The In-Between with Elizabeth Cheney

In-Between: Women's Wellness & Your Fertility with Dr. Bhavna Singh ND

• Elizabeth Cheney • Episode 103

Share episode

Week Three of the Women's Wellness Series welcomes back Dr. Bhavna Singh to The In-Between. For those not caught up, Dr. Singh is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Ayurvedic Practitioner.

 **Please note that topics and information discussed in this week's episode are for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional or personalized medical advice.** 

 Bhavna is talking all things Women’s Wellness – from fertility, egg quality, our monthly cycle, there is so much to cover!  
Here's a look at this week's episode topics:

  • Women’s wellness and conventional medicine
  • Infertility – what is it? 
    • Being diagnosed 
    • Causes 
    • B’s take on “unexplained” infertility
  • Preconception Planning
  • Testing your fertility
    • IVF vs functional approach
  • Freezing your eggs
  • Egg health
    • Quality vs quantity
    • Ways to improve
  • PCOS
    • What is it? 
    • Ways to improve 
  • PCOS diagnosis post-partum
  • Women’s monthly cycle 101 
    • Learn the different phases and what’s going on with your body
    • Seed cycling
  • Non-hormonal contraceptives
  • Preparing your children for puberty – things you can do now


 If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Singh, check out her website: https://drbhavnasingh.com/.
You can  follow her on Instagram @dr.bhavnasingh  for health tips and free downloads.
Her supplement company is called Ojas Nutraceuticals -  https://www.ojasnutra.com/.

Connect with me:
https://in-between.co
@in.betweenpod on Instagram
@elizabethcheney_ on Instagram
@theinbetweenpodcast on TikTok
The In-Between Podcast on YouTube

Elizabeth Cheney:

Hey everyone, Elizabeth here. Before we begin today's episode, I just wanted to say topics information discussed in today's episode is for educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized or professional medical advice. All right, now let's begin. Hey, hey, hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the in between podcast. I'm your host, Elizabeth Cheney. And guess what? Dr. Bhavna Singh is back. Yes. Remember we talked about the two part special. So she was on last week talking about all things, hormones, gut health, wellness, holistic health, just. Honestly, I'm still decompressing from that episode and digesting everything, but she is back and this week We are talking about fertility women's health hormones Just oh, yeah, everyone's favorite topic and I thought how fitting to talk about it women's history month So for those who didn't catch dr. Bhavna Singh on last week's episode She is a naturopathic doctor who is also an Ayurveda practitioner and just overall pretty incredible human being. So dr. Bhavna Singh I know I'm always like, Dr. Bhavna Singh, I need to like, calm down. I'm just like, so excited. But Bhavna, thanks. Welcome back to the podcast again.

Bhavna Singh:

Thank you. Thanks for having me here. I'm so excited to talk about fertility today.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I know when we were prepping this episode, you were like, I love talking about this stuff. I could just go on and on. So I was like, well, then I think I picked the right person to talk about this with. Because guess what, guys? I have no idea about any of it. Yay.

Bhavna Singh:

people don't because we are not taught about our fertility and our cycles and just really anything on how to take care of our bodies. It's like, oh okay, you're, something's wrong with you and then you start taking care of yourself. But we can definitely get ahead of a lot of things if we have the right knowledge.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Really? Well, that's great, because I personally am tired of going to the doctor saying, hey, I'm having this problem. How do I fix it? Birth control. Birth control. Not okay. Hey doc, I'm having this problem. How do I fix it? Birth control. And I'm like, okay, where's birth control to answer to everything? So, yes, I would love some knowledge information. Um, okay, so let's just first start off what is fertility? Like, is it hormones? Is it your egg count? Is that all the same thing? Like when people say, are we testing your fertility? What does that mean?

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. So there's a lot of factors that go into someone being fertile or infertile. So when you're given the infertility diagnosis, you're basically unable to get pregnant, when you've been trying for one year. So that's what it actually means. And if you're 35, the cutoff is six months. So you go six months, you're trying and you're unable to get pregnant. And then another way you can be diagnosed with infertility is you have recurrent miscarriages. So something that I heard from another person in the fertility space is that we should be planning for our preconception time, just like we plan for our weddings. So most people, you know, you're planning for your wedding like a year, two years in advance. And then when it's time to get pregnant, it's like, okay, why am I not pregnant already? Well, you really have to plan for this.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay. This is the first time I've heard this.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so like there's a lot that goes into preconception planning. So there's a few things that cause infertility. So one of them, hormonal imbalances, obviously like changes in your cycle, you're not ovulating estrogen, progesterone issues. Your period is not regular due to like maybe you have PCOS or like you have endometriosis or you have any other type of cycle issue. Okay. And then you could also be having egg quality issues. So like poor egg quality and people always think Oh, we want a lot of eggs that will help us, increase our chances, whatever the number of eggs doesn't really matter as much. You want to improve the egg quality. So one of the most common of poor egg quality is actually PCOS. And PCOS is one of the most common causes for infertility. And PCOS So that kind of goes hand in hand. And then there's also if you have premature ovarian failure, which is when you lose your eggs before age 40. So that can happen to some people. It's like kind of rare that, you're being diagnosed with ovarian failure. So if you're kind of like before that, there's so many things that we can do with improving your egg quality. And then. Yeah, and then you could also have just like actual issues with your uterus. The biggest one is endometriosis, where the endometrium, like the lining, the tissue that lines the uterus, ends up growing outside of the uterus.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh my gosh.

Bhavna Singh:

it's insane. there was a story about this girl who had endometriosis, and the tissue lining ended up traveling randomly, and it ended up in her nose. And every month

Elizabeth Cheney:

Bob. I did

Bhavna Singh:

I know! Every month, like, when she had her period. I know! It's crazy! It's

Elizabeth Cheney:

insane thing I've ever heard. What?

Bhavna Singh:

is! Yeah, and she's like, every month, like, I get these nosebleeds.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I just need to take a moment. Just take a moment.

Bhavna Singh:

I know. The body's insane.

Elizabeth Cheney:

that's insane. That's, uh, that's a new one. Okay. Sorry, sorry everybody. I just, that, that truly shook me. I could not imagine.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so, you know, like, there's a lot that can go on with the body. It's like, can you just work right? That would be ideal.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah, that, that like, let's let the brain and the body all sync together and like work efficiently. Thank you so much.

Bhavna Singh:

Yes. So, Uh, endometriosis is an issue, and for some people, like the actual uterine wall might not be thick enough to support implantation, like your wall might be thinner, and then, your cervix itself could also potentially not be producing sufficient cervical mucus, cervical fluid to nourish the sperm along its path. So there's like There's so many things and then there's also like infections you have like STDs You have pelvic inflammatory disease from all of that And then you have like structural issues like there could be a fibroid blocking implantation Then you could also have the best term in the world unexplained infertility

Elizabeth Cheney:

I was

Bhavna Singh:

which

Elizabeth Cheney:

that one. Our favorite.

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, which to me is You It's like a really lazy and stupid diagnosis

Elizabeth Cheney:

It's a cop out, I feel like.

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, like why is it unexplained like explain it to me, you know

Elizabeth Cheney:

So what's your take on that? Oh,

Bhavna Singh:

So like are there a lot of environmental toxins that could be causing it endocrine disruptors like really smelly things Like candles, like those Febreze, and whatever else, like, are you just around a lot of toxins? Blood sugar imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, do you have like a shift work schedule where you're awake all night and sleeping during the day? That impacts fertility, going against the circadian rhythm. So there's just like a lot that can go into unexplained fertility and it's really limited by what conventional medicine can offer because they don't know, so they don't test for it.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Interesting. Hints why birth control is the answer to everything.

Bhavna Singh:

exactly.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Also everyone listening, this is not, any kind of medical direction. We're just talking. She's sharing her expertise, so if you are curious about anything that we're talking about, please go talk to your provider or reach out to Dr. Bhavna Singh. You know, personally, she will, leave her handles on social media at the end of this episode, just want to put that disclaimer really quick. but you just explained so many things as to what could be causing issues in becoming pregnant and getting pregnant. I'm sure some of them take a little trial and error of figuring out and like you said, the year to six months, which, it's kind of unfortunate that they make you wait a year. Because like, what if you wait a year and it's something that you literally could not have fixed. Like, you're going to need a procedure to actually resolve the problem. Why is it a year? I'm kind of getting off topic for a bit, but I do want to ask that question.

Bhavna Singh:

I mean, I don't know. That's just kind of what like the, like the ACOG, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, it's like, you know, like these guidelines are constantly changing and it's just what, they have seen in conventional medicine and they're like, okay, this is it. So it's not really a diagnosis that Has anything to it other than like a bunch of people decided that this was gonna be a guideline

Elizabeth Cheney:

Got it. Got it. I'm just curious.

Bhavna Singh:

like they're thinking with that was Every couple should have the opportunity to try to get pregnant and blah blah blah blah blah and then you come in which You in my eyes is completely wrong like go to the right people before because the average couple is spending what like 65 70 80 thousand dollars on like fertility treatments

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah.

Bhavna Singh:

and like they may even then they may or may not work why don't you for you know like a fraction of that work with a functional medicine person and really get down to like a good pre conception plan in my eyes, you should be working on your preconception ideally for at least three months, but ideally for six.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay. So, on that note, the preconception plan, out of all the things that you said that could cause infertility, what are things that you can do? Like, is there tests you can take? Because like I've heard of modern fertility, I see it on social media it's like an at home test kit. I asked my primary care physician, he's like, I can't test your fertility. And I'll, I'll just go out and say it, I am ignorant, I will gladly wave the person who doesn't know anything flag. So I thought it was just a blood test, is it a pee test? So first start with fertility testing and then let's talk the preconception plan.

Bhavna Singh:

Okay, cool, yeah, so, I mean, in the conventional world, they don't really offer much when it comes to Testing your fertility. I mean, beyond, like, a regular blood test, metabolic panel, ovulation test strips, there really isn't that much. Like, there is a test called AMH. That's anti malarian hormone test, and that tests your ovarian reserve, but that doesn't really mean anything. As far as conventional medicine goes, yeah, they don't really offer much in the way of fertility testing. So, you're like, okay, bye primary care, bye OBGYN, and then you step over into the fun side of functional medicine.

Elizabeth Cheney:

That's where I'm going to be.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, and you go here, and then we have all sorts of options for testing. So, we have something called the Cycle Mapping Plus from the DUTCH test. So, the DUTCH test is, stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones. So, it tests hormone metabolites in your urine, and for the Cycle Mapping one, you're basically testing every single day. So it evaluates fluctuating hormones and it assesses hormonal imbalances that would otherwise go unnoticed in any routine blood work. And it can also help detect any issues with the circadian rhythm. It tests estrogen metabolites, how well your body, detoxifies estrogen. And it also assesses for any of your adrenal hormones, even things like high testosterone.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh, nice.

Bhavna Singh:

So this is a really, really good test that I would recommend for everyone if they're on a, like, a TTC journey.

Elizabeth Cheney:

TTC, what is that again?

Bhavna Singh:

oh, trying to conceive,

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh.

Bhavna Singh:

industry jargon.

Elizabeth Cheney:

so cool. Okay, so if everyone's on their TTC journey, I feel like I'm learning so much. I love it. I'm still cracking up about the, the lining going to the nose thing. Like, that's still playing in the back of my head, FYI.

Bhavna Singh:

Oh yeah, no, that's, that's absolutely bonkers.

Elizabeth Cheney:

okay, so your

Bhavna Singh:

that shouldn't be a thing.

Elizabeth Cheney:

of even how that's possible. But hey, whatever, ignorance is bliss. I'll just take that. so if you're on your TTC journey, T did I say too many T's? TTC journey. There we go. Um, your TTC journey includes preconception planning. So what is preconception planning?

Bhavna Singh:

Oh, there's more tests. I'm

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh, my bad. I'm gonna shut up now. Let's get back. Sorry, let's back to the testing. Ha! Ha!

Bhavna Singh:

I'm so sorry. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying. Like in the functional world, we have a range of tests that we can test for. So the next one. Yeah.

Elizabeth Cheney:

why is it that these kind of tests are not available by your regular, like, conventional doctors? Is it, insurance purposes,

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. So these are not covered by insurance. So you will have to pay for them out of pocket and the conventional doctors, again, like they're really good at what they're good at, which is your emergency services, your like typical primary care type services beyond that. It is not a model that many people thrive in. Some people do, which is great, but most of us do not because a lot of people have like chronic issues.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Mm

Bhavna Singh:

when did anybody thrive in that model who has chronic issues? Like actually getting down to the root cause and everything like that. So in the functional world, like these tests, the conventional people, they don't believe in them, but they have a lot of validity. And I mean, it's just like, in like fighting between medical systems.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Got it.

Bhavna Singh:

It's like really what it comes down to. So, they don't really believe in what we're doing all that much. We don't really believe in what they're doing beyond emergency services so, there's always going to be some friction.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah, and I'm gonna, as much as you know, I'm like literally holding my tongue, curling my toes not to start ranting about the health care system in America and that being part of the problem. Oh, I'm already starting so I'm just gonna to the testing. But yes, carry on, carry on.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so there's another test. This one is a nutrient evaluation. This is from Genova Diagnostics. It's called the NutriEval. So this one detects nutrient deficiencies and tests for any oxidative stress, which is linked to poor egg quality. So once you identify any of these nutrient deficiencies, you can, dial it back and work on correcting them. And then the next one is just checking for insulin resistance. So you could most likely get this one done by your conventional doctor. It requires a fasting insulin and a fasting glucose. Most of them do not test for fasting insulin, but it potentially could be covered by insurance. You just kind of have to advocate for yourself.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

And then the next one are toxin panels. So this one, you're testing for any environmental toxins, and these definitely a huge role in female infertility. So many chemicals these days are endocrine disruptors, and the panel from Great Plains Diagnostics, they assess for like 173 different toxins. So, again, if anything is coming back high, then we can, work backwards and see, okay, what are potential, uh, exposures to these toxins? Where could they be coming from? And then we, work on that. Because in my eyes, living, as, not, like, toxin free, because that's impossible, but, like, as low tox as possible is, a pillar of health in my eyes.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah.

Bhavna Singh:

We definitely want to keep this low, like plastics and even like BPA, touching receipts. That's like the highest level of BPA and it's like getting absorbed into our skin right away and that affects your fertility.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Wonderful. Everything. Everything that you could think of.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, like I don't even touch receipts anymore.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. Kroger's gonna hand me a receipt. I'm gonna say, murderer, don't let me touch that.

Bhavna Singh:

Exactly. Just like have them put it in the bag and move on with your life. and then beyond that, uh, oh, this is another test that could be covered by your insurance, a thyroid panel. So we want like a full thyroid panel. We want to see how your metabolism is. If there's any like autoimmune issues that go for that, you might have to advocate a little bit for the full thyroid panel, but most doctors should be able to do it.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I actually think I've had that done so.

Bhavna Singh:

You have or have not.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I have, I have, because my, my family has a history of thyroid issues. And so I went to get mine checked. Just, it was actually because of my hormonal acne. I mean, I didn't get any answers, but he basically said, I think my levels were like a little high, but like the range is so big with the thyroid. So like, I mean, yeah, but he basically told me he was like, you're fine, but when you are about to start your TTC journey, sorry. I love that. he was like, you're going to have to come get some medicine at like 6 months to 9 months prior to regulate your thyroid a little bit. But, I mean. I don't know. It was mixed messaging for sure. Cause it was like one part you're okay, but like this, like an OB may not be okay with this. And I'm like, you're speaking Spanish to me. I don't know what you're saying.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. No, there's I can talk for an hour just like on Um, ways to help your thyroid.

Elizabeth Cheney:

okay. Well, that'll be episode three, y'all thyroid episode four is going to be skincare. I'm serious, but okay. So that's lots of tests.

Bhavna Singh:

sorry, there's one more. The last one is your. Like stool and microbiome testing because issues are like one of the biggest things that go with like hormone health and gut issues go hand In hand and you want to see if there any overgrowths going on? Do you have like a low amount of any of your good microbiome? Like how's your just digestive capacity in general? So you want to assess all of these things So now going into the preconception plan In my eyes, like a good preconception plan is going to start with testing both partners for their hormones. Like for women, it'll be the cycle mapping. For men, it'll be the regular Dutch test. And then stool, like microbiome testing for both. Testing insulin resistance for both. And then especially looking at nutrient deficiencies, things like that. So ideally Like if I'm working with couples or some someone on their fertility I like to work with a couple like not necessarily just the woman but like I want to be working with both of you because most people think it's the woman's fault. I'm like absolutely not

Elizabeth Cheney:

Thank you. Thank you.

Bhavna Singh:

We're gonna work on both of you.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I was gonna say it takes two tango and I've always wondered why it's always like a woman's issue

Bhavna Singh:

Now this is because the medical system is very they hate women. I'm

Elizabeth Cheney:

They do. They do. Yeah. I can't remember if I ever said this on the last episode, but I was, I just recently learned that ADHD, there's not any research or significant research done on ADHD and women.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, you know, like a man will get a vasectomy and the doctor will be like, Oh, you poor thing, get a lot of rest. And then like, a woman has just given a birth, has tears and like gets nothing.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. I was gonna say IUD Suck it up. Walk it out, girl. You're good. Yeah. This?

Bhavna Singh:

like, it's like, it's stupid. but yeah, for both partners, the first thing, is just optimizing your gut health. We want to make sure everything is in a good spot, all diseases, everything begins in the gut. So we want to make sure that that is all good to go. And then, focusing on your hormones, balancing your minerals. And like everything in the body is connected. Nothing is like, you know, disconnected from anything else. Like we're all in one body, all the systems go together. So for both, we want to focus on the foundations of health. Like we want to get good nutrition and we want to make sure that you're sleeping, having a toxin, like low tox as possible lifestyle, making sure you're getting proper movement in just like making sure that the foundations are in place and that way we can also work on like lowering inflammation Focusing on gut health balancing your minerals out and the goal ultimately is to create the best possible Sperm and best possible egg

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

to make the baby,

Elizabeth Cheney:

The baby.

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, exactly the baby Mm

Elizabeth Cheney:

okay, so is that really? It's like the testing and kind of getting your body right? Is that the, the path to conception? Um,

Bhavna Singh:

we want to do this for at least six months, but You No, at least three months, but ideally six

Elizabeth Cheney:

okay.

Bhavna Singh:

before you even start trying in earnest

Elizabeth Cheney:

I'm making little notes for myself as well. Uh, I,

Bhavna Singh:

it's just so important. Otherwise, you know you'll be given the unexplained infertility that will be slapped on your medical record and then all of a sudden you'll be recommended for like fertility treatments They may or may not work and that's the thing Even if you work on your fertility and you do the preconception planning and you still don't get pregnant because some couples still won't, you may need help with fertility treatments. That's totally okay. So if you need that, let's get your body in the best possible state so those fertility treatments don't fail, you know, so like no matter what path you go on. Whether that's like you get pregnant naturally after the conception plan or you need help, the end goal is having a baby and a good healthy baby. So let's get your body in the best possible position to give you a good healthy baby, whether that's naturally or through the help of fertility treatments. So I think every couple of should start here. Like no matter what, like, I don't like, I don't care what you're doing, who you are, like, it doesn't matter to me. You in this day and age where the world is. More and more toxic on a daily basis, we're more and more stressed, we need to be doing some conception planning.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Sounds like it. So, thing I do want to ask to people listening, because they're probably curious like me, And I know IVF and, like, those kind of treatments are very expensive. And I also know that they're not covered by insurance. In some special cases they are. But, not to go down a rabbit hole, but I do have this, like, feeling that America is capitalizing, go figure, on women's struggles, women's pain of infertility. And it's turning into a business versus, care. But, but Whatever, that's neither here nor there. I have, I have lots of friends who have done IVF and have beautiful, beautiful perfect babies, so I am glad that it works, but it just breaks my heart that I feel like it's kind of being taken advantage of by corporations on feeding on women. But anyways, just had to say that because, sorry guys, uh, that's as political as I'll get. Um,

Bhavna Singh:

No, for sure. It's very, it's totally valid. And like,

Elizabeth Cheney:

and it's

Bhavna Singh:

why isn't,

Elizabeth Cheney:

so that's why I'm just like, it just is gross to me.

Bhavna Singh:

Like, no, that's like what I mean. Like, the average couple is going to spend like anywhere from like 60, 000 to 80, 000. On their fertility treatments and it's like, you know, what work with a functional doctor, a naturopathic doctor for a fraction of the cost. It might be, you know, like 3, 4, 000 to get you in a good spot, but that is so much better than like, dumping 80, 000 where it may or may not work,

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. Exactly. And I was going to, that was going to be my next question is like how much, and I know you can't give an exact, but for this kind of testing, all these different tests that you were talking about, average, what would that cost?

Bhavna Singh:

so just getting the testing but not having a plan is kind of pointless because like you need someone to walk you through the test results and building effective protocols off of that like with these tests and supplements and stuff like that and just like working with someone closely I mean it'll probably run you around like four or five thousand dollars.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

For about like six months.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Gotcha.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, because like

Elizabeth Cheney:

that's with the plan of care. Like that's with

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, that's what the plan of care. Yeah, like for me at least My like if I'm working with like women on fertility but it's about like 3, 600 gut testing is included But then any other testing on top it'll be like extra

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay. I'm going to talk to you after this.

Bhavna Singh:

Woof. Mwugh.

Elizabeth Cheney:

okay. So on the same topic of like testing and this and this, I have a question, um, we're talking about IVF fertility. What about my, my girlies that want to freeze their eggs? it's probably, I know some younger people do and then people like in their mid thirties, cause maybe they're like, I want to have kids later or maybe I want to get a surrogate or something like that. So, you're talking about the, the preconception plan, so what's the pre freeze your egg plan, I don't know that acronym, um, ha ha ha,

Bhavna Singh:

mean, I would do the same thing. I would really go all in, like balls to the wall, make sure your health is in a really good spot, focus on your health and wellness for three to six months, then freeze your egg because everything is about egg quality. It's not so much about like egg, quantity. We want good quality eggs. So focus on your health, focus on your wellness. If you know you want to save them for later. That's great. That's a good option. Okay. But even then, if you're eating a standard American diet, like not exercising, not doing anything for you, just like imagine the egg quality. Like at the end of the day, like, is that something that you want to pass down to your child? Like this is your child.

Elizabeth Cheney:

yeah, exactly,

Bhavna Singh:

if freezing is your goal, great, let's work on that for six months. Let's get your body in a good spot. So even from those frozen eggs, we can get a live healthy baby.

Elizabeth Cheney:

from what you have said so far, I've garnered it's very individual individualized, but what are some things? Well, I have two questions. One. Is there a way to test your egg quality? I'm sorry if you already mentioned that. I'm just curious. Is there a way? Or is it more like testing your egg count, which, like you said, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. So my first question is, is there a way to test the quality? And then the second question is, because this plays into whether you are trying to conceive or you want to freeze, what are some things that you could do to improve your egg quality? Like, besides just testing, so this is like more very broad, broad, broad

Bhavna Singh:

for sure. Yeah. So again, like testing your egg quantity is kind of pointless cause everything comes down to quality. There's not really a way to like really test for egg quality, but we can test for things like nutritional deficiencies, oxidative stress. How your gut is doing because if all of those are in a good spot Then we can extrapolate that your egg quality is going to be good

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh, okay. That's

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah,

Elizabeth Cheney:

like, kind of like, trial and error. Not trial and error, but okay, yeah, okay.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. So, I mean, I would love for, someday for there to be a test on egg quality. I feel like we're not that far off from getting there, just with all the advances being made and at least on the functional side when it comes to women's health. So I feel like we aren't far off, but for now we can focus on like just, nutritional testing, stool all that. Yeah. Make sure all of

Elizabeth Cheney:

Dr. Singh told me my gut health is connected to my hormone health. Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

It is. and then beyond that, just making sure that day to day things that you can do for your egg quality, which essentially is just overall wellness things, right? Like

Elizabeth Cheney:

that's what I was thinking.

Bhavna Singh:

is connected. So if you're only getting like four hours of sleep a night, absolutely not, you know, like straight to jail. Stop that.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Straight to jail.

Bhavna Singh:

Like, it's like that Parks and Rec episode.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Freaking love

Bhavna Singh:

I'm not in jail. Okay, make sure you're getting enough sleep. make sure you are rising with the sun, sleeping, when the sun sets. Like, all of those things. Make sure that you're eating good, whole, You're not guzzling down sodas. You're not, eating fast food for every meal. You're not. eating fried foods for every meal. You're using good quality oils, good quality meats and the produce that you're using is like organic, preferably local if that's an option for you. And then, making sure that you aren't using toxic products everywhere. this goes for things like laundry detergent, the candles that you're burning, any smelly type of things like Febreze and those pods that you plug in, Get a essential oil diffuser going instead of those smelly things like you can get good quality candles that are also made out of essential oils You're everything to cleaning products for your home, it's like these little little things that over time they add up like leaps and bounds, And if you're not exercising, why not? go, go out, go for a walk. That's one of the best things that you can do for yourself. And then also like, what about stress reduction? where are we tying that in? You know what I mean? Like do you have a good relationship with yourself when it comes to stress or do you immediately go to like negative self talk patterns? All of these things are going to affect you. Your egg and sperm quality. So we definitely want to, so these, I mean, again, I'll say this until the end of time, but we want to focus on the foundations of health. without a strong healthy foundation, we don't have a strong healthy house. So like, imagine our body is the house. Like, do you want it to be strong or do you want it to be weak? And like,

Elizabeth Cheney:

Duh.

Bhavna Singh:

exactly. So like, Controlling that and it's like really empowering too because like society and conventional medical system, like all of these things, they're not going to teach you this because they make money off of you being sick.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Right.

Bhavna Singh:

But like at the end of the day, it's still your responsibility to be strong, to be healthy, to make sure that whatever version of you that is the best, that's the one that is on top of things. so like a lot of this is on you, but it's possible. it's not this, daunting, climb. It's possible.

Elizabeth Cheney:

generally healthy, right? Like, when you want to freeze your eggs, where do you go to do that? Like, I'm assuming your primary care physician doesn't do that, and do you have to do all the hormones and things like that that you would, when you were going through IVF?

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so when you freeze your eggs, yeah, you're not doing that through your primary care. You're going through a fertility clinic. You can get, like, recommendations from your OB, things like that. But, yeah, to make sure that, they're able to, extract all the eggs, you will be, on some kind of hormone therapy. Thank you. Yeah,

Elizabeth Cheney:

probably not cheap, but it's not as expensive as, say, like, IVF. Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

it just depends on what what's in your budget and also your own like timeline So if you're I don't know like 28, 29, you have like an amazing job It's not the right time for you right now And it is true like the younger you are the better the egg quality but it's not impossible, to have good egg quality like into your forties. So if that's something that you wanna do, you have the means to do it. You have like the health to do it. Sure.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Thank you for saying that about being older because I was going to say my experience with all of this, like fertility, I have lots of friends going through it, it breaks my heart. Um, some have made it through, they have their rainbow baby, and some are still in the trenches. my opinion of having kids, I've never, it's not that I don't want to have kids, but I've never been, very drawn to, like, I have to have them at this time. and then, after I graduated college, and my job's at a college, like, every manager boss I had, they were a female and they all had had children much later. Some were by choice, some were infertility. It's just. I've been surrounded by women having kids later, and, uh, it's always, like, kind of encouraged me, empowered me to be okay with my decision, and now that I'm here, I'm almost 33, I still feel very young, but now I'm getting harassed by ads all over social media about my fertility, check your fertility, and then I find out that, oh, when I do get pregnant, it's gonna be called a geriatric pregnancy, and I'm like, okay, let me vom over that. And where the fuck did that title come from? And, uh, yeah, so it's a little scary on these TTC streets.

Bhavna Singh:

No. It like, no, it really is.

Elizabeth Cheney:

So I guess this is a good segue into all right, for us who are older. at this point, I don't even know what older is, because like, I don't, I think I'm young, but I'm considered geriatric, so, but I have known many women to have kids at 40, 41, 42, and when I say many, I don't mean like one, I mean like many, like at

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah,

Elizabeth Cheney:

at least eight or nine.

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, no, it's it's totally possible to have kids and healthy babies well into your 40s Again, I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but you have to focus on the health foundations that's another huge thing. Like, women, we put so much stress on ourselves and on our bodies to

Elizabeth Cheney:

Well, society makes it seem like everything is our fault, and then also society doesn't, research anything for us. It's everything is our fault, but it's only because we actually don't have any answers for you.

Bhavna Singh:

no, because there's no like knowledge or education, given to women on this. But, it is going to be really hard to get pregnant if you're putting a deadline on yourself, because that's just increasing stress. Why are you doing that? So, yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure, because then you'll have women who are like, okay, I guess we're just not getting pregnant to hell with this We're done and then sometime later, they'll just naturally get pregnant. Well, okay, what was the differentiating thing? It was the pressure. It was the stress. So that could There's just so much that goes into having a baby

Elizabeth Cheney:

Right. Well, I mean, we started this episode with you talking about 30, 000 different things that could be causing the reason you're not getting pregnant. So,

Bhavna Singh:

exactly. So like I

Elizabeth Cheney:

so complicated, it sounds

Bhavna Singh:

It, like, it really is, but, no matter what age you want to try having a baby, whether you're, in your 20s, in your 30s, in your 40s, we always want to be, working on your health foundations, like, always, always, always.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Managing your stress. Managing your self talk. I love that you talked about all those things

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. I mean, stress is a huge piece of it. We gotta get a handle on that. Yeah. We got to Be nicer to ourselves give ourselves patience and grace because you may not get pregnant the first time Are you gonna hate yourself for it? Why?

Elizabeth Cheney:

Don't. Don't, Tell like affirmation right now, this body is beautiful and this body can carry life. If you start talking to yourself like that. Ooh, that's got goosebumps. But again, I do wanna say easier said than done.

Bhavna Singh:

There's a lot that goes into it and at any moment like everything can be perfect and you'll have a baby or maybe one thing will be off and you don't get pregnant. Like we just don't know because the science isn't that advanced either to pinpoint like exactly why you're not getting pregnant the cycle.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Hopefully we'll be able to find that out

Bhavna Singh:

Hopefully. I would love that.

Elizabeth Cheney:

couple of questions related to PCOS. So I know we kind of talked PCOS on the last episode, but like, let's talk about PCOS in terms of fertility. I mean, I know what PCOS is, but If you told me to explain it, I would not be able to.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Elizabeth Cheney:

but I do know a lot of women are diagnosed with it. so is POS? What is PCOS? And then why does it affect fertility? What are Things that you can do, like, I guess this is when the testing would come in handy. And then, sub question, or off of that question, what about family planning? Maybe you've already had a kid, but then you were diagnosed with PCOS and you want to have another baby. So, what is PCOS? How does it affect your fertility? And then also, what happens, if you've already had a baby and you get PCOS after that? Does that make getting pregnant again harder, and all that?

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, so let's just like yeah dive into PCOS. So PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome and It's a combination of different symptoms. So like you'll have irregular cycles or the absence of cycles or you won't be ovulating excess androgen production. So your male sex hormones, so like you'll see an increase in acne, hair loss. but hair loss kind of like over here, but then you will get an influx of hair and like the typical male pattern. So along your chin, maybe your belly button so typically where men have more hair, you will see that in you. And then also multiple small cysts on the ovaries that you can see with the ultrasound. So it, kind of wrecks havoc on a woman's body, leads to a range of, like, manifestations against, acne, hair loss, hair gain, I guess, in certain areas, irregular cycles, infertility is one of, the biggest, causes of hair loss. issues with PCOS, weight gain, metabolic issues, inflammation, insulin resistance, you're like more prone to stress. It's insane all the things that PCOS can do. So one important question to ask is like how is PCOS caused? So in most people it'll be caused by insulin resistance. So this is when your body fails to respond effectively to insulin. So this So PCOS is a hormone that regulates and triggers the ovaries, I mean, it's responsive to sugar, but in the ovaries, it produces excessive amounts of androgens. So when there is insulin resistance, because some people also call PCOS insulin resistance of the ovaries. So once these like male hormones are produced, they interfere with the ovulation process, and then they result with the formation of cysts in the ovaries. genetics can also play a role in it, but again like genetics is a very small picture of everything. Just because you have family history or something doesn't mean you'll get it. Your environment and your nutrition and everything else plays a stronger role than genetics. So, A lot of things can contribute to the development and severity of PCOS. So like if you are obese, you have a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet can obviously exacerbate insulin resistance. And then, high stress levels. And then if you're around like a lot of toxins, so like, again, your endocrine disrupting chemicals, not getting enough sleep. is a big issue and can also increase your, risk for developing PCOS in the first place. if you have PCOS and you're like, okay, I don't know what to do for it. Most in conventional medicine, they're going to be like, okay, we're going to maybe put you on birth control to help do something. I don't know what they are trying to do, but it's given out like candy and then you might be given. Then you might be given metformin, which is typically a drug that's given to diabetics.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Gotcha.

Bhavna Singh:

are these the best options? You know? No, because there is a way to heal your PCOS without the use of those things.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay.

Bhavna Singh:

so nutritionally, we want whole foods, eat the rainbow, cook your foods, cook your vegetables. Don't have raw foods because those can be harder on your digestion. We definitely want to pre digest our veggies by cooking them before and going gluten free, dairy free for a while. Both of these are very inflammatory and they increase inflammation in the body which PCOS symptoms even worse.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Hmm.

Bhavna Singh:

You know, because most people with PCOS also have leaky gut and both of like gluten and dairy can make leaky gut worse.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Ah.

Bhavna Singh:

Again, build up on your health foundations, all those things. We want those in a good spot. Get 30 grams of protein at every meal because women with PCOS, we have a tendency to snack. I have PCOS. If I'm in a flare up of PCOS, I'll be snacking all day. it's just something that we like, like we love carbs, but Getting the 30 grams of protein at every meal helps to keep you fuller for longer, so you are not, prone to snacking. Reducing carb intake, this doesn't mean no carb, but, if you are having a cup of rice at dinner, you know, dial that down to a half cup or like three fourths. So this isn't carb free, it's just lower carb. Oop.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Gotcha.

Bhavna Singh:

And so a good way to see it is like if you're getting sleepy after meals, that means you were having too many carbs. So dial it down for the next meal and kind of find your carb threshold. And it's going to be different for every person. Uh, this is definitely not like the Atkins diet where you can only have one gram of carb a day. Like that's stupid,

Elizabeth Cheney:

Uh. Uh. Hm.

Bhavna Singh:

but you can find like what that is for you and food should make you feel good food should make you Feel energized if you're falling asleep after your meals like that's not it. Like we don't want that Yeah, and in Ayurveda at least PCOS means you have decreased digestive fire So we want to make sure that the foods are nice and warm And to get like the juices flowing. So one of the best ways to make sure that our digestifier is strong before our meals is to chew on a piece of ginger. Top it with a squirt of lime juice and like a pinch of sea salt. And just chew on this for like 10 minutes before a meal. So like if you're cooking, do this first. Chew on it, cook your meal, get ready. And like by the time your meal starts, it'll be like super hot. ravenously hungry, because this will naturally increase your hydrochloric acid production, which is basically your digestive fire, and that will help you, you know, to digest.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Huh. I did not know any of this. I am, I just feel, I'm so enamored by your intelligence, but I also am very, sad about my ignorance.

Bhavna Singh:

No, I mean, there's, there's nothing to be sad about, honestly, because these things are not taught in schools, right? they don't, like, they don't teach us anything. Like it's all stupid and if more women knew about their cycle and were empowered to find Practitioners who do know then that would be so much better because even in conventional medicine you go to an OB like they Don't know I've been I was shuffled around like doctor to doctor when I was 14 because I had PCOS I I mean, I went like a year without getting a period.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh

Bhavna Singh:

I mean, this is with my dad being a doctor, like he also didn't know. So I went to a bunch of OBs. They were like, okay, here's birth control. Here's, your metformin, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. None of them really knew effectively like what to do for PCOS. You have to educate yourself There's no other way around it because they're not gonna come to save you

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. That's for sure. They're just gonna be

Bhavna Singh:

you

Elizabeth Cheney:

some more pills.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah,

Elizabeth Cheney:

Don't get me started. I I already said earlier in the episode, don't get me going on the politics and healthcare and all of that. Okay. So like a last question about the PCOS and I know we've talked about at this point in depth about planning, family planning, testing, getting your health foundations right, like getting exercise and that doesn't necessarily mean going out and lifting a hundred pounds or doing a HIIT workout. On the contrary. No, no, no. No, no, no. When I asked you about PCOS I also wanted to ask about the women who have already had kids, then diagnosed afterward with PCOS, but yet, maybe they're not quite ready to, like, they want more children. maybe they had one kid, they want to have another. Maybe they had three kids, they want to have 12 more. I have no idea. Pick your poison. Just

Bhavna Singh:

that's a lot. 12

Elizabeth Cheney:

I should have said pick your poison. I promise I don't hate kids, but 12 kids would be a lot. Just FYI. So, anyways, I derail.

Bhavna Singh:

I don't even think I could be friends with someone who had 12 kids. I'd be like, I don't believe in your life choices. Bye.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Sorry, guys. We're derailing here. Um, all right. I'll get the train back on the rail. So, no, no, no. I started that. I said, pick your poison on like one kid or 12. So, yeah, I I am a pillar of the community. so can you share any other information, whether it's tips or just like peace of mind cause. When I hear, okay, you've had a kid and you get diagnosed with PCOS, but you want to have another kid, you want to have two more kids, I feel like that would kind of make me anxious, because, well, we're always getting blasted with PCOS infertility stuff on social media. It seems like PCOS is the four letter acronym that just brings fear. So, is there anything else in addition you can do, if you're diagnosed after birth with PCOS?

Bhavna Singh:

so, I mean, I would recommend like the same things that I said earlier focus on your nutrition, focus on, exercise.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Those health foundations.

Bhavna Singh:

Like, yeah, foundations again, but especially for PCOS when it comes to exercise, I would recommend not doing HIIT. I don't really recommend HIIT for women in general because it can stress our bodies out even more. so I would do like, you know, walking, yoga, Pilates, weightlifting is like one of the best things women can do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's like one of the best exercises that women with PCOS can do. And then beyond that, there are a lot of supplements that can help you to get your period back, to get your ovulation, and to get everything like that going. Focus on your liver health, like milk thistle, curcumin, and then other supplements like inositol, NAC. We want to focus on Just building good foundations and for PCOS supplements are a part of that

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay, good to know, good to know. if a woman finds herself in this position after giving birth, should they run to the hills screaming? Should they, freak out? Should they just take a deep breath and realize it's okay? Is there a strong need to be scared that you won't be able to get pregnant after you've been diagnosed with PCOS? After you've already had kids?

Bhavna Singh:

No, you can definitely have a baby, like, even with being diagnosed with PCOS. I mean, women still do it all the time, will your journey be harder? Yes. Is it the end of the world? No. So be realistic about it, like, will you get pregnant, your next cycle? Most likely not. But if you, focus on, your supplement protocols and your, like, nutrition and lifestyle protocols, will you get pregnant? Yes, once your health is back in a good place.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Okay. That makes me feel better. Not that I've had kids, I'm not like, I don't know why I just said that makes me feel better, but

Bhavna Singh:

yeah, no, because, like, PCOS is given this, oh, like, when you are diagnosed with it, it's, the scary thing of, like, oh, you know, you are going to be suffering for life like, it's this, like.

Elizabeth Cheney:

that's what feels.

Bhavna Singh:

That's a dramatic thing when in actuality, most diseases in America are lifestyle based diseases. That also includes PCOS, like 80 percent of them. So, okay, now that we know that, let's be realistic about it. Can we change our lifestyle? Can we change our nutrition? Can we add in good supplements? Yes, we can. So, yes, it's scary, but unravel that a little bit more. You got the diagnosis of PCOS because of something so let's find the root cause and let's figure that out And let's get you feeling good again

Elizabeth Cheney:

I love that. I love that you're so positive about it too. And like, not that you don't need to be, but that was really nice. Thank you, Bhavna. Okay, so I have a few more questions, and then we'll probably get towards the end of this episode, which I'm really sad, because I feel like I've learned so much. I've taken so many notes. I'm starting to sweat again. I'm just like, I feel like I've got to get on this TTC journey, and I'm not even trying to have a kid yet. But I did have one more question related to women's health and everything. I don't know anything about the monthly cycle. Okay? Well, that's a lie. I know that there are phases to the monthly cycle. I don't know how those work. Um, I know that there's really only one time of the month that you can get pregnant. Um, like when you're ovulating. I think that's like halfway between your period start and end date. or in between periods. So, I'm just curious like, I don't know. Actually, my question is not really a question. I'm just,

Bhavna Singh:

hmm.

Elizabeth Cheney:

monthly cycle, how does it affect your hormones? Are there things we can do as a woman, I guess at different points in our monthly cycle to benefit us even more because I guess what I'm getting at is I found this, this person on the internet, an influencer content creator. And she was talking about seed cycling, which I don't even know what the heck that was. Um, but it was related to her monthly cycle. And then she was saying how, okay, for this week, is this part of the cycle? This week, is this part of the cycle? And I'm

Bhavna Singh:

Mm hmm.

Elizabeth Cheney:

all that to begin with, but she does certain things for each week.

Bhavna Singh:

Yes. Cool. Got it. Um, yeah. So let's talk.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Sorry,

Bhavna Singh:

Oh, no, you're fine.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I just literally threw the ball and you're like, got it bitch Yeah,

Bhavna Singh:

yeah. So let's talk about the cycle really quick. Okay. Girl, what's your So, there's four phases in your menstrual cycle. So you have menstruation, that's when your day one starts of the cycle, And then you have your follicular phase. And then ovulation. It's like a hard word to say, especially when you're like trying to talk fast and you've already been talking. And then you have your luteal phase. So each of these phases is very important and they all go for pregnancy. Even if you're not looking to get pregnant at this moment, you still need the normal like hormone fluctuations that go with it. Because to me, your menstrual cycle is a vital sign for women, so we want to make sure like whether pregnancy is a goal for you or not, we want to make sure that your fertility and your cycle is doing good because that is an indicator of health. So, the first one, your menstrual phase, this is the first day of your cycle that you start to bleed. Ideally, it should be between three to seven days. So, this happens because the egg from the previous cycle wasn't fertilized. So because your pregnancy, there is no pregnancy, the levels of your hormones, like estrogen and progesterone, they end up dropping, and then your uterus lining is also thickened at that point, thinking that, oh, like we're getting ready for a pregnancy. So when it realizes okay, we're not getting pregnant right now, there is no need for a lining this thick, it sheds. So that's when your hormone drops, the lining has shed and that's the bleed.

Elizabeth Cheney:

I'm really, I really hope I'm not the only 30 plus year old woman who just learned that today

Bhavna Singh:

So that is what your period is, And then the second phase is your follicular phase. So this phase starts your first day of your period and it ends when you ovulate. So it's about like 13 ish, 14 ish days. It does include the days that you're bleeding, but the length can also be pretty variable. So some women have a short follicular phase. Some women have a longer one. It depends on your own natural rhythms and your hormonal health. during this phase, what happens is that your body is working really, really hard. It's prepping for an egg to be released at ovulation. so that's what's going on. And it's basically like the maturing of the follicle, the eggs, estrogen is rising so the lining of the uterus can be thickened. So it's basically creating a nice nutrient rich environment for an embryo to grow because it like just wants to get pregnant. And then, the third phase is ovulation. So ovulation is when a mature, healthy egg is released. So this usually happens in the middle of your cycle, around like 14 days. But the actual day is going to be wildly different for everyone. But just like the half, yeah. So just like the halfway mark for whatever your cycle is. And this will be about two to five ish days. So levels of estrogen are high during this time and we are like, ovulation is happening. We, there's a LH surge and then ovulation happens after this surge. And then the egg is released and it'll survive for 12 to 24 hours. during this time, if you are Like having sex it's Traveling down the fallopian tube and it's hoping to be fertilized by sperm So immediately after the release of the egg So like the ovulation your levels They also start to rise and they peak for about five ish to a week after ovulation if you are planning for pregnancy, ovulation is the best time, to be having sex. And also like, women's, sexual tendencies will vary wildly during your cycle. So during ovulation, you'll be looking at your partner and you're like, hey, you're looking kind of hot. And then during the actual bleeding, you'll look at your partner and you're like, do not touch me. Don't look at me. Don't come close to me. So like, it's true.

Elizabeth Cheney:

is true, I'm laughing cause I'm like hell yeah, aha! That's exactly right,

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, and then

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh,

Bhavna Singh:

the last phase is the luteal phase. So this is anywhere between 11 to 17 18 ish days. So the average length is about like 14 days, so two weeks. Again, this is gonna be wildly different for every single woman because we are all on our own unique cycles. This phase is prepping either for a period or for a pregnancy. So this time can also be kind of like a hormonal rollercoaster for a lot of women whilst your body is deciding, okay, are we perioding or are we having a baby? If the egg is fertilized, great, you're pregnant, awesome. Then your body will continue. to increase in progesterone, your HCG will continue rising. This is a hormone that gives you the lines on a pregnancy test. This will also keep your uterine lining thick because like I said, if the lining isn't thick enough, that can also lead to a miscarriage down the line. So that's a reason for the infertility. If you don't get pregnant, then the lining Will start getting thinner and this will lead to that hormonal drop in estrogen and progesterone. So that drop is actually correlated to a lot of your PMS style symptoms like you might find that some random commercial is making you cry or just like, you know you just might feel more emotional during that time and because of the sudden drop in hormones You might also feel like okay. My skin is also looking a little bit weird. You might have some acne Gut issues because it all goes hand in hand. Then again if there is no Pregnancy, then the uterine lining will start shedding and then you move on into your menstrual cycle and the cycle just repeats itself day in and day out.

Elizabeth Cheney:

That's wild, So what is seed cycling, or is that like a crazy explanation?

Bhavna Singh:

Oh no, no, C cycling is great. So C cycling it's a very a simple practice that can help to support your hormone levels throughout your cycle. And it can lead to that hormonal, a balance type thing. thing that we talked about and then it can help to reduce PMS symptoms, it can help to support fertility, it can help in some cases even like if you're not getting a period it can help stimulate a period.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Oh, okay.

Bhavna Singh:

seed cycling again is not a cure all but it is a really good way to take advantage of the healing power of food and nutrition. So this is a great tie in to again, nutrition being like a cornerstone of even things like hormonal health. So basically what it is, Is eating specific seeds during the two main phases of your menstrual cycle. So follicular and luteal to promote, healthy balance of your hormones. So a healthy balance of estrogen and progesterone. This is a very gentle way to incorporate hormone balancing practices on a day to day basis. the different seeds, basically, are days 1 to 14. you want to eat pumpkin seeds and flax seeds. And this also follows the phases of the moon. So that will be the time of like the new moon to the full moon. And then days 15 to about day 28, which is full moon to new moon, you'll do sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. it's about like a tablespoon or two of each and you can add it to your smoothies. You can add it on top of your foods. But, both phases, like the different seeds, they're gonna promote and support both hormones. So, the follicular phase, with the pumpkin seeds and flax seeds, it helps to improve estrogen levels, and it prevents excess estrogen from happening, so that way you won't get, the excess of PMS, the inflammation, that, like, estrogen dominant type of symptom picture. And then the luteal phase, Sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, they help progesterone production. And they're also like a good source of other nutrients like selenium, vitamin E, zinc, and they help the liver, they help support good healthy hormone levels, so it's a nice a gentle way To incorporate these things in your day to day life, so you can do like just a couple of tablespoons of each per day You want them raw you want them ground? better to like buy the whole seeds and grind them yourself that way they don't lose their integrity Just like being on the shelf being ground the whole time so if that's something that you can do that's great you can add them to whatever you want really,

Elizabeth Cheney:

I love this. I didn't even know I heard seed cycling, I did not know it was that legit.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, no, it's a really,

Elizabeth Cheney:

it was just a trendy thing that I saw online.

Bhavna Singh:

it's becoming trendy right now, but this is like an age old thing that women have been doing for a long, long, long time. It's such a gentle and easy way to just like support your body

Elizabeth Cheney:

Absolutely.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, this is a good reminder. I'm gonna try doing that this month

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah, I'm like, alright, so I'm gonna go buy some seeds. so, non hormonal birth control options. Is there anything outside of like, condoms or a diaphragm, like a women's contraceptive, things like that, You recommend, I'm assuming not, but I'm just curious.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so you have options like a diaphragm which is like a little

Elizabeth Cheney:

block

Bhavna Singh:

that yeah that you just like put into your vagina and helps block the sperm from crossing the cervix it's reusable it doesn't protect against stds but it is something that you have to be fitted for and then you have like a cervical cap which is like a little hat for your cervix And this also helps to keep out sperm, but it does fail about 20 percent of the time. So I like would not recommend. and it takes a lot of practice to use it right. And you also have to get fitted for this. And then there's the copper IUD, which is non hormonal. So it's like copper. Copper is a natural spermicide. It has a 99 percent success rate. The only issue with this one though is that it can cause some toxicity in some people. So you just really have to monitor your mineral levels, but a copper IUD will last you about like 10 years. And then the other option is FAM, which is the fertility awareness method. it's about 98 percent effective with proper use. so basically you're tracking a few things. You're tracking your body temperature, body temperature rises during ovulation, and you can track this rise. So before you start using this method to prevent pregnancy, or for pregnancy, you wanna be tracking for at least three to six cycles just to get, data on, like how your own body responds. So like you're taking your temperature every single day, first thing when you wake up in the morning, and there are some like good apps and monitors that can help you all get into that in a second. tracking your temperature and then also cycle tracking. You wanna track for at least six periods. So, just making sure, are they regular? Can you, like, be sure that, okay, my cycle is happening now, so many days later it's happening again, then it's happening again. We want to make sure that there's regularity so we can have the most data possible. And then the third one is your cervical mucus. So when a woman is ovulating. the mucus will basically be like an egg white consistency. So yeah. Kind of just like monitoring cervical mucus, and then you can also do LH luteinizing hormone test strips. So these are like your ovulation test strips. So LH will go up 24 hours before ovulation and this can be detected through urine tests at home. So FAM The fertility awareness method is a combination of all these, like the more of these that you use, the more data and the more precise you can be with your population.

Elizabeth Cheney:

That makes sense.

Bhavna Singh:

Like, it requires a lot of like, upkeep, but like, it does require you being like, very aware and cognizant that you have to do this every single day because you have to.

Elizabeth Cheney:

And paying attention to you. Like, checking. Yeah.

Bhavna Singh:

And so basically what you would do, like when you have the data, is you would avoid sex on fertile days if you want to prevent pregnancy or you would have sex on fertile days if you are TTC. So, our new favorite

Elizabeth Cheney:

Our new favorite.

Bhavna Singh:

there are two, like, like, Femtech type things, so TempDrop is a, temperature monitor that goes, like, right here and it, monitors your temperature as you sleep and that can help you track your cycle. And then there's the Natural Cycles app where you can input all of these things and you have all of your data in one spot. And I think there is a natural cycles and temp drop, integration where your temperature can be inputted into that. And that way you have like precise data on a daily basis. So, again, this is not a thing where, you're like, oh, I'm gonna try FAM. No. If you're committing to this, you're committing to this for like at least a year. Six months to get the data because it does have a 98 percent effectiveness rate if used correctly. So

Elizabeth Cheney:

knowing me, myself, and I that would not be a good method for me because, uh, I don't think I could do that. But, uh,

Bhavna Singh:

but it's really powerful to know about your own Fertility and and all of that because this information is not given to you by conventional medicine I mean, this is age old medicine That's been passed down from like woman to woman over eons Because your fertility is yours to track. It's yours to know and And, you could get an IUD put in, a copper IUD put in, that's great if that's something that you want. You can get a diaphragm, that's also great but, like, this is something that, like, it doesn't require any, intrusiveness into your body. This is something that you can track on your own and go from there.

Elizabeth Cheney:

It's so primal, in a way.

Bhavna Singh:

It is it is it really gets you back in tune with your body in a way where the conventional medical system They just don't know about this and then another thing, Is that people are under the impression that you can get pregnant every single day of your cycle That's just not true. So once you're able to track your ovulation That's the only time you can get pregnant in your cycle. So if you are able to track that, and if, you don't want to get pregnant, you can have sex all other days, but just not during ovulation days. And so, kind of like you take the power back from the conventional system.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. I like it. And I really liked what you said about, your fertility is yours to know. Like, I

Bhavna Singh:

Mm hmm. Mm

Elizabeth Cheney:

that was kind of poetically beautiful. I don't know. At least for me, I just feel like my fertility is a, is money for some corporation's pocket. At least that's how it's starting to feel like. And, and I also want to preface this, everyone listening, I have not, done anything. You know, me and Stan are not trying. I'm not trying to get pregnant. I've, I've never had irregular periods or issues, but I literally have no idea. So when I do cross that bridge, I'd like to know what might be my options, availabilities, things to do if it's not working out the way I thought it would,

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, for sure.

Elizabeth Cheney:

quickly.

Bhavna Singh:

start I mean, when you guys are ready, start with the alternative first, like start with the functional medicine and the naturopathy medicine and all that. Start with that first. Just so when you do try, you'll increase your chances of success. And that's what I would recommend for everyone. Like before you dump your money into conventional medicine, fertility treatments, this and that, work with someone closely to really get in tune with your body. Because like what you'll be doing at the end of the day is one, like learning more about your body and then two, just getting the proper education that you're not going to get elsewhere because we are not taught how to eat, how to live, like what supplements to take, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like you want the education. That is going to serve you for the rest of your life, not for now.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah,

Bhavna Singh:

And that's really empowering.

Elizabeth Cheney:

It is really empowering and I, yeah, you've, I'm already thinking about different things I need to start incorporating just in nutrition because even though fertility's probably not my concern at the moment, it's more like just gut health in general, um, which was last week's episode, but still okay, so last question and then I will let you go, ma'am. Talking about children and hormones. Specifically, young girls about to start their period. Uh, what will my child's hormones be like for her as she enters puberty? And am I preparing her properly?

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so, well one of the things is lowering toxin exposure. Girls these days are getting their period younger and younger. Some as young as six years old. Mhm.

Elizabeth Cheney:

gosh.

Bhavna Singh:

Seven years old. Yes, ma'am. So if you have a girl and really want to focus on the foundations of health, I know I sound like a broken record, but this also applies to children. Get them away from processed foods, get them away from the standard American diet. get them eating well, get them moving. I mean kids these days are also having an obscene amount of type 2 diabetes. kids as young elementary age school children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. But again, like what you are doing for your health, the foundations, apply those to your children as well. You're going to set them up for success later in life. And then if you have a little girl who has not had her period yet, make sure that you're being as toxin free as possible because that is a huge, huge concern these days. And that's the thing that you are going to do to prep her properly. Not just for transitioning, into being a person that's having periods, but it'll serve her for the rest of her life if you focus on the foundations.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Hmm, even at that early age. And if they are having issues, is it too young at that age to go to a, a functional holistic doctor

Bhavna Singh:

Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I mean, it will take some time for a young girl for her period to, normalize. That just kind of goes with the territory. But if her period isn't normalized, like, a year, two years later, it's time to get some help. And, don't take her to conventional medicine. They're going to slap her with birth control. I mean, if you do, if you want to do that, like, I'm not telling anybody what to do,

Elizabeth Cheney:

No, no we're not.

Bhavna Singh:

exactly like she'll be put on birth control whether that's the thing that she's going for or not so there are other options if she is having period problems at a young age

Elizabeth Cheney:

You know, I don't know if this will be a trigger question for you, but I hear that and I just think about all my friends and people I know who've been on birth control since they were 14, 15, 16, and you just can't help but wonder, like, what damage that's done to women's health

Bhavna Singh:

oh yeah that's done a lot of damage i mean that impacts your fertility like it impacts everything you

Elizabeth Cheney:

And it just seems so, what's the word I'm looking for? conventional doctors. Like, you go to them because you depend on them for their education to take care of you. And it's just, um, I can't think of the word that I'm trying to think. Malicious. It almost seems malicious, the whole birth control crisis in our

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah. Yeah, no, there's like a Netflix documentary or something, it's called A Business in Birth Control, or some documentaries, some similar name like that, but no, birth control is a huge business in this country, and it's being given out like it's like Halloween candy, and that's absolutely wrong. Like, girls who are 14 should not be, put on birth control, like, I don't care and some women, they're on birth control at 14 and then they're 34 and they're like, okay, we want to get off this now because we want to have a baby. And it's like, well, you've been on birth control for two decades, you're not going to get pregnant right away, it's going to take some time.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. It's gonna take some time.

Bhavna Singh:

So, you know, before you put your own daughter through that thing, really ask yourself the question, like, is this what you want for her? There are other options to help regulate her system. Girls are being diagnosed with PCOS even at a younger and younger age. Like, I was 14 when I was diagnosed. But like, now some are being diagnosed at like 10, 11. you want them on birth control from that age? Absolutely not. Okay. Educate yourself and find the right practitioners

Elizabeth Cheney:

And I'm sure there are some conventional doctors out there that are going to hear you.

Bhavna Singh:

Mm hmm.

Elizabeth Cheney:

there may be fewer around,

Bhavna Singh:

there are gonna be fewer, but

Elizabeth Cheney:

they're,

Bhavna Singh:

have to shop around.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Right. And, and maybe they can't help you how someone like Bhavna could, but they're not just going to say, Oh, well you just need to take birth control. Well, actually I just asked you, like, is it okay if I eat corn tortillas? What do you mean? You're talking about, like, I mean, I'm being kind of funny. I just been like, literally. I don't know, maybe I'm just a little triggered from my last OPG appointment and she was

Bhavna Singh:

Oh, they're

Elizabeth Cheney:

birth control. And I'm just like, Oh my God, why? I just, I literally just a second ago told you. So I got off birth control to regulate my hormones, to prep my body for when I want to get pregnant. And then you're like, well, you can get on birth control.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, they don't

Elizabeth Cheney:

haven't been to her again. I was like, okay, well

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, like most are not hearing you. There's a lot of like gaslighting that goes on

Elizabeth Cheney:

So much gaslighting.

Bhavna Singh:

and it's like, we know this. And if you have a daughter who is really young, she hasn't had a period or she has had a period. You are her advocate. Like you have to do this for her because

Elizabeth Cheney:

afraid. said don't be afraid. Advocate.

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, for yourself, for your daughter, you have to because I mean, women are in a health crisis right now,

Elizabeth Cheney:

That's what it feels

Bhavna Singh:

conventional medicine is failing us left and right. Some women they need it. Some are thriving off of it, but most of us are not

Elizabeth Cheney:

Mm mm.

Bhavna Singh:

so you have to educate yourself. You have to empower yourself and you have to find the right kind of practitioners

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yep. And ask questions. Explore.

Bhavna Singh:

Yes, ask questions, explore, and also like don't try throwing the kitchen sink at you, you know, like you're gonna google, you're gonna do all this research, you're gonna do all the supplements, you're gonna, have a cabinet full of supplements that you're throwing the whole kitchen sink on, like that's not the answer either. Work with someone who can actually make you the protocols, like really targeted therapies, so you can get better because that's really, really important.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Yeah. Mm. So much wisdom. So much information. Everyone's gotta go unpack their notes. No, this was, this is why we did this episode by itself.

Bhavna Singh:

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Elizabeth Cheney:

No, seriously. So thank you so much for everyone listening. Please share your handles cause you are always spreading information about all kinds of different things. You even have a pet health one the other day. you talked about IBS the other day, like you have so much information and cute graphics, which for me and my ADHD self, I like cause I don't know, it's prettier to look at it than to read it. Um, but where can everyone listening find you?

Bhavna Singh:

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram. My handle is at dr. bhavnasingh.

Elizabeth Cheney:

And I will make sure to link her in the show notes, so you'll be able to find her there. so thank you so much. I think we'll definitely have you come back on and talk about skin care, skin health, all of that fun stuff, because side note everyone, uh, Bhavna and her sister are low key, uh, low key, no, real key, building their own natural skin care line. TBD on launch, apparently it takes an arm and a leg to get those things kicked off. Um, something about, what is it, regulations, which are good and needed, but also frustrating. Um, so, but she knows a thing or two, that, so I think that'd be really cool and exciting to talk about. Thank you so much. And for y'all listening, if you enjoyed this, please rate, review, subscribe, follow all the things, share it with your friend, your sister, your coworker, your mom, anybody who would value from this conversation, uh, it's on YouTube, so we will be on video and then you can listen to us anywhere else, Spotify, Apple. If you haven't done so already, please follow me, Instagram at in. betweenpod or elizabethcini underscore, and then the TikTok and the YouTubes at the inbetweenpodcast. That's all she wrote. Bhavna, thank you. Until next time. We'll see you.

Bhavna Singh:

you.

Elizabeth Cheney:

Bye.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Elizabeth Cheney Stater

Host