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The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Gut Health and Fertility: How the Microbiome, Toxins, and Nutrition Impact Preconception Health
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the.
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Tudor Dixon
Welcome to the Tudor Dixon Podcast. Today we have a guest that is going to tell us all about our gut, which I'm excited about, and how our gut not only affects our health, but also you have probably noticed that many young couples have been struggling to conceive in the last, I would say, almost like 10 years now. And we've sort of wondered, what is it? Is it something. Is it medication? Is it something in the environment? And then I heard our guest on a podcast, and she was talking about all of the PFAs that we are consuming on a daily basis, which you may have heard about these forever chemicals. We hear about them a lot where I am, because we have a lot of manufacturers. I know our guest today will talk about probably farming as well. If you live near a farm, you're also probably experiencing this. But also I was shocked to hear it's even in my cookware, and it's in the foods that I eat and the cans that I drink out of. So, with no further ado, Dr. Ann Shippy is here with us to talk about our. About internal medicine and the environment that affects our gut every day. Thank you so much for joining me.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Thank you for having me. And, yes, the gut is the center of the universe in my world because it's so important for really every aspect of biology, from absorbing our nutrients that run everything to. To our microbiome, which are the organisms that help our bodies to work better, to a huge part of our immune system is located in the gut. So when our gut is good, a lot of our body's good.
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Tudor Dixon
Well, I love your story because you are someone who experienced this yourself. You had an autoimmune disorder. You were not a doctor at the time, which this. I love your story because you are driven, and this is like the ultimate driven, because you were working at IBM and you got sick. Doctors couldn't figure it out. You got better. You got sick again, and you were like, I'm gonna go to med school. That's not a thing. People don't do that. You're special.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Well, I'm so fortunate because I think a lot of times people do have life experiences that happen, but they're. And get inspired to make a change, but they're so locked into their lives that they can't take eight years off and go back to school. Yeah.
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Tudor Dixon
Yes. I mean, I'm amazed by it, but also what you've been able to do, because like I said, there are so many things going on today in our bodies. That we don't understand why they're happening. I've had so many young women that I've talked to who I think, first of all, I'll say we are pushing off having kids till later. So our audience is people with children and people with adult children and people probably also trying to conceive. But I would say that when I talk to our audience, I think many of them have children the age that are trying to conceive right now and. Or they're in their high school years and we're going, what do we need to be doing to make sure they are ready to do that? And you have all these suggestions on, for both men and women, which I found fascinating on making sure that you've kind of like cleared out these toxins from your body to make sure your body's ready for this. But I'm listening to you talk about this, and I'm thinking this also pertains to everybody because I heard you talk about H. Pylori. I want to get into that just really quickly because I recently met someone who had no idea that she was experiencing this. She had a lot of acid reflux, had like a situation where people kept saying, your breath, you've got a breath issue, you've got a breath issue. And she didn't know what the deal was. And turns out she has this. Is it a bacteria or what is it?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
It's a bacteria called H. Pylori. It increases the risk for getting ulcers as well as reflux and, and actually cancer as well. And it. A lot of times it can even be silent. So the people who actually have symptoms around it and get diagnosed and treated are actually the lucky ones because sometimes it doesn't actually get detected until you have the ulcer or until cancer. But the. The. One of the things I really recommend in, in any phase of life, but especially in this preconception phase where you're preparing for pregnancy, is to know what's going on with your microbiome, the bacteria, the yeast, the parasites that are just inherited inherently in our digestive tract. So what's really great is that when we find those things, even advance of them causing problems, it can help our health be healthier.
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Tudor Dixon
So no one ever told me to check my gut before I had kids. And I've literally never had this conversation with my doctor. And if I went to my doctor and asked for this, what would I even say? And how do I get taken seriously? Because I feel like. And maybe this is just my experience as a woman and I'm telling you my experience as a woman, but it seems like for women, even more so, it is hard to be taken seriously when you ask for something at the doctor's office.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Well, and unfortunately a lot of doctors aren't trained in this. They don't know the importance of checking what's going on with the microbiome. So a lot of times you have to take it into your own hands. And the good news is that a lot of companies that are really good, or a couple in particular, do a really great job of direct to consumers. So anybody can go order this for themselves. There's a company called Tiny Health that I love because in addition to doing the gut microbiome, you can also do the vaginal microbiome, which we know is super important during pregnancy and delivery for passing on a good microbiome to your, to your child. So you can order it for yourself. It's called Tiny Health. And then there's another one called Jonah. It is nice to have a doctor that is really familiar with the microbiome and can help you navigate the results. So looking for a functional medicine doctor that actually knows how to help you interpret it and come up with a plan to optimize things. It's really fun.
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Tudor Dixon
So if you, if it's bad and you don't know that is there. I mean, does this change your eggs? Like what? How does this affect your baby? Is it just affecting your ability to get pregnant or is it affecting the actual child in their future as well? Both.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
And this is important for men too. So in my book the Preconception Revolution, I explain in great detail. But.
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When the microbiome is off, the gut microbiome, the urogenital microbiome, it creates inflammation and inflammation changes the way our hormones work. And it sends signals in the body that there's extra work to do. So it can make you less fertile. But even if you are still able to get pregnant, it can impact the health of the baby through something called epigenetics. So how genes are being dialed up and dialed down. So it's really great for both men and women to know what's going on with their microbiome and to get it into good balance balance before they get pregnant, because they'll get pregnant easier, they'll have better fertility and then healthier babies.
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Tudor Dixon
So are there cases where gut biome is causing women to not be able to conceive whatsoever?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Absolutely. Absolutely.
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Tudor Dixon
And is that always the woman's fault?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
No, it's both. I've seen men's sperm health improve Also, when we get their microbiome balanced, it's both. So what I really. What I'm so excited about is how the research came together in my book to really support. There's over 500 articles that are included as references. So we have all these researchers out there looking at it, and then I have my personal experience with helping my patients, and we can really move the needle. And I want the conversation to change like that. 3, 6, 12, even 2 years before you're starting or growing your family, that's the time to really get your body tuned up so that you don't have trouble with fertility and that you have a healthier baby.
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Tudor Dixon
Interesting. So you also. What. In some of these interviews that I've heard you talk about this issue, you've also said that the partner's health can affect the other partner's health. So if you have one partner that is like, oh, you know what? I'm gonna. I mean, I. I feel like this is more the wife or the woman, the mother in the situation who would be like, I wanna make sure I'm ready. And I think we kind of think about that. We're like, you. You're not that involved. What, you. Not that big of a deal. My body is the vessel. I'm carrying the child. I have to make sure it's good. But you have said that if the partner has some of these health problems or. Or some. Some of this gut bacteria. That's not correct. That can be transferred to the other.
- [11:24]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Exactly. So I want people to start thinking about the sperm as like a time capsule for the baby and for the pregnancy. So if the. If the sperm is epigenetically changed by environmental toxins, the microbiome, by stress, by blood sugar abnormalities, many things that I discuss in the book, it can actually influence how healthy the pregnancy is. So it can increase the risk for preeclampsia, placental issues and other things.
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Tudor Dixon
It's so wild.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
It's like this. It's so exciting, though, because it's. It's like the team effort. It takes some of the burden off the woman, and it gives the male partner the opportunity to participate in a whole nother way. Like, their health is like a snapshot for this future child that can really get them inspired to take action and be part of the solution to having healthy babies.
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Tudor Dixon
And preeclampsia is something that, I think, as women, we feel like it's one of those things that while you're pregnant, you're really afraid of, because it can. It can. I mean, you can die from preeclampsia. It can be very serious.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
It's very serious. The mom can die, the baby can die. And it's. It. It is very, very alarming and very scary.
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Tudor Dixon
It's basically like extreme high blood pressure.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Right? Extreme high blood pressure and signs of the liver being overloaded. Like, the liver can't handle all the work that it needs to do for both baby and mom.
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Tudor Dixon
There's a lot of guilt that goes along with things like this when they occur during pregnancy. And. And people. You know, there's. It's funny because we talked to someone recently who was saying there's so much guilt at the doctor's office. And I think oftentimes we don't like to have these conversations because there is a lot of guilt at the doctor's office. It's like, don't eat this. You can't have this if you're overweight. These are the complications that you can have during pregnancy. And that's one of them that they say, oh, well, this could be connected to your weight. But what if it's not? What if there's other things that it could be connected to? And that's what you're bringing to us right now. So there is a huge benefit to finding someone. I'm in kind of a rural area, and that's a concern of mine. Like, how do you find this doctor? How do you make sure that you have this testing done? And what is the testing? Or do they have to, like, is it invasive? Is this me sending in a stool sample? How does this go?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Yeah, so there's lots of options of things to test, and that's really described in detail in the book. But it ranges from detailed nutritional status, the microbiome, like we talked about, the toxin levels, how well your mitochondria are looking, some really detailed markers for inflammation, the epigenetics of the sperm. There's so much that's possible to do. So by reading the book, people can find out how to do some of that testing on their own. And then also, there's gonna. I know there's gonna be such a need for this that I'm gonna be offering an online program starting in January. Oh, wow. Where people can actually order the test through the program, and then we can do group calls to help people interpret it. Because I can't, you know, I can't see the thousands and thousands of people that I want to have this opportunity to do this, to have the healthy babies. So there'll be a lot of help around this. So the toxin levels. I think, you know, one of the things that's really amazed me over the years is even people that think they're doing everything right. You know, they're eating organic, they're filtering their water, they have some awareness about how the environmental toxins can be building up in their body. We find things. Even one of my own kids, we just did his toxin level. He's 24 and he mostly eats organic. He's pretty like he's future proofing his fertility, thank goodness, as best he can. But we found a really high atracene level and so we had to do some investigation and we, we think we figured out what it was. He was eating some corn that's not organic. And he was, he loves to golf. So maybe the way he was handling the golf shoes and things after golfing and maybe not changing out his gloves enough and some things like that. So actually getting the data gives us the opportunity of doing the investigation and finding, you know, ways to solve the problems.
- [15:38]
Tudor Dixon
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
- [15:52]
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- [16:15]
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- [16:48]
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- [17:16]
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- [17:45]
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- [18:12]
Dr. Ann Shippy
The perfect gift is waiting.
- [18:13]
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- [18:18]
Tudor Dixon
So these are things to be aware of. If you live near a manufacturing facility, if you live near a farm, if you live on a golf course, that's another one that people don't know. Know that golf courses have a lot of chemicals a lot of chemicals that go to for upkeep and that goes into your drinking water. But if you're filtering your water, how do you get forever chemicals out of your water?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Yeah, it's tricky. You know some of these things it's a cost benefit ratio but the clean the better filtration systems that you can have for your water and even whole house filters the better.
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And then also filtering your air having some air filters that you use at night because air pollution is is such a big deal a lot of places I mean I live in Texas and and there's open burnings allowed so people are burning their plastics and all kinds of things. And then you know other.
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Places that have a lot of heavy traffic there's amazing issues that are very difficult, very challenging to to deal with with the air pollution that and there's you know from a.
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Chronic, chronic health issue like links with dementia and Parkinson's and autoimmunity. All of these things that have impact fertility that I want to you know that I really wrote the book about apply to so many different health issues that we're seeing escalate. So this book could really be applicable for everyone. I just really dialed it in for the, for the fertility piece.
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Tudor Dixon
So if you have these issues can and you don't take care of them, you don't know about them, is that potentially causing autoimmune disease in the child or autism or any of these things that we're seeing, could that be contributing to these childhood cancers and metabolic disorders that we're seeing rising?
- [20:12]
Dr. Ann Shippy
There's links with all of this. And that's why I think I really want this preconception period to be like non negotiable. Like most women won't get pregnant on purpose without at least taking prenatal vitamin. I want this to become the narrative where men and women are very consciously choosing when to get pregnant because they know they've optimized enough of their biology to reduce their child's risk for autism, mental health issues, cancer, autoimmunity. All these things that are so alarming, what we're seeing increase the increases that we're seeing in our children today.
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Tudor Dixon
Childhood obesity, all of these things you talk about. One of the things that you talk about, and I again will say this because I think historically we have never considered the fact that the man should be looking at his health before they try to get pregnant. But you say a man should probably cut any alcohol out for like two months before trying to get pregnant.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
At least two months. Really three to six months is more optimal. Really give the liver a rest and let it work on detoxing. Some of these other things that are harder to control in the environment.
- [21:23]
Tudor Dixon
So if, if the husband goes out for a football game and has a night out and drinks a beer, are you like, you got to start those two months over or. I mean, I think. Because I think we are getting to the point where we're like, I want to prevent these diseases. What is happening?
- [21:39]
Dr. Ann Shippy
You know, I really think about it as the things we can control. Let's just commit to controlling those things for as long as we can before we get pregnant. Is one beer gonna make a difference? Probably not, but it is one of the things that you can control. So I would prefer it to just make that commitment and get as many of the toxins out. So sperm takes about 74 days to from start to finish to make a sperm. And really. Yes.
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Tudor Dixon
And so learning something here.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
We want that environment that the sperm is kind of developing in and the egg is develop to be as pristine as possible. I mean, you wouldn't plant a garden in a place that, you know that you had a sewer lake, right. Or, or manufacturing waste. Go like you want that soil to be as pristine as possible. And the egg and the sperm where it's developing, we just like, just, we want it to be fully nourished, ready to grow a beautiful garden.
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Tudor Dixon
Okay, but the sperm, you say it's taking what, 74 days? You said to. But the egg is there from the time we're babies. So I mean, we're in our inside of our mothers with our eggs. So are we screwing them up throughout our lives? Like, are they in a protected place or what are we doing to them?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
The better we take care of our bodies through our entire lifespan, the easier it is to maintain our fertility and to have healthy babies. So part of this initiative is really helping women to know what they can be doing, you know, their entire lifespan. Not just to have healthy babies, but also to, to keep our ovarian health as good as possible into menopause. Right. I really think that our ovaries are, are part of our longevity. And the better we take care of our full bodies, the, the better we'll go through menopause and, and age. So it's really a whole longevity conversation as well.
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Tudor Dixon
Well, I think about this as a mom of four girls. I think, what am I doing to prepare them? Like, what am I doing to screw them up is actually what I'm saying. I want to be saying I think I'm great, but I'm also in my mind, I'm like, okay, I've really not done the greatest things. And I was listening to you saying that the non stick pans are no good. I'm like, oh my gosh, how many things have I screwed up? And you're like, don't doordash, right? And we bring home food home from the restaurants all the time. And I didn't even. I never thought about. I'm always like, don't microwave it. I never thought, well, it's sitting on that styrofoam. Why would I want them to eat it but go through all of that with us? Because I do think that as a parent, I'm past the point. Like, this is, this story is not. I'm not having any more kids. I'm past that point. But I look at my daughters and I go, I am responsible for their health and teaching them why their health is important. What am I doing in my house right now that isn't good for them?
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Dr. Ann Shippy
I love this, framing the conversation this way. It's really, really important. So.
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I want to raise the alarm bells, but also give people hope. So, yes, I think you're really, really being thoughtful about how to help your children. To protect their future fertility. And we do need to start thinking about the pfas, the plastics, the. The pesticides, the heavy metals, because they really do build up in the body. So the better we can do with not having the toxins come in, the better. Now, I will say that I've seen people in their mid-40s that have had issues with fertility.
- [25:31]
Some people have had to do IBS previously and even in their mid-30s and in their 40s, and even one person in their late 40s right now, she's 47. That we were able to do a very intensive of thoughtful detox. Like, not like the stuff that you see with the. The cleanses and the juice fasts and all that kind of thing online.
- [25:54]
Tudor Dixon
But yeah, that's what I assume that I'm in need, like some green drink for in the next 30 days.
- [25:59]
Dr. Ann Shippy
And the green drinks won't hurt too, but there are certain supplements that I write about in the book. Liposomal glutathione, phosphatidylcholine, certain binders helping the methylation pathways. It's very science, safe, gentle detox. And it's very effective for getting those toxins out of your body. So.
- [26:19]
Tudor Dixon
Okay, but do I have to think about this with my kids? Should I be testing them?
- [26:23]
Dr. Ann Shippy
If you can, absolutely.
- [26:26]
Tudor Dixon
And that's like through. I can do that through one of these. I did this recently as a company called viome.
- [26:33]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Yes.
- [26:33]
Tudor Dixon
And you send in. I didn't know that you were. So I was like, yeah, I would love to do this. And then the kit came and it freaked me out a little bit. I'm not gonna lie. You had to spit. And then you send us your spit and your stool sample. Those were fine. You had to take your own blood. And I was like, I cannot do this. And I will say that my 12 year old was like, mom, I've got this. I'm such a wimp. And she did it.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
She.
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Tudor Dixon
She took my blood and she. And you prick your finger. I mean, it's not like you're using a needle in your arm, but you prick your finger. And I was like, I'm gonna pass out. She did it all. And we sent it in med school. I know that's. I said to her, I'm like, you not that many people have this gift. Her twin looked at us both and was like, I'm taking the do. Never has taken the dog out in her life. She just couldn't stand the sight of blood, you know, but she was great. She took care of me. It was Amazing what it comes back with. It comes back with like, the foods you should eat. And I never, I was like, oh, this is great for me. I didn't think about my kids because I'm like, they're young, they're healthy. I don't have to. But of course, this is when this is starting, all of this bad gut stuff, so why shouldn't I? I don't think about it because I don't seem to have health problems, but I am desperately afraid of them not being able to conceive because it seems like this generation of young women cannot conceive. I think it's what you said. One in ten.
- [27:57]
Dr. Ann Shippy
It's actually one in six couples now, maybe.
- [28:01]
Tudor Dixon
Are you serious?
- [28:01]
Dr. Ann Shippy
One in five couples.
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Tudor Dixon
Crazy.
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Dr. Ann Shippy
Where one or both are dealing with infertility. The sperm count has gone down by 50% in 50 years, so about 1% a year, but it's accelerating. This last count, it was 2.6% in a year. But I want to, like, we, I. We have to start thinking about our children, grandchildren's fertility. But I want to be hopeful because this approach of eating the right foods, getting the body into an optimal shape, can preserve fertility well into the, into 40s.
- [28:39]
Tudor Dixon
So with biome, they actually do say these are the supplements that you need to get your, your gut in shape. And then I don't really know what that means. So you, so you're on board with that? There are, there are supplements that you take. Explain how that works and are these vitamins or what is what happens?
- [28:57]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Yeah, so. And again, really detailed outline in the book around fertility and the things that there's very good scientific evidence for in the book, but we kind of forget that our body runs on nutrients. And so there, I've really highlighted the nutrients that can help to sustain fertility and actually improve it. So it's a lot of the antioxidants, so things like curcumin and the B vitamins and.
- [29:32]
Astaxanthin is popping up as one because there's really great.
- [29:36]
Tudor Dixon
I don't even know what that word means.
- [29:37]
Dr. Ann Shippy
I know it's like a vitamin A, but a special form of vitamin A. So there's amazing research that is available to help us to choose some things that really help. And then on ovarian aging, the supplements that can really make a difference are special forms of CoQ10. So I think most people have probably heard of CoQ10. It really helps our mitochondria, the little organelles inside our body, make energy better. And then things like carnitine the phosphatidylcholine again, is really good for our mitochondria. So there's all this research that's coming together that I put into the book that can really, really help people to feel empowered and not so afraid. I can't, it just breaks my heart how many, you know, 30, 30 year old women are being guided to go.
- [30:25]
Put their eggs on ice to protect their fertility without actually helping their bodies to be stronger, better. And I think if they put those resources and the time and energy into protecting their fertility, it, it's really not a great idea to do the IVF because.
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And the egg harvesting because it's so hard on the body. It's really pushing the body in such a hard way for women to know, hey, wait, if I'm doing these things, I'm eating healthy and taking the right supplements, keeping the toxins out, that I can actually have good fertility well into my 40s and not be in this state of fear. It's, it's such a better place because it's really just turned into the narrative, oh, over 30, you're probably going to have to do IVF. Need to be thinking about harvesting your eggs. And it's just not what I see with my patients.
- [31:17]
Tudor Dixon
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tutor Dixon podcast.
- [31:25]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
- [31:31]
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- [31:53]
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- [32:26]
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- [33:24]
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- [33:55]
Tudor Dixon
Today we are pushing pregnancy out. I had my kids at 32, 34 and 36. I, I, I was fortunate. All I had to do was think about getting pregnant and I was pregnant. And I'm, I feel so blessed about it because now I look at this and I think I, I had no idea. I don't know if I was taking care of myself. You know, I just look back and I'm like, I have no idea if I was in that kind of shape to have my children or not. But it's also such a hard conversation to have. I've had relatives that have struggled with conception and they don't tell anybody or they tell you that you can never talk about it and it's just so aw. And as a mom and a dad of a kid, a daughter or a son who's struggling, there's a it's really hard to have that conversation because they think you have no idea what we're going through. That's why I like the idea of a book, because it's something that you can share and even, you know, hey, listen to this podcast or watch what this person has to say. But look, she wrote this book. It's called the Preconception Revolution. Why Preparing your body for Pregnancy changes everything. We don't think about preparing our bodies for. I'm, like I said, I never considered, am I capable of doing this? And that's what I'm supposed to do. Like, that's how the body works, right? Never, never considered getting my, I would get myself in shape for a race. Never considered getting myself in shape for pregnancy. But why shouldn't we? And that's why I think that we should be talking to people about getting this book and sharing it with others. So tell people where they get it and, and how you, how you can approach that conversation from your perspective.
- [35:40]
Dr. Ann Shippy
So it's the preconception revolution. It's on Amazon and every place that books are sold. There's lots of information on my website, anshippymd.com and what I'm finding is.
- [35:53]
That there are a lot of, of, you know, potential future grants, grandparents that are really super interested in providing this support to their future grandchildren and to their children. And I think it's, it's just an easy gift to give because if, if nothing else, if they're.
- [36:16]
You know, not wanting to have children, it's still information that's great for, for their health.
- [36:22]
Tudor Dixon
So really too pushy to give someone this as like bridal shower gift?
- [36:28]
Dr. Ann Shippy
No, I think it's a great one.
- [36:30]
Tudor Dixon
Just in case. I know, because it doesn't have to be for someone in your life that's struggling. I mean, this is not meant for just people who are struggling. You're saying everybody should be doing this, right?
- [36:42]
Dr. Ann Shippy
I'm more concerned about the people who have no idea that they're about to head into oncoming traffic. Like, I feel like when people get to the point of having the infertility, they know their check engine light is on. But I think there are a lot of people that have no idea idea. They don't have the, the feedback loop to know that they're entering into dangerous territory. Either that they're going to have a problem with fertility in their future or that they're going to have children with health risks. And so I think it's a must read for anybody who ever wants to get pregnant or have a family. Because we want to do true prevention. We don't want people to have to get to the point where they're dealing with infertility or it's so heartbreaking to have a child with autism or severe mental health issues or diabetes. All the things. Like it is so hard for parents. It's, I think it's harder to. Having gone through my own health crises and Having had children with illness.
- [37:43]
It'S harder for my. To go through a child being sick than it is for me to have. So I just. It's really what. It's the true prevention that I want people to have so that they can really enjoy a healthy family.
- [38:00]
Tudor Dixon
Let me ask you one more thing. Are there toxins that your parents could have experienced that are still in your system? Because I know when my grandmother was pregnant, everybody was taking some drug that was causing the babies to be born with limb deformities. My aunt didn't have a limb deformity, but she had such trouble with her. Her whole reproductive system was messed up, and they believe it was from. From the. That drug.
- [38:29]
Dr. Ann Shippy
I'm gonna just be very transparent here. Yeah, I think my. My mom wasn't a big smoker, but she did smoke a little bit when she got around the time that she got pregnant with me. So we know that some of those chemicals can actually stay epigenetically for the long haul. And then for me.
- [38:49]
I still had a mouthful full of amalgam fillings, and I had eaten a ton of tuna fish. So the heavy metal effects on my kids, I think definitely made. There are things in this book that I know my kids could have been healthier if I had known it beforehand. And I. You know, you just.
- [39:13]
Tudor Dixon
Tuna fish bad.
- [39:14]
Commercial Announcer
Oh.
- [39:15]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Because it's high in mercury and actually, a lot of fish. I'm starting. It's so depressing, but I'm starting to think, you know, if the FDA says.
- [39:26]
Don'T. That pregnant women shouldn't eat fish, men and women planning for pregnancy shouldn't eat fish more than once a week. Wow.
- [39:37]
Tudor Dixon
This is so stunning. I mean, because I feel like fish is so healthy.
- [39:45]
Dr. Ann Shippy
It'S really challenging to get fish that's not got high levels of mercury in it these days.
- [39:51]
Tudor Dixon
It's.
- [39:52]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Wow.
- [39:54]
Tudor Dixon
Okay, so it's not. So you probably can't just test your. I'm sorry, I keep. I keep holding you over, but you probably can't just test your gut once. You have to constantly test it or how do you know you're getting better?
- [40:05]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Yes. I mean, it's good to. The microbiome piece is a good test to do at least once a year and see where you are and to look and see where your inflammation markers are and your toxin levels. So, you know, it's part of the challenge of all this is it's outside the insurance model, you know? You know.
- [40:24]
And to me, the benefits of knowing this information are so worth it, especially, you know, when you look at the cost of having a child with an, with poor health.
- [40:40]
Or dealing with infertility.
- [40:42]
Tudor Dixon
Right. Well, I even think about, as you age, there are. When you talk about inflammation and I think about joints and I think about menopause and I think about all of the things that we go through and, and I don't know why you wouldn't want to be constantly aware of making sure that everything. We just keep hearing about the gut, which is so new. You know, we never heard about that when I was a kid and certainly not. I mean, I had. My oldest is 16, so I wasn't hearing about any of this when I was pregnant. I just think this is very interesting and it was fascinating to see. When I did the biome and I got my report back, it was like things that I eat every day were causing me extreme problems. Extreme. Like it was like, this is going to make you have stomach pain and this is going to make you feel bloated. And I'm like, oh my word, I feel so much better cutting things out that seem like they are healthy for someone else, but they're not. For me, that was what I found most interesting. Not everybody is the same either. So it's not like you can just.
- [41:43]
Dr. Ann Shippy
This is what you should eat.
- [41:44]
Tudor Dixon
It has to be based on what you. How your body reacts to it.
- [41:49]
Dr. Ann Shippy
And it is really such an exciting area of medicine is understanding the microbiome and how food interacts with, with each individual. It's so exciting that we can customize these things.
- [42:01]
Tudor Dixon
Yeah. So then I, I think that's also why you need to know how your spouse reacts. Because your spouse affects you and you may not be eating the same things like that your body may not react to things the same way. So it is kind of like a whole family approach to health. So you do kind of have to know how everybody reacts to it. But it is, it's been fascinating for me to read about. I am so grateful to you for writing this book. Like I said to if you know someone. I really think it's like if you know someone that just got married, if you know someone that is even looking at, hey, we're thinking of conceiving in the next year, they should be reading this book. Right, Right.
- [42:40]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Thank you so much for seeing the vision.
- [42:43]
Tudor Dixon
Yeah, absolutely.
- [42:44]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Really helped to get the word out there. And I think there's a possibility of this truly changing this children's health crisis that we're experiencing with the, you know, just sicker and sicker kids. I think we could actually get a handle on this by having healthier parents before they conceive.
- [43:02]
Tudor Dixon
That's it's fascinating. So give us the book one more.
- [43:04]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Time, the Preconception Revolution.
- [43:07]
Tudor Dixon
All right, Go out there and get it for the men and women in your life. It's not just a woman thing, it's a men and women thing. So go out and get the book. It's Dr. Anne Shippey. Dr. Shippey, thank you so much for coming on today.
- [43:22]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Thanks for having me.
- [43:23]
Tudor Dixon
Absolutely. And thank you all for joining the Tudor Dixon Podcast as always, for this episode and others. You can get it wherever you get your podcast, which is like the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or any place else. And you can watch the full video on Rumble or YouTube uterdixon. But make sure you watch it and join us next time. Have a blessed day.
- [43:43]
Dr. Ann Shippy
Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the.
- [43:48]
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Bottom of the ocean.
- [43:50]
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- [44:14]
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Come for the Black Friday seasonal savings. Stay for the award winning report. For a limited time, access to the Washington Post is just 99 cents. That's unlimited access to all of the posts for only 99 cents every four weeks. That's a great deal for the first year. After that it'll cost $12 every four weeks. You can cancel anytime, but don't wait. This Black Friday seasonal offer won't be here for long. Go to washingtonpost.com iheart and grab this deal before it's gone. That's washingtonpost.com iheartra heart the world's best.
- [44:47]
US Ski and Snowboard Insider Advertiser
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- [45:15]
Whim Sound Advertiser
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- [45:47]
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