Are nuts & seeds bad for your fertility?

[Eva]

Hi Lara,


I am really confused about what to eat / not to eat.
I have read this post about nuts & seeds and now I am really confused.
What is your advise please?


jessicaashwellness

Just like all fads that come to an end, seed cycling is just a bandaid solution for a WAY deeper problem.

Some women try seed cycling and see a benefit to the cycle- why?

The idea that nuts & seeds are "anti-inflammatory" is partially true. You see, the polyunsaturated fats in nuts and seeds have an immunosuppressive effect by suppressing the cells that drive up inflammation.

Remember, inflammation is an emergency response to danger, damage or stress. It is the body's way of dealing with a problem.

Something that SUPPRESSES inflammation is NOT the same thing as removing the ROOT problems driving inflammation.

Many women with hormonal imbalances are in a serious state of metabolic stress.

Chronic Metabolic stress = Chronic Inflammation

Symptom suppression often leads to "immediate" short term "results" with long term consequences.

Nuts & seeds are rich in anti-nutrients such as oxalates, phytic acid and lectins to keep them from being digested well.

They also contain barriers to digestion such as trypsin inhibitors (enzyme blockers) and PUFAs (that have often gone rancid by the time they get to you).

Not to mention the fact that they are plant estrogens, which although weak estrogens, adding the extra estrogen burden on top of the serious epidemic of estrogen dominance, can make things worse.

The nut industry is BIG industry and they have spent a lot of money convincing us nuts & seeds are a VERY healthy food. They heavily spray crops with herbicides and pesticides to protect the valuable crops at the expense of crucial wildlife, including bees.

In reality, humans have eaten minimal nuts & seeds until very recently. They were always provided in their whole, protected (in a shell) form that contained intact vitamin E to protect us from the PUFAs. They were usually eaten when other food sources were scarce.

Now, we grab a bulk sized costco bag that has been exposed to only-God-knows amounts oxygen, heat, processing, etc. and assume they're "sO gOoD fOr Us" cuz that instagram influencer told us that they are.

Quick fixes are just that- temporary solutions. I encourage doing sustainable practices that improve our health for the long term.


Kind regards, Eva

[Lara]

In moderation, nuts and seeds are beneficial for health including hormone health. The statement that you quote: that phytoestrogens contribute to an "extra estrogen burden" is completely wrong. Phytoestrogens actually have a beneficial anti-estrogen effect and can promote fertility in conditions like PCOS.

[Eva]

Thank you so much for your reply