Brian (0s):
This week I interviewed Gabriela Rosa. She's a fertility specialist and reproductive health educator. She created the world's first virtual and holistic fertility clinic. And we discuss factors that affect men and women when it comes to fertility, how resilient the body is when it comes to health, Dr. Rosa's Daily health habits and her one tip to become the healthiest version of yourself. Really enjoyed my interview with Dr. Rosa. I know you will too. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the show. All right. Welcome to the Get Lean, Eat Clean podcast. My name's Brian Gryn, and today I have Gabriela Rosa. Welcome to the show.
Gabriela (38s):
Thank you so much for having me.
Brian (40s):
Thanks for coming on. Could be the first fertility specialist I have coming on the show, so
Gabriela (46s):
I think that's amazing.
Brian (47s):
You should feel a lot.
Gabriela (49s):
I am indeed. I am indeed.
Brian (51s):
And you're living in Boston originally from Australia, correct? That's
Gabriela (55s):
Right, that's right. Although of course, you know, nobody's from anywhere really, you know, so it's like, it's one of those things that it always perplexes me when people ask me, where are you from originally? And I'm like, hang on a second, should I be telling my birth story right about this moment? You know? Right. Because my parents are Brazilian. I was born in Brazil and they immigrated to Australia. I've been living there most of my life, but then of course the last three years have brought me to Boston to finish my doctorate. So it has been a journey.
Brian (1m 25s):
Yeah. I've always wanted to go to Australia, just haven't. My wife and I will definitely get there sooner rather than later.
Gabriela (1m 32s):
That's, you're gonna love it. Let me put it that way. E especially because we have no winters really, you know? Yeah. It's just a beautiful place. It's lovely.
Brian (1m 43s):
Yeah. Well we have winters in Chicago, I can tell ya that. No,
Gabriela (1m 46s):
I know.
Brian (1m 48s):
Yeah. I'm sure you're dealing with that in Boston. In
Gabriela (1m 50s):
Boston. Exactly. So it's just like, I know Now. I know Winters, you know what's funny is that when I, before I moved to Australia, I used to think that, you know, like 15 degrees Celsius, whatever, that I still haven't learned Fahrenheit despite my three years here. But you know, most people will probably be able to do the conversion in their head. I'm not one of those people. So, you know, but I used to think that, you know, like 15 degrees Celsius was cold until I moved here and I realized that minus 25 Celsius is cold, you know? Yes, yes, yes. So, right. And so that was my learning, my big learning experience in living in a place where there are defined seasons. Yes. And there is a real winter, you know,
Brian (2m 32s):
I will say, I, I don't mind the seasons. It does make you appreciate the weather we're getting right now, you know, we're it's seventies for
Gabriela (2m 39s):
Sure. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. I, I had that experience yesterday, so it was lovely. It's just like, yes. Beautiful.
Brian (2m 45s):
Yeah. This is the time to be in the Midwest for sure.
Gabriela (2m 49s):
That's it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, when it comes to fertility, even though we don't want those extreme heat situations, you know, it's probably a, a good thing that people can actually take their clothes off, you know? So it's, there is that kind of like best of both worlds type situation that we need to aim for.
Brian (3m 10s):
Although actually on, on fertility, I mean, I'm curious, does like sunlight and like vitamin D synthesis, like does that affect fertility?
Gabriela (3m 21s):
Absolutely. Okay. I think that, you know, one of the really interesting things about vitamin D is that it pretty much affects everything, right? I think that the latest research on vitamin D tells us that it's essential for hormonal synthesis is throughout the body for nutritional balance throughout the body. There's just so many different things that vitamin D does that are going to, that's going to be important. And that includes ensuring that the DNA of the egg and sperm are also good quality and that there is a, a whole kind of egg and sperm quality aspect to, and mind you, it's not just vitamin D. There are many different nutrients that are going to have that similar impact.
Gabriela (4m 2s):
And so nutritional repletion, making sure that we are repleting nutrients and therefore are able to draw on our body's banking, you know, of nutrients throughout the reproductive life is going to be very important for overall fertility outcomes. And of course, as we also know, you know, there are many nutritional deficiencies that are linked to things like neuro, neuro, like spinal bifida and neuro tube defects and all sorts of different types of health conditions that will be passed on to an embryo if the parents, the prospective parents aren't as healthy as possible and as nutritionally replete as they can be.
Gabriela (4m 47s):
So it makes a huge difference.
Brian (4m 49s):
Yeah. And I'm assuming there's also a, a genetic component as well, right?
Gabriela (4m 54s):
Look, there are many factors when it comes to fertility. I think that it's wise to consider fertility as a, as a holistic conversation from the perspective that first and foremost, it is not only about the egg and the female. I think that societally there's a lot of expectation that is placed on women and women's age and women's egg quality. But what is often left out of the conversation, And you know, this happens in and out of the doctor's office, you know, when a woman goes in and even if a couple goes in, what most couples will experience and most men can attribute, can kind of, you know, tell is that they will literally be like just sitting there like they were part of the decoration, you know?
Gabriela (5m 45s):
Right. And women are going to be told, you need to do this and this and this, and these are the tests that you need to go and do, and these are the reasons as to why you're not getting pregnant. And I'll see you, you know, at the beginning of the next cycle for whatever next step that you're going to take. And usually that conversation ends like that within a five minute period. And so most couples are left with that impression that, well, there's only one thing that we need to look at, which is what's happening with the female's body and their hormones and whatever else is going on for them. Right. And the men is kind of like a, an afterthought, but the reality of fertility is that it's a 50 50 equation.
Gabriela (6m 25s):
You have 50% of the DNA that's going to come from, you know, the female and 50% from the male. It's not a solo act. Right? Right. And So we really do need to take into account the fact that the sperm is going to be contributing 50% of whatever outcome you're going to have. And outcomes can be anything from a baby, which is the ideal outcome that couples are hoping for when they're trying to get pregnant through inability to conceive, inability to keep a pregnancy to term failed RVF treatments. Whatever the outcome we are experiencing, it's going to be, as I always say, you know, fertility is a team sport.
Gabriela (7m 7s):
Okay? So it's going to be a team play, whether it is a good outcome or an outcome that needs to be improved. So that's the first place that I think is really important for people to start on a conceptual level and really think about is that if something isn't going to plan, and mind you, in the general population, the average number of months that a couple is trying before they get pregnant is three months. Hmm. So the fact that infertility is diagnosed at 12 months of trying to get pregnant without success basically is kind of giving a bit of leeway to the entire situation. So it's kind of like, it's, it's epidemiology iss way of kind of going, well, you know, they probably haven't tried it, you know, really that properly for the first couple of months they were just kind of doing, you know, random conception attempts And you know, or they didn't try one particular month or a couple of months went on without proper conception attempts being, being taken, you know, into consideration.
Gabriela (8m 11s):
And so it's kind of like by the time you get to 12 months, you really do have a problem. Right. And sometimes you don't even want to get to 12 months to then go ask the question, is there something else I need to do? I spoke to a couple yesterday. The lady was 34, the man was 36 and they had been trying for nine months. And in fact, in the reporting in the, in the questionnaire they had said seven months. I don't usually see people at that part of like, you know, seven months stage. Like typically the people who come to me, people who have been, and we've done a study through Harvard, through my master's in public health there. And basically we saw that for essentially four years was the average time to pregnancy for the couples who were say that the average time of infertility for the couples that were coming to see me.
Gabriela (9m 4s):
So you can imagine I'm seeing people from like two years of trying to get pregnant all the way up until 19 years. That's
Brian (9m 10s):
A long time. That's a long time. A long
Gabriela (9m 12s):
Time. A long time. Wow. And so basically when somebody comes to me at seven months, I'm like, wow, these are just utterly, incredibly proactive people or there is a problem. Right. And in this case, the guy, it was really an interesting conversation because it was that typical interaction that I will have with a couple when they don't think that there is an issue, but they're kind of questioning, should I do something more? And so as it turns out, long story short, and I even the, the, the conversation went such that the guy was like, yeah, I don't really think we need to be here. And she is like, no, but I think there's something wrong. And so I opened the file and I look at the case and I look at the hormonal levels and I'm like thinking, okay, this woman is perimenopausal already, like she's got a normal A MH, which is a normal ovarian reserve, but her FSH on day three of the cycle was already over 18, which it should be under 10.
Gabriela (10m 11s):
And when you start to see that kind of deviation from what's optimal, what's ideal, that is the level at which IVF already starts to fail at a much higher rate. So an FSH level at above which is follicle stimulating hormone at a, at a rate or or at a number over 15 already tells us that the chance of IVF working is diminished in that particular person. Mm. And so, and I wasn't expecting that as well 'cause I was just kind of like, okay, they're just been trying for, you know, 34 just trying for seven months, you know, he is probably right. They probably just need to go and try a bit longer as I'm like, okay, let me explain what's happening here.
Gabriela (10m 54s):
You know, and so that's the kind of situation that sometimes happens when people are trying because they think I don't have to do anything until I've hit the 12 month mark. But sometimes it's actually wise to begin that process of exploration, of asking the questions of, okay, what do I need to know? How is it that this is playing out and if it hasn't happened in three months, which is the average time in population levels, then should I be asking more questions? The answer is always yes. Okay. So if you've passed 20, the answer is yes, you should be asking more questions because fertility for females is finite.
Gabriela (11m 34s):
And I think that that's one of the reasons as to why men are so kind of put on a second like plain when it comes to fertility. Because even though male fertility declines over time and men do have a decrease fertility potential as they age, that happens much more slowly than it does for a female. You know, you'll still have you Hefner be able to actually get a play by Playboy bunny pregnant at the age of 20 when he is 90. But the reason that that happens is because the egg quality in that female right. Is at its optimal potential.
Gabriela (12m 15s):
Right. It's not because the sperm is gray. Okay. But you see sometimes, and this is one of the really interesting things, and again, I think one of the reasons as to why females are more the target of the conversation of if this is not happening, it's to do with your egg is because it's the egg's responsibility to fix the DNA fragmentation within the sperm. And it can do that really well when it's at its maximum fertility potential IE pre 25. Right. But when we start to kind of get over that 25, 30, 35 where then that fertility, but, and it's not so much the reason that people say that fertility declines heavily by age 35 isn't so much because all of a sudden ovarian reserve plummets to a huge extent it does decline and there are some kind of milestone declines that happen throughout time.
Gabriela (13m 10s):
But the biggest reason is that the mitochondria, which is that energy production cell within the actual dec cytoplasm, starts to decrease in its ability to correct the DNA fragmentation within the sperm. And that starts to happen much more severely than the years prior. So it becomes a situation that before the egg was able to actually fix a lot of those errors with somewhat ease after a certain stage and age for a female, that work becomes more tiresome for the egg. Hmm. And so what happens is that even though there might be ization, and we might start to have, you know, kind of that those cells development create an embryo, the embryonic development that is ongoing that requires and rely so heavily on that mitochondrial function starts to actually flag in terms of its ability.
Gabriela (14m 9s):
And that's one of the reasons as to why I decline. So if we don't have superhero sperm at that stage, we end up with more problems and more kind of, you know, challenges, then ideally we would like to. So there's a whole lot of these concepts that a lot of times we take for granted. We think that, you know, it's a specific age and stage and it's just to do with one person, but fertility really is multifactorial in so many ways.
Brian (14m 36s):
Yeah. And you have virtual and holistic fertility clinic and so you're, are you dealing with individuals who are going through IVF or thinking about it And what sort of got you interested in that area?
Gabriela (14m 50s):
So I do, we treat couples in every continent other than Antarctica. And, and that happened because when I had my first son, I was like, okay, I need to, you know, kind of like find a way of still being able to see patients and do the work that I do without doing 60 patient hours a week. And so I had to completely change the way that I, and reimagine the way that I was actually working And what value we were delivering. And even though we were doing a lot of fertility work already, I've been doing this work since I was, you know, gosh, I dunno since 2001. So it's been a long time. But you know, I, I decided that okay, I really want to deliver outcomes, you know, like I really want to deliver a kind of one-stop shop for people who have been trying for a long time.
Gabriela (15m 39s):
And there was a point where I decided, okay, I'm not gonna treat anybody who hasn't been trying for less than two years and people who typically have gone through multiple failed IVF cycles or years of infertility or recurrent miscarriages. And I did that for about a, for 15 year period. And then we did our study and I realized that, okay, this program actually is highly effective for people who have had previously failed IVF treatments for people who have been trying for a long time and have experienced recurrent miscarriage. And also for those who, you know, one time, and we've had many couples in this situation, but one of the people who really kind of highlighted to me that, okay, if we address these underlying metabolic factors and biochemical factors that are getting in the way, it's not only possible for somebody who has had 20 failed IVF cycles to conceive and take home a healthy baby, but actually to conceive naturally.
Gabriela (16m 39s):
And so that was the first time that I had a realization because of the, the, the treatment process that I was taking someone on that enabled that outcome. So for me to see that, okay, this is really effective in all of those very difficult complex cases and out of those experiences with patients, you know, the reason that I ended up going to two years of trying to conceive beforehand, before coming to me is because I had two patients back to back. One had been trying for 10 years, the other for 19 years both conceived naturally. So I realized that there was a difference in the way that people who almost felt like they had tried everything and nothing had worked actually approached the way in which I best worked.
Gabriela (17m 26s):
Which is, you know, my philosophy is that you, the the real shortcut comes from doing all of the work. That's what it comes down to. When you have a situation that is difficult and complex, like the types of patients that I see, there is no shortcut. The shortcut is literally going back to the drawing board and asking every single question question from scratch and figuring out what is getting in the way And what do we need to address here. And so those were the, the, the places where, and then, you know, I had a lady who had had 11 miscarriages. And so I remember like where the almost kind of like these big milestones in the way that I started to communicate the value that I delivered to patients happened because of patients that came into my clinic that I was able to help.
Gabriela (18m 17s):
And then of course, you know, you do that for 10 years and then you're able to have enough data to analyze. And I entered my master's in public health at Harvard and that was when I went, okay, you know what, it's time that we analyze our results and we see what kinds of patients we support, how we help them, And what are the benefits and the outcomes that we're achieving. And that's then how we found that the program had a 78.8% life birth rate. 47.7% of patients were conceiving naturally and the remainder through IVF. And even though most people had been told that they needed donor egg, only 5.6% of those patients was, which is a cohort of 544 patients actually needed donor egg.
Gabriela (18m 59s):
So it was a kind of an eyeopener for me as well because, you know, at the time, and particularly as a clinician, it's easy to, if, if you're not working in an academic center, which is obviously very different and kind of like how we are restructuring the clinic and how we're actually putting the resources into the institute to be able to actually do more research in terms of what it is that we deliver. But if you're just kind of working on your own as a clinician day to day, you are not necessarily having the tools, the knowledge, the skill, and the ability to really integrate that kind of level of research and understanding about what it is that you're doing and how that's actually translating into results, which has been the differentiator for us.
Gabriela (19m 43s):
And it's been just such a wonderful thing to be able to see, you know, what kinds of patients we really do our best work for. It's kind of like that end of line. And, and the reason that it became that, you know, Brian, it's, it's interesting because I'm started my career with this absolute naive desire that I was going to help couples who just wanted to have the healthiest possible baby. And I really wanted to help those people, you know, like I wanted this to be the, the first thing that people actually did before they went and escalated their treatment into much more invasive types of treatments as it turned out. And I'm sure that you would've never heard of this in your own practice, but as it turned out, people that didn't have a lot of pain, didn't have a lot of kind of drive to do so much work, you know?
Gabriela (20m 35s):
And so it turned out that the people who I really wanted to help were the people who were like, ah, we don't need this. You know? And so it was when people who had gone through all things that hadn't worked and say to me, in fact it was this, this person who had been going through infertility for 10 years, who turned around to me and said, listen, I'm gonna give up so you better help me just to be healthier anyway. And I was like, oh, okay, since you put it that way, let's do this and see what happens. But, so that's how it all kind of started, I guess, you know, and, and it's been a, a massive journey since then. But I've, I've, I have to say that it's been very rewarding. You know, I look at our baby gallery and I go, wow, all of these babies would not have been here if it wasn't for what we do.
Gabriela (21m 22s):
And it's, it's very gratifying.
Brian (21m 26s):
Are there certain lifestyle factors that you can point to that have helped individuals get through this sort of journey?
Gabriela (21m 35s):
That's a great question. And look, yes. The answer is yes. The way that we need to think about exposures and day-to-day actions is are they adding value? Are they having a positive effect or are they having a negative effect? When it comes to fertility, there is no such thing as a neutral effect. So if we're looking at improving energy, okay, there might be things that you do that you enjoy that don't have a positive effect and also have a tendency to have a bit of a neutral effect. But it doesn't, in the grand scheme of detraction from outcome, it doesn't make that much of a difference.
Gabriela (22m 18s):
You know, like it can maintain those habits and it's gonna be okay when it comes to fertility, when things have not been straightforward, it's almost like you have to eliminate the thought of a neutral effect. All effects are either going to be positive or negative, there's no other way. So it's almost like, for example, you know, let me, let me try and give you an example of this in, in something for general health that might not, okay, let's say that somebody decides that three alcoholic drinks in a week is, has a neutral effect on their health.
Gabriela (22m 58s):
Contentious, right? There's questions around that if we go back to the science, but let's just say that for general health, long-term lifestyle choices, three alcoholic beverages, standard drinks are quote unquote in the general population acceptable as a neutral effect. It's not positive, it's not going to enhance your health, but it's possibly, and I say that in brackets And you know, with, 'cause it really depends on the person, depends on their health, depends on so many different factors. But possibly it's not going to have a necessarily negative effect. It could have a neutral effect on that general person in the general population with general health, you know, needs.
Brian (23m 42s):
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Brian (24m 25s):
So there you have it, I'll leave a link in the show notes for my stepladder system book. Now, back to the podcast,
Gabriela (24m 32s):
When it comes to fertility and you have not, you have been trying to get pregnant and you haven't been successful and there have been potentially failed treatments or even just a longstanding time to pregnancy, three alcoholic drinks is going to have a negative effect, right? So then it becomes one of those situations, it's like, okay, I need to make some choices about what it is that I want and how do I want my life to be And what is it that I want to be able to say to myself when I'm 90 sitting on my porch in my rocking chair, you know, am I saying to myself, I've given it my absolute everything, I've done my very best and for whatever reason, whatever hasn't happened hasn't happened. And it wasn't because of something that I did or did not do.
Gabriela (25m 14s):
And this is not at all to make people feel, you know, guilty about choices and lifestyle choices. Not at all. It's really that I believe in absolute agency when it comes to you being able to tell the story to yourself about how your fertility journey evolved, right? And I think that there is a lot to be said for the healing that people need throughout that, you know, kind of reproductive lifespan to be if it had, especially if it hasn't happened, that they actually need to be able to have that closure of knowing that, okay, the things that I did were the best things for me under my circumstances in the way that I could actually put them in place and the constraints that I had.
Gabriela (25m 56s):
And I think that that gives a lot of people peace of mind. So going back to the original question, which is are there things that you can do and other things that impact more than others? The way that I like to explain this to people is like this, let's just say, and you need to indulge me on this one for a moment. Let's imagine that it was possible for you to gest state a baby. Okay? So everybody, woman man, whatever, can deliver their own babies, gest state their own babies. Now let's say if you were actually gestating a child right now, if you had your own little babies inside of you growing And you know, kind of developing, what are all of the things that you know that you would absolutely start doing or you would absolutely stop doing if you were to give your baby the healthiest possible start in life, the best possible start in life.
Gabriela (26m 52s):
Like if I put it to you this way, you'll come up with a list, right? You'll know. And in fact, I think most people will know, okay, these are the things that I need to start doing right now that are gonna help me to have a healthy baby. These are the things that I need to stop doing right now to help me do that. Those are the things that we need to start and stop doing several months prior to actually getting to the conception attempt stage. Reason being, it takes approximately four months for the sperm to actually form and for the egg to mature in its second stage, there's two stages of egg maturation.
Gabriela (27m 33s):
Full egg maturation cycle is approximately 10 to 12 months. So anything that you are doing and starting today, you're not going to see the benefit of of those results until about 10 or 12 months down the track. And most people stop and start things and they do that for a month and they go, I've done it and it hasn't worked. It's like, okay, let's explain that cycle so that you understand that it's not going to be as quickly and as easily as I'm gonna do this for a couple of months, 3, 4, 6, and think that, okay, I've tried it, I've done it and it hasn't worked. No, you actually, and this is what I, how I actually support my patients in understanding this concept is that you need to start and you need to continue until, until you tell yourself that you're done completely with the idea of having babies or you're holding a baby, it's not going to be a situation of you start and you stop anytime before those either one of those two outcomes arrives.
Gabriela (28m 33s):
Because whichever one comes first, you start and you stop until right. So, and these are the types of things that think people need to think about. So in the in conceptual terms, all of the things that you would do to be as healthy as possible, IE gestating your baby so that your baby can be as healthy as possible, are the things you want to implement. And that will include healthy nutrition, filtered water, you know, like good sleep, good movement, like all of the things that we know are going to be vital and the things that are toxic for ourselves, for our body, which is the reversible of that and even additional toxins that will negatively impact the way that our cells work overall are going to negatively impact our sex cells.
Gabriela (29m 22s):
It's going to negatively impact sperm parameters, it's going to negatively impact egg quality. So this is how people need to think about it. Every single thing you do in your day to day, make no mistake about it, is an exposure. Yeah. The number one exposure that we have multiple times a day is food. So that's one place that people can actually already make such a difference, you know, to what's going on for them. So those are just some of the things that if people start to conceptualize it and think it in those terms, then they can start making really viable and, and excellent decisions, you know, for their day to day and the choices that they make. They're making their day to day to optimize their health and their fertility.
Brian (30m 3s):
And I would imagine someone that, or a couple or an individual that's trying to conceive this could be a good, you know, we talk about like creating a why or creating clarity around like what you, what your goals are, like why you want to become healthy. And obviously this could be a kick in the butt to people who aren't pre didn't previously have good habits. Now they're like, oh well I'm trying to conceive, I need to like get my shit together.
Gabriela (30m 31s):
And you know, it actually it is that, and I think it's even more because one of the really interesting things about fertility and science tells us now that fertility and whether our future generations are going to be as fertile as they can be actually is transgenerational. Which means that your impact and the things that you do today is not just going to impact you and your next child, it's going to impact you, your next child, your child after, like your grandchildren. Yeah. And your grand great-grandchildren. And we know that because I mean, even if we don't, if we can't quite conceptualize how that is, let me put it to you this way.
Gabriela (31m 15s):
You were in your grandmother's womb, so whilst your grandmother was gestating your mother, your mother had all of the eggs that she was gonna be born with and that she was ever gonna have in her lifetime. Which meant that your exposures from your great grandmother and even from your great-grandmother were already in effect by the time you were born. So, you know, when people think, oh, this doesn't matter, you know, it doesn't matter what it is. I do think, again, 'cause it matters a lot and it matters not just to you and it matters to every generation that is going to come after you. So again, it's not to make people go on some kind of guilt trip, it's actually to make people conscious of their impact, of their legacy And what it is that they're actually bringing into the world.
Brian (32m 7s):
What's, I like to ask this question to most my guests. What's like one thing you've changed your mind on when it comes to,
Gabriela (32m 14s):
Oh my god, so many things. So many things in terms of fertility, in terms of how I work, in terms of like life,
Brian (32m 22s):
That's, yeah, no, right. Very broad question. Yeah. Maybe we'll stick on the fertility topic. Like what's one thing you've changed your mind on regarding fertility over
Gabriela (32m 33s):
The years? Yeah. Mm. Let me see. Ah, this is one thing, this is actually a, a really big thing that I changed my mind on. I used to be very, as a, as a young practitioner, I used to be very black and white, very gung-ho, you know, in terms of my recommendations, it's like you have to do all of the things otherwise you're not gonna get your results. And what I realized is that actually that's not true. And let me conceptualize this for you. Let's say the optimum fertility is kind of like if I'm standing and I'm pointing to above my head, right? So let's say the optimal fertility is all the way up there, like a couple of hands above my head.
Gabriela (33m 18s):
And let's say that you are, your level, your current state is somewhere around my neck, okay? So you're kind of starting from that place now, let's say that we actually put in some work and some effort and we get your fertility potential level to kind of rise up until like say midline around my nose. Now if that's the case for some people just from where you are, Tori raising to that kind of mid-level around my nose, it may be sufficient to get the result that you want, which is a healthy baby. You don't have to go all the way up to optimum fertility to get that result. Now if raising to above midline is not getting a result, that means that we need to do more.
Gabriela (34m 4s):
And so I've actually learned over the years that where someone starts and kind of where they are to where they need to be to get a baby is not always optimal. And you know, let me put it to you this way. I've had patients over the years who, like, they came into, you know, the clinic to first see me and they were the type that ate McDonald's for seven days a week and they smoked and they drank alcohol and they did drugs And you know, all of these things right now, sometimes people in that kind of situation are willing to go cold Turkey and go, that's it. Let's completely do a 180 and change it entirely.
Gabriela (34m 46s):
And that's great, But it is absolutely a 0.1% of the population. Yeah, okay. And I'm sure that you don't, you wouldn't disagree with this. It's very hard to get people to actually completely shift their habits in that way in a short period of time. And that's what we need for fertility. Like we don't have all day, you know, literally. So we need to do things very quickly. And so I've realized that if somebody is starting at that level, it doesn't even, we don't even need to go to optimal right and optimum habits to get their bodies to already have the removal of major obstacles that enables it to be healthier and to actually deliver a better outcome.
Gabriela (35m 32s):
So the better your habits, the better the input into the system, the better your output is gonna be, the better the outcome, how quickly it happens, how healthy the baby is, you know, all of those things will make a difference. It the more that we shift and the more that we improve the way that we're doing things. But you don't have to, it, it do not need perfection to get results. And I think that that's something that over the years it has, you know, practice, clinical practice has really demonstrated that and I results prove it. So, you know, that's something that I have definitely changed my mind on over the years.
Brian (36m 14s):
Yeah, and that makes sense for anyone in general, right? When it comes to just getting, you know, optimizing their health And, you know, doing every little bit helps, right? It's like it's not about perfection, it's just about consistency.
Gabriela (36m 28s):
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And the thing about it too is looking at that never ending and constant never ending improvement, right? Because you, you are consistent and then if you're incrementally minimally improving over time, it's like compound interest, right? Sure. At some point you're gonna be looking back and going, wow, look at where I've come, you know, look at how much I have achieved. And I think that there is so much wonderful beauty in that, you know, is the fact that as humans we can make choices at any point and make decisions on how we want to change and how we want to be different and actually create a complete set a, a new life, you know, a new physical body, a new everything.
Gabriela (37m 14s):
Yeah. Just by making those tiny improvements.
Brian (37m 16s):
And I was gonna say, I'm sure you've seen this like the, the human body's so resilient. Like you can have these habits for so long and then make changes and see, you know, people want instant results, but they can see gradual changes, you know, within days, weeks, you know, and then months obviously as well. So the body can is very adaptable.
Gabriela (37m 36s):
I mean, look, all, all you have to do, and I see this in my clinic daily, you know, when you have a lady or a person who has been trying for 19 years to get pregnant and after five months of doing the work really diligently is actually pregnant for the first time in her life, that's proof, you know, and then goes on to delivering a baby, you know that okay, yeah. This is not just conjuncture, this is actually what happens with the body. I like to say that when you remove the obstacles to optimum health, it's amazing what the body just naturally and perfectly knows what to do. All you have to do is remove those OB obstacles and support it with just some basic things and it will make a huge difference to how the body operates.
Gabriela (38m 24s):
Now with longstanding infertility and difficult complex cases, there are many more layers to that because usually we have other pathologies going on and we have some underlying biochemistry that's not quite right. So we might need to address silent infections And you know, like snips and all sorts of different kinds of really deep biochemical root causes. But overall in the aggregate, oh my god, it's ama like the body is just so incredible in what it can achieve in such a short period of time, irrespective to all of the previous hounding that went on, you know, decades before. So I think that that's really a, a wonderful thing about how the body just, you know, knows what to do.
Brian (39m 11s):
Have you seen it in like your own habits, like having a practice like this and just talking to people about, you know, doing certain things? Like for, I know for me like having a podcast and then, and then coaching clients, it's like, you know, when you're talking to others, you know, it sort of IGRAs it in yourself a little bit. Like have you found that your habits have changed? And if so, like what have you changed?
Gabriela (39m 32s):
Absolutely. My habits have changed entirely from, you know, and the thing is, I've been doing this work so long and I truly believe in lead by leading by example, right? So from my perspective, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome at the age of 18. And so that's a metabolic hormonal health condition, number one cause of infertility in women. So, you know, being overweight, having insulin resistance And you know, kind of having to address all of those different aspects has been a constant in my life, you know, over time. And it was through my own program that I was able to conceive, have my children, and then after I finished, I was probably at the worst after I finished having babies, I was at the worst point of my like, you know, body.
Gabriela (40m 18s):
Yeah. Because, you know, it takes a lot to be pregnant to breastfeed. I breastfed both my children each for two years, you know, so all of that, like that was an entire period of life. Gosh, from the age of 32 to the age of 37, I was either pregnant or breastfeeding, you know? And so it's, it's a huge toll on a woman's body and, and that's because I only had two children, you know, there are women who keep going and have, you know, so many more children, but I had two and that, you know, at the end of that, kind of like, by the time I hit 38, my son was two, I was weaning him off, you know, breastfeeding and I literally had a picture taken of me that made me go, that cannot be what I looked like, like that, that just cannot be what I look like, you know?
Gabriela (41m 9s):
And it was one of those, I was with my son holding his hand going to the pool and it was one of those half side back pictures. I was like, no. So in that moment I, upon seeing that picture, I was like, okay, this is it. Bodybuilding, I am getting into bodybuilding. And so I did, I got into full on like athlete coach, body level, bodybuilding, you know, full on for like seven years and completely transformed my physique and how I looked and all the things that I was doing. And you know, that for me was a wonderful period of again, also being able to see personally in my own body and how I, my body was behaving, you know, a complete shift.
Gabriela (41m 53s):
So, which again further informed my absolute conviction for what one the body's capable of and two, what it is that my patients can achieve. Because you know, now there is research that shows that resistance training, the combination of zone two training really optimizes mitochondrial function and biogenesis And you know, all sorts of things which obviously improve and optimize fertility. So part of, I have a program called the Fertility Challenge, it's a free program that's open to patients all over the world and people can come in and it's a 30 day kind of heavy education on what are all of the things that you can do to optimize your fertility.
Gabriela (42m 33s):
And in there I go through and really describe and explain the science around what kind of training, the way that you do it, you know, all of those things because it makes such a huge difference. And I've seen it make such a huge difference not only in my life but in my patients' lives, but if I was the type of person who was a couch potato and telling people that they needed to do this, what credibility would I have?
Brian (42m 58s):
Yeah.
Gabriela (42m 58s):
To say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Here darling, this is what we're doing. Right? I wouldn't have any credibility to do that. So I almost feel like as a clinician, you have to have the lived experience and the credibility to be able to actually hold your patients accountable to the way in which it's actually going to give them the results that they're looking for. So it's a big part of my life, living by example.
Brian (43m 24s):
Yeah, so true. And if you were gonna, we'll finish up with this, but if you were going to give one tip to an individual maybe looking to Perce, perceive conceive or not, what, what one tip and they were getting started, would you give them,
Gabriela (43m 40s):
I would say act pregnant now to get pregnant later, whether they're trying to get pregnant or not. Because if they're doing that, they're going to be healthier, they are going to have more energy, they're going to have a better outlook on life, they're going to have a better life overall. So whether you are actually preparing to have a baby, doing all the things that are going to help you have the healthiest possible baby and removing the things that aren't is going to serve you. And even if you are not and you want to be the healthiest version of yourself, well that's a place to start.
Brian (44m 12s):
Love that. Love that. Well this was great. Where's the best place for people to find you?
Gabriela (44m 17s):
People can go to my website, which is fertility breakthrough.com or they can Google me, Gabriela Rosa and it's G-A-B-R-I-E-L-A-R-O-S-A. Gabriela Rosa. They will see me everywhere. So fertility breakthrough.com is the usual hub.
Brian (44m 34s):
Nice. And you have that 30 day challenge on there, is that, is that right?
Gabriela (44m 38s):
Absolutely. So people can go and register for the free 30 day challenge through the website and join us. You know, we have one starting every month and it's a wonderful, wonderful community and support and play. It it for me, what I think is so amazing about it is the fact that people don't have to try and piece all of the information together. We've done it for them, you know, and we do take them a very kind of driven, narrow path toward understanding the things that they can do to really optimize their chances no matter how they're trying to get pregnant. So that's a really great thing.
Brian (45m 12s):
Love that. Well, thank you so much for coming on Gabriel. Oh, one more
Gabriela (45m 16s):
Thing. The other thing, the one more thing that I will say that people might like to actually have access to is Fertility Breakthrough. The book, it's free on Spotify and YouTube. So it's a book that, you know, really kind of depicts the, the, the philosophy of how we work, you know, but also, again, gives more information about diet, lifestyle, you know, things that people can do. So that's available free on Spotify and YouTube as well. Fertility Breakthrough, overcoming a Fertility and recurrent miscarriage when other treatments have Failed is the name of the book.
Brian (45m 49s):
Okay. And you have a podcast, right?
Gabriela (45m 51s):
Oh, I do, but the podcast has been outta season for a little bit. Oh, okay. Since I've been doing my doctorate, it has been, you know, the back burner. Back burner. Burner, yeah. Yeah. Gotcha, gotcha.
Brian (46m 2s):
All right, well great meeting you and I appreciate you coming on and sharing all the knowledge with us.
Gabriela (46m 8s):
Thank you so much. Wonderful to be here.
Brian (46m 9s):
Thanks for listening to the show. I know there's thousands of podcasts out there and you chose to listen to mine. I will put a link in the show notes if you want to connect with my guest. And if you are looking for one-on-one consulting with me, I will put a free 15 minute link so you can set up a call to see if you're fit for my six month health breakthrough program. So thanks again, feel free to rate and subscribe. I would love that to help support the podcast. And Until next time, have a great rest of the day and I'll see you on my next podcast. Thanks so much.
