WHY SMOOTHIES DO NOT SUPPORT FERTILITY

Smoothies have become a staple for many people seeking a convenient and nutrient-dense meal. However, just because they potentially have more nutrients than cooked foods, does not automatically mean that they are better for us.

The consumption of smoothies may therefore not be as healthy as people think, particularly if you are on a fertility journey.

Here’s why:

As a Chinese Fertility Medicine specialist[1] I view your body as a delicate balance of processes and systems that work in harmony with the seasons and nature’s cycles.

Central to your fertility health is something we call “Qi” (pronounced “chee”).

Qi is the vitality or life force that circulates through your body and it is the power that enables your organs and systems to work properly.

When there is sufficient Qi your body can maintain a good health balance, which includes supporting your reproductive system and enabling you to have children.  

Qi is directly enhanced through food and needs to circulate to all areas of your body to support your production of blood, fluids, tissues, and even right down to cell division and nourishment (which includes egg and sperm cells).

To circulate properly it relies on the warmth of your body to keep the various circulatory pathways open so that it can reach every area properly, and through this process, it is also involved in helping your blood to circulate efficiently.
Efficiently flowing Qi and blood ensures that all areas of your body, down to the tiniest cells, are properly nourished and supported.

Dietary practices and food choices must therefore be geared towards increasing Qi and blood quality and circulation, and not hindering them. Decreasing their circulation results in fewer nutrients getting to the required locations, and also less efficient detoxification of waste, which typically results in a variety of fertility-related issues in women and men.

The 2 problems with smoothies:

As Qi is mostly extracted from food via an efficient digestive system we want to ensure a strong and healthy digestive function, first and foremost.

There are 3 key reasons why smoothies do not support fertility, as follows:

1. Cold Temperature: If smoothies are made from cold foods such as frozen fruits or vegetables, ice cubes, or foods straight from the fridge, they will be too cold for what your digestive system needs to efficiently extract nutrients.Cold always decreases activity and circulation so cold foods and fluids cause an immediate problem for digestion, which leads to a decline in digestive activity. This disrupts your body’s ability to properly extract Qi from your food, eventually resulting in a Qi deficiency pattern of imbalance[2] as well as producing other patterns of disharmony. This can lead to a variety of general and fertility health issues.For more information on Qi deficiency and to see whether you have this pattern click here to get my free e-book that will quickly confirm this for you.

In nature, barely anything can grow and flourish in cold soil or extremely cold weather. Consumption of cold foods or fluids reduces your internal temperature, which negatively impacts the circulation of your Qi and blood.
Although your body will warm itself up again, the consumption of cold foods and drinks can for many people cause significant issues. A cold internal body does not provide an environment conducive to growth and circulation, and this negatively impacts fertility health in many ways.

In summer it’s easy to want to cool ourselves down with cold drinks and foods, but this goes completely against the naturally warm time of year. If temperatures are extreme, then of course we have to protect ourselves from too much heat, but consuming cold foods and drinks doesn’t help with this.

People often ask whether consuming smoothies at room temperature helps, but the answer is no because the foods are still raw, which is the next concern in point 2 below.

The solution:

Avoid cold foods and drinks, and only consume them at room-temperature or warmed up. In summer, consume only room temperature drinks or cooked foods if it’s hot. This will better support your body’s ability to regulate your temperature.

2. Raw Foods: While raw fruits and vegetables may contain more nutrients, they are not as efficiently absorbed compared to obtaining them through cooked foods. Raw foods place an additional strain on your digestive system because their physical structures are too complex, and they require more energy to be deconstructed and then release their nutrients.If there is insufficient Qi available to your digestive system (a very common issue), then you will not be able to properly deconstruct the raw food. The result is a decrease in proper breakdown, absorption, and transformation of the foods and nutrients you eat, which causes your Qi to decline and become deficient.

Interestingly, in some cases, cooking produces higher concentrations of certain nutrients. Tomatoes, for example, have a small amount of lycopene (an excellent nutrient for the heart) in them when they are raw. Once cooked the lycopene increases significantly, and so cooked tomatoes are much better for your heart than raw ones.  

Cooking helps to break down some of the physical structure of raw foods, which is kind of like ‘pre-digesting’ them before you eat them. Some percentage of nutrients will be lost in cooking, but the remaining ones will be more easily absorbed because your body can get through the complex structure of the food once it has been cooked.

The solution:

Lightly cooking or steaming vegetables makes them easier to digest and will help you to absorb nutrients more efficiently. Avoiding too much raw fruit and salads will also help. I typically advise 1-2 pieces of local and seasonal fruits per day and 95% of vegetables to be cooked.

Disruption to your fertility:

The role of your digestion is to transform food into Qi (vitality) and blood to be able to carry all the necessary energy and nutrients to every cell in your body, including egg and sperm cells.

Everything you eat gets broken down, absorbed, converted into Qi and blood, and then circulated around your body to nourish your organs, systems, tissues, and cells, as well as eliminate waste to keep your internal environment perfect for the creation of an embryo, and implantation of it (which also requires warmth and circulation).

Consuming excessive amounts of cold or raw foods, such as those commonly found in smoothies, can impair these digestive functions over time and result in a variety of symptoms and patterns of imbalance.

Symptoms to look out for:

If digestion, Qi, and blood, are impaired it typically manifests as symptoms such as bloating, loose stools, fatigue, poor nutrient absorption, feeling tired or cold, low blood pressure, poor circulation, hair loss, dizziness, an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) – and many more issues – all of which can impact your fertility negatively.

If you repeatedly have any of these symptoms or simply want to support a healthy and efficient digestion to optimise your fertility, I recommend to avoid raw and cold smoothies, foods, and drinks.

What to do now:

Eat mostly warm or room-temperature cooked foods instead of cold smoothies and salads, to support and promote digestion. This includes soups, stews, steamed vegetables, and any other foods that you would normally cook and eat.

In summer when it’s hot you can cook seasonal vegetables lightly (such as broccoli), and once cooled dress them as a salad instead of eating raw salads. Many vegetable soups can also be served at room temperature, but be made from cooked foods.

Although there is a decrease in nutrients when food is cooked, the existing nutrients are able to be absorbed at a much more efficient level and provide you with what you need. Eating around 90-95% (ideally organic or wild) cooked food, with a few pieces of seasonal local fruit each day, should sufficiently provide the correct amount of nutrients you need.

Find your fertility health pattern:

To get to the root of your fertility health click here to grab a FREE copy of my e-book, 8 Missed Clues Your Fertility is Out of Balance.

This will help you to identify whether you have a Qi deficiency pattern or any of the other 7 patterns of imbalance that are at the root of all fertility health issues, and give a few pointers about foods to eat for each pattern.

Footnote:

[1] This is called ‘Fu Ke’ (妇科) in Chinese and it is a specialist area of Chinese medicine focused on Gynecology, Fertility, and Obstetrics. Practitioners need to specialise in this field.

[2] Qi deficiency is one of the 8 patterns of health imbalance in my 8 patterns fertility diagnosis system and is at the root cause of many fertility health issues. Click here to grab my free e-book and confirm whether you have this, or any of the other 7 patterns.

NEED MORE HELP?

GRAB YOUR FREE E-COPY OF MY #1 BOOK (3rd Edition)

THE ULTIMATE FERTILITY GUIDE

Claim your free guide to discover the 3 steps that could dramatically speed up your journey to having your baby!