Dr. Kela Smith

#329: Thyroid-Autoimmunity and Fertility: Unlocking the Hidden Connections with Gabriela Rosa

September 11, 2024

#329: Thyroid-Autoimmunity and Fertility: Unlocking the Hidden Connections with Gabriela Rosa, founder of The Rosa Institute, world-renowned fertility specialist, author, and reproductive health educator.

Listen to the Episode Here:

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Episode Summary:

What if optimizing fertility could start with understanding the hidden connections between thyroid health and reproductive function?

In this podcast episode, Gabriela Rosa, fertility specialist, discusses the intricate relationship between thyroid autoimmunity, metabolic health, and fertility. She explains how thyroid dysfunction, often exacerbated by chronic stress, environmental toxins, and poor lifestyle choices, can impact ovarian function and overall fertility. Gabriela emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to uncover the root causes of these issues rather than relying on quick fixes like IVF. This insightful conversation is essential for anyone looking to optimize fertility and thyroid health naturally.

Gabriela Rosa

Gabriela Rosa is a world-renowned fertility specialist, author, and reproductive health educator. Gabriela is the founder and director of the Rosa Institute—an organization dedicated to helping couples create healthy babies, despite previous reproductive challenges. Since 2001 Gabriela and her team of clinicians blend evidence-based science into a holistic, supportive, and education-focused approach to fertility treatment. Her proven and effective methodology (shown to deliver a 78.8% live birth rate when other treatments have failed) is the underlying foundation of all of Gabriela’s signature programs. Gabriela and her team have now provided reproductive education and empowerment to over 140,000 couples in more than 110 countries worldwide. In 2021, Gabriela launched the TalkSex with Gabriela Rosa ™ podcast to educate and explore holistic conversations with other researchers and experts around desire, pleasure, and satisfaction, aiming to create a new path of self-discovery for those on and off the fertility journey. Gabriela is a Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health awarded scholar where she pursued her Master’s in Public Health (Clinical Effectiveness) degree. Currently undertaking the Doctor of Public Health program at Harvard, Gabriela holds a Master of Science in Medicine (Reproductive Health and Human Genetics), a Bachelor of Health Science, and has been trained in numerous health disciplines, including naturopathy, nutrition, and botanical herbal medicine. Gabriela’s latest book Fertility Breakthrough: Overcoming infertility and recurrent miscarriage when other treatments have failed, is available now in all quality booksellers.

Notable Quotes in the Episode:

"The thyroid's role is to maintain metabolic homeostasis, right? When we don't have that, then we start to have all sorts of different metabolic functions go out of whack, so to speak."

"Act pregnant now to get pregnant later. You know, it's such a critical way of looking at your fertility, at reproductive health, at your life. Because if you think about it within you right now and your partner, you already have 50 percent of that little baby that you want to create right now."

"We know that your genes don't dictate your destiny. You know, we know that environmental triggers are going to be the thing that's going to modulate through epigenetics, how your body responds or reacts to a certain environmental exposure."

"IVF is usually the only option that is given to patients...if you go to your GP, to your general practitioner, your primary doctor, and you have a conversation of, you know, I've been trying to conceive for three months and nothing has worked...they haven't even talked to them about, Hey, do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you do drugs?"

"You're doing the very best that you can with the tools that you have with the education that you have, and you know, where to find more if you need it."

Gabriela Rosa

Episode Discussion:

Tune in to Gabriela Rosa’s interview where she talks about:

the hidden connections between thyroid health and fertility, and how thyroid dysfunction can disrupt hormonal balance and reproductive function.
the growing impact of chronic stress and environmental toxins on thyroid function and how these factors can lead to infertility and miscarriage.
the need for a holistic approach to fertility that addresses root causes rather than relying solely on treatments like IVF.
practical tips for optimizing thyroid health and fertility
and more.

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