Unlock Your Fertility: Nourish & Renew

Welcome to the Beyond Infertility Summit. It's so great to have you here, and I'm very excited to chat about something that I think is a wonderful tool for hormones and fertility, which is ProLon and fasting through ProLon Do you find that fasting, intermittent fasting, or the array of fasting that's available is helpful for women who are trying to get pregnant?

Hi. First of all, it's nice to be able. So I do find intermittent fasting helpful for some women. For some women, it can really stress their adrenals.

It can stress their thyroid And these are areas that I often find need a lot of TLC to be able to conceive. I often find if I had to like, just pick the top couple of things that are getting in the way.

I would say could be low thyroid function that hasn't been recognized, low progesterone, adrenal stress and nutrient deficiencies. And so intermittent fasting is not like a yes.

At least, you know, my practice is not like 100%. Everyone needs to do this. But interestingly enough, ProLon is something that everyone needs to do this.

And I like you I'm a naturopathic physician. And I remember and it was years ago when I first got introduced to ProLon and I kind of rolled my eyes and I was like, oh, I. Do to This.

So when trying to sell me something that they're saying, you know, here's a kit and it's one size fits all, but I do have an open mind. So I took a look and I was actually oh, okay, I gotta unroll my eyes because this actually makes a lot of sense.

And I mean, Valter Longo and University of Southern California. I mean, they just done extensive research and studying and put so much energy and attention into this project that it really makes sense.

And so one of the things with intermittent fasting is you never get to autophagy. And with ProLon you get to autophagy while you're eating a choco crisp bar.

And so yeah, it's doable because me personally, I've never been a good faster. It's like my adrenals are like, no, you're not doing this. And you can't just go on fast for five days.

But I and many of my patients have been able to tolerate and actually thrive during a ProLon fast. And so it is something that I think is a really important piece because autophagy, the cleansing out of the dead cells and proteins that need to go that are interfering with the body, interfering with absorption of nutrients is a real key player in getting ready to get pregnant.

So if you're already pregnant, right, you're not going to do this. But we're talking about you've been trying to get pregnant. It's not working. Or, you know, maybe you're just here because you're like, I just want to learn about other things I can do to enhance.

And I know I always get really excited. And like, I had a patient come in the other day and she was like, I just want to stay healthy. And I get really excited and I get it.

And when a woman comes in and says, I want to get pregnant in a year or two and I want to do this pre-conception what can I do to make my body the healthiest place to grow this baby?

And so pre-conception or if you're having trouble, some of the reasons we can have trouble are things I mentioned before, but we can also have insulin sensitivity.

We can have insulin resistance, which is common with PCOS, but also on its own. If you're carrying around too much weight, if you have hypertension, if you're inflammatory markers are high, if you're not in the right nutrients and we can if you want me to dig deeper into each of those, I'm happy.

But all of these cardio metabolic processes are really key players and can be impacting your ability to conceive. And so ProLon in five days a month, because when you start, I typically like a woman to do a kit, which is a five day.

I mean, I guess you could say six day because the six day you're kind of coming off of it once a month for three months. And if you are struggling with excess weight or with these high inflammatory markers, this can be a really wonderful and effective way to get those markers to get some weight off of you.

And also, I think one of the things I always talk about when I'm talking about ProLon to my patients also is as women, a lot of us, if not all of us to some degree have some kind of eating.

You know, mishap disorder, whatever you want to call it. We've been taught by the media, by society, maybe by our parents, by our siblings, by our peers.

Every woman has, you know, we too much. We do it all. We don't eat the right things. We eat to stuff our feelings and one of the things that's not even just on a physiological, you know, we can measure in the blood work, but is that ProLon one of the biggest things I've noticed personally and feedback I've gotten over the years from patients is like, wow, it really changed my cravings.

It changed the way they eat. It changed the way I interact with food. And so that is is such a huge blessing when you're trying to get pregnant, to get your relationship with food handle because we need you eating a healthy, nutritious diet that's really going to feed your own body and feed your growing baby.

So what is it about ProLon that's helping with that? Changing the relationship to food? Because I've had that experience. I've done ProLon a few times and very much enjoy it, minus the shake, which we'll talk about in a minute.

but it's been fascinating to come out of that and say, oh, wow, like I have left food cravings can see a significant difference in my my satisfaction of food response.

And like, I know that's a specific hormone, leptin. And I feel like it's working on the leptin receptors or something. But that was my experience was like, oh, I'm not.

I don't eat as much. Like I feel satisfied way sooner after a ProLon fast. So what is it doing? Well, I think some of that and you know, I'm a clinician, so I don't work for ProLon.

I didn't do the research, to be clear. I just love them as a doctor. But I think they really you can't because of course my brain went, well, why can't I just reproduce this on my own?

You know, I'll just eat some crackers and have a cup of soup. But they really spent a lot of time, energy, brainpower into figuring out these specific macronutrients that you can still be eating.

Because this is a fasting, a water that I'm water mimicking fasting diets. So you're getting all the benefits of a water fast, but you're still getting to eat.

So I think part of that is like you're fasting, but you're not fasting, and you're realizing that you can be full on a lot less food, because how many of us you know, I'm guilty of this sometimes, right?

We're cooking dinner and we're snacking, and it's like, I've eaten like seven times the amount of the ProLon meal while I'm just, you know, and then the dinner goes on the table.

And so I think it really makes you, like, appreciate your food, sit down, be present with your food. I always tell patients to really be, you know, don't eat, don't eat your ProLon meal while you're scrolling on your phone or you're watching TV or reading a magazine.

Like, really be present with it. Because one of the things that comes out of it is that we don't need as much food as we think we do. And I'm not saying, you know, we need to starve ourselves, but when we properly true to our food, when we properly sit down and breathe and we're in a parasympathetic state and we're more regulated nervous system wise, we can get fuller and not need so much food.

And I think you can learn that because often if you're just eating and you have unlimited portions, you like eat and you're like, I want more, you eat and we forget that there's a Japanese term for it.

I think it's Igikai or something, but it's like eating till we're 70% full and then pushing away. And then and I always say like if well, not when you're a problem.

But in general if you're still hungry, like go back and eat. But most of the time if you stop instead of eating till you're like, oh, I hate so much, my stomach hurts.

If you stop at 70% after a 20 minutes, you'll notice, oh well, I'm good. I'm not really that hungry anymore. And ProLon starts to change our relationship.

It starts to make us understand that we can eat less and almost like, eat less and be fed more is how I look at it. Yeah, absolutely. So cool. Earlier you were talking about autophagy and the clearing away of these dead cells in our body.

For those of the people that are listening that are like, what the heck is that? And what are you talking about? let's just break down what this means.

Why why this is a beneficial thing to focus on. So I kind of explain autophagy. It's just kind of like the street sweepers coming through because we talk a lot about toxins and we have all these external toxins, whether it be heavy metals or emfs and Wi-Fi or plastics or I'm sure you've gotten into, it's hard to have a conversation about infertility with, not without.

Talking about toxins. Yeah, right. For sure. But we have these internal toxins, right? Like metabolic byproducts or cells that are just done or haven't been fed properly.

And so autophagy is this internal process then cleans it out. It's okay. We're going to sweep out the cells that are no longer functioning so we can rejuvenate, grow new cells, strengthen our mind.

Okay Andrea. So that we can become, you know, bigger and better and healthier. And so when we fast, when we get to day three and I love proline, it kind of, you know, they give you like on the each box.

It's such a great it's really put together nice. It's like in this wonderful box five boxes for each day and on is kind of like today you're entering autophagy.

Go you. And so when we get to day three we get there because we've been fasting. We're now into the third day and that's why I was saying with intermittent fasting you never get there because you fast.

But then you eat and you fast and then you eat. And so we need that length of time, which is why water fasting has been touted, because it does give us those benefits.

But water fasting can be dangerous. It can be very dangerous at depleting your minerals very quickly. And I highly do not recommend it if you're going to try to get pregnant.

Yeah. Yes. Again, this is a water fasting mimicking diet. So like how cool is that? You get the benefits of a water fast because there are that's but you get it while eating safely.

You're maintaining your muscle. That's one of the beautiful things about proline. Don't lose muscle while you're fasting. You can go about your life, right?

You can were can, you know, you might feel like a little off one day. You know, you have to make sure to stay hydrated. That's really important. Toned down your workouts, but you can really get on with your life.

And a lot of patients report like, oh, by the time autophagy kicks in and all, they're like, I'm feeling really good. So it's a great way to just kind of tell your body, we're going to do a little cleaning because we're getting ready to expect big things from you, or little things to big things like.

Yeah, yeah. So I have to admit, I've used proline with clients specifically that need metabolic support or blood sugar reset insulin like the kind of like metabolic dysfunction that a lot of people experience, or they're having difficulty losing weight and their IVF doctor is like, you need to lose 40 pounds really fast.

And they come to me crying because they're like, how do I lose 40 pounds? I can barely lose one right here. Right? And so those are the things that usually for me, I'm like, well, let's do a protein fast and maybe a series of fast to try to get the weight off, reset your metabolism.

All of that are there. As you were talking though, I was like, I wonder if the benefits are broader ranging than that and potentially like applicable to a broader group of people that are struggling with fertility.

Yeah. To me, I think, you know, and I don't believe proline has done any specific studies on it. But honestly, like a clinician, I'm like, you know, put me in the trenches and let me see what happens.

And I think it is very broad reaching, even if it's just to kind of give the body an overhaul, especially if you've been struggling and don't know what's going on.

You know, maybe your mitochondria need a little bit of a turnover or your cells or your gut needs a break because you've been eating too much or you've been eating the wrong kinds of foods.

And so proline is very anti-inflammatory. It is gluten free, dairy free. So I love that it you know, I'm like, I don't understand why the billboard for proline doesn't say like fast, decrease inflammation, lose weight, change your experience food, any chocolate while you're doing. It right or just have like someone eating chocolate while it says all of those things and you think.

To me, I don't know, I always focus on that because you know, I mean, I like a little chocolate every now and then and the fact that you get have chocolate bar.

And to add to that, like, I actually love their soups. Like love them, I'm like, can I just have a whole bowl of this a lot? Like I would eat it does.

I know what we love and we have so there's, you know, they've been through a few generations. So the new generation soups because we used to love the tomato from the first generation.

The tomatoes awesome. The keto one is really delicious. Here's the tomato. And the kale crackers are like, we could eat this all day long. And then the new generation of soups there's like curry and leeks and yeah, they really are delicious and interest.

So one of the things I often hear. So if you have a nut allergy because this has come up in my practice, like unfortunately you can't do the cleanse. There's just too much on nuts.

But the other thing I hear all the time is I don't like olives, so I don't want to, but I don't like olives, so I pretty much like everything. But I do not like olives.

I will like, pick them out in, like, or donate them dinner table. But when I first did Pro Ella and they were like, just try the olives. And I was like, fine, I'll try them.

And like by the end I was like drinking the juice out of the bag. Those olives are so tasty. And I don't know if it's also because you're just a little more hungry, but not have to, like, you know, shovel them down and like, run for water.

They're really enjoyable. So that comes up lot. I'm not going to do it because I don't like olives. But trust me, I'm with you. I don't need olives anywhere else.

But I eat the prolong all thing. Yeah. the other thing I've heard is or and experienced I would say is that like drink that you have to drink every night.

What is up with that drink? You know, tell us how to make it taste better. I don't think I stabilize your blood sugars, so it is important. What I do is I take the hibiscus tea and a mint tea and I put them in the cup they give you to drink it, and it totally transforms the flavor because now you're drinking like it overcomes it.

So you're drinking hibiscus and mint and you can do just a bisque. I do sometimes I do all the hibiscus, sometimes I do mint, sometimes I do hibiscus and mint, but it really makes it palatable.

And I actually end up even enjoying. So I think there's lots of little hacks on how you can do things. I saw someone in one of the proline groups that I saw on Facebook, where they took their olives and a martini glass and like some water, and then pretended like they were drinking a dirty martini.

That was like clever. So, you know, and you can split up your crackers on the day you have crackers. You can dip them in the soup. You can, you know, it's lots of different ways to stretch the food if you feel hungry.

I've actually found just doing it exactly as they tell you to do. It really works well, and it's satiating and it gets you through to the next time and making sure you're staying hydrated.

You're drinking the tears. It's also nice because you get to take a supplement break. I, you know, other than if my patients are on hormones, I tell them to stop all their supplements.

You do get a few supplements in the proline kit, and I say, just take those and take a break from your supplements for the few date. So and like you can do anything for five days.

And then when you're like you feel good, it's like you create these positive neural pathways where you're like, I can do this, I'm a winner, I can do this.

And so there's really, you know, no detriment and so much on the upside and can really be a contributing factor. I mean, and you know, you could do Perl on and that could be the key that was missing for you when you get pregnant.

Or you could do prolonged and it can be part of a comprehensive, protocol that you're doing in order to conceive. And so definitely more again, you know, I'll just reiterate, like the cardio metabolic issues.

So if you're carrying too much weight, you know, if you're having insulin issues. So you really want to make sure you're having your bloodwork checked.

You want to see your C-reactive protein. You want to see your triglycerides. You want to see your insulin. You want to see your homocysteine. You want to see your fibrinogen.

You want to see an iron panel with five, with Maritain. And so if there's issues with those, I have had amazing results. And I'm, you know, I might be doing some things on the side, maybe some methylated bees or fish oil, whatever is needed.

But doing the proline three months in a row, you will see changes in those blood markers. And that could be what's in the way of you conceiving. Yeah I think that for so many people it's the toxins, the inflammation, the metabolic issues and all of those get addressed through doing something like this.

So certainly I see the benefits of incorporating this into a bigger strategy or plan. Yeah. It's really like I said you know it's like one of those one size fits all.

I usually, you know, roll my eyes. But this is really a one size fits all that can really benefit you and has so much upside and is not, you know, if you're afraid or if fasting has been something that, you know, it's a really good entry way with so much benefit.

Yeah. So I want to get into just a few things that I hear too often. One is what you just said, I can't fast my body does not like it when I fast. Can you speak to that?

Yeah. I mean, you know, when you have a hard time fasting, it could be that you're carrying too much toxins and your body just starts to get flooded. Or it could be that, you know, your adrenals or, you know, are depleted and they just can't handle not having any nutrients coming in, having any protein coming in.

And so this is I had failed so many fasting attempts throughout my life. And when I was able to do this, I was like, oh my God, it's amazing. So it really the ability to eat some food and nurture you can really help your body get through.

So if you think that you can follow in my footsteps and be a proficient pro, learn fast, or even though other types of fast don't work for you. Awesome, awesome. Yeah.

And then the other thing I get sometimes is, my God, cane sugar that's in you in these bars. Are you sure you want me to do this? And part of me is like, it's a really small amount, but I'm curious what you say to that.

Yeah, I, you know, I think I actually had an astrologer told me like, years ago, we were talking about relationships, and she was like, you know, if they if like 80% of the relationship is good and 20%, maybe then you're doing okay, you're never going to get and that's it.

And I think with ProLon because I have heard that to this is more sugar than I eat or I don't usually so many carb kind of things. Right. Because there's like brown I think it's brown rice flour like this flours in this and then you're getting crackers and so on.

I think sometimes we get in our own way. So it's like it's only five days. Think about all the benefits you can go back to is I also like I don't eat flour or I don't eat crackers.

I'm pretty grain free in my life or what I'm on ProLon I'm like, oh, there's little, you know, different than I'm used to eating, but I step aside. Oh, it's a little cane sugar, like you said, it's a little bit.

And it's all of the big picture. It's all, you know, Valter Longo, who created it, and Dr. Antoun, who runs company. Now, you know, they you know, Valter Longo has the book about the longevity diet, and it's all about healthy eating.

So there's trust that there's a reason why they did what they did. And it's all working to give you that mimicking experience of a fast water fasting diet.

And sometimes we like we sabotage ourselves because we're so right. So think of the astrologer, think of the really, you know, 80%, 20%. So if you eat a little cane sugar, you know, in the you don't even get a chocolate crisp bar every day, right?

There's is you have to go without. You know, choco crisp bar. I'll tell you that right now I don't want to have false expectations, but the benefits are so far reaching and it's not like you're going to eat that.

And now you're going to, you know, like we said in the beginning, your cravings are going to change. And so what always happens for me, because I think it's human nature, right?

We're told we can't have something or do something or have someone and then we want it even more. And so like when I'm doing the ProLon cleanse, it's a, you know, a bad day three or whatever.

I start like, I don't know, I start fixating on like, oh my God, I really got to have sushi. I can't wait to have sushi. Or sometimes it's just even something weird, like, I want a piece of salmon and some asparagus so it doesn't even have to be like an unhealthy food necessarily.

But I'll start thinking about and be like, well, day six is almost here. You know, when day six comes, I'm going to go have big bowl of sushi or whatever it is I'm thinking E6 comes and it's like the magic happens and every time.

And it happens to patients too, because they tell me the same thing. It's like day six comes and you're just like, oh yeah, that's like, now that, you know, you can have it, you don't even want it.

It was a big piece of cake or whatever it was. It's like it just happens. It's this internal change. And then you also, you know, you can't eat so much because your stomach is not used.

You know, it's shrunk and it's it's like no. And so coming you know day six is important. That transition day is important. But staying with the small portions the healthy meals, the clean, you know I like animal protein.

So you know there's no animal protein. So for those of you that don't like animal protein, you know, you don't even have a problem with that. And for those of you that do have animal protein and are going to say, wait, there's no animal protein, I need my meat five days, right?

Yeah. You'll be okay for five days. I'm up. Hey, you know, you can have a piece of meat or a piece of fish or whatever on day six, but yeah, really is when we start to break it down and we think about it for a few days, you get a lot of benefit.

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Is there from the clinical side, is there anyone that you would say should not do a, ProLon fast like this? Yeah. That's a I'm glad you asked that.

Yeah. So obviously, you know, if you are pregnant or you're nursing, I wouldn't do this. And if you are underweight. So we've talked a lot if you need to lose weight, but if you're underweight and having a hard time conceiving, you know, you might actually need to put on some weight and so I wouldn't recommend this for you as well.

And then, of course, you know, if you have an actual, medical diagnosis, you know, I'm a doctor, but I'm not your doctor. Right? So you just want to check physician and make sure it's safe for you to do.

Okay. Great. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. This was really fun. And I am excited that I got to ask all of my random, ProLon questions.

It's fine. I appreciate you being here and supporting us in this. So it's really lovely to be able to share this information with so many women out there that need it.

Thanks for having me. Thank you.