was in the box and what was presented to us. You know the lobbying and the four food groups and all that stuff and I talk about this in my book. I was wanting to get a degree in nutrition but there wasn't anywhere in my state that I felt had nonbiased nutritional advice from you know the USDA and all of that. So I got a psychology degree. I moved out to California after I left Pennsylvania after college and I stumbled upon birthwork and I became a doula and I had never considered myself passionate about anything or, like I guess, never considered myself an advocate for much of anything aside from bicycling.

Jaclyn:

But the book that I read, called Immaculate Deception by Suzanne Arms just like, was riveting.

Jaclyn:

It blew my mind and it just talked about how the modern birth system is set up to treat it like there's an affliction rather than just like a natural process, and that's one reason why we end up having so many C-sections, because there's just so many poking and prodding and encouraging things to happen with interventions.

Jaclyn:

It turned into me being a doula and creating an on-call doula service and getting certified as a yoga instructor so that I could teach prenatal and postpartum yoga, and I did the training to do placenta encapsulation. My whole life was just in birth and I got an apprenticeship with a home birth midwife who was internationally recognized and I was in my twenties and, like nobody, ever talked about fertility challenges and so I realized, working with this midwife, that there were so many people experiencing fertility challenges and miscarriages and infertility and that sort of tied back to my lifelong interest in nutrition and I ended up getting certified as a health coach and getting my master's in holistic nutrition. And then, to even personalize it further, I stumbled upon epigenetics and I was a research assistant for a naturopath. I got hired to research MTHFR. This was about 10 years ago, on average maybe 11 and that quickly spread from MTHFR to the methylation pathway, to the transulpation pathway and, like all of these biochemical pathways, and how they're interrelated.

Jaclyn:

So I wrote my book because I wanted people to know that first off, I almost titled it MTHFR is a gateway gene.

Jaclyn:

For those people that don't know, mthfr is a gene that can affect your body's folate usage, and so, especially people that have been doing some research for themselves were having repeated miscarriages they might hear about MTHFR.

Jaclyn:

So MTHFR is typically the first gene that people learn about, and it introduces them to the concept that your genes affect your health and your health can affect your genetic expression, and so that's why I wanted to title my book MTHFR is a gateway gene. But I ended up getting picked up by an academic publisher through Rattledge called Taylor and Francis, and they actually chose the title to my book and I added the subtitle about Nutrogenomics, and so I love what I do because it is an emerging field, not that many people are offering it, not that many people are receiving proper information. There's all kinds of influencers giving some misinformation out there on MTHFR and other genetic things, and so I really feel I have a spirit of service for helping people to figure out why protocols didn't work for them or why something's happening when doctor after doctor after doctor is saying we don't know what's going on.

Jaclyn:

All your blood work looks normal and you know all of the physical body doesn't have any blockages, and so we don't know. It's just unexplained infertility and I just don't accept that. I always want to go further upstream and keep asking why and what's causing that and what's causing that. And the genetics really, really provide a lot of revealing information as to where in the haystack the needle could be for somebody.

Bindi:

I love this. I so love your love for birth and pregnancy and fertility. It's just, yeah, it's so contagious and I just so see your heart and genuinely wanting to help women and I'm so with you. It's something that I, as well as a functional practitioner, I just can't accept. That your blood work came back normal. We can't find any that story if we can't find anything wrong with you and just kind of giving this stamp of like, there's nothing we can do start looking into IVF or start looking into adoption and it just breaks my heart. So I love to hear you share about all this.

Bindi:

So a lot of women out there, they are doing everything right, right, according to the USDA, and you know these things that you and I don't necessarily really like agree with when it comes to health optimization. But you know, when you Google how to optimize fertility, there is such nonsense, simple like don't smoke, don't drink, take a prenatal vitamin, take some folic acid. The nightmare for MTHFR genetics, which we'll get into. But what is it? You know this is really the missing link this nutrigenomics and genetic expression. So my question is what is nutrigenomics and what's the role that a woman's genetics play in her fertility journey?

Jaclyn:

Okay, so nutrigenomics is basically the interplay between how our genes affect our nutrient status and health and detoxification ability and how our lifestyle and exposures and nutrient status can affect the expression of our genes. So it's definitely a bidirectional relationship. And so knowing your genetic blueprint can reveal why you might have deficiencies in certain things or why you might have certain symptoms or diagnoses, because there's so much you can see with your genetics. Now that depends on the company that you got tested through and what company's doing the interpretation or what practitioner's doing the interpretation. But the software that I use looks at all kinds of things and basically, oxidative stress is the whole premise of my book and my whole practice.

Jaclyn:

Is common but lesser known root causes of inflammation and oxidative stress. And for those people that don't know, oxidative stress is damage to the cell, that's damage to the cellular structure and damage to the information contained within the cell. That includes the cell membrane and the mitochondria and all of it. And so there are things. Obviously smoking and drinking alcohol affect your health and cause oxidative stress, but so do things like iron dysregulation, so so many women are told that they're anemic because their serum iron is low.

Jaclyn:

I have a whole chapter in my book on how, when you just recommend for a woman to take iron or you start taking iron because your iron is low, that could actually fuel the fire, because iron is a very abundant mineral and if you're eating meat it's not necessarily an acquisition issue, it's a utilization issue and so, improperly used, iron causes oxidative stress, histamine, intolerance, poor fat utilization.

Jaclyn:

If you are not properly used, maybe you decided you know, okay, I don't like this whole low fat. You know all of you got on board with the good fats, basically. But if your body is not able to use them, so if it's not properly digesting them or utilizing them, then you're not going to have the raw materials to make your hormones or to protect your liver, to protect your brain. So you can see with your genetics what your fatty acid utilization predispositions are. And, like I said, histamine oxalates your neurotransmitters. So if you have some mood disorders, that can cause obviously some stress which causes some inflammation. So the genetic software that I use looks at all kinds of factors that typical practitioners don't look at or even aren't even aware of.

Bindi:

Yeah, love this so much and love to hear how bio individual this is. You know, like there really is and I think this is something that you and I share is like there truly is no one size fits all when it comes to health or fertility. It really is about, you know, these common themes of, like what you're saying genetics, oxidative stress and inflammation, and then doing the detective work of what's causing the oxidative stress and inflammation, what in our environment, in our nutrition, in our stress, what pathogens in the body, what toxins or heavy metals are turning on those genes and that genetic expression you know, causing fertility issues and whatnot. So can we talk a bit about genetics? This is so fun. So you mentioned the MTHFR genetic mutation as being a really common theme in miscarriage or fertility issues. Can you walk us through, like, why that matters, if a woman has the MTHFR gene and if there's any other common genes that you see affecting fertility?

Jaclyn:

Yes, 100%. So first I just want to state that the biggest takeaway from this talk should be just because you have a genetic variant does not mean it's expressing. So that's why I do meticulous intake, because I want to know, based on your symptoms, what you're experiencing, and then also lab testing we can see if your folate's low, if your B12 is low, if your homocysteine's high. Those kinds of things can indicate that you're not properly methylating. And now there is a really, really, really popular influencer out there right now saying that MTHFR is what converts your folic acid into methylfolate and that is incorrect.

Jaclyn:

So MTHFR is the second step. So there's a gene called DHHFR which I think deserves some time on the mic. People aren't even aware of this gene, but that's the one that is involved with two of the five steps of converting folic acid into folate. And then MTHFR takes that folate and further converts it into methylfolate. And we need methylfolate to participate to make sure that the methylation cogs are spinning in our body. Methylation is a very, very, very important process for DNA repair and detoxification and neurotransmitter health and all kinds of stuff.

Jaclyn:

And so just because you have an MTHFR variant does not mean it's expressing, but also there are other things that can cause folate issues. For instance, we have an FOLR gene, which is your folate receptor, and there's a couple of those. Folr2 is actually related to fetal folate and so you could have no MTHFR variants. But if your folate isn't able to get into the cell, then it's kind of the same end result, as you know having not not getting the folate, the methylfolate, where it needs to go, we're not being able to produce it. So MTHFR also if the genetic variant is exacerbated by heavy metals and environmental pollutants and mold toxicity and other nutrient deficiencies as well.

Jaclyn:

Like we need B2, we need B6, we need B12. And so you could have perfectly robust MTHFR and folate receptor and DHFR. But if you are lacking in the other B vitamins that help and other minerals to that participate in that whole reaction taking place, it's going to be affected, and so there is no. No gene works in isolation. That's another big takeaway from this talk is that no gene works in isolation, and I literally just yesterday, posted on Instagram that if your doctor is only testing you for MTHFR, they don't understand biochemical pathways and you're essentially wasting your money because you're not going to be able to get the full picture.

Bindi:

Yeah, this is so helpful. Absolutely, and I love hearing you share that just because someone has the MTHFR gene or any other gene influencing fertility, that it's not a sentence to lifelong infertility. That we can turn these genes on and off, we change how they express themselves through things like nutrition and nutrigenomics and detoxification protocols, really eliminating the things that are activating that gene and not allowing her to break down that and metabolize and assimilate those that folate. And can we talk a little bit about supplements, then? In that regard? There's just a lot out there of women that Google how to optimize fertility and they take this really crappy multivitamin and with really synthetic forms of things and they're just downing folic acid like crazy. Can we just talk about the supplements in terms of optimizing fertility and how that might be influenced by genetics?

Jaclyn:

Yes, yes, 100%. So we have genes that are responsible for the production of certain nutrients. Now, some nutrients are essential, meaning that our bodies don't make them, so we have to get them through the diet.

Jaclyn:

But we still have genes that dictate how well, that's transported in the body, or absorbed into the cell, like with a cellular receptor which is like a keyhole, and also the rate at which it's degraded. And so everybody's genes are different, and so we all need different levels of certain nutrients, and so that's why you could have you and your partner are eating the same exact diet, but one person is like drastically deficient in vitamin A, your partner might have excess, and that all comes down to genetic variability, for sure.

Bindi:

Yeah, makes sense Absolutely. So we know for sure that when it comes to we were chatting before the role of bioindividuality really in fertility and optimal health in general, that there really is no one size fits all when it comes to health and fertility. So how would you say? Let's say you have a woman in front of you that has been struggling to get pregnant the last few months and she's been trying, she's tried to clean up her nutrition. She hasn't drank alcohol. See, if you can walk us through your process, like what are the tests that you do? What comes next?

Jaclyn:

Okay, so I start with a very, very meticulous intake, as you had mentioned in the beginning, and that involves asking more questions about your poop than probably anybody has ever asked you, because you can tell a lot about what's going on with a person based on if their poop floats or sinks, or if you're seeing undigested food, or if you're leaving skid marks or what you know. There's all kinds of characteristics. So I asked a lot of questions about that, about the period, not only about the period itself, but if you're. One of the questions is do you feel worse symptoms around ovulation? And that's a flag that histamine could be an issue, because histamine and estrogen feed each other, and so when your estrogen is at its highest right before ovulation and you feel worse, or you get migraines or you feel nauseous or vomit, that is a huge flag that histamine could be an issue. So I talk about your environmental exposures. Houses you've lived in, the house you grew up in, your current address, is something that I have optional to answer on my intake form, because that way I can go to Google Earth and I can look where that person lives, and maybe they live near some sort of you know cotton field that's being sprayed or near some industrial you know that's making some sort of plastics or something like that. So all kinds of questions, nothing is off the table ask about dental history. So based on how that person answers, then we do my initial consultation and asking them about their answers and formulating what I think might be the top three issues. You know things to explore or three things that are like the biggest weights on the side of the scale for there to be problems. So based on that then I usually recommend some testing, some functional lab testing.

Jaclyn:

I do like good old regular traditional blood testing. I usually do ask for more additional markers that are not on a standard blood test, as I'm sure you're well aware of. You know ferritin is not a standard one. There's other like serum, zinc and copper. And you know your GGT. Sometimes it's on, sometimes it's not, depending on some. A lot of people come to me already having run labs and GGTs on there sometimes, which is a marker of liver health and glutathione status for those people that don't know. But also I typically run urine organic acids tests and I have been running a mycotoxin test on almost everybody because even though they might not have thought that they had had exposure. A lot of their symptoms are pointing that might be a culprit. And then I like the bundle from Vibrant Wellness that has environmental toxins, heavy metals, mycotoxins and an organic acid test, all for like the price of two instead of four.

Jaclyn:

I don't usually run a Dutch test right off the bat with people because they're coming to me and their hormones are in balance.

Jaclyn:

Now, if money is not an issue and you know working with me from start to finish is still going to be vastly cheaper than any kind of assisted reproductive technology but we know that the hormones are out of balance. I want to know what is causing that. Is it mycotoxins, which can really derail your hormones? Is it oxalates which can cause your hormones to swing wildly? So I like to sort of get to clear out the things so that you can get a baseline of what your hormones are doing when they're not being affected by these other toxins and factors. And then maybe three to six months after we've been working together, then we'll do a Dutch test to see what the hormones are doing. I will run stool tests or food sensitivity tests if people are really having GI issues or are on a very, very restricted diet because they can't tolerate anything, but those are not ones that I run as often as a urine organic acids test and a mycotoxin test and blood test.

Bindi:

This is so helpful. I love to hear your process in that and I love how in depth your intake form is. These are things just that we don't always consider right. This was actually I'll just share a short story with you. It was the same when I was quite young. I was having all these neurological issues and practically lived in hospital for a year, having seizures on almost a daily basis. And again, very similar thing as what you encounter before people get to you is we can't find anything wrong with you. Your bloods are all normal, and I grew up right next to a big factory. It was like a couple kilometers away and there's no doubt about it when I got into functional testing that my aluminum, my mercury, all my heavy metals were through the roof, of course, causing all these neurological issues and seizures. So it's just I love how in depth and how truly holistic it is. The environments that we're in really do matter.

Bindi:

So I love to hear this and I love as well that fertility is not just a hormonal issue, right? This is the tip of the iceberg and this is, I think, where a lot of people would understand differently. You know, oh, I'm not getting pregnant. There must be something wrong with my hormones. I have to fix my hormones. What I was hearing you share is that this is really the tip of the iceberg the hormones. And the question is always well, why are your hormones out of balance? Right, and that's the genetics, that's the oxidative stress, the inflammation, the oxalates, the poor fat utilization that you mentioned, the histamine intolerance, the environmental toxins, the gut pathogens, the mold or mycotoxins. So it's so helpful, and then it sounds like for you, that's really just like the last piece of the puzzle, right? And if we address all these other things under the surface, the hormones tend to take care of themselves. Is that right?

Jaclyn:

Yes, the hormones are pretty much like the end result Everything. When the hormones are in balance, you have this cascade of what is supposed to happen, and when your hormones are out of balance, that you know, there's another cascade with imbalances and endometriosis and fibroids and neurological problems. So the hormones are just the messenger, and so we have to figure out why the hormones are in the ranges that they are and why they are doing what they're doing and causing the body to have the symptoms that it is.

Bindi:

Yeah, absolutely I love that and I love the testing that you're doing as well. So walk us through. So this woman's come to you, you've done the very extensive, meticulous intake with her, you've done the testing. What would be next? Like obviously everyone's treatment plan is so bioindividual because, depending whether they're working with mold or they're working with you know, environmental toxins or nutrient deficiencies but kind of walk us through, like generally what you would do as a treatment protocol for a woman and optimizing her fertility.

Jaclyn:

So there's some foundational things that I usually start with before doing the targeted whether it's, like you know, glutathione or other antioxidants, or supporting a certain phase two liver detox pathway and these are just things like making sure you're pooping every day, right, if you're not pooping every day. That's going to be step one.

Jaclyn:

Also if you're actively living or working or driving in mold like. We have to get you away from that. We have to address the mold. Mold is one of the very first rocks that I look under with every client because it has so many downstream negative effects and nothing that we do working together is really going to be sustainable and cross you over to that threshold into healing and vitality if you're still living in it and exposed to it.

Jaclyn:

So first is, get as far away, whether it's actually like in proximity or just you know try to avoid certain toxins that you might have elevations of. I mean, I think we should be avoiding toxins altogether as much as possible. And then there's things like depending on what the test show, most people could benefit from a probiotic at that time. Sometimes it's neat. You know we need to clean some pathogens out and address some dyspiosis before it. You know, introducing some probiotics.

Jaclyn:

But typically, if we can get a good quality, be complex, which. There's the whole gray scale of how big of a dose you want and which forms you want. But there's so many out there that, whether or not I know your genetics, we can sort of tip toe into it. So if I don't know what your genes are dictating as far as your methylation and your B vitamins, what I recommend is just starting with a small dose and pulsing it and just dipping your toe in to get the wheels spinning. Because a lot of people say, well, I can't tolerate methyl groups or I can't tolerate sulfur or sulfate, but those are super, super critical for the health and functioning of the body, that we don't want to avoid those things.

Jaclyn:

It's just we have layers of the onion we need to peel away, and so start very, very small with fairy dust micro doses and get your body to get on board with being able to accept and utilize that.

Jaclyn:

So, B vitamins, probiotics, and then there's some, like I, like molecular hydrogen, which has very low risk. Now, I think the only contraindication is for certain types of SIBO that are fed by hydrogen. But people usually know by the time they come to me if they have SIBO right, because that's something that's more often addressed than some of these other things. And so molecular hydrogen helps to neutralize free radicals and it also modulates your nerve to, which is involved with your antioxidant expression. So some of those supplements are just pretty foundational, basic, lots of benefit, low risk. And then, once we get that level accomplished, you know, making sure that things are working and you're not having any adverse reactions to them. Like, for instance, I'll never just go in and say here, let's start addressing your liver, let's start cleaning up the liver, because if you're not pooping every day and your bile isn't flowing, we are not going to want to start mobilizing toxins from the liver because they're not going to be able to actually get out of the body and they'll just end up recirculating and causing more problems. So there's definitely a step by step, layered approach to what we should do, but, like I said, there's some foundational things that are good for everybody and a lot of that stuff is just it's not even supplements.

Jaclyn:

I know you asked about the supplements, but it is the diet, the lifestyle stuff. Upgrade where you can, if you can afford to and you have the availability, go organic with especially the foods that you purchase the most often and then maybe try something like Epsom salts or castor oil packs or, you know, sauna if you have access to one. These are the kind of lifestyle things that can move the needle even more than targeted supplementation. Those are like the daily habits, you know, the small things that add up to make just as much of a difference, if not more of a difference, than, like, the high performance targeted supplements I love that and that's so practical and so relatable that any woman, regardless of her genetics, regardless of you know her being able to work with a practitioner like yourself.

Bindi:

You know these are things that everybody can start to optimize and that's, you know, optimizing your environment, like you said, getting out of mold, getting out of environments that are really toxic, dense your diet, your lifestyle, eating organic, these beautiful little daily habits that you shared of sauna and Epsom salt baths. Yeah, is there another one?

Jaclyn:

Blood sugar. That's a foundational one. I can't believe I didn't include that right away, but balancing your blood sugar is very, very one of the first steps. Even if you're not necessarily showing it on your blood work, your fasting glucose or your A1C, if you're still getting hangry or mid-afternoon slumps or feeling shaky or faint, you need to support your blood sugar and, like anytime there's any kind of period wonkiness there's, it's likely tied in with blood sugar dysregulation of some sort. So blood sugar is another foundational thing that we address.

Bindi:

Love that you added that one. That one's so important as well. I'm sure you have a similar. You've seen this version, but the hormone pyramid that I do is like first step is like cortisol, so it's like stress, you know lifestyle, those things. Then we get into blood sugar and insulin. Then we get into thyroid that's another one that I really comments is thyroid issues and then again the tip of the iceberg is the sex hormones and that's where you know those things kind of take care of themselves and we got all these other levels of hormones kind of in its place. So I love that.

Bindi:

And one thing that I was really hearing as you're sharing, is like it actually gets to be quite simple, right, like I'm imagining someone listening to this and it sounds big and complicated and I got to do this and I got to do this detox and I got to open up my detox pathways, balance that blood sugar. I'm also hearing that it's actually really simple that we're doing one of two things Either we have too much of something and we need to get that load down. We have too much toxins, too much mold, too much, you know, imbalance in our blood sugar, whatever it is, or we have deficiencies we have not enough of certain things, not enough of certain nutrients that our body needs to really have optimal fertility. So I love this possibility of, you know, being more simple in our minds. I know my mind likes to make this really complicated and make it this big thing, but, you know, I think there is possibility of just it being simple, of even diet, lifestyle supplementation. You know these types of things. What would you say to that? I?

Jaclyn:

think that you said it beautifully and, yes, that 100%. I agree with that and I have a chapter in my book that, regardless of whatever your genetic profile is, these are the things that you can do to improve your health, just based on things like making sure you're getting good quality sleep. And then there's like action steps. So if you have some sleep issues, maybe you know try this, this, this and this and it's not all supplements and stuff. A lot of it's lifestyle Also just getting your feet in the earth, getting out in the sunshine, drinking clean water. So these things, no matter what your genes dictate, these are things that are going to benefit everybody and optimize your genetic expression. So the more I learn and the more biochemical and genetic it gets. It really comes back to what's your level of stress. Are you doing something that brings you joy on a daily or weekly basis? Are you moving your body? Are you avoiding toxins? Are you getting good sleep? Are you getting out in the sun? Those kind of things.

Bindi:

I love that so much. So much of it is lifestyle and how we live our lives and how we feel in our bodies and our relationship to ourselves. And you know, of course, the functional medicine practitioner in me too is I love the diet and the nutrients and then, like the woman in me, is like we just need to feel happy and we need to feel safe in our bodies, and you know this part too, so I love that you spoke to that. Okay, one last little question for you before we move into our wrap up round is I'm curious, like when a woman that comes to you that has been struggling getting pregnant for months or years, you know, how common is it that you will help her in succeeding in getting pregnant and having a happy, healthy pregnancy, and how long does it really take? You know, if a woman is in that spot, what should she expect in terms of how long it takes to really get to that place?

Jaclyn:

My rule of thumb, I would say, on an average, let's work together for six months without you trying to conceive. Now, a lot of the women that come to me, they don't want to wait six months, they want it to happen now, and so I'm like, okay, can you give me three? Can we do three? We can be a little bit more aggressive, depending on where they are in this scale of things, of how sensitive they are or their toxicities. You know that kind of stuff.

Jaclyn:

But if it's just somebody that isn't sensitive to supplements and they can handle and they've been trying to be proactive about their health and they don't have any kind of MCAS or anything. We can get pretty proactive and aggressive, but ideally I would like to have at least six months before I give you the green light, because we will be stirring up toxins. If you want to get pregnant, then I don't even want to start stirring those toxins up, because those toxins 110% pass in utero and through breast milk too, and so I would rather just let sleeping dragons lie, if you know. If you just want to get pregnant now and you know you'll detox later, now I do say that is not being in the best service to your future child, because working together and seeing what toxins you have in the body will clear them out and that is less that you're passing on to your child, because that child will pass his or her lifetime of exposures onto their child, should they be fortunate enough to get pregnant.

Jaclyn:

And so I mean I've had some clients that you know they just had an initial consultation and I made a few recommendations and I get an email, you know.

Jaclyn:

And then there's other clients that I do really think we should take it slow and, like you know, your house was like riddled with mold, or the house you grew up in, or your toxins were extremely elevated.

Jaclyn:

So we can't just like go and really aggressively get rid of the toxins, and some people aren't able to do that, and so that takes time, and so I'd say ideally six months to a year, and that's. You were talking about preconception. Those clients are the unicorn clients, the ones that are like you know, I'm getting married this fall and I just want to start thinking about what I need to do, because we're probably going to want to have a baby in the next year or two and I'm just like, wow, you actually exist. So, even if you're not thinking about getting pregnant at all, just know that everything you do in your life and all of your exposures can affect your offspring, and so the sooner that you can start being proactive about your fertility, the better off. Your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and having a robust child that meets its full genetic potential is only going to be improved.

Bindi:

Yeah, I love that you spoke to that. Preconception clients are my favorite too. It's like there's no rush, there's no urgency and we can take our time to do that work. Like we've been just trained as a society that fertility is reactive, not proactive, right? The only time that so many people will ever start doing something about their fertility is when they can't conceive and they've been trying for months. Then they go to the practitioner and they're like what's wrong with me? And I just have such a firm philosophy is like I want this.

Bindi:

This is trimester zero guys, this is important. You know, we need to be talking about this. We need to have that time and space to really prepare our health, our bodies, to do the detoxification protocols like you mentioned. You know and I'm so cautious, Like I don't want to scare people if someone's already pregnant, it's okay. We're resilient and everything's figure out of all and, like babies act as natural cheerleaders, Right. So whatever toxic load heavy metals you know mama's holding onto in her system, it does get, you know, naturally passed on to the baby and that's why oftentimes, like what I've seen, a lot is like first, children in families have the most health issues because they really, you know, took on that toxic burden of the mother, and then the toxic load was less for the second and third child. So it's just interesting that I've noticed, you know, that little connection there. So that's a great takeaway from this episode is be proactive with your fertility plan and advance before you're ready to actually get pregnant. You know not being reactive with it. Would you add something to?

Jaclyn:

that I state in my book that most people spend more time and energy and intention preparing their child's nursery than they do preparing their baby to grow a whole, nother human being. And so I think that our priorities need to be switched, because in traditional cultures they had like if a woman was getting married, they placed her on a special diet so that she would have the nutrients to pass on to well, first off, to be fertile, and second, to pass on to the child. And I say in my book you can't pour from an empty cup. So in that first trimester, what you know, when you say well, when I get pregnant then I will start doing this, this or this or eating better, but in that first trimester, and all you want to do is eat crackers and bread or maybe you can't keep anything down, you need to have those nutrient reserves to pass on to the baby. So I love the whole preconception. That is definitely where my passion lies.

Bindi:

So well said. I love that. Well, I think this is a great spot for us to wrap up, jacqueline, I'm so grateful for all the wisdom that you shared with us, and we'll just wrap up with three little hot tip, rapid fire questions. Are you ready? Yes, okay. What is the number one thing that people can do to improve their wellness?

Jaclyn:

For me, I would say that it is avoiding toxins because we live in a toxic soup of a planet.

Jaclyn:

You may have ever even heard that saying before, when our bodies were created or designed or whatever your philosophy is, we didn't have a fraction of the toxins that we do today, and so our poor livers and kidneys just weren't designed to handle all of that. And again, our cells, especially our reproductive cells, are the first things to take a hit. But even if fertility is not something that's been on your mind, just avoiding the toxins, because they're like throwing wrenches in our biochemical pathways and they contribute to the inflammation and oxidative stress that all of our chronic issues are related to in part these days. So avoidance of toxins would be my final answer.

Bindi:

So agree, 100%, love that. Okay, what is your personal number one secret to living a vibrant life?

Jaclyn:

I think for me it is to find something that you love, that lights you up. Whether you know, for me it's roller skating, and so that's like. I'm moving my body, I'm a lot of times outside and it's just something that brings me joy. So find something that brings you joy and also, potentially, maybe, allows you to move your body in a loving way. I think that is just going to put you in that zone and keep the stress levels down and, plus, you're ideally outside, moving your body, getting fresh air. Even if you're not outside, you're still moving your body. We were just designed to do. We weren't designed to be sitting inside all day.

Bindi:

So well said. Couldn't agree more. Okay, and then tell us what is the number one book that if the entire world read it, the world would just be a happier, healthier, more beautiful place.

Jaclyn:

Well, that's really hard to say, just one. So I might just have to be shameless here and say my book, because, even though it's tailored towards the fertility community, like I said, it's looking at common but lesser known causes of inflammation that is at the root of all chronic issues today. And so, like you could have iron dysregulation that causes inflammation, fertility or not, we don't want to have iron being improperly used in the body. And then, like I said, there's all kinds of action steps for ways to mitigate stress and keep your body healthy and keep inflammation low, and also the benefit of that is going to be, you know, if we buy organic, for instance, then there's less chemicals going into our waterways and into our air, and so, you know, the earth will benefit as well as all of the people too.

Bindi:

Yeah, I love that so much and it's so interesting, like all of these things that you mentioned, like the root causes and the treatment protocol that you do. It's so similar to me and I'll do that in every case, right, whether someone's looking for better cognition, better sleep, better gut health, fertility it's like fertility is simply a woman's natural state of optimal health, right, it's not separate from her optimal health. So I love that. Of course, your book would be amazing for everyone because it's a guide to optimal health and fertility as a natural outcome of that. So we'll definitely link that up in the show notes as well. So tell us, jacqueline, where can our community find you online? If they want to work with you, tell us a bit of where they can find you.

Jaclyn:

So my website is just my name, jacqueline Downs, j-a-c-l-y-n, d-o-w-n-scom, and I do have a resources page as well that has links to work with me or to learn more about getting genetic interpretation or a kit, or, if you have a previous 23 and me, I have a little bit of information there about that and you can get my book on my website. And then, as far as social media goes, I am really not great at social media. I'm trying, but I'm not giving it 100%. But Instagram is where I'm most active and my handle is at functional fertility solutions.

Bindi:

Amazing, and we'll absolutely link all of that up in the show notes so people can connect with you. Well, Jacqueline, I'm so glad for you to share all of this wisdom with us today. I'm so grateful you are just such a wealth of knowledge and I'm so grateful to hear your perspective on such an important topic. So thank you so much again for being here today. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Jaclyn:

It's been an honor being here. Thank you so much for inviting me to be on.

Bindi:

Thanks so much for listening. If you loved today's episode, please spread the love by subscribing and leaving a review, or if there's someone in your life that you think could benefit from this conversation, please share this episode with them. I would love to hear from you over on Instagram at Bindi Stables, or visit my website, bindistablescom, to connect and work with me. Thank you so much again for being here, and I'm celebrating you in this journey of becoming the happiest, the healthiest, most vibrant you.