ASIDE FROM POOR DIET, stress is the biggest contributor to modern health problems. The truth is that stress is unavoidable. It’s as integral to being human as eating and sleeping. In fact, our very survival depends on our ability to react to our surroundings via our stress mechanisms.
Have you heard of “fight-or-flight?” This is the part of your nervous system (called the sympathetic nervous system) that, when activated, will give you superhuman powers for survival by sending extra blood flow to your muscles, making your vision more acute, and sharpening your reflexes. The sympathetic nervous system can ask the body to perform out-of-the-ordinary feats because it temporarily deprioritizes normal body function, including digestion, sleep, and … reproduction. After all, why would your body agree to make a baby if there was a pretty good chance your life was in acute danger?
In our modern hustle-bustle, go-go-go world, it’s common for your nervous system to always be in a state of mild to moderate fight-or-flight, telling your reproductive system to take a nap. Recent research supports the theory that stress negatively impacts fertility. Researchers at Columbia University published a 2014 study in Fertility and Sterility, that concluded that stress diminishes male sperm count and motility. Another 2014 study published in Human Reproduction found that women with elevated salivary alpha-amylase (a marker of chronic elevated stress) had more than double the risk of infertility. Studies aside, common sense suggests that by reducing and managing your stress, you may increase your likelihood of conception by improving your overall health.
Here’s another simple fact: Baby-making itself can be stressful, especially when months tick by without getting pregnant. What’s more, the stress of trying to conceive can often drain the fun and enjoyment out of sex, leading to strain in your relationship.
If all of this news seems rather, well, stressful—don’t fret. In Part 2 (page 34), we will be arming you with a myriad of ways to manage and deactivate your stress. First, let’s look at some other silent fertility offenders that can be found in places you may least expect.