Anonymous wrote:To PP's questioning the legitimacy of eating clean and changing cosmetic products - It Starts With The Egg contains a TON of research on all of that. Part of what makes to book so good is because the findings are all research based.

Not all research is equal. There is no medical consensus on these, meaning there are studies that show no link and/or inconclusive studies as well, in addition to the ones she cites in the book.

To PP's questioning the legitimacy of eating clean and changing cosmetic products - It Starts With The Egg contains a TON of research on all of that. Part of what makes to book so good is because the findings are all research based.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have very similar stats; my FSH and AMH are bit lower and I am a bit older.
I would read it starts with the egg. She also recommends DHEA, vitamin c and vitamin E.

Op here - thanks for the recommendation. Ordered it through Amazon this afternoon.

Op here - just wanted to tell the poster who recommended this book that it is excellent. I've really enjoyed reading it. I already do Ubiquinol and for now that is all I am willing to do but did appreciate her insight into the other supplements. The reason I am proceeding more cautiously is because leading up to my second IVF cycle I decided to add both ubiquinol and l-arginine based on some of the research I read on CCRM's site. Now I was not DOR - in fact I produced a large amount of eggs during my first IVF cycle (17) and 12 in my second IVF. But I am sure (and now her book has confirmed) that l-arginine messed me up royally! All 12 of my eggs were mature. I had a beautiful cycle. beautiful estrogen - but then only 4 of the 12 fertilized. I had fragmentation this cycle which I had none of the previous cycle. In the end, I was still blessed that one of those embryos gave me my DS but since then I have elected to proceed extremely cautiously. Even wheatgrass which I used to do, I've let that go. I'm going to focus on reducing sugar from my diet again as post-delivery I became quite a coke feign just to stay up and give myself energy.

NP. The whole changing your shampoo/conditioner/bodywash thing never made much sense to me because it's getting washed off within a minute or two anyway. How much exposure could I REALLY obtain in that time? I did change my lotions as that stays on my skin and who knows what and how much is absorbed.

Anonymous wrote:PP do you have any medical studies/personal stories that suggest cosmetic products could make a difference in egg quality/fertility? I think most RE's are very skeptical of this for good reason, as they know of no scientific evidence supporting this. I say this as someone who was desperately looking for answers and went this route for a while, but i just don't think the science/evidence backs this up. At a very extreme interpretation you could possibly make the argument that synthetic hormones in some products might be affecting young children and therefore should be avoided in pregnancy or nursing, and yes, its better for the environment overall, BUT giving the idea that switching shampoos could boost your fertility is really just giving false hope out. And it clouds the real medical issues that can and should be addressed. people can be very vulnerable in the IF struggle, please be conscious of what you are suggesting. and don't just say 'it can't hurt.' if you want to talk about how it worked for you, than i do think that's worth hearing.

Agree 100%. Also, there is no such thing as "clean" eating. All food is "dirty" in some way--where do you think vegetables come from? Bugs and dirt are par for the course, not to mention pesticides, herbicides etc.

PP do you have any medical studies/personal stories that suggest cosmetic products could make a difference in egg quality/fertility? I think most RE's are very skeptical of this for good reason, as they know of no scientific evidence supporting this. I say this as someone who was desperately looking for answers and went this route for a while, but i just don't think the science/evidence backs this up. At a very extreme interpretation you could possibly make the argument that synthetic hormones in some products might be affecting young children and therefore should be avoided in pregnancy or nursing, and yes, its better for the environment overall, BUT giving the idea that switching shampoos could boost your fertility is really just giving false hope out. And it clouds the real medical issues that can and should be addressed. people can be very vulnerable in the IF struggle, please be conscious of what you are suggesting. and don't just say 'it can't hurt.' if you want to talk about how it worked for you, than i do think that's worth hearing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should be eating as clean and healthily as possible. As much natural healthy fats (avocado, fatty fish, olive oil) and as few sugars as possible, and zero artificial ingredients. Tons and tons of veggies. Exercise every day. Cut out anything with phthalates and hormone disrupters (switch shampoo & conditioner, switch makeup, don't heat anything in plastic).

Which brands of shampoo and conditioner and make-up are considered clean/healthy?

Check out scores on http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Anonymous wrote:You should be eating as clean and healthily as possible. As much natural healthy fats (avocado, fatty fish, olive oil) and as few sugars as possible, and zero artificial ingredients. Tons and tons of veggies. Exercise every day. Cut out anything with phthalates and hormone disrupters (switch shampoo & conditioner, switch makeup, don't heat anything in plastic).

Which brands of shampoo and conditioner and make-up are considered clean/healthy?

You should be eating as clean and healthily as possible. As much natural healthy fats (avocado, fatty fish, olive oil) and as few sugars as possible, and zero artificial ingredients. Tons and tons of veggies. Exercise every day. Cut out anything with phthalates and hormone disrupters (switch shampoo & conditioner, switch makeup, don't heat anything in plastic).