The Truth About Alcohol and Fertility

Our relationships with alcohol are complex, complicated, and multi-layered. However, when it comes to your fertility journey, there is really only one thing you need to know. Alcohol is ethanol and ethanol is poison. Yes, this is intense and may feel aggressive, but it is the reality. How each person digests this information looks very different, but when couples are part of our program, we encourage them to stop drinking for several reasons, including but not limited to:

• Chronic inflammation
• Digestive health
• Liver damage
• Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
• Brain damage
• Sexual and reproductive health

Actually, drinking alcohol is one of the leading causes of erectile dysfunction. Not to mention, drinking alcohol can lead to the development of serious health problems including digestive issues, liver disease, high blood pressure, and heart disease, just to name a few. Drinkers also have a higher risk of cancer including breast, colon, esophagus, liver, mouth, rectum, throat, and voice box. Episode #133 of our podcast addresses the truth about alcohol and your fertility. Give it a listen. When you are ready to dig in more, check out these 5 books we highly recommend digging into. Whether you read them or listen to them, each has something incredible to offer you.

1. 1. Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington: Ruby’s book is a great introduction into what our lives would look like if we stopped drinking on auto-pilot. She also talks about lessening our drinking, not identifying as an alcoholic, and the social stigmas and beliefs we have around drinking and not drinking.
   2. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace: Annie has created something magnificent here and honestly if you like audiobooks, we highly encourage listening to this one and taking it one step at a time. She wraps science, her experience, and social experiences altogether in this masterpiece.
   3. We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen: Laura shares her stories directly connected to heavy drinking, recognizing the terrifying grip booze had on her life, opinions on AA, how she finally broke up with alcohol, and where she is now.
   4. Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker:In a different way than her companions in the space, Holly brings us spicy, honest, witty and captivating perspectives on how alcohol is marketed to us as women and entrenched in nearly every aspect of our lives from baby showers to book clubs.
   5. The Unexpected Joys of Being Sober by Catherine Gray: Catherine, similar to the other authors here shares her complete story from start, to rock bottom to the new life she now lives. She also discusses what it is like to navigate life after booze. Let go of your fears of being boring or losing yourself when you change your relationship with alcohol. It's actually more likely that you’ll finally find yourself.

As with anything, remember - you didn’t get here overnight and you likely won’t get where you want to be overnight either. Show yourself self-compassion and remember, each moment is a new moment to choose a new path, a new direction, and a new future. To learn more about how the Fab Fertile Method can help improve your chances of getting pregnant naturally, apply here. We’ll come up with a plan specifically designed for your situation. We specialize in low AMH, high FSH, premature ovarian insufficiency, and diminished ovarian reserve.