Susan Portz is a registered dietitian specializing in nutrition for women with unexplained infertility and those undergoing fertility treatments like IVF. After experiencing her own six-year infertility journey—including multiple rounds of IVF—Susan understands firsthand the emotional and physical toll of trying to conceive. Now a mom, she is passionate about helping other women optimize their fertility through science-based nutrition and sustainable lifestyle changes.
Through Fertility Nutrition Simplified, she provides expert guidance, compassionate support, and practical strategies to help women take control of their fertility. She offers a free training and a comprehensive course designed to help women improve their chances of conception with the power of nutrition.
To learn more, find susan on Instagram @nutrition.for.infertility or reach out at susan@simplejoyfulnutrition.com.
Get 40% discount on the course HERE.
In this Episode:
- Helpful mindset shifts to make if you’ve been TTC for multiple years
- Why nutrition matters even if you’re doing IVF
- Understanding a realistic timeline for pregnancy when using fertility assistance
- Why so many millennial women are under fueling for fertility
- Top foods and supplements for boosting fertility
- How eating perfectly for fertility can be a gateway into disordered eating
Transcript:
Lindsey Lusson 00:00
Susan Portz is a registered dietitian specializing in nutrition for women with unexplained infertility and those undergoing fertility treatments like IVF. After experiencing her own six-year infertility journey—including multiple rounds of IVF—Susan understands firsthand the emotional and physical toll of trying to conceive. Now a mom, she is passionate about helping other women optimize their fertility through science-based nutrition and sustainable lifestyle changes.
Lindsey Lusson 00:25
Through Fertility Nutrition Simplified, she provides expert guidance, compassionate support, and practical strategies to help women take control of their fertility. She offers a free training and a comprehensive course designed to help women improve their chances of conception with the power of nutrition.
Lindsey Lusson 00:40
Welcome to the Period Recovery and Fertility Podcast. Here, we discuss the challenging, rewarding and life changing process of recovering your period and finding freedom with food and exercise. Whether you’re hoping to regain your cycle to get your health back on track or you’re ready to become a mama, this podcast is for you. While the recovery process isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, it’s my hope to bring you both information and inspiration during your own recovery journey. I’m your host, registered dietitian and fellow HA woman, Lindsey Lusson.
Lindsey Lusson 01:11
Hey ya’ll! Welcome back to another episode of the Period Recovery and Fertility Podcast. I have an awesome guest with us today who also works in the fertility space. Another fertility dietitian. Welcome Susan!
Susan Portz 01:22
Hey, thank you so much for having me. I feel like we connected years ago, and we’re reconnecting, which is kind of fun.
Lindsey Lusson 01:30
Yeah, well, it’s so fun. And a lot’s changed. Before we pushed record, you were like, Oh my gosh, you have three kids. I was like, I have three. And I was like, and you have a little one. So just kind of catching up on life updates is always so fun.
Susan Portz 01:40
Yes, oh my gosh, that’s crazy. I don’t know. The last two years, I feel like it’s just been wild, probably even longer than that. But you know, here we are!
Lindsey Lusson 01:50
Yeah, for sure. Well, and we’re gonna get into more of your personal story with infertility. Because I feel like it’s so relevant to what you do. But tell me more about what you do and who you kind of serve in the fertility space. How did you get into fertility nutrition? I feel like a broken record. Because every single person that I have on who’s a dietitian who works in the fertility space, I’m always like, we don’t actually learn about this in school. So you either stumble upon it or something grabs your eye, and you just get super into it.
Lindsey Lusson 02:18
So tell me a little bit more about how you got where you are and why you do what you do.
Lindsey Lusson 02:22
do,
Susan Portz 02:22
Yeah. So I got into it because of my own personal infertility journey. So I’ll talk about more of that in a minute. But basically, when we had started trying, and then it wasn’t happening, I started to read some books. And looked at the research. And I was like, this is really interesting. That’s when I realized yes, okay. We don’t learn anything about this in school. And I also started to see there was a lot of misinformation on social media and, like Google. There was no real good reliable source that I was seeing. That would be able to give somebody without any nutrition background good quality information that would maybe cause some confusion.
Susan Portz 03:12
Because I think that’s a lot of what I was seeing was just confusion, conflicting information. So that’s what got me interested in fertility. It’s kind of like that combination of my personal experience sparked it. And then I started to see the confusion that was happening in it. I also as our journey progress I just realized more and more that one it’s not talked about a lot in fertility clinics. And a lot of women that are going through infertility want something that they can control.
Lindsey Lusson 03:47
Yes, 100%.
Susan Portz 03:49
Yes, because there’s not much you can control, right? There’s a few things, but food is one of those things. So it’s easy to kind of get down a path that maybe isn’t as helpful. Or I’ve seen people end up doing things that are maybe harming their fertility more than helping, which you probably see this a lot too.
Lindsey Lusson 04:09
Yeah, 100% and I think that fertility and infertility is just such an emotional topic. And people really get desperate, especially when they’re going to their doctor. And they’re being told that there isn’t anything that they can do. Well I think people get tired of hearing that, and so they kind of want to take matters into their own hands. And with where the internet and social media is now, there is a lot of information out there.
Lindsey Lusson 04:35
They don’t have a licensure to lose. So they beware, like, careful who you work with. Because it’s interesting. As dietitians and other healthcare practitioners, we carry liability insurance. Because we have a lot to lose. So like, we’re gonna be more careful with the recommendations we make. And obviously our education and the way that we know how to read and interpret research is gonna be different than you know, Shannon, the fertility coach.
Lindsey Lusson 04:35
But it’s just interesting because there’s fertility coaches who could literally be your next door neighbor. Who has no credentials, read a book. And I think what a lot of people don’t recognize from the client side, is that if you work with somebody who isn’t credentialed. And they tell you to do something radically wrong that screws up your hormones, not gonna, like, sue them.
Susan Portz 05:25
right?
Susan Portz 05:26
Yeah, exactly. And I think a lot of times in those situations, in people that maybe aren’t registered dietitians like you and I are, I think they’re maybe just sharing what works for them, right? And that can be valuable but I think you have to recognize too that it’s not one size fits all. I mean, hopefully people recognize that. Like, what works for one person doesn’t. It doesn’t always work for everyone.
Lindsey Lusson 05:51
Yeah, yeah. And so ultimately, you got into this space because you had a bit of a personal story than fertility. But you were perusing stuff, coming up with conflicting information, coming up with information that you know, as a registered dietitian is just false, possibly damaging. And so tell us more about where that kind of led you in your practice. And like, how you support clients.
Susan Portz 06:11
So where that kind of led me was a couple of things. One figuring out a way to get the information… The accurate information to people without them having to do a bunch of work. Or honestly paying 1000s of dollars. Because I think what I’ve noticed is especially for people like myself and a lot of the people that I’ve worked with… A lot of people are doing IVF. And they’re thinking about doing it. Or they’re doing some sort of fertility treatments or even fertility testing. And depending on where you live, that stuff is not covered by insurance, right?
Susan Portz 06:47
And it costs a lot of money, right? So there’s kind of twofold. Two ways that I kind of look at this. One, you have the right to get access to accurate information without having to spend a ton of money. Which is why I created a course. But I also think the other way this can go is if you spend all this money on fertility treatments. But you don’t understand how nutrition impacts your fertility and your egg quality. You could spend all this money and then your outcome could be largely impacted by poor nutrition. Like a valuable investment.
Lindsey Lusson 07:31
And a way that I feel like I’ve heard a lot of clients that I’ve worked with talk about the IVF process is doctors will almost pose it as what you do outside this clinic doesn’t really matter. Because we’re controlling everything with hormones. We’ll take care of everything. Live your life. And I think there’s comfort in that. But also too, how awful whenever people have spent 90 grand on IVF, and they still don’t have a baby. Because there were some very basic, foundational things that were missed.
Susan Portz 08:05
Right exactly. And I think a lot of times when people are spending their money… I mean, 90,000 is not far off. On average, it takes three to five cycles of IVF to get pregnant. And I can say this a lot, that IVF is an experiment. They do not know how your body is going to respond to the medications. And yes, there’s a lot of control going on with the medications, but they can only control so much. So if you’re looking at it, could take three to five cycles. Yeah, you’re looking at probably depending on where you do it, all those kind of things. It could cost you 50 to $100,000.
Lindsey Lusson 08:49
Well, and I usually round up on the range. Because for HA women, specifically, you’re on the highest doses of meds. And, yeah, the process to get a follicle to grow is typically longer because we’re fighting such low hormone levels. So I always round up on the range. Because I’m like, this is just what I’ve seen with this specific situation.
Susan Portz 09:14
Like, if your body’s struggling to get the hormones to do things naturally, yes, we can give you the medications to help with that. But if you’re doing stuff on your own to help boost that naturally too. Like that’s going to help make your response more robust.
Susan Portz 09:14
Yeah, and it’s really interesting that you say that is because when we first started talking about how a lot of times in the doctor’s office, they’re saying what you do outside of care doesn’t matter. However when we’re just talking about H. In that situation, when your body is under fuel, then under nourish, it’s harder for you. You’re already starting out at a low baseline for hormones and how your body can produce it. So, yeah, it’s going to take more medications. And the medications themselves might be less effective. That’s the thing I always say, too.
Lindsey Lusson 09:31
Yeah, 100%. A nd so I know that IVF is part of your personal story. How did you land on doing IVF? What was your experience? How long did it take you to go from your first REI visit to having your adorable 18 month old?
Susan Portz 10:21
Okay, so our story is kind of interesting. So we initially were diagnosed with male factor. We did surgery to help with that. And then we kept trying IUI’s, things like that. And then when that wasn’t happening… So we were already connected with one REI when we decided to move on to IVF. I would say the timeframes, which I’ll tell you a little bit here in a second. Because we ended up switching clinics, switching doctors. But when we went in for our first round, that time frame from the time we decided, until we started.
Susan Portz 10:54
I mean, I’d say, usually takes two or three months. Just because you have to go through additional testing. There’s a lot of infectious disease stuff. Usually it’s like, your first time they do genetics profiling, for both of you. So there’s a lot of additional testing. That way they have as much information as possible before they go into start doing medications for retrieval. And deciding what protocol to use and all of that. So I would say, on average, two to three months of time frame from the time you actually meet with an REI to possibly getting started.
Susan Portz 11:30
We did one egg retrieval with our first clinic, and two transfers. But neither of them ever stuck. Everyone has mixed feelings. I’m like, is that a miscarriage or not? But I never had a positive pregnancy test. To be honest after that experience, I was pretty much done at that point. That’s when our doctor was like, I don’t know. Maybe it’s egg quality. This was not the greatest experience. It was not the greatest experience. And I talk about that a lot in my stuff.
Lindsey Lusson 12:07
I think that that’s helpful. Because outside of the clients that I work with, I have a lot of friends that experience infertility for various different reasons. And when people are on their second or third failed transfer, I’m like, get a second opinion. Work with a different clinic, or get a different protocol. Because you’re doing the same thing over and over again, and nothing new is being discovered. It’s like, okay, we’re missing something.
Susan Portz 12:30
Yes, and I think that was a huge red flag at our first clinic. After that full round of IVF, it was like, I don’t know why you’re not pregnant. And, yeah, like, maybe it’s egg quality. So at that point they were kind of classifying us, and I was moving forward as unexplained. Because at that point they were saying, like, oh, it’s not really male factor anymore. Or at least it’s pretty minimal. Again, this is gray areas. So at that point too, I was also kind of done. This was in 2021.
Susan Portz 13:03
And I was like, we’re not doing this anymore. But what ended up happening is my husband was going to be working out on the East Coast for a while. We live in the Midwest. So I ended up finding a clinic out there that had a shared risk program. So you pay a flat fee for essentially, up to six IVF cycles. There’s a lot more affordable.
Susan Portz 13:28
And if you don’t take home a baby, you get your money back. Not from the medications, but at least to the clinic. So it’s like, yeah. They’re taking on some of the risks too. Which I genuinely really appreciated. Because we felt really burned after our first bet. Because we spent probably, I bet that first round was like, $20,000 for nothing.
Susan Portz 13:53
Essentially. So when we switched to the new doctor and went to the new clinic, that’s where things we started to get answers. And that’s where I really started to learn that IVF is an experiment. And you need, yes, you need a doctor that’s willing to try multiple different protocols. Because everyone’s body is different. What works for me probably won’t work for the next person. And so you need a doctor that’s willing to really watch things and modify it according to how your body is responding.
Susan Portz 14:22
So what we learned is ultimately, my body doesn’t really respond great… They’ll do egg suppression and things like that. My body doesn’t respond to that very well. And even when we ended up… We ended up doing two egg retrievals two more. So I did three total egg retrievals, and then three total transfers. And our third transfer is the one that worked. That particular transfer was basically just a non medicated. Natural transfer. Which was not something that we had ever been offered before.
Susan Portz 14:54
So that was super interesting, just because, again, like it wasn’t something that we had been offered before. No one ever talked. I never heard anyone talk about the fact that they could just transfer… They monitored me, and thenpicked the right time and e did a trigger shot. So they knew exactly when I ovulated. They didn’t know exactly when to put in the embryo.
Susan Portz 15:14
I did like progesterone suppositories, but that’s a heck of a lot better. And then, like, the intramuscular.
Lindsey Lusson 15:20
Right, Those big, giant needles with the progesterone. And so if somebody is green to IVF, you kind of painted a pretty good picture with the time frame from your very first meeting with an REI. Some clinics have a wait list. So it’s not like, oh yeah, you’re in on Monday. I feel like, usually, what I hear from clients is it’s like at least six weeks to usually get in.
Lindsey Lusson 15:44
And so then another two to three months before you would actually potentially be starting retrieval. And then the timeframe can kind of vary from retrieval to transfer, if you’re doing fresh versus frozen, is that right?
Susan Portz 15:56
Yes. So if you do fresh that could be right after, yeah. With that same cycle, we’ve only done frozen. I like the idea of giving your body time to…
Lindsey Lusson 16:07
I feel like most of the Reis that I follow only do frozen.
Susan Portz 16:11
It is a lot more common, I would say, than… I like the idea of your body getting a reset from all of those hormones. Then so from there, it kind of just depends… So when ours ended up working, we have it was probably two months from the time we did the retrieval until we were able to do the transfer. And that was because we did choose to do genetic testing to reduce the risk of miscarriage. And that was a choice that I made because I had been through transfers, and I was really sick after that. That stuff is on really hard on your body.
Susan Portz 16:49
I mean, ultimately it could take nine months.
Lindsey Lusson 16:52
Yeah, and I think that that’s just helpful to hear a time frame. Because I feel like whether this is a wrong public perception, or whether it’s posed this way somewhere. I feel like most people think that IVF is the fast track to baby. Like, no, yeah. I feel like a lot of times people are like, Oh, well, we could keep trying. Or in a lot of the clients that we work with case, you know, well, I could keep trying to get my cycle back. Or I could just start IVF, and I could be pregnant in three months. And it’s like not the most realistic path for most people who go through IVF.
Susan Portz 17:27
No. And I would say nine months is if it works the first time. And when I say works the first time, I mean the first eggretrieval, the first transfer. And like, I said, before it generally takes three to five cycles. So I mean, our start to finish IVF journey, we started in May of 2021. And I found out that I was pregnant in November of 2022. That’s a year and a half. Now, granted, there was some breaks in there.
Lindsey Lusson 18:00
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Which is a more realistic time frame.
Susan Portz 18:05
I would say, so, yeah, yeah. Most of my clients that I’ve worked with, I would say that’s a year.
Lindsey Lusson 18:12
Yeah, for sure. So, if somebody’s in it for… They’re doing IVF. They either have really great coverage. They have, they’re trying to screen out for a genetic factor. They’ve got reasons, and they’re like, IVF is our route. This is what we’re doing. Susan, what are the things that people need to do with their nutrition and their lifestyle to enhance their chances of getting to take home a baby in nine months versus a year and a half? What have you learned? What have you seen clients like, what are kind of top five, non negotiables? Like these are the things you need to be doing.
Susan Portz 18:46
So number one, eating enough, and that’s across the board. That’s not just for somebody that has HA. Eating enough is an issue for people across the board, I think. With different body shapes and sizes. Yes, eating enough. Because what I tend to see and then the clients that I have worked with. For example, I had someone that I was like, Oh my gosh. I was like, thought I was following this fertility friendly diet. But I was hungry all the time, and I didn’t realize that that was not a good thing.
Susan Portz 19:20
So I think making sure you’re eating enough and a really good barometer of am I eating enough? Because I think a lot of people think they are. If you find that you are hungry within a few hours of eating, you’re probably not eating enough. And the secondary thing to that is eating enough fat. We know 100% there’s tons of really good research that supports eating enough fat. Women need to eat fat so. Especially this age range, I would say, of women. A lot of us grew up in the 90s, the early 2000s was like….
Susan Portz 20:05
Fat does not make you fat. But it does help to fill you up and help support your hormones. I talk about this a lot inside of my program and in my content and stuff. But like fat is the backbone to cholesterol. And cholesterol is the backbone to your hormones. So if you’re not eating enough fat, your body’s not going to be producing enough cholesterol to then support your hormones. Which impacts your fertility.
Lindsey Lusson 20:32
Right, right. Okay, so eating enough and in particular, eating enough fat and eating enough… I think we can both agree this probably a lot more than what most women think that they need to eat.
Susan Portz 20:45
Yeah, I think a lot of women think that like, 1500 calories a day is good.
Lindsey Lusson 20:49
And I think that… It’s funny one of the things that I usually use as like a like, Does this person know what they’re talking about with fertility, nutrition, or are they like, sadly misled is whenever people start talking about restrictive diets versus how to add to. Because I think it was Ayla Barmer, who I had on the podcast a couple episodes ago. Probably here I got this point, but she just had such a spot on description. And she was like, I always knew that fertility had to come from a place of abundance.
Lindsey Lusson 21:21
If you want to create a new life, you can’t be like, restricting. You can’t be cutting out. You can’t be in this, like, low energy state. If you’re trying to create something new. We have to be full and abundant and nourishing well.
Susan Portz 21:35
Yes, 100%. Because the way that I like to look at this is, if your body is struggling to just get the nutrients that you need to function day to day, is not going to sit there and think this is a great time to make a baby. Because you literally need more energy and more nutrients in order to support another life in addition to your own.
Lindsey Lusson 21:59
100%. Beyond eating enough, are there particular supplements that you think most women should be on who are thinking about trying to conceive, or, especially if they’re prepping for an IVF cycle? Like, are there some base…I know everybody might need different types of things. But what are the ones that you’re like, probably all women who are thinking about trying to become pregnant should be on?
Susan Portz 22:20
Yeah, 100% vitamin D. I don’t know if you talk about that a lot. And I honestly push for closer to 4000 IUs a day.
Lindsey Lusson 22:29
4000 is usually my baseline. And then if anybody’s like, slightly deficient, we’re going up.
Susan Portz 22:33
Yeah. Vitamin D is one of those that there’s a ton of research on. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with infertility.
Lindsey Lusson 22:42
I mean, I’ve seen low vitamin D prevent people from ovulating. Like, I’ve seen people with HA and we’re like, We’re doing everything right. We’re doing everything right. And then we’ll check a vitamin D. And I’m like, we need to keep eating. But also this is we’re gonna have to stop.
Susan Portz 22:56
Yeah. So I think vitamin D is a big one. So what I tend to like encourage people to go towards especially if they’re doing IVF considering fertility treatments is antioxidants. But I would push people to go towards food over large dose antioxidant supplements. And the reason why is one, you’re going to absorb and utilize that so much more effectively than the supplement form. But to like the supplement forms, we’re just not always sure, like, what’s in that. And I’ve like, read some stuff, like, you can overdo antioxidants.
Susan Portz 23:31
I mean, some of the quantities that I’ve seen recommended for some of these, like, antioxidants are pretty extreme. And I’ll just, like, give a personal example here. I tried, I can’t remember, I think it was Mac, is that one that you’ve heard people talk loud? I tried that in the dosage that they were recommend. That’s, like, often recommended for, like, someone like, going through IVF and, oh my gosh. Like, I was so sick from taking that. After a few days, like, I had a terrible headache. And so, like, what does that tell you?
Lindsey Lusson 24:06
Yeah, that that wasn’t right for you, and that the dose was probably too high for you, yeah? And I do think that that’s something you have to be careful with whenever. I’m always slow to recommend supplements. And I always just remind people, supplements are just that they are meant to supplement a foundation. So like, this is the tip of the pyramid, not the face. Be careful. And just that, of, like, maintenance.
Lindsey Lusson 24:28
It’s not just about your body. It’s about this other body that you’re about to create. So, like, just be careful. Like, the supplement industry is, like, highly unregulated. Just be careful what you put in your body.
Susan Portz 24:37
Yeah, and I think there’s a lot of fertility supplements out there that are just marketed towards women struggling to conceive.
Lindsey Lusson 24:45
It’s hard because it’s such a vulnerable population, right? Like, you get somebody at 3am on a Reddit thread and five people have bouts for the supplement. And they’re like, I don’t care. Give me 500 of them.
Susan Portz 25:00
And I think you have a really good point. I really just want to emphasize the fact that there is no Miracle supplement, And I like, hate to say that, because it feels very negative. But in an effort to save people lots of money. Because people charge lots of money for these supplements.
Lindsey Lusson 25:18
They’re not cheap.
Susan Portz 25:22
If there truly was one that, like, then everyone would be pregnant, right?
Lindsey Lusson 25:27
We’d all be on it, and fertility wouldn’t exist. Yeah. So sometimes targeted supplements. But honestly, when we talk aboutthe supplements that are most promising for fertility and egg quality, we’re talking about antioxidants. And you’re actually circling, you’re like, doubling down on diet, saying that, like, I’d rather see you get it from the foods that you’re eating. What would be some of those top foods that you would recommend?
Susan Portz 25:46
Yeah, great question. I always push people towards berries. Variety. Just buy the frozen. It doesn’t have to be complicated, right? Like, just buy frozen berries make smoothies that kind of stuff. Throw spinach in and that’s another one that I think is huge.
Lindsey Lusson 26:02
Super simple, add some color.
Susan Portz 26:05
Yeah, yeah. Like, literally, add color wherever you can. And I think one of the other areas too, that I’ll tend to, push people towards is nuts and seeds. Which are just a little bit different, that’s getting into more of omega 3, things like that. But I definitely push for berries. And just in general color variety. Don’t just eat one cup.
Lindsey Lusson 26:26
Don’t eat just broccoli.
Susan Portz 26:27
Yeah, yeah. Like, broccoli is great, but like, you should also eat some other.
Lindsey Lusson 26:33
Something that I love about you is you just make this sound so simple. Because there’s so many other fertility experts who are just recommending this impossible diet, gluten free, dairy free, avoid all sugar. You can have bell peppers, but they have to be organic. Bell peppers. You can have eggs, but they have to be free range, pastureorganic, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it’s like there might be some benefits there. I’m not gonna, like, say that that’s not supported. But I also think you have to meet each individual where they are with those food choices.
Lindsey Lusson 27:07
And just to go circle back to the idea of, like, if fertility has to come from a place of abundance, and now we’re telling people to cut an entire food group from their diet. Like, how can that compute? What have you noticed in the clients that you’ve worked with who are on restrictive diets? Or have followed some of that advice.
Susan Portz 27:24
What I’ve noticed is that they’re hungry.
Lindsey Lusson 27:26
That makes sense.
Susan Portz 27:29
Because they’re not eating enough. And I’ve also noticed I’ve had people even just message me on Instagram before me, like, Oh my gosh. I stopped restricting all these foods, and I feel so much better. And then I got pregnant.
Lindsey Lusson 27:43
I mean, I hear that all the time, but like that comes with the territory of what I do.
Susan Portz 27:46
Rght. And so this is people that don’t have a history of HA. I would say these might be women that have a history of unexplained infertility. And so to talk a little bit about, I really like to look at nutrition, fertility, nutrition, like a pyramid. And having that base foundation, like you kind of mentioned, is so incredibly important. I feel like the next level up is yes, okay, talking about is there some more omega 3 if you get certain types of eggs and meats and things like that.
Susan Portz 28:24
But is that necessary? No, because really what we need to make sure is you’re getting this baseline foundation. It’s better that you’re eating eggs than not eating eggs. And the same thing with like, you said, like the peppers. It’s like, okay, but it has to be organic. Well, it’s better that you’re eating fruits and vegetables and getting enough of them than, like, oh my gosh, I have to buy organic. And it’s like, so expensive.
Susan Portz 28:49
The nutrient profiles of organic versus conventional. They’ve done a lot of research on this. The nutrient profile is really not different.
Lindsey Lusson 28:55
Yeah, it’s not radically different. I mean, if you want to get really in the weeds, you can start talking about, like, pesticide exposure…
Susan Portz 29:01
And potentially, and how could that impact?
Lindsey Lusson 29:03
Yeah, yeah, for sure, it’s not, like, unfounded. But it’s also like to go back to the basics of like, but are you eating bell peppers or not?
Lindsey Lusson 29:19
We don’t know, demonize foods that aren’tthe top tier, in terms of organic. And I do feel like number one. People get too in the weeds on that, and so they might totally miss the mark. And then they’re like, Oh, cool. I’m just gonna eat hot chinos. It’s like, okay, well, that’s not where we were trying to go, right?
Susan Portz 29:38
Or, I think what ends up happening a lot with like, fertility clients, is they’re like, so afraid. Like, if I eat something that isn’t organic or has some sugar in it that I’ve, like, ruined my cycle. I’ve ruined my chances of getting pregnant. And like, if you’re so afraid of what to eat, you’re ultimately probably under eating again.
Lindsey Lusson 30:00
Yeah. And to look at it from another angle, too, I feel like you were gonna go here anyways. The stress that you’re creating around food. And so at the end of the day, you could have the healthiest diet in the world. But if you’re not eating enough, and if you’re so stressed about what you’re eating, you’re not going to digest and absorb food the way that you could and should if you had a healthy relationship with food.
Susan Portz 30:24
Yes, 100%. And that’s not to say like, I think what we’re not like, it’s not like. We’re saying stress causes infertility. I think people have a lot of feelings about that. Well, I really also do like to emphasize that point of you don’t need to cause yourself this extra level of stress around food. It’s unnecessary. Yes, it’s impacting on how your body is responding and digesting the food. And especially when you’re going through infertility and possibly fertility treatments.
Susan Portz 30:53
You’re already stressed enough. Let’s not add another level of stress. Let’s just make it super simple so you understand this is what you need to eat. For lack of a better way of describing it. Of course, there’s flexibility in there. But these are the things that will help you. And this is how you can add those things in.
Lindsey Lusson 31:15
And I think, too, sometimes people don’t even recognize the way that stress piles up, right? They’re like, Oh, well, I’m not that stressed about my diet. And it’s like, well, maybe you’re not. But you have a stressful job, you’re going through infertility, the suddenly the others going on. You’re running five miles, and it’s like, the the lump sum of all the different stressors. It may not be like one singular thing.
Susan Portz 31:40
Yes, absolutely. And I think a lot of times again, like we said earlier, food is something you can control. And then otherwise what feels very uncontrollable situation. So I think it’s very easy to cling to food as okay, but I can control this.
Lindsey Lusson 32:06
Honestly, that’s like, the start of a lot of people’s unhealthy relationships with food. That I see is it’s not usually about I wanted… I mean, sometimes, but I think at the root of it, a lot of times it’s not about I wanted to be skinny, or I really wanted abs. I think that when people start to cross the line into disordered eating is it starts to become some sort of coping or control mechanism for a stressful season.
Lindsey Lusson 32:30
Whether it was infertility, a breakup, moving across the country, job loss, something like that. That’s honestly one of the most common backstories. Is people are like, I don’t even know how I got here. I think food was just really easy to control.
Susan Portz 32:42
Yeah, yes, I agree, and I think that we can use it as a tool. But do it in a healthy way.
Lindsey Lusson 32:51
Definitely.
Susan Portz 32:53
Well, I’m just gonna say this, because ultimately, you’re going to get pregnant. So you’re going to get pregnant, and then having that healthy relationship with food, and having that foundation of what to eat and how to support your body is going to be so incredibly helpful when you’re pregnant and postpartum.
Lindsey Lusson 33:14
I think sometimes people don’t even… Well, you don’t know what you don’t know. But when you’re postpartum you don’t have time to sit down and cook this beautiful, fresh, organic meal. You need to be okay with your neighbors bringing you a casserole. And that’s dinner. There will be plenty of time to, balance out some of those, processed foods. As baby gets older, as you have some time back for yourself as you get, you know your groove.
Lindsey Lusson 33:42
I think sometimes people don’t understand again, not knowing what you don’t know. Like, if you have this hyper healthy fixation with food… I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do this, I’m like, Oh my gosh, I get derails my whole day when I can’t cook my healthy meals at home. Or I can’t control stuff. You’re setting yourself up for a panic attack postpartum.
Susan Portz 34:03
Oh, absolutely, honestly if someone wasn’t, setting food in front of me those first few weeks postpartum, it just, it’s hard. So I think being in that place where you’re understanding that nourishment is just the key, and that it’s we don’t need to be so rigid about it. It’s going to be helpful long term. It helps now, but it helps later.
Lindsey Lusson 34:28
Well, and in the spirit of, not being rigid about foods, let’s do some myth busting. Because I’ll kind of share some things that I’ve come across. And it’s on social media about fertility and fertility nutrition. Especially in the context of IVF, and I just love to hear your experience and do some myth busting. So I see a lot of gluten free, dairy free for fertility, you know? Oh well my naturopath told me that I needed to be off gluten because it’s better for my hormones. Where’s this coming from? Any truth to it? Where are we getting this?
Susan Portz 34:58
There’s no actual Science that backs up the fact that, like gluten impacts hormones. Now if you have celiac disease. So if you have severe digestive issues and you’ve been diagnosed with celiac. If you think you might have celiac, then you should go to a GI specialist and get tested for that. And then that case, then yes. You might need to go gluten free. Because there is a really significant association between celiac and fertility.
Lindsey Lusson 35:26
Okay, gotcha. Okay. And so that’s probably where we’re getting it.
Susan Portz 35:30
It doesn’t apply to everyone, right? And I also, I do think there’s some nuance within that, in like, paying attention to how your body, like, response to different foods. But I think that’s where getting more individualized support is really totally helpful. Like, I don’t think like, don’t take it as a blanket statement and then just run with it lik this is the solution.
Lindsey Lusson 35:53
Yep, we work with a ton of clients that are gluten free. I think that it’s tricky, because if you want to be gluten free, be gluten free. We need to figure out how to get you enough carbs if you’re going to be gluten free.
Susan Portz 36:04
Well, like, part of me is like, Okay, can we talk about the fact that, like, gluten free, just because it’s gluten free, doesn’t mean that it’s healthier.
Lindsey Lusson 36:14
But I do think for like, the gluten insensitive, gluten intolerant population, like, it is good that there’s enough options. But you have to be okay with eating the gluten free pasta bread.
Susan Portz 36:24
Yes, yes. And okay, so the second part of your question about the dairy. Okay, so there’s actually research that women that consume full fat dairy have reduced ovulatory infertility. As opposed to women that consume low fat dairy or low fat, yeah. So I that is a total myth buster as well.
Lindsey Lusson 36:46
Yeah, yeah. So the whole dairy thing is…
Susan Portz 36:50
I think that’s just part of, like, our whole like, yeah, found it. And I think it’s part of, like, diet culture’s take on, like, that dairy is bad.
Lindsey Lusson 36:59
I see it more in, like, the PCOS realm. And maybe with PCOS, are cutting out a ton of foods from their diet potential. Focusing on other foods in their diet and then having good results. But yeah, I think that that might also maybe come from one of those, like, it worked for me, so it’ll work for you too. Maybe not exactly, like research backed.
Susan Portz 37:20
Yeah, I don’t. I’ve not seen like, exact research that, like, PCOS, you need to eliminate dairy. I think it’s really more of an individual… I’ve had clients where we look at individual responses. And like, when someone’s telling me they’re eating dairy, especially like high lactose dairy products, like milk or ice cream, and they’re having like, significant GI distress after that. That’s a pretty good sign that your body’s not tolerating the lactose. We should address that.
Susan Portz 37:51
But again, this is not a one size fits all. This isn’t like everyone needs to eliminate it.
Lindsey Lusson 37:56
And I think that some of the problem too, is people DIY it. Because what I’ll notice with a lot of the clients that we work with is they’ll have an experience like that. And okay, dairy doesn’t make me feel awesome. I’m gonna cut back, or I’m gonna cut out. That’s fine. Like, dairy didn’t make you feel good. Don’t eat dairy. People aren’t back, filling that with proper nutrition. And that’s where I start to see some of the deficits and people not eating enough come from.
Susan Portz 38:21
Yeah, because if you’re not going to, like eat dairy, which, as I was just saying, if, like, full fat is great for fertility. But we’ve talked about how fat is really important. So then where are you going to get that fat from?
Lindsey Lusson 38:33
Yeah, exactly. Like, if you’re not eating cheese anymore. We need to be adding in more avocados, more more nuts, more seeds like other sources of fat. Otherwise you very well could become deficient.
Lindsey Lusson 38:43
Yeah, Susan, what about sugar? I feel like this is probably one of the more like controversial ones in the fertility.
Susan Portz 38:49
So controversial. This is the way I look at it. Blood sugar is really important for fertility, right? And the keeping your blood sugar stable. We know that when blood sugar has a lot of highs and lows, that that increases inflammation. We know that that impacts how your hormones function. Like, we can’t know that to be true.
Susan Portz 39:07
Now that doesn’t mean that you can’t eat any like, sugar. That doesn’t mean. What it does mean is like, let’s learn how we can eat it in a way that’s going to help support your body. Like, digest it and process it. So that way your blood sugar still stays relatively stable.
Susan Portz 39:26
So what I always tell people is, like, there’s no perfection on this. Like, you’re going to have times where you’re just going to eat a piece of cake. That’s not going to ruin anything, not the end of the world. If you know, like, if you’re eating some carbs, and you know, like, for example, like, if I just ate a donut for breakfast, like, I probably.
Susan Portz 39:45
It would, like, maybe fill me up. If Holly wouldn’t fill me up for super long, like, I probably would end up, like, really hungry later. But like, maybe if you put some, like, fat and protein with that, it’s going to help slow down the digestion. It’s going to help keep things more stable and you’re body is just going to respond better, right?
Susan Portz 40:02
So I think this is, like, where the knowledge is power kind of thing. Rather than just, like fearing all sugar, it’s understanding, like, how to consume in a way that’s going to, like work best for your body.
Lindsey Lusson 40:13
Yes, I love that. It’s so important. Because I think it’s actually the drastic approaches of, like no sugar that actually lead to the swings and disordered eating. Whether it’s I’m never going to eat it and now I’m undernourished. Or a I’m never going to eat it, but I still want it, so now I’m binging on it. You know what I mean?
Susan Portz 40:32
Yes, 100%. Also, when I think about people doing that, and just like you’re on a fertility journey, now you’re cutting out gluten, you’re cutting out dairy. You won’t let yourself eat sugar because you think you’re on this anti inflammatory diet. Like, okay, and all your friends are pregnant or getting pregnant, and so it kind of sucks already because. You’re in this huge mental turmoil over infertility in general. But now you can’t enjoy these everyday, basic things.
Lindsey Lusson 41:02
Everybody else can.
Susan Portz 41:03
yeah, that everybody else can, right? Like, that is just not helpful. You don’t need that. Also, if we’re talking about stress, that’s bringing back another level.
Lindsey Lusson 41:16
A friend of mine who went through an infertility journey for, I think, close to three years, I feel like. And I literally share this with, like, almost all of my clients, whenever they’re like, can I, have a glass of wine? Can I do this? Should I travel? And she was like, you can’t put your life on hold every single month thinking you’re gonna be pregnant. Because you literally don’t.
Lindsey Lusson 41:37
It could also be six months from now, possibly Six years. Six years from now. Like, you don’t, you can’t live your life within the isolation or the confines of thinking, like, can’t do these things because I might be pregnant.
Susan Portz 41:52
Yes, 100% I totally agree with that. I try to tell people that as well, Because it’s really easy to think. And it’s the same thing when my like, when you think you’re gonna go, like, restricting these foods and avoiding these foods. Yeah, I’m only gonna do it until you’re gonna do it for a month. One it takes like, 90 days for nutrition, impact, egg quality, we know that. And like, fertility. And if you can’t sustain it, like that’s just not going to be the best solution long term.
Lindsey Lusson 42:26
And on the idea of, like, somebody not being able to control the timeline of their pregnancy, what would you share with, like, having been through infertility for gosh, was it six years for you from like, when y’all started trying to win, brought home baby. Six years.
Susan Portz 42:42
Six years, yeah
Lindsey Lusson 42:43
What would you share with somebody who has been on an infertility journey for multiple years? Just to encourage them? Are there any mindset, things, tips or tricks that you feel like really helped you?
Susan Portz 42:55
So it’s so interesting. Um, it is definitely a journey. I think one of the things that I realized shortly before I got pregnant, was I kind of… This is gonna sound really weird. But it’s not that I gave up, but I was very… I did the best I could to try to detach from the result. And I was like, I wasn’t living my life in the sense of if this doesn’t happen It’s the end of the world kind of thing. And so I think that helps take some of the pressure off.
Susan Portz 43:31
Because there’s a lot of pressure when you’ve never been pregnant before, or you haven’t had a baby, right? There’s a lot of pressure. So that for me, anyways, that helps release some of that pressure I was feeling. But the other thing and this might sound contradictory to what I just said. Because I think there’s two different ways to approach it. And the other way is just… And people would say this to me when I was in the middle of it, and I’d be like, Oh my god. I can’t even imagine this. But it’s just I don’t know not to lose hope and it’s okay to pivot. It’s okay to take breaks.
Susan Portz 44:09
We took a lot of breaks. Took a lot of breaks for mental health. And I think that is okay. It’s also okay to… If something doesn’t feel right. And I think this is usually my biggest tip. If something doesn’t feel right, follow your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, which is basically how I felt after that first round of IVF. I was like, this is not right. And then when we got away with our new clinic and our new doctor it felt so much better.
Susan Portz 44:37
So if something doesn’t feel right, and also, if something’s on your gut… I just think, our gut instincts are not wrong,
Lindsey Lusson 44:46
Right? I agree with that. There have been very few times that I’ve had a gut instinct and been I believe that was wrong.
Susan Portz 44:53
Right, right, right, yeah. So I think following that is really helpful.
Susan Portz 44:59
Follow that gut instinct. And also you’re just doing the best you can. I think a lot of times in the middle of it, you’re just, honestly, you’re just trying to survive. And that’s okay. That’s okay. You don’t have to be thriving.
Susan Portz 45:17
Like, in the middle of… You know there’s a lot of research that I talked about how infertility is very similar on mental health, as opposed to a cancer diagnosis. The mental turmoil associated with it. You don’t have to give yourself these really elevated expectations to be doing all the things.
Lindsey Lusson 45:38
Well, and it’s hard. Because I feel like infertility for so many people, is like, a silent struggle. Maybe to protect yourself because you’re not ready to talk about it. Or you don’t want to share, because you don’t want people asking you about it. I know so many people that’ll be like, Well, I would never want to tell people at work. Well, because one you don’t want to have to worry about. Oh, they’re gonna let somebody go because they think she’s gonna get pregnant.
Lindsey Lusson 46:03
But also, too, sometimes that can be people’s escape. Like, I don’t want to tell everybody, because then people are gonna be asking about it. So I feel like it’s so hard where… I don’t know, I feel like infertility is just like, such a personal struggle, too. People like to keep it near and dear. Versus not people are shouting from the rooftops that they have cancer.
Lindsey Lusson 46:23
But I almost feel like the grief could be harder in some instances with infertility. Just because it’s a silent struggle.
Susan Portz 46:32
Yeah, I think a lot of people don’t share. It was actually one of the things that, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to share. And when I first started private practice, I was not in the fertility space. But I was already going through infertility. Couldn’t decide if it was something that I, like, wanted to share or not.
Lindsey Lusson 46:51
Well and like, for me personally, it’s a lot easier for me to share about something when I’m on the other side of it. Than when I’m in it. Like I didn’t really have a platform to talk about my story when I was going through it. But I don’t think that I would have, even if I did. You know what I mean. It’s hard to talk about it when you’re in it. It’s a lot easier to talk about it in hindsight.
Susan Portz 47:10
Yes, it’s a lot easier for me now. I will say that a lot easier. Because there isn’t that as much added emotional tied to it.
Lindsey Lusson 47:21
Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing your story. I mean, I think that this is amazing. I think that if anybody is listening and they’re in the middle of an infertility story, one of the biggest things that stuck with me through our conversation is don’t give up hope. Like, keep that positivity. You don’t need to have that positivity every single day. Recognize, like, the emotional toll it’s taking on you, and know that it is a hard season. But like, Don’t give up hope. It’s always possible.
Lindsey Lusson 47:47
So thanks. Yeah, yes, you never know. Yeah, amazing. Well, and if anybody wants to get in touch with you, learn more about what you do, follow along, consider taking your course or working with you directly. How do they do that?
Susan Portz 47:58
So you can find me on Instagram at nutrition for infertility. You’re welcome to just send me a DM. Like, DMS are always open. So if you are going through infertility, going through IVF. Like, I get a lot of DMS about that stuff. So please, like, you’re more than welcome to message me. I know it feels like a lonely journey and you don’t know anyone. Then you can also, you’re more than welcome to check out my course fertility nutrition simplified, also linked on Instagram, and I can send you the link for that as well.
Susan Portz 48:25
And if you want more individual support, just send me a DM on Instagram.
Lindsey Lusson 48:29
Well, we’ll get that course linked in the show notes. Thanks again for your time today, and we appreciate everybody tuning in.
Connect with Lindsey:
Instagram: @food.freedom.fertility
Website: foodfreedomandfertility.com
Twitter: @lindseylusson
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