Is the quality of your sleep a defining figure in your fertility outcomes? That's what I aim to hash out in this session of Fertility in Focus. Sleep is not often the first thing that comes to mind when we think about fertility, but it may play a crucial role in reproductive health. Lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns can disrupt the balance of key hormones, including those responsible for reproduction. Interrupted or short sleep duration is associated with everything from poor follicle development to implantation challenges. Not to mention inflammation, blood sugar imbalances, and of course, stress. Good sleep enhances the production of hormones such as progesterone and fosters healthy thyroid function. Poor sleep, on the other hand, is associated with estrogen dominance, progesterone deficiency and thyroid irregularities.  Sleep deprivation is both caused by and contributes to elevations in stress hormones like cortisol, which can disrupt reproductive hormones, make your ovaries underperform and impact uterine receptivity. According to the research, one study found that sleep disturbance, assessed using the single item query “do you experience disturbed sleep?”, occurred in 34% of infertile women (10). In addition, women with diminished ovarian reserve were found to be 30 times more likely to have disturbed sleep, another study found that greater than 35% of women receiving intrauterine insemination reported disturbances in their sleep. If sleep has been an issue for you, don’t panic! Lifestyle changes and Eastern medicine can be incredibly helpful when it comes to enhancing your sleep quality. Build a healthy evening routine and avoid stimulating activities before bed. Aside from lifestyle, supplementing with magnesium, GABA, & valerian root can be a game changer. From an Eastern Medicine perspective, herbs such as Ashwagandha, Gui Pi Tang, Suan zao ren tang & Gan Mai Da Zao Tang can also help to improve your sleep quality. Better yet, get an all-in-one solution when you purchase our “Bespoke” Junk Juice option. Fill out a brief questionnaire and get a formula customized for your individual needs. Tune into today's session to get the scoop on all things sleep and fertility!  You’ll Learn:  The correction between stress and lack of sleep Research linking lack of sleep to infertility The importance of a healthy nighttime routine Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think others would love to hear it, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode or want to be a guest on the show? Leave a comment in the section below or visit the website to contact me! www.naturnalife.com Subscribing to The Podcast: If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, or whatever your favorite podcast app is! Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. So if you have a minute, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts!