The Preconception Revolution

Are you looking to get pregnant? Yes, I already know the answer to that. I know. But if you have sons or daughters, daughter-in-laws, son-in-laws who are interested in getting pregnant and you want to help them understand some of the ways around fertility and infertility and simply having a healthier pregnancy and healthier child on the other end. And even if you've already got grandchildren and you think that ship has sailed and you've got all you're gonna get, you might wanna listen because we tap in this episode into children's health and what it looks like in today's world. Stay tuned for this one. Okay, only kidding. I know most of you here probably are not interested in, in getting pregnant, but I don't wanna say all of you because I've got good friends who had twins at 48 and you will hear in this episode about a 47-year-old who's 6 months pregnant. And it's happening to some people, but I know we're not necessarily aiming for the COVID of the National Enquirer. So in my case, at 61, that's not my goal anymore. However, I think there's a lot that we can do for this next generation and the next one. And I think you'll hear so much more about it this episode. I'm welcoming back Dr. Ann Shippy. She's been a guest before, but it's been years, and it It was probably at a time when I was going through exposure to mold in the home I was renting as I was living in Boulder. And I was really— my, my radar and antenna were up. You know, when you buy a white car, you see only white cars, you know? Well, when you're exposed to mold, you're like, only the experts that are talking about mold were on my radar. And Ann was one of those. That wasn't necessarily like an aspiration of hers. And you'll hear her talk a little bit about that because, I mean, being the mold doctor is not all that sexy. People come to you with mold and they don't feel very good. It's not a, we're coming because we're hopeful for a pregnancy or a child.

It's very different.

So here we are having a little more fun, at least where she's concerned. And she does have a new book. We'll talk about that at the very end, but we answer a lot of questions before we ever get there. Dr. Ann Shippy is a board-certified internal medicine physician, certified functional medicine practitioner, and leading voice in the emerging preconception movement, a new paradigm that views the months and years before pregnancy as the most powerful window to influence a child's lifelong health. A former chemical engineer at IBM. Yes, you heard that right. This is one person we're talking about. Found many talents and skills. She brings a rare systems-based and data-driven approach to uncovering the root causes of illness, infertility, and chronic disease. Her book, which has already been released, The Preconception Revolution: A Science-Backed Path to Your Fertility and Generational Health. It was released November 18th, 2025. So still a relatively new book for our time. So again, this is a great book for families who hope to be, families who are in the midst of being built. And I think you're gonna find that even families with young children, looking back on what you can do now as children are being raised and the difference. I ask a couple questions here and if anything sparks your interest and attention, I think you'll probably love the book too. And again, it is The Preconception Revolution. It's probably any anywhere books are sold, you will find this one. I think you'll love this episode. And I, by the way, always love to hear from you if this has been valuable. And on the other hand, if this topic seemed slightly off, I'd love to hear that too. Here's where it came from. As a mom of adult kids, you know, I think many of us are in this moment in time. And that's not to say that you are not a 50-year-old woman with a kindergartner and not not yet here. So wherever you are in this lifespan, I do think that we will be influencers for this next generation and for sometimes the gap I referred to with a question I asked Dr. Anne in this episode. Let me hear from you. Did this hit home? Was it of interest? And keep us posted. 'cause we're listening. You'll find me reading the DMs in Instagram if you care to reach out. Here we go. Well, the doctor is making a house call. So Dr. Anne Shippy, thank you so much for joining me.

Oh, thank you for having me, dear friend.

And you are no stranger to this show, but unless you're a real OG listening, you might not recall Dr. Shippy has been on. She has been probably somebody I went to and leaned on heavily for content content when I was going through mold issues. And yet here you are writing something very different. So if you're listening right now, my guess is that you are not wanting to get pregnant. And, uh, so ladies, this is probably for your daughters and your daughter-in-laws, and you are the gatekeeper of probably the— you're the biggest health influencer in the world as far as I'm concerned. And so this is for you and for me., you know, in looking at our sons and our daughters and how we can help them if these are goals. So, and I'm going to ask you first, how did you get here? You were, you were in mold. I think you're still a huge expert in that space as well. And talk to me about how you juggle back and forth and the two.

You know, I was always kind of reluctant to be the mold doctor, but it's so hard for people, right? But there's an overlap. With this, um, preparing for pregnancy and the fertility crisis and the children's health crisis. There's, there's a threat, a through line of, um, mold being one of the factors that affects people. But just like all of us, um, in, in medicine, our patients are our greatest teachers. And so one of my early patients, um, when I started doing functional medicine about 20 years ago had heard about me, and she actually came with the idea that I could help her prepare for pregnancy. And she was 41, had gotten married late, and she had some inclination that she had some things going on in her body that wouldn't be good for fertility and wouldn't be good for her baby, future baby. So we did a big workup. She was very smart, and even though she was feeling the clock ticking, she took the time to work with me. And we found some things. She had some toxins in her body. She had, you know, heavy metals and some other toxins She had some nutritional deficiencies. Her microbiome was out of balance. So we got her all tuned up and she went on to have a very healthy son in her 40s. So that was— that really planted an important seed about, okay, this biological clock ticking. Maybe it really does make some sense to take some time and really prepare to start your family or grow your family. And then I started seeing some other things where Another patient had come and she'd basically gotten turned down from doing additional IVF. She was told IVF wasn't going to work for her after several rounds. She went from coast to coast, couldn't find a reproductive, um, gynecologist to do anything more with her. So she had heard about me, came to see me. We found some things out of balance in her body. She had some autoimmunity brewing, again, some toxicity and a few other things. Got her tuned up in a few months and she went on to get pregnant. And then while she was nursing with that baby, she got pregnant with twins.

Oh my God.

She didn't quite learn the lesson about how fertile she went from being totally infertile, no babies, and then was still nursing with the twins and got pregnant with the fourth one. So she ended up with 4 babies under 4.

Oh my gosh.

So then I'm like, okay, I got something here.

This works.

This works. And then had so many people, they came in for one thing or another and, um, their birth control methods wouldn't work. You know, they'd pull out method or the rhythm method, they'd get so fertile in their 30s or 40s and they'd end up with surprise babies. And it's just like, I just enjoy the, the, that true prevention where people can truly have very healthy babies at whatever age. So my oldest patient is 47 right now, and she, um, oh my gosh, she'd had a couple kids but then met the love of her life. They wanted to have a child together, and, um, she came in to see where she was looking. They hadn't tried yet. We found some things. She did her work for 3 months and then, um, got pregnant accidentally. She wasn't— I hadn't quite given her the green light, but they had one night of celebrating. So she's 47, 6 months pregnant and feeling amazing.

Amazing. Oh my gosh, I love this. Okay, I want to unpack all of this. And first I want to stop with, you know, I think I'm nervous, you know, and, and very grateful. So my son, actually, they got married, and before Christmas they got married at the end of October. By Christmas they were sharing this announcement with me underneath the tree. And I'm like, what is, what is this? And they're like, enlarge the photo. You know, are you kidding me? Right? But I was like, you know, I know their lives and, you know, drinking out of lots of plastic water bottles and just like one, that one little thing, and there's more. So I've wondered, what will it be like for them? And it bothers me, but you say that this fertility crisis is definitely not necessarily age-related, which I think that's what we used to think, but it could also be occurring with younger people. And I want to be sure we don't step over the second part of if you are lucky enough to get pregnant when that's what you want, is there still risk to a baby if you're not optimized. So let's unpack that a little bit.

Yeah, no, and that's really, um, where the concerning data is. And, um, you know, I actually think about infertility as a blessing because it— you can tell the check engine light is on. You can tell there's something that you need to dig into and find why the body's not allowing you to get pregnant. So it's actually a good thing in that way because we can generally figure it out. The, the real risk and the real drama is when people get pregnant and they and their bodies really aren't providing the baby with the best healthy body possible. So what we now know is that the egg and the sperm are like time capsules. And the state of the parents actually get passed on to the baby. So exactly like what you said, drinking out of the plastic water bottles and having those plastic exposures and other environmental toxic exposures can impact the health of the child, increase the risk for autism, autoimmunity, cancer, and more. So what most parents-to-be don't realize is that they can take action in those months before they get pregnant to really get their bodies tuned up so those time capsules are in really good shape for the baby.

I love that. And so this goes way beyond starting your prenatal vitamins early, I'm sure. So, you know, when you talk about this, I've heard you mention this 3 to 36 months. So that's a significant amount of time, that preconception window What kinds of things would a woman want to be doing or checking, looking at during that period of time?

Yeah. And I don't want to leave the men out.

Oh, yes. Yes, I am.

Yeah. So we'll come back. We can come back to the men more specifically. But there's as much or more impact for the sperm as there is even for the egg. So Let's put a pin on the men and come back to it. So for women, especially since the baby is going to basically bathe in the environment in their bodies, like we now know environmental toxins go right through the, um, umbilical cord and placenta and into the baby. And, um, so one of the biggest things is to implement my checklist on, on how to get the toxins out of the environment so you're not getting exposed, but then also the toxins that have built up unsuspectingly in your body out before you even get pregnant. So we want to get the plastics out of our food containers and water bottles, any of the microwave kinds of things, and any places that plastics can really leach into things out of our environment and use glass or stainless steel instead. And then we want to have clean air that we're breathing because it turns out that our— and you just mentioned the, the air pollution from, um, before your move, that you could actually see it. Those particles, the pollutants in the air can really impact our fertility and also get passed on to the baby. And then all the pesticides, the pesticides in the foods, the pesticides we're spraying in our environment, we want to get rid of those. So there's— I have a very extensive checklist of things to think about, but, um, the cleanest food that you can get, the cleanest water, and then also the food that you're eating, and then awareness of what you're putting on your body.

So talk about that, putting on your body. Are we talking fragrances and, you know, clean shampoos, conditioners, soaps, all of that?

All of that, because our skin absorbs things so well. Like, as a physician Um, you know, sometimes our best way to get a medication is, is topically. And so if we just have to think about anything that's touching our scalp, touching our skin, can go right into our bodies. And the air that we breathe is also going to just go right into the lungs. Sometimes we deliver medications, um, through, uh, breathing treatments, and it's really quick how quickly it can get in.

Wow. So talk to me about the— this emergence of, say, air cleaning tools, you know, like air filters operating 24/7 in homes. How valuable— and how— maybe valuable isn't the word— maybe how necessary is that for us?

Yeah, it's all a budgetary thing. Yeah, we want to get the best HEPA filter that you can, and I feel like if you at least have one in your bedroom where you're spending hopefully 8 to 10 hours getting good sleep, that that's a really good place to start. So whatever your budget will allow, there's so many different good ones on the market now, but that, that HEPA filter and then potentially the charcoal filtration as well can be really, really good. And then if you can, I mean, you'll definitely want one in the baby's room when— yes, if you can have one in your office and one in the living area as well.

So good. And what about water, drinking water, and testing? I mean, do you recommend that just— you're a homeowner or you're a renter, wherever that might be— that you test your water?

Absolutely. There's— or at least look at the reports that come from your water company because they, they're supposed to report it. There are also some apps through Environmental Working Group, but especially bringing a baby in where they're going to be more susceptible to what, what you're exposing them to and the water they're drinking and what they're bathing in. It's really good to know. There's been some increase in awareness around the lead issue in many places in the country. So if that's you, then if you're in one of those areas that are really affected by the lead, getting the best filtration system that you can. It's, it's such a big problem.

Yeah, and it's so glad you've said that. I, I just moved to a new home, so it's, it's all coming back to me, and I'm like extremely aware of, wait a minute, this is an older home. So even if, you know, we're looking at— I think the realtor was who said to me, this is some of the best tasting water in the country in, you know, XYZ. And I'm like, That's great, but if it's going through old pipes, wouldn't it still be at risk for absorbing lead? You know, you know, yeah. So all of those little things are coming to me. Okay, so let's not discriminate. So how about the guys?

What do they need to do? So I just want to point out that these are really good things for all of us to be considering anyway. Like, there's so much of this.

Yeah, because I'm not trying to get pregnant. I just want to make that clear.

Universe, right? Well, and even, you know, for people whose kids are, you know, in high school or whatever, and they're— and you're listening to how these things can affect their future fertility, it's really true for all parents already that already have kids. These are things that you can actually be putting into place to help your kids protect their fertility and their health in general. So good.

Yeah, great comment.

So what I'm finding with the men is that they've kind of felt like they've been left out of this equation on getting pregnant other than providing the sperm at the right time.

And they're feeling bad?

Well, I'm just feeling a little bit like they're not part of the process, you know, that a little bit disconnected from it other than just that, that piece of it. But when men understand that, especially what they're doing the 3 to 6 months before they get pregnant and the state of their body affecting the health of the pregnancy and the health of their future children, they're— they perk up. They're like, wait, I can actually be doing something that provides something really positive for my family even before I have a child? They're all ears. And so I really love it when people share this information with men that want to be intentional and proactive about getting involved early. So we know that things like drinking alcohol in this 3 months can actually have a negative impact on that time capsule, as well as other toxic exposures. So they really need to be looking at any exposures that they have with their work or with their hobbies. And then anything recreational, like, just needs to, to go out from the standpoint of toxic exposure. And then there are some studies that have come out that show what they eat makes a huge difference. So one study in particular, in just 3 weeks, you can start to see an impact on the health of the sperm by taking— they took one group and they fed them highly processed foods and another group that they fed basically a Mediterranean diet, you know, the outside of the grocery store. And so, and then they had a little washout period and then they switched the groups over. When men eat healthy food, they have healthier sperm.

Hmm.

Simple as that. Simple as that. And if I had looked at the study design before they did it, I would have said, oh, you need to do it longer than 3 weeks.

So I—

amazing. I definitely want men to be nourishing their bodies and cutting out the highly processed food much longer than 3 weeks. But if, if it, if it feels daunting to do it for 6 months, or just do it as long as you can, just get started. And then the environmental toxins, so the things like BPA from the plastics, can not only affect the your fertility for the men's fertility. But if they are able to get pregnant, it can impact the fertility of their future child. Mm-hmm. Because of that time capsule piece of it. So men can, by really taking this preconception period seriously, they can impact how healthy the pregnancy is, decrease the risk for placenta issues and preeclampsia, and then also, and, um, and also really help to have a healthier baby. It's really exciting. I think a lot of men are going into kind of a fearful place because they're seeing the statistics on sperm, the decrease in the sperm count of over 50% in the last 50 years, and that it's accelerating. So instead of being on average 1% a year, it's now up to 2.6% decrease on average a year. But I, I've seen it. I've seen in my practice that by implementing these lifestyle changes and supplementation, that it can really dramatically make the sperm healthier and increase the count and epigenetics. And it's so exciting. It's so hopeful.

This episode is sponsored by the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. It is the framework that we designed our entire membership and program based on since 2013, I've been developing that after 30 years of working with women in midlife. That was born, and in 2018, we rolled out the Menopause Fitness Specialist to train other fitness and health pros on how to actually prescribe exercise. Here's where we're going next, in case you want to get started now, that we're actually training physicians on exercise prescription. Knowing they get very little of it in medical school and hoping that it also bridges the gap for you who may be a fitness or health professional or want to be, who works with women in menopause, because there is so much demand and so much room for you right now. If you are working with women in menopause but not getting all the results, don't have a reliable, predictable framework that gets you results over and over, that people know, like, and trust, come and talk to us. We'll put the link in the show notes for today. That's the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. And if you want to head on over to fitnessmarketingacademy.com, it's where we have all of the content dedicated to you, health and fitness pros. So you say supplementation. Are there some typical things that you'd say, yeah, this is usually on the list Yeah, I really like for people to—

whether they can do the testing to see what their toxin levels are or not, assume that they do and do a very well-thought-out detox protocol. Not the juice fasting kind of, you know, popular, but really supporting the detox pathways with the right nutrients. So liposomal glutathione, liver support, some binders that— and methylation that really help the toxins to clear out through the, the, um, the detox pathways. Things like infrared saunas before you're starting to try are great. When you want to start trying, it's— and right before, it's not a great time to do the sauna for men because the, the testes are sensitive to the heat. But, um, and then there's also data that show that really good antioxidants like curcumin and resveratrol are great for sperm. And then mitochondrial support, so things like CoQ10 and carnitine, D-ribose, more phosphatidylcholine, can really make a difference with that time capsule. Amazing.

And I think such an eye-opener that, you know, guys, there's, you know, essentially prenatal things that you should be doing too. I love that. And in and certainly does bring them into the game as a part of the team. You know, it's not just her, but it's both of them. When you are looking at all of this, I— of course, for my audience and community, gut health is such a big thing. But I think younger and younger, especially with our young women, and I know less about young men, I don't know that it's it isn't them, but I don't hear from them as often, you know, that, that even young women seem to be struggling with gut health and gut issues. And is this all related, and is this all environmental exposure to things that's causing this?

It really is. It's the environmental toxins meet, and, you know, overuse of antibiotics meets stress. Not getting enough highly nutritious food, all really disrupting the microbiome, so causing bacteria that shouldn't be growing there to have a party, fungal infections, you know, low-grade, where a lot of times people don't even realize they have them, and that's driving inflammation. And then, you know, just how clean our food supply is, what bacteria shouldn't be there, and parasites. And with where people's immune systems are, it's really hard for them to get a good healthy microbiome without really focusing on it with the right probiotics, the right diet, and some things that help the gut wall lining to be healthy.

Amazing. I want to pivot just a little bit and ask you about children's health. And, you know, I think this comes at a time— my question stems from a time when, you know, I was beyond really child-rearing. I had a son in college, so that moment in my life was over. And I relocated from the Midwest to Boulder, where I would say if anybody is hyper-aware of things that could go wrong or of things you should do right, it would be Boulder. It's a very unique bubble. And all around me, I, I had young great nephews. But all around me, it seemed like kids were like, "Oh yeah, he needs to be gluten-free." And, you know, there's maybe a little spectrum of ADD or ADHD and related to food. Is there more of that happening now? Are we just more aware of it so we're calling it out or are there just communities that are more aware of it? I mean, where— how does that fall? And, you know, here I am back in the Midwest, and I'm— and I hear my son say things to me because he's seen me evolve, and he's like, no, they don't eat like that. You know, like, you don't need to worry about that at the rehearsal dinner. They're all normal, you know, unlike you. Like, oh, Do they?

Okay, well, unfortunately, you know, I have people come see me from all over the country. Yeah. And I would say it's a fairly common issue, like, in children and in adults. The, the gluten sensitivities and the activated celiac are just accelerating, and a lot of— and a lot of times it is a a significant piece of the puzzle for these health conditions that we're seeing escalate— the autism, the ADD, the autoimmunity. Like, it's, it's always part of the root cause for many of those things. And so it might not be the whole answer, but it's at least a portion of what needs to be addressed for people to be able to reverse autism and ADD and autoimmunity. You know, sometimes we have to look at the microbiome and the toxin levels and those kinds of things, but I think it's pockets of awareness and less whether they're actually people that— the areas of the country, based on what I see, it's just— I think it's easier for people to get their head around what I need to change my diet when they're in an area like Boulder or Austin, where the restaurants are accustomed to being able to provide it. The grocery stores carry all the supplies, but especially in this fertility area, it's so often a piece of the puzzle with what people, both the man and the woman, need to do to improve their fertility.

And I'm going to go out on a limb and maybe ask you this. You know, has somebody, by the time they come to you or find you for support, have they exhausted, you know, a variety of other venues and found, found nothing or no one to listen and help? And I'm just wondering if there's like this gap between, you know, let's say we've raised these 20-something and 30-something adults now who we were as parents unaware if that was going on for them. We didn't know it. I wouldn't have— I didn't know it. We didn't talk about that. We didn't talk about, you know, a food sensitivity or gluten, you know, at that point. In fact, I overdosed my son on gluten now that I think about it. The poor kid. It's, it's, it's amazing he's alive. But, um, you know, and so So if we default and we start going down the pathways of remembering the way we were raised and we raise children like that, it may be up to us who have now become aware because of potentially our own gut issues that we need to help provide the gap between this generation and the next. Did I articulate that well enough to make sense?

And you know, because it— because food is such an important part of our culture, often I'll even have people who have seen the data, they've seen what their, um, uh, food allergy tests look like if they've done the right ones. There's some that you order if you want to miss the diagnosis, and there's some that you order if you want to make sure you don't miss it. Um, so, you know, sometimes there's just this really Um, there's a lot of denial. So, you know, um, or even like one of my patient— new patients this week had done a gluten-free diet for 3 months and she felt so much better, but then she got off track and, and, you know, just didn't— like, she didn't want to resume it because it— she, she just didn't want to go swimming upstream sometimes, right? Yeah. But she wanted wants to have a baby. And so, so she's willing to try it again. Um, so sometimes it's also like, and I think this is with the men too, like, um, sometimes it's you're willing to do something for yourself when it's going to help your future child more than you'll do it just for yourself. And But I do, I do want to encourage people that you can switch your mindset on it. Like, I, I travel a lot and even outside the States, and I think about it as an adventure. Like, I had my, my best gluten-free meal ever in Athens, Greece this summer. It was amazing. And I could have looked at it as, oh, you know, Oh, it's going to be hard to navigate in another culture and get— have good food and get what I needed. But oh my gosh, it was really just such a beautiful adventure to find incredible food that was super healthy for my body, that I felt amazing eating afterwards and felt really nourished and healthy.

Amazing. Yeah, I think that is such a good thing because that is quite often— in fact, we're in a moment right now as we're recording, where notoriously in fitness for 4 decades, people are like, yes, but in January, because it's the holidays.

Like, okay, perfect time. This is the perfect time to implement it because when you hit January, you're already going to feel— be feeling good. You're going to be feeling good about yourself.

Yeah.

And you're not going to have missed anything.

And, you know, it's one meal at a time, right? It's, it's— I think when we think of this as such a big and an overwhelming thing, I remember distinctly Magdalena Wysłocki had just released a book and it was full of recipes. And she said she challenged the audience at her book launch and she said, what's one food that you're afraid you'll have to give up? I'll tell you what the alternative is. I'll tell you how you can have it. You know, there's nothing that you can't have. You're gonna make it differently, but you can still have it. And I think that's everybody's fear, is that, you know, that it's like a judgment, it's like an elimination of a food they really love. And yeah, it's feeling good feels good, don't forget that.

I can tell, like, by somebody's expression if their body makes little addictive chemicals from certain foods. So there's something called gluteomorphins and casiomorphins. So the glute glutamorphins would be like a little morphine molecule that you can make yourself from gluten. And then casiomorphin would be from dairy. And it actually drives like a very short period of like feeling like a little uptick in your sense of well-being. And then as it comes down, then your body kind of craves it again. So for people listening that are like, oh yeah, I can never give up the gluten or the dairy, you're probably one of these people that make the little morphine-like molecules which really stir up up the immune system and, and make it harder. But I will, I will tell you that as someone who never thought I could give up dairy, like, I would always have like 5 to 10 types of cheese in my refrigerator, and I'd figure out the perfect kind of cheese to put on every dish. That I guess I definitely made the gluteomorphins and casiomorphins. I would think, oh, I can just splurge, it's my birthday, it's Christmas, or whatever the reason was, but then it would be so hard to get back on eating the way that it actually felt good in my body. And so, um, it takes about 2 weeks for that whole inflammation, uh, cascade to clear, maybe 3 depending on a person. And so it's never worth it for me to cheat because I know the inflammation is going to go way up and it's going to be 2 to 3 weeks of really feeling like I'm missing out on something. Whereas if I just stay careful and find the smart splurges, the amazing food that I love that doesn't have gluten or dairy in it, then I don't have to go through that.

That's an amazing superpower you have right there. Never have I had anybody mention that one on the show, let me tell you. But can you see it in the mirror too? I mean, do you like puffy eyes?

I mean, is there Yeah, um, yeah, my body really screams at me with those. So I, you know, the very last time that I splurged on purpose on gluten, um, was a very long time ago, and, um, it was for Christmas. My mom made, uh, gluten— or made, um, cinnamon rolls, and I thought, oh, I'll just eat one and I'll be fine. And oh my gosh, my joints were so irritated. Yeah, amazing. I could hardly walk for a couple of days, but that's, that's on the extreme side. Yeah, but usually you have some part of your body that'll let you know that you have a little bit more inflammation, and it might just be a little bit uptick of allergies.

And, and that I want to comment on. I think that is one of the first things that I notice about many 20 to 30-somethings is that they seem to always have like a sinus something going on. And so I always wonder, okay, do I need to get them an ear doctor, or do, do I need to mention that, or how do I do that without being a meddling mother-in-law, you know? So there's that, like, I'm fun mom. Yeah, I don't think that Yeah, I do think that, you know, there are ways that are telling, and it's tricky. You know, what do you recommend? So as a physician, you know, what would you recommend? And I know you have, you know, young adult sons as well. You know, what's the best way to approach something and plant the seed so that it ends up being their idea?

I I'm so lucky because both of my kids actually come and ask me for, for advice on things like, oh, mom, have you seen this supplement? What do you think about it? And oh, I'm thinking about trying this thing with my diet. So I, we've just had, I'm so lucky because we have this open line of communication and I, we have this openness about, okay, let's run these little mini experiments. Like, that's like, you know, they both tried like the carnivore diet for a couple of months where they were only eating meat and maybe some rice. And I'm like, okay, let's see what happens. If you want to do some tests and see where your inflammation markers are, see what happens to your gut microbiome, let's, let's do it. Let's run the experiment. So I just try to be open and then have the conversation be open. And then if I run across something that I think they'll be interested in knowing, then I just share it with them and say, hey, do you want to talk about this? And especially having boys, I have learned to be available, but not to be— I don't want them to feel any judgment on my part. I just want them to feel like we're good collaborators and that I'm not telling them what to do, that we're just having this collaborative conversation. And they'll probably tell you that I'm better at that sometimes than others.

Well, you must be doing something right if they're coming to you. So if there was one thing that you could leave, well, I'll say indirectly listeners. So I think for many of our listeners, it might be their concerns or hopes and wishes for daughters, sons, daughters-in-law, and son-in-laws, that if they truly wish to have a family, that they can, that it happens. And, and the outcome that we all want is healthy child on the other end of that. What couple of thoughts might you leave somebody with in terms of what are the most important first steps somebody could look at?

Yeah, well, I think, um, obviously I think that one of the best things to do is to have people read my book even before they're thinking about starting the family. Um, the feedback that I'm getting is that it's It's really taking away a lot of the fear because I think so many couples or even singles that are in this childbearing age are, are starting to feel alarmed. Can I get pregnant and can I have a healthy baby? And so I think the book and, you know, even interviews like this are so important to start to take that fear down because when people are afraid it actually changes their biology. Wow. And makes them, you know, less fertile and, um, not detox as well and not rebuild as well. And, um, so I think the first thing is to give people hope and to have them have tools so they know what they can be doing. Like, um, you know, both the boy— my boys I have 24 and 28-year-old boys, and, you know, they're— they both want children at some point. They're not even close to having them, but they're, you know, they're kind of future-proofing, right? They're doing the things— they, they're starting to learn the things that they can do: meditating, exercising, eating clean, taking the supplements that support their detox pathways. They both have, you know, are getting the cleanest water that they can and filtering their air, and it's just becoming a lifestyle and a consciousness and intention around it. And the, the beautiful thing of it is, is then it also just helps them to be healthier.

Mm-hmm. So good. Thank you so much for your time. Let's mention for sure the title of the book. And of course, I'm sure they can get that anywhere books are sold.

Yes, The Preconception Revolution.

Amazing. Thank you so much for your time and for the work that you're doing in this area.

Thanks. I hope it helps you grow your family.

Me too. I have extra bedrooms now just for that reason.

Amazing.