My 6 Foundations for Fertility: A Holistic Roadmap to Support Your Hormones, Cycles, and Fertility Journey

When you’re navigating fertility challenges—whether you're working through PCOS fertility support, facing unexplained infertility, or intentionally supporting fertility over 35—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Diet advice, supplement lists, hormone terminology, lab results… fertility can quickly start to feel like a puzzle with missing pieces.

But the truth is: your body is not broken. It simply needs the right foundational support so your hormones, metabolism, and reproductive system can function the way they’re designed to.

These six fertility foundations—mindset, mineral balance, stress resilience & nervous system regulation, nutrition, digestive & liver health, and reducing environmental toxins—work together as interconnected systems. When one improves, the others strengthen. When several are supported at once, the body finally feels safe enough to prioritize fertility.

1. Mindset: Creating Internal Safety for Fertility

Fertility is not just a physical process—it’s deeply intertwined with your emotional and mental health. Your thoughts, beliefs, and internal narrative shape your stress response, your hormones, and even your ability to stay consistent with nourishing habits.

Many people navigating unexplained infertility or PCOS fertility support silently carry beliefs like “My body is failing me” or “Everyone else can get pregnant but me.” These thoughts activate the stress response and make the journey heavier than it needs to be.

Fostering a healthy mindset doesn’t necessarily mean “thinking positive” all the time. It means creating space for compassion, realistic hope, and emotional flexibility. When you feel safe and supported—physically and emotionally—your body is better able to respond to nutrition and lifestyle changes to help you move through your fertility journey with more ease.

Supportive Mindset Practices

• Shift the internal dialogue: Replace “My body isn’t working” with “My body is trying to communicate with me.” When you listen and reflect, you’ll be able to uncover what its telling you.

• Micro-moments of grounding: Take 30 seconds to slowly breath through your nose before meals, transitions throughout the day, or appointments. This will help to reduce stress and remind you to be present as you move about your day.

• Choose intentional input: Follow accounts, podcasts, or practitioners who help you feel empowered—not panicked. Even better, try avoiding all social media and focus your intention inwards and give yourself a break from consuming more information.

A regulated mindset builds the foundation for a regulated nervous system. The time leading up to conception should be a joyful and transitional time. Your life is about to change forever, you shouldn’t have to spend this season of your life stressed and confused.

2. Mineral Balance: The Body’s Electrical System

Minerals—especially calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium—are the spark plugs of your metabolism, hormone production and every reaction that occurs in the body. They influence everything from blood sugar regulation to thyroid function to ovulation itself.

If you’re trying to get pregnant, mineral depletion is incredibly common, especially in women with:

• Long-term birth control or copper IUD use

• Chronic stress

• PCOS

• Heavy periods

• History of dieting or undereating

• Diets high in processed foods

• High caffeine or alcohol intake

Why Minerals Matter for Fertility

• Magnesium supports progesterone production and helps regulate the nervous system.

• Sodium & potassium balance adrenal health, hydration, and cellular energy.

• Calcium supports ovulation and adequate cervical fluid.

  
  

Simple Mineral-Supporting Actions

• Add electrolytes (clean, no artificial sweeteners) or quality sea salt to your water.

• Include mineral-rich foods: coconut water, sea salt, bone broth, dairy, leafy greens, citrus, and sea vegetables.

• Eat balanced meals with protein + carbs + fat to stabilize blood sugar.

3. Stress Resilience & Nervous System Regulation

Your nervous system determines whether your body feels safe enough for reproduction. When stress is high—emotionally, physically, or even from hidden sources like inflammation—the brain signals the ovaries to pause ovulation.

This is why women dealing with unexplained infertility often find that stress reduction makes a measurable difference in cycle health.

How Stress Impacts Fertility

• Cortisol competes with progesterone. Both of these hormones stem from the same source- pregnenolone. When stress increases, pregnenolone prioritizes making cortisol to deal with the active stressor instead of making progesterone.

• Chronic activation of “fight or flight” suppresses ovulation.

• Poor sleep disrupts hormones like leptin and melatonin, which influence reproductive hormones.

Practical Nervous System Tools

• Slow meal times: Sit down, breathe, and soften your shoulders before eating to support digestion and hormonal balance. Try avoiding screens or eating while distracted.

• Co-regulation: Talk, hug, laugh, and connect with people you love. Humans regulate together.

• Daily sunlight: Morning light supports circadian rhythm, which regulates your entire hormonal picture.

You don’t need a silent retreat to support your nervous system—you just need small, consistent practices that tell your body, “you are not in any danger”.

4. Nutrition: Choose the Right Raw Materials

Fertility requires nutrients- the raw materials your body uses to build hormones, neurotransmitters, your uterine lining, egg & sperm cells, cervical fluid, etc. Even your future baby’s DNA and long-term health is influenced by the nutrients you consume.

This is important for all women trying to conceive, but especially for women trying to get pregnant over 35. This is because as our bodies age, our hormonal picture starts to change, resilience slowly declines, and simply - the older we get the longer we have potentially not been prioritizing nutrition.

Overall, nutrient needs are higher and stores may be lower. 

Foundational Fertility Nutrition

• Protein at every meal: Essential for hormone synthesis and blood sugar balance. Aim for about 30g with every meal (with emphasis on quality animal proteins).

• Healthy fats: Butter, olive oil, egg yolks, grass-fed meats, full-fat dairy and fatty fish all support the creation of hormones

• Whole-food carbohydrates: Fruits, potatoes, squash, sourdough, rice—these support metabolism and progesterone.

• Antioxidants: Berries, colorful vegetables, herbs, green tea, dark chocolate. These are necessary to reduce inflammation in the body

• Blood sugar balance: Pairing protein + fat + carb in each meal leads to stable glucose and insulin = stable hormones. This is especially important for women with PCOS, as insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation is a common driver of PCOS symptoms.

You don’t need perfection—you need nourishment that feels sustainable, realistic and satisfying.

5. Digestive & Liver Health: Processing Hormones Efficiently

Your liver and gut are the cleanup crew of your hormonal system. If your digestion is sluggish or your liver is burdened, estrogen can recirculate, inflammation rises, and ovulation becomes more difficult.

Women with PCOS, bloating, constipation, acne, or PMS often benefit enormously from improving these pathways.

Liver & Gut Support for Fertility

• Daily bowel movements: Your body must eliminate estrogen and toxins from the body. Constipation = estrogen imbalance. Drinking enough water is top priority!

• Eat bitter foods: Arugula, dandelion, lemon water, radicchio—these stimulate digestive flow. Digestive bitters are also available in a supplement.

• Support your liver with nutrients: B vitamins, choline (found in egg yolks), magnesium, and antioxidants.

• Reduce alcohol: Even small amounts slow liver detoxification.

• Chew your food well: It sounds simple, but it radically improves digestion and reduces stress on the body.

A nourished digestive system = detoxification, clearer skin, better cycles, reliable ovulation, hormone balance and so much more.

6. Reducing Environmental Toxins: Lightening the Toxic Load

Today’s world exposes us to chemicals that the body was never designed to handle—especially endocrine disruptors, which mimic or interfere with hormones. These can impact hormone receptors, egg quality, and overall fertility.

This foundation is especially important for those dealing with unexplained infertility or supporting fertility over 35, simply because our cumulative toxin exposure is higher.

Common Sources of Endocrine Disruptors

• Fragrance in personal care products, Scented candles or air fresheners

• Plastics (water bottles, food containers)

• Non-stick cookware

• Pesticides

• Cleaning products

• Certain makeup & skincare ingredients

Simple, Realistic Swaps

You don’t need a full lifestyle overhaul. Start with:

• Switch to fragrance-free or naturally scented products.

• Store food in glass, not plastic.

• Replace non-stick pans with cast iron or stainless steel.

• Choose cleaner detergents and multipurpose cleaners.

• Wash fruits and veggies thoroughly or buy organic when possible for high-pesticide items.

Every small reduction lightens the burden on your liver and hormones.

Bringing It All Together

Fertility isn’t about doing everything all at once or perfectly. Wherever you are at, you can slowly implement changes. Overtime your body will thank you with the gift of your dream family.

Your body is wise.

You are not broken.

You can heal.

You do not have to navigate this alone.

If you are struggling with any of these fertility foundations, please reach out! This is exactly how I help my clients get pregnant sooner than if they continued to try it on their own. If you are ready for a clear and customized plan to conceive faster, click the link below to see what it might be like to work with me.

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