Fertility challenges are increasingly linked to lifestyle and environmental factors that go far beyond reproductive organs. Emerging science reveals that metabolic health, inflammation, diet, and exposure to environmental toxins all play a profound role in hormonal balance, egg and sperm quality, and even early embryo development. Key drivers of dysfunction—such as ultra-processed food, insulin resistance, gut imbalances, and mitochondrial damage—are rarely addressed in conventional fertility care, despite their deep impact. Paying attention to these overlooked root causes offers not only a powerful path to improving fertility but also the foundation for lifelong health in both parents and their future children. In this episode, I discuss, along with Kelly LeVeque, what we can do to improve our fertility, which ultimately impacts the future health of our children. Kelly LeVeque is a holistic nutritionist, celebrity health coach, the best-selling author of Body Love and Body Love Every Day, and most importantly, mom of three little boys. Kelly LeVeque is passionate about the science of human nutrition and is always guided by a practical and optimistic approach to wellness. Kelly helps clients improve their health, achieve goals, and develop sustainable habits to live a healthy and balanced life. Kelly is a regular contributor to numerous health, wellness, and lifestyle publications. This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers. Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN10 to save 10%. Full-length episodes can be found here: Fertility in Crisis: Exploring the Toxic Threats to Fertility and the Rise in Infertility The Fertility Crisis: Why it’s Happening and How to Fix it Boost Fertility Naturally: Top Foods to Eat
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Coming up on this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show. But if you have omega-3s at adequate levels, it lowers inflammation, it lowers reproductive system inflammation, and it supports hormone function.
Now, if you're a guy and you have omega-3s in your diet or from supplements, it affects sperm quality, sperm count, sperm motility, the amount of semen you make, your testosterone levels, and even the rates of in vitro fertilization. So just taking fish oil and reading a lot of sardines can have all these benefits. Are you feeling stressed, sluggish, or struggling with sleep?
You might be low on magnesium, and trust me, it's a bigger deal than you think. Most magnesium supplements miss the mark, but Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers gives you all seven essential forms in one capsule, so your body gets the full benefits, better energy, stress relief, and deep, restorative sleep. I take it every night, and it's a total game changer.
Try it now with an exclusive discount. Go to bioptimizers.com slash hymen and use code HYMEN10. Your body will thank you. Before we jump into today's episode, I'd like to note that while I wish I could help everyone via my personal practice, there is simply not enough time for me to do this at scale. That's why I've been busy building several passion projects to help you.
If you're looking for data about your biology, check out Function Health for real-time lab insights. And if you're in need of deepening your knowledge around your health journey, check out my membership community, the Hyman Hive.
And if you're looking for curated and trusted supplements and health products for your health journey, visit my website at drhyman.com for a summary of my favorite and thoroughly tested products. 93.2% of Americans have some level of metabolic dysfunction, meaning they were on somewhere in the spectrum from insulin resistance to prediabetes to type 2 diabetes.
And this is the thing that screws up both men and women's fertility. Now, sex hormones are regulated by our diet. You may have known that, but sex hormones are directly regulated by what you eat. And pretty much everything is regulated by what you eat if you don't know by now listening to me. Ultra processed foods and sugar and starch are causing massive shifts in our sex hormones.
And that's driving the infertility crisis. Our SAD diet or standard American diet is 60% or more from ultra processed foods. The average American consumes anywhere you look at it from 113 to 150 pounds of sugar and about the same amount of flour every year per person. That's almost a pound a day of sugar and flour per person. And that is not something we're used to eating.
That's a pharmacologic dose of sugar that's causing dramatic hormonal shifts in our biology. Spiking sugar leads to high insulin levels. That leads to insulin resistance. And then we get blood sugar and hormone imbalances as a result. So what happens? What is the biology here for women? Let's talk about it. It's a little bit different for men and women.
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