Last week’s Mind/Body Fertility topic was Nutrition and Exercise. It’s a hot topic. Food is a huge emotional element in most of our lives. I’m sure many cultures have no translation for “comfort food”. When The Fertility Diet came out, I had my hands full trying to explain that there is no, one, fertility diet. I felt bad for all the women who may have made themselves sick drinking whole milk and eating ice cream when they were lactose intolerant.

I have the women in my group keep a food journal for the first four weeks of the 10-session workshop. You need to know where you are before you can figure out where you need to go, what changes if any, to make, what you need less of in your diet and what you may need more of. Patterns are also revealed when with food journaling: late night eating, snacking more than you thought, and where are my vegetables? I know I must have eaten some yesterday…

Marva Makle, our guest speaker (http://marva-makle.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/) and holistic health counselor, advised, as I do, to get as much of your nutrition as possible from real, whole foods: fresh, organic when possible, fruits, vegetable and whole grains. But like I said before, people develop emotional and real, physiological addictions to food. Sugar is addictive. Caffeine is addictive. MSG and “natural flavors” have addictive elements which make it very difficult to make more healthy choices. Food journaling brings habits to the surface so that we can begin to make conscious choices, rather than habitual, mindless feeding frenzies, pardon the exaggeration if that’s the case.

After analyzing the two week food journal, you can take small steps to improve your nourishment. Crowding out is a technique that Marva introduced to the group. When you prioritize and eat the healthy whole foods first, you don’t have room and begin to have less desire for the sugar/salt/processed habits of the past. Our bodies know what to do with and how to process and utilize plant based molecules. Doritos, not so much. Now that you’ve determined what you are able to do, you may decide that you simply will not or cannot get enough of some nutrients. That is why I researched and published the information about Coenzyme-Q10 on the Heal from Within facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heal-from-Within/186617358038703).

Coenzyme Q10 is available from three basic types of foods: (1) fish; (2) organ meats, including liver, kidney and heart; and (3) the germs of whole grains. The most concentrated sources of Co-Q10 – like heart or kidney – contain about 2-3 milligrams of coenzyme Q per ounce of heart or kidney. The germs of grains, while containing less coenzyme Q per ounce, also contain vitamin E in amounts of 5-10 IU per ounce, and this vitamin E works together with coenzyme Qc in the body. Co-Q10 is difficult to acquire for vegetarians.
Co-Q10 nourishes cellular mitochondria. Have you been told that your eggs are “old”? Oocytes are cells that mature into eggs. Recent studies confirm the benefits of Co-Q10 for a number of cardiac conditions, migraine prevention, protection against neurological damage from stroke, boosts the immune system…

Since 1957, nearly 5,000 research studies on Coenzyme-Q10 have been published documenting the therapeutic power of CoQ10 to thwart degenerative disease by boosting mitochondrial health and bioenergetic capacity (http://www.oilofpisces.com/coenzyme_Q10news.htm) . It may be a long time before studies are financed that examine the benefits of Co-Q10 to oocytes. Why wait?

For more information on the Mind/Body Fertility Workshops, go to: http://www.Heal-from-Within.com/workshops.