HEALTH & MEDICINE :: FEBRUARY/MARCH 2007
Exercise, Nutrition, & Reproductive Health
INTRODUCTION
The healthier you are the better your chances are to conceive. Exercise, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle impact your reproductive health and your ability to conceive.
All of us exercise, but are we getting the most out of our workout? We try to lose weight, but do we really know what caloric balance we need to maintain, lose or increase our weight? This article will touch on the basic information about exercise, nutrition and reproductive influences on sperm and egg quality.
EXERCISE
Are you working out 3, 4, or 5 times a week and still not losing weight? Why not?
Is it the gym where you are working out, the time you spend there, the equipment you are using, or your choice of exercises? ……actually it has to do with the calories you are burning, which directly correlates to the intensity of your workout.
You essentially have two sources of fuel (calories) to burn during your workout. Sugars (carbohydrates) and Fat!
The first 30 to 45 minutes of fuel comes from the sugar stores. These carbohydrates are from the sweet foods that you have ingested and stored over the past 24 hours. Once these carbohydrates mobilize and are used up, the body starts to utilize the fat stores, but you must burn the available sugars first, before you can mobilize the fat stores.
The way to increase the amount of calories burned and the rate at which they burn is to increase the intensity of your workout. The intensity, more so than the duration of your workout, determines the amount of calories you will burn.
For example, someone that exercises for 20 minutes at 25% of their maximum perceived intensity, will burn 100 calories, whereas someone that exercises at 85% of their maximum perceived intensity, burns 300 calories in the same amount of time.
Same amount of time… higher intensity = burns 3 x the numbers of calories.
Weight Loss ultimately has to do with the amount of calories you burn in a day as compared to the number of calories you take in. The rate at which you burn calories is reflected by your heart rate which is circulating Oxygen to your muscles and then clearing the metabolized energy or byproducts from the muscles performing the work for your workout. The muscle fibers require the energy or fuel for your workout which is what metabolizes (calories).
Knowing your maximum heart rate will help you determine the level of intensity at which you are exercising. Knowing your training zone will help you achieve your personal goals and by burning more calories and getting the most out of your workouts.
Knowing this information will be your key to success. Knowing how to exercise and at what level of intensity will maximize your time and your calories burned.
NUTRITION & WEIGHT CONTROL
Almost all diet and weight loss programs attempt to help you lose weight by controlling your intake of calories. But what they fail to explain is the basic principle of weight loss which is…
CALORIES IN VS. CALORIES OUT
If you are consuming 2000 calories a day and burning 1800 calories a day, over time you will still gain weight.
You must know your daily caloric intake as well as your caloric expenditure. Caloric information about the foods you eat is essential. Knowing what you burn in a day versus what you take in is the key to weight loss or weight maintenance success.
As part of our Nutrition Program at the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, PA we perform a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) to determine the foundation of your metabolism.
Our NUTRITION PROGRAM helps patients make the right food choices based on their metabolic rate and caloric goal. Understanding your food selections will help you to lose weight and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. The right food will also fuel your workouts enabling you to perform at your maximum potential.
Believe it or not, making the right food choice will actually allow you to eat more and still lose weight without being hungry!
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
One of the most sensitive cells in the body to external influences is your gametes; otherwise known as Sperm and Eggs. These cells are very susceptible to harmful substances you ingest into your body. Toxins such as cigarettes, alcohol, excess sugar, soda, candy, and caffeine reduce the quality with these delicate cells.
Fact
People that smoke cigarettes reduce their fertility by 25% per month by
reducing their egg and sperm quality.
Fact
Patients with a higher level of sugar (glucose) circulating in their body
have decreased egg quality and increased risk of miscarriages. The effects
of high levels of sugar can also lead to premature birth, gestational
diabetes and complications during delivery.
Fact
Heat exposure is the number one cause of reduced sperm quality and numbers.
Extreme temperatures such as whirlpools, saunas and working in a hot environment
have been shown to decrease sperm motility and viability.
At the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, PA our NUTRITION PROGRAM will teach you how to exercise, eat properly, control your hunger and live a healthier life.
We will also teach you how to make the right food choices based on your metabolism and what caloric threshold you need to achieve throughout each day to reduce and maintain a healthy weight prior to or during your pregnancy.
In addition, we will also teach you how to eat to enhance your egg quality which will improve your chances for pregnancy success by decreasing the harmful substances you ingest during the reproductive years.
Call us for more information about our Nutrition Program and upcoming Nutritional educational seminars/events at 302 738 4600.
Dr. Jeffrey B. Russell is the Director of the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, P.A. as well as the Director of the IVF and Embryo Genetics Center P.A. at Drexel University. He has been in practice since 1986 and has helped thousands of couples conceive and start their family.
He is a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia and did his OB/GYN residency at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. After completing his residency, Dr. Russell completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology at Yale University. While at Yale University, Dr. Russell established the GIFT, Embryo Cryopreservation and Ultrasound Guided Retrieval programs as well as serving as the coordinator of the Yale IVF/ ET programs.
Dr. Russell is world renowned for his work in infertility and has appeared on regional and national television programs and in numerous newspapers across the country.
Dr. Russell’s programs produced the first single sperm injection (ICSI) pregnancy in the tri-state area. He also began the first in-vitro fertilization, frozen embryo, GIFT, ZIFT and ICSI programs in the state. His innovative work has resulted in the first immature pregnancy in the United States.
