How to Get Pregnant Faster: The Role of Toxins, Inflammation, and Men’s Health┃Ann Shippy

Dr. Brighten: [00:00:00] I just put you on the back. 

Anna Shippy: That was, um, my, the recommendation of one of the people that was advising me. Yeah. And I had so much resistance to it. I had to pay attention. I like, I don't like carrying around a whole big picture of me, but yeah. Um, I've never seen this done before. It's really 

Dr. Brighten: clever. That's why I was like, did the 

Anna Shippy: publisher actually do this?

No. A friend of mine is, um, uh, her daughter, my best friend's daughter is an agent and in the like, kind of morphing into, as the publishing world is changing, she's. Kind of expanding what she does. Mm-hmm. And she told me that it was non, non-negotiable that I had to, 

Dr. Brighten: yeah. Well I'll say beyond the pill. They put me on the cover.

That book did gangbusters. Is this normal? They were like, we don't want you on the cover at all. And there's so many people who've read the book that don't even know it's my book. It's really bizarre where they're like, oh you. That's right. It was you who wrote the book. And I'm like. [00:01:00] Wow. I guess in a digital age when you're seeing so many videos and so much content that like Yeah.

Anna Shippy: Uh, but I think part of it is so that they feel connected to the work so that they can actually see the person who's created it. But we'll see how it all works out. 'cause I'm kind of tired of seeing my picture already and it's only been two 

Dr. Brighten: weeks. I mean, yeah. When did your book come out? 

Anna Shippy: November 18th.

Dr. Brighten: Oh, okay. Um, you can't be a little bit nutritious. 

Anna Shippy: Um, do you know Sam Horn? No, I don't. She was part of the mastermind and. She also just helped me with the book and so she helped me with some of the titles like that. I can't come up with the stuff 

Dr. Brighten: myself, so I could not either. Um, tell me how this looks, Bryce.

I'm gonna put it in the, 

Anna Shippy: turn it so the covers Takes it this way. 

Dr. Brighten: This one? [00:02:00] Yes. Okay. Yeah. Not me. Why would I think it needs to escape me? Where are you guys living now? Uh, Mexico City. 

Anna Shippy: Wow. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: How is that? 

Dr. Brighten: It's so great. 

Anna Shippy: Yeah. I've heard amazing. I've never been. It's, I've heard it's an amazing place 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: To visit.

So I imagine it's an amazing place to live. 

Dr. Brighten: It is. Is there, uh, anything particular in the book that you're like, we have to absolutely talk about this, or, it really just depends 

Anna Shippy: on what you would like Okay. Um, to talk with your audience about, but it's like, okay. This preparation phase is super important for both men and women.

Mm-hmm. That it makes people more fertile and healthier babies. And so we can talk about men's health. Women's health. 

Dr. Brighten: Okay, perfect. 

Anna Shippy: Whatever. 

Dr. Brighten: Perfect. I don't know if you've seen the show. There's no intro. We can you see all the fingerprints on here? Okay, good. 'cause I do this a lot and I realize, okay. Uh, so there's no intro.

We jump right into it and I just start asking questions. So, uh, there will [00:03:00] be an intro, there'll be a trailer and a bio red and all that. And how long do you usually go? Uh, usually about an hour. I think we'll have to be around like 45 minutes. Perfect. Uh, I'm supposed to check outta my room by one, so. Okay.

That'll be great. Okay. Alright, perfect. 

Anna Shippy: Thank you so much for having me. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. You ready to go? Yep. Okay. What is the number one thing that everyone thinks they're doing right in getting ready for a baby, but it's actually sabotaging them? 

Anna Shippy: Well, most people don't even start to prepare. Okay. They don't know that they can prepare.

This is kind of a new area that, uh, people need to be aware of. So most people are just like, okay, it's time to start a prenatal, get off the pill and we're just gonna try. And it turns out that it's really, really helpful for both the sperm health and the egg health to have at least three months to prepare longer if you can.

I really prefer six months or a year. Mm-hmm. For both. The man and the woman to prepare. And then, um, [00:04:00] I think there's like an invitation process that can also happen where the, um. Both partners can get on the same page with their intentions for their family. And most people skip that step and then they, you know, get into parenthood and find out that they have some pretty big differences or there's some things that haven't been healed and, uh, it's really so helpful if we can identify what those things are before start starting to try to conceive.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. What would it look like ideally for a woman to prepare three months in advance? I, I think, I think six. I agree. Six months a year. Fantastic. But most of the time when a woman wants a baby, she wants a baby now or yesterday. And not having to think about, oh, I have to delay things. So if someone has three months, what are your top recommendations specifically for women?

Anna Shippy: So I like to start out with asking them to use a barrier form of birth control because when you start doing this process, you get super fertile. And I've had a number of [00:05:00] people not be able to complete the process because, or, you know, get pregnant before it's done because they get so fertile, uh, that the rhythm method and the pullout method don't work anymore.

So start with that. And then there in the book, the preconception revolution, there's a whole checklist to go through, and the more you get done, the quicker. The more effective it's gonna be in that three months. I've got a patient right now who came in to see me. She had heard about me. She'd had a couple kids earlier on 47 and had met the love of her life and they really wanted to have a child together.

And she was so wise to do this because she really wanted to check in with me, do you think it's possible for me to get pregnant? And if so, what should I do? And I said, well, let's rinse some labs and see what's, what's going on. And we found that she had some high environmental toxins, some nutritional deficiencies, um, and some shifts in her microbiome.

We worked really hard for about three months, and they had one night, they one night where they were like, okay, let's. You know, just have fun, [00:06:00] uh, thinking that they wouldn't get pregnant yet. 'cause we hadn't quite completed the process. Got pregnant, first try. Mm-hmm. And now she's, uh, going into ending six months, going into seven months and having just an amazing, uh, pregnancy.

So, yeah. The main message that I want people to understand is that by taking the time to do this in advance, it actually speeds up the process in the long run. Mm-hmm. To, to start to prepare. So in the checklist, there's everything from, you know, setting the intentions, doing the work together, to getting, uh, your blood sugar managed, all the lifestyle things like sleep, and a super concentrated nutritious.

Diet in place, and then have a period where we help our bodies to detoxify, both by reducing the unsuspecting toxins that are coming into our bodies all the time, and then helping our bodies to detoxify in the most gentle way possible. And then help get our microbiomes balanced, feed our mitochondria, really know the [00:07:00] supplements that can make a big difference for enhancing fertility and then helping the bodies to prepare to have the healthy babies.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. What do you think are the most important labs women should be prioritizing in preconception? 

Anna Shippy: If I can only pick a couple, it's really to look deeply into their nutritional status. Most people think they're eating pretty healthy, but then when we look at the labs, they're, they're not getting the nutrients that they think, even if they're taking supplements along with it.

So I like to do very in depth, um, uh, testing, and it's all really outlined in the book. So amino acids, essential fatty acids, trace minerals, a little bit about how the detox pathways are working. Et cetera. And then I really love to do the toxin levels. Mm-hmm. So knowing what your heavy metals are, your pesticides, the plastics, the BPAs and p uh, bps, and, uh, the um.

Pesticides, all of these things can really impact [00:08:00] fertility and how healthy the baby is for both the man and the women. 

Dr. Brighten: What do you typically see when it comes to environmental toxins and what should people be aware of as the worst offenders for for f? For fertility. 

Anna Shippy: Yeah. There's, um, it's so interesting the data that's coming out now on sperm health and that it can affect how that the toxins that the sperm is exposed to can affect how healthy the pregnancy is and the health of the future baby, including their fertility.

So things like glyphosate, uh, when the sperm are marinating in glyphosate, it can really have. Some pretty detrimental effects. Mm-hmm. So glyphosate is the pesticide that's sprayed on so much of our food. Um, so this is one of the reasons to actually prioritize eating organic as much as you can. Um, the other.

Really interesting one is the plastics. And I think this is starting to be part of the conversations 'cause it's so hard to get away from the plastics, you know, that we think we're [00:09:00] doing the right thing by drinking water, bottled water, but then we're getting a big plastic load, so much the takeout foods or uh, soaked in plastics, basically the PFAS with the non-stick pan and the um, microwave.

Containers and popcorn and things like that are all leaching into the foods and then our bodies are absorbing them and they're getting stored in our bodies. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. So this can feel pretty overwhelming for people. Mm-hmm. To hear all of the ways that environmental toxins are negatively impacting fertility, but also how ubiquitous they are.

Where do you recommend people start? 

Anna Shippy: Um, so there's a lot of information in the book with this, but if, if you can start in the kitchen mm-hmm. It's a great place because you can make some big changes really quickly. Like just get rid of all your plastic containers and switch to glass if the, you know, you have plastic to seal it, just don't have the food touching the plastic.

Mm-hmm. And definitely don't microwave it in it. [00:10:00] Um. In, in the plastic. So, uh, switches like that and then buying as much of your food fresh and not in packaging can make a huge difference. So. Mm-hmm. Um, one, one story that I, uh, really I learned a lot about was I had this patient who thought she was doing everything right, had all the plastic out of her kitchen, but she went and got organic soup for lunch, for takeout most days.

Um. And her BPA was sky high, so we had to do our little detective work and figure out way it was coming. 'cause she's like, I don't drink out of bottled water. I don't package my food in it. But she hadn't connected that the soup and the plastic takeout container was leaching into her food and then driving it way up in her body.

So she made. That simple change, she went and ate there instead of doing takeout or doing something else for, for lunch. And her, her BPA went way, way down. Mm-hmm. So it can be that simple as just kind of noticing where, where you might be [00:11:00] getting the exposures, but it's so great to be able to check the levels.

Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Brighten: I think that's really encouraging for people to hear, because often it sounds like this big undertaking, and then you have to also do something to try to get it all out. But in a lot of these instances, like you're talking about with BPA, if you reduce the exposure, the body will eliminate those.

But there are instances where we do get exposures to environmental toxins and we don't eliminate those. Well, can you talk a little bit about that? 

Anna Shippy: Yeah. And so much of this is based on our genetics. So for me personally. My detox genes are part of why I ended up in medicine in the first place. 'cause I don't, don't eliminate the toxins that I'm exposed to very well because I don't methylate very well.

I don't make glutathione very well and I've got some enzymes in my liver that don't start the, the detox process. So I, I have to be constantly doing. Body support with the supplements, um, and things like hyperbaric and infrared saunas to get my, uh, toxin levels down. And [00:12:00] I see this works really beautifully with patients.

So there's a lot in, um, in the, um, information out there that detox is hard and you know, you have to suffer through it and you need to do, you know, juice fast and all this kind of thing. That's. True. What you really need to do are take the right supplements. So taking liposomal glutathione, help with methylating, so special B vitamins.

So folate. Um, some things that help our cell membranes tail, like phosphatidylcholine and detox can be just going on an ongoing basis and be very gentle. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. Do you have like a sauna protocol that you recommend for couples before trying to conceive? So 

Anna Shippy: one of the things for couples is that when you're starting to try to conceive, and probably at least a few weeks before, the men should not do sauna anymore because it can actually damage the sperm and you know, people during ice packs and all that kind of thing, but.

We don't really know how well that works. Mm-hmm. But up until close to that time [00:13:00] where they're trying to conceive, it's really great for both of them. And what I recommend for patients with the saunas is that they really listen to their bodies each day. So if you're listening, there might be some days where you get in for five minutes and you get the instinct to get out, really listen to your body.

'cause you might be a little bit more dehydrated. You might have hit some more, um, uh, heavy duty toxins that are being released and your body's like, okay, I'm done for the day. And then there might be other days where you wanna stay in for 40, 45 minutes and um, you know, really work up a great sweat. So mm-hmm.

There's not a set protocol for people. I've really encourage you to tune into your body and not think it has to be a certain way to get the results. 'cause even 10 minutes can make a huge difference sometimes. 

Dr. Brighten: You talked a little bit about supplements for detox. When it comes to preconception, most women here take a prenatal and men usually are told you don't have to do anything.

You'll be fertile for life, right? [00:14:00] Maybe they might hear, take a multivitamin. What do you recommend for men and when? When it comes to supplementation? Uh, I 

Anna Shippy: really love this topic because most people don't realize that men and women can both be doing so much more to, um, augment their fertility and help them have healthier babies.

So, um, I I talk about a lot of the research that's gotten done in the last 10 years. It's amazing how this has been studied by incredible researchers looking at so many different antioxidants making a difference, um, for both. The, um, men and the women, so things like curcumin, astaxanthin, and the liposomal glutathione is also a really great antioxidant.

Um, the B vitamins all really support for fertility and healthy babies. And then, um, uh. Another area of research that's so fun is mitochondrial support. Mm-hmm. So the little organelles inside our cells that make energy when we, when we give our bodies those supplements, which are just good for [00:15:00] health and longevity in, in general, it also really can make a difference.

Uh, so. Coq 10 special forms of coq 10, like Mi oq. There's some really interesting research with, with that particular product, uh, NAD, which a lot of people are hearing about, uh, L-carnitine. The B vitamins also make a big difference and. Magnesium. Mm. Like magnesium is something that pretty much almost everybody is deficient in, not optimal in.

And um, it can make a such a big difference in so many different pathways in the body working well. 

Dr. Brighten: People will argue you can get all the nutrients you need from your food. What would you say to that? 

Anna Shippy: The research shows that that's not true. Mm. I think that's part of why we're seeing this fertility crisis.

The environmental toxins meet nutritional deficiencies, and as somebody who's gotten to measure that in my patients for 20 years, there's rarely a person that is optimal and they're nutrients. Mm-hmm. Even if they're, um. [00:16:00] Eating super, super clean, trying to, you know, go to the farmer's market and fix everything fresh.

We can usually find some areas that they're not getting the nutrients that they need. 

Dr. Brighten: You mentioned we're in a fertility crisis. What does that mean for people listening? Yeah, it's really. 

Anna Shippy: It's really, really alarming. It's one in five or six couples deal with some level of infertility, which means not getting pregnant after a year, starting or growing their families.

Um, so that's in the us but this is a global issue. Mm-hmm. Um, uh. Korea has one of the lowest birth rates, China, India, like, it's such a global issue. So we have to really look at what are the issues that we're seeing across nations, um, which would be changes in how we're actually feeding ourselves and the buildup of the environmental toxins in our, on our planet.

Um, and then we have this children's health crisis that's going on where. [00:17:00] One in 31 children are being diagnosed with autism, uh, in the US and one in 22. In the state of California, we have increasing rates of mental health, diabetes, obesity, autoimmunity, and cancer in our children. And what I see in my patients is that we can shift all of this.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Anna Shippy: Uh, men and women can go on to have their healthiest children yet, even if they've had children that have had struggled with autism or um, autoimmunity. Well into their forties just by doing, you know, working on all these lifestyle factors and then really helping their bodies to be in balance.

When, when I look at back at my grandmother's time, you know, before there was birth control. Mm-hmm. And I know you're such a, um, beacon of light for women understanding how birth control affects them. So before that time. Women were commonly having babies while into their forties because they didn't have any way to stop [00:18:00] it.

And they were eating differently. They weren't being exposed to these levels of environmental toxins. And, um, it, like, it was, we didn't, they didn't talk about advanced maternal age because women just had their, you know, they were just having their babies. Their bodies were built to procreate. And so, um, I think the birth control, you know.

Women telling their bodies not to get pregnant for a very long time is also such a big issue. Like how do you shift that conversation at a cellular level to reignite this birthright that we have to mm-hmm. Start and grow our families. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. A lot of people will point to the reason why we're seeing a decline in birth rates is because women are choosing not to have babies.

But what we're talking about here. Is a fertility decline. These are women who are trying to have babies seeking to become mothers, and they're unable to do so. What [00:19:00] role do you think Men's Health is playing in this? It's at least 

Anna Shippy: 50% or more. Mm-hmm. And often men's. Uh, sperm is not checked until they've gone way down the path with the infertility.

Uh, my, uh, suggestion is that men start to use their sperm quality as a health and longevity marker. It should be better than a cholesterol. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Yeah. Like really? No, I definitely agree. I'm like, you should be bragging about your sperm count. Exactly. 

Anna Shippy: Because it's just. Saying, Hey, when the sperm are healthy, the body's healthy.

So better than many of these other markers that men are getting to know how they're doing. But what is so fun is when men can go from having to deal with, um. Knowing that they're having an issue doing this process where they actually get to really take care of themselves. Mm-hmm. See a shift in the sperm quality and the epigenetics.

There's [00:20:00] a new test out that actually will check the epigenetics of the sperm, uh, which is so important to the health of the future child. That they can see that how their work affects the future health of their child. Mm-hmm. And it's so inspiring for men then to know, okay, yeah. If I'm exercising, if I'm avoiding the alcohol, if I'm eating really clean, if I'm doing my detox process, I can have a healthier sperm count and quality and a healthier baby.

It's like by giving themself the gift of health, they get to give it to future generations. Mm-hmm. I think there's. I think it's really helpful and inspiring. Yeah. There's other data too that's showing that. The health of the sperm affects the health of the pregnancy. Mm-hmm. So like having, uh, cannabis and alcohol and having exposure to other toxins increases the risk for miscarriages and other, um, pregnancy issues.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. [00:21:00] I think that's really important because. Often when doctors are considering cannabis use, they're considering motility and how many we have. So how many swimmers and how well are they swimming and they're not actually considering, but how, how good are the ones that make it there overall? Talk to us about this test that is testing the epigenetics of sperm.

It's 

Anna Shippy: so fun. It's uh, it's called sperm qt. And, um, the way that they're applying it is a little bit different than I am. Mostly they're using it to help IVF be more successful. Mm-hmm. But what I see is that when this, uh, data improves, then people just get pregnant naturally, easily, and they don't have to do the IVF piece, so.

Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. Sperm qt, it's an up and coming really exciting test. And what is it 

Dr. Brighten: telling people when they get this test? So 

Anna Shippy: it, it will do the traditional sperm test that looks at the. Sperm count the morphology, like the shape of the sperm, the motility. [00:22:00] So those are the traditional things. But then it also looks at some of the epi epigenetic markers, which are how the genes are getting dialed up and dialed down.

Mm-hmm. And they can, uh, estimate whether there's a problem or not. So they'll say abnormal, normal, and excellent. Mm-hmm. So the closer you can get to that excellent range, that will equate to. Better fertility and 

Dr. Brighten: healthier babies. Yeah. Talk to us more about how sperm is impacting mom's health during the pregnancy, but also fetal outcomes.

Anna Shippy: Yeah, so that's on the epigenetic side. So, um, I think about our sperm. The sperm is being like a time capsule. Mm-hmm. And egg too, but especially the sperm. So it's like the, it's like the dad's one chance to. Pass on the important messages to the baby about the environment that they're coming into. So we know based on data when there was famine that some of the thrifty chains that help the child to be able to, um, [00:23:00] keep the nutrients, um, get dialed up because there's more of an obesity problem mm-hmm.

In, uh, in those children. So that's just one example. There's also data showing some trauma markers get, get passed on as well, so. Um, then what we know is some of these cannabis, um, dials, you know, in that time capsule and other toxins are impacting. Then when the egg and the sperm get together and start to grow the baby that those genes that have been upregulated or downregulated by dad, a lot of times they'll have more priority.

And so, um, as the baby's developing, um, it, if there's some detrimental epigenetics, it, it can actually. Be associated with some of these problems that we wanna get ahead of and and 

Dr. Brighten: avoid. Yeah, and I think it's interesting because if you view it through an evolutionary perspective, this is about conveying the most [00:24:00] important data for the survival of the organism.

However, within our modern environment, we we're seeing play out, mom's got more morning. Sickness mom might develop preeclampsia, like the, the negative effects of pregnancy that we are trying to get our patients as healthy as possible to avoid, right. Some of the consequences that can come along with that.

That has always been put on the shoulders of women. And now in light of new research, were understanding that we, most of the time when things are going wrong, we didn't do anything wrong. And in, and I would say like any woman listening who has ever been a mom. Has usually worked hard on her health. Like, you know, there's, there's the outliers.

Mm-hmm. And yet there hasn't been this emphasis on men's health. And I think that's been a big disservice to them in this conversation. It, 

Anna Shippy: I think it's been disempowering for men and it's put so much stress on women. Mm-hmm. So what I, what I really love to do in my practice is when I get to help both the man and the woman to do this [00:25:00] preparation.

And then I, I mean, I really see the healthier pregnancies. So things like postpartum depression are less common mm-hmm. Than all the morning sickness issues are, um, less likely to happen. So there's this theory that, that I pulled together with all the research in the book. And then there's like, the reality of it is even more exciting than what the research shows.

Mm-hmm. Because, uh, so many of these things that there's so much conversation and fear about there's hope. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. We've talked about for men, if we wanna get the sperm healthier, let's take away the alcohol, let's take away the cannabis really. Any recreational drugs? Nicotine not a good thing. Uh, nicotine, you talked a bit about supplements.

Is there anything else you would add that men should really be considering that their, their primary care doctor's probably not talking to them about? Mm-hmm. 

Anna Shippy: And, um, we have a whole guide on, on the supplements that I love and there's tons of information in the book. Um, [00:26:00] of course I love to customize it for my patients, but, um, the things that really can help that.

Would benefit everybody, would be the liposomal glutathione. Mm-hmm. Uh, phos phosphatidylcholine, that helps the cell membranes and mitochondrial membranes and all the mitochondrial support. So the coq 10, the carnitine, the NAD. Um, and people feel better. Any, you know, just quality of life is better with mm-hmm.

With those things as well. Um, it's a little bit of a financial investment. Some of these supplements are, you know, definitely, um. Are not the least expensive supplements out 

Dr. Brighten: there. Cocuten is easily one of the most expensive supplements out there. And you know, I also talk about like spms incredibly expensive.

Exactly. But when you consider how they have to be manufactured and how volatile the process is, and when you go to the raw ingredients, it's like. This is what it costs. And I think it's so important to get the 

Anna Shippy: best quality. [00:27:00] Mm-hmm. So that you actually are getting what you think you're getting and it's gonna have the impact that you want.

But when you look at the cost of having a child that has health issues, or having a pregnancy that doesn't go well, it makes so much sense to invest in these things. Mm-hmm. Upfront. So as a, as true prevention. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah, talk to us about how people can choose quality, because often your gynecologist, you tell them, I wanna get pregnant.

They're like, take any prenatal. Find a cheap one out there. It doesn't really matter. But you and I know how wild the industry can be and how much it matters. How can people be a smart consumer? Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: So you wanna look for things that look like they're pharmaceutical grade that have been. Extra tested for efficacy and purity and, and usually, um, those are brands that go through practitioners.

Mm-hmm. It's hard to get most of those these days just by going on the internet and looking [00:28:00] for them. But this, uh, CGMP is one of those, and then you should be a able to ask for second party testing for just about anything. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. And for people listening, the uh, CGMP is the manufacturing practices, and you can find that on the label of the bottle.

Anna Shippy: Exactly. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. So I wanna ask you, you know, in terms of you, you've, we've talked a little bit about mitochondrial health, but inflammation, talk to us about the role of inflammation and infertility. 

Anna Shippy: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that question. It's so interesting because I was on a deadline for the book. I was supposed to turn it into the publisher, and I just said, I just need to print it out and just.

Feel it for the last time. And I held it in my hands and I was like, oh my God, there's another chapter. I've gotta write it. I just did. 

Dr. Brighten: They let you put another chapter in? They did. Oh, that's amazing. That, I mean, shout out to your publisher because sometimes they're like, I know. No, we got a word count, we gotta meet.

Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: Uh, and it was one of the topics that I was like, oh my [00:29:00] gosh, this is so important. I, there was a little bit through the book on this, but I was like, I really need to explain the importance of inflammation. Mm-hmm. Um, for both men and women? Yeah, because for the sperm, again, if we think about it as a time capsule, that inflammation gets passed down to the baby.

Um. So we wanna look at, um, markers for inflammation. If you have access to labs, that's one that in addition to doing the other testing that I talked about, we can do very detailed inflammation markers to just give ourselves some clarity on whether there is any or not. But a lot of times people will feel it, you know, they'll have a little joint pain, a little fatigue, a little.

Gut, um, you know, bloating, it doesn't have to be anything serious, but even those inflammation markers can get passed on. So when we have inflammation. Depending on what the source is, we really wanna figure it out. Often it's in the digestive tract, we've got a shift in the microbiome, or we've got food allergies, a little bit [00:30:00] of issues with whether we're absorbing our nutrients.

Um, but there's ways that we can, can look at all of that. Um. One of the other really important sources for kind of hidden inflammation is autoimmunity. Mm-hmm. So, fortunately that's a test that most people can do through their primary care doctor, is just ask for a very detailed autoimmune panel that should go through insurance, uh, to see if there's any signs of that.

Because a lot of time that's brewing and can be either, um, putting the. Future baby at risk or causing some issues with infertility. So looking for thyroid issues. Um, so Hashimoto's with the thyroid peroxidase antibody, thyroid globulin, thyroid receptor antibody, and a NA. So you might not, um. Know that you have these things, they can just be simmering.

And what's really beautiful is that when we go through this process of helping our bodies to be healthier, helping to detoxify build the mi mitochondria, a lot of times we can reverse it. Mm-hmm. [00:31:00] And then it's not there to, um, wreak havoc with this whole process. 

Dr. Brighten: What inflammatory markers would you recommend someone gets as a starting place, and then what are maybe ones that their provider may not even be aware of or consider?

Oh, 

Anna Shippy: this question. So in addition to the autoimmune panels, um, some of the panels that go with cholesterol are really helpful. Mm-hmm. We could do a high sensitive CRPA SED rate, an MPO, an lppl A two. Um, and then there are a few others that are part of those advanced cholesterol panels. And then as part of the nutritional panels, a lot of times there's something called an eight hydroxy, two doxy quinine, and a lipid peroxidase.

And there's more. Um, but those are some that are, yeah. More easily, um, available. Mm-hmm. Um, and super helpful. So if you see something that's a little bit elevated, uh, doing this process will usually help it to come down. 

Dr. Brighten: Okay. So let, let's say someone [00:32:00] has elevated inflammatory markers. Are they still falling into the.

Three month prep protocol or do they need more time to work on that inflammation? It's 

Anna Shippy: better to give yourself a little bit more time. Mm-hmm. But it's so worth it because the whole pregnancy process will be so much better. Mm-hmm. To really give your time, your, your body time to dot the i's, cross the t's, and, and make sure that process is turned off.

'cause I think about it as being like, we need a little fire in the fireplace. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: Um, to. Really keep things going, but when these inflammation markers are up, it's like the fire's gotten out of the fireplace and we just, we need some time to get it back into 

Dr. Brighten: the fireplace. What are some anti-inflammatory practices that couples can start to incorporate that can start to nudge things along?

And then we'll talk a little deeper about investigating the gut. Yeah. 

Anna Shippy: So. Some really simple things that actually can have huge, um, changes would be to do a low inflammation diet. [00:33:00] So just going, uh, with gluten-free, dairy-free can make a huge difference for some people. You don't even need to test for it, just try it.

Um. Doing some of the detox process can really make a difference. And then, um, things like hyperbaric and sauna, if you have access to it, can be beautiful along with taking antioxidants. Mm-hmm. Like, um, curcumin is a really lovely one. And then one of my favorites is the liposomal glutathione. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. And then in terms of gut health, what impact does the microbiome of mom and dad have on baby and the pregnancy as a whole?

Thank you for that question, because that's 

Anna Shippy: such a wonderful area of emerging research. Um, the Man's microbiome is another piece of this time capsule. Mm-hmm. That gets passed on. So, um, it's really great when you can actually measure the, the, the microbiome because it's so easily shifted by changing the diet and um, [00:34:00] taking probiotics, prebiotics, that kind of thing.

And then taking supplements that help the gut to heal. And then, um, with the women, I think it's a lot more common. People know that, you know. The baby gets seeded with the woman's microbiome. Mm-hmm. So you wanna have that in order as much as possible. So there's some labs that have come out that actually do a really good job of the gut microbiome and the vaginal microbiome.

Um, so Tiny Health is one, and then Avie is another one. Um, um. So you, it's actually nice to do the preconception work for the woman and then also double check during pregnancy as well, and right before delivery. Mm-hmm. To make sure that everything's really beautifully optimized. I just had a patient do the tiny health test right around seven months and got a little bit of an alarming result back, and so we were able to just within like two weeks of um.

And getting the data, making some just adjustments. [00:35:00] We added some supplements like digestive enzymes and butyrate and got her on a low histamine diet and things shifted really quickly. So she's ready for delivery. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. Yeah. What were the alarming signals that came through? 

Anna Shippy: So, um, the data now shows there's certain families of bacteria.

That are going to be more problematic for inflammation in the baby's gut. Mm-hmm. And, um, so it, it, you know, it looked like she was not gonna be passing on the microbiome that she wanted because there were more bacteria that make a lot of inflammation, that drive inflammation in her bodies. Um, and, um. You know, when we got the results back, I was like, oh gosh, we don't have very much time.

So, yeah. So we just jumped on it and I, I was actually kind of amazed at how quickly we got things. Mm-hmm. Squared 

Dr. Brighten: away with her. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what is the impact of inflammation on a developing baby? [00:36:00] Because. Your average doctor is not going to check inflammation. They're not even gonna check it in the first trimester panel.

This is not something that's really on their radar. However, we have decades of literature that tell us when there's inflammation in utero, we can have some pretty negative outcomes on baby. 

Anna Shippy: You know, I think it's really the root of why we're having this children's health crisis. Mm-hmm. And is, uh, is that.

Uh, you know, just humanity is so much more inflamed. Mm-hmm. And that already sets their bodies off with this, uh, epigenetics. So I feel like inflammation just finds the weak spot. In each person, right? Yeah. So, um, one person might be more predisposed to the one baby might be more predisposed, neurologically, and be more at risk for, um, for autism.

Another child might be more at risk for [00:37:00] the autoimmune diseases. Another child might be more at risk for the mental health. So it's really where genes meet epigenetics, meet inflammation. Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Brighten: And I don't want women to be scared or feel like this is their fault because they think this is the thing so much of women's health is, is if I had known, I would've done better.

But your doctor did know and they didn't do better by you. And so you can't be the only one shouldering all the responsibility in this. But for women listening right now who might be like, okay, I'm pregnant. WI might be inflamed, I might have microbiome issues. Like what would be some of the first things that they could do, like starting tomorrow on their own.

The easiest thing is to follow 

Anna Shippy: the diet in the book. Okay. It's a low inflammation diet. Anybody can just like 

Dr. Brighten: highlight, 

Anna Shippy: everybody can do that right away. Mm-hmm. And it sometimes, it's amazing how it even reverses autoimmunity sometimes with my patients, with even like lupus and MS and things like that.

Hashimoto's, just changing the diet [00:38:00] sometimes is enough to, mm-hmm. To make a big difference in just a few months. Uh, so I like most people to do gluten-free, dairy free, which is not that hard anymore, except none of 

Dr. Brighten: your French 

Anna Shippy: women 

Dr. Brighten: are gonna do that. 

Anna Shippy: I hate to this, you know, even in France, they, it's not that hard, like traveling and Europe, it's, oh 

Dr. Brighten: no, 

Anna Shippy: I don't 

Dr. Brighten: think it's hard to be dairy free.

I just think nobody wants to do it, wants to do it. 

Anna Shippy: But when you're faced with this decision, like true, true. What can I be doing for my baby? You might do it. Yeah. At least temporarily. Um, so gluten-free, dairy-free, uh, the cleanest protein that we can find. So if you can find grass fed organic meat, great.

'cause we need a. Plenty of protein to, uh, build a healthy baby. There are ways to work around with, uh, vegetarians, but it's hard. It's a lot of work. Mm-hmm. Um, and then eating the brightly colored vegetables. So the Christophers vegetables are so helpful for supporting the body for detox and lowering [00:39:00] inflammation.

So the cauliflower, cabbage, kale, um. Bok choy, arugula, uh, whatever ones of those you like, or if you don't like them, hide them in ensues or stoops or soups or something. Yeah. Um, and then the brightly colored berries, so the blueberries, raspberries, blackberries organic as as much as possible. Those things alone for some people will really, really lower inflammation.

And then, uh, the supplements that are safe. So things like curcumin and, and the SPM fish oil are also super helpful for very quickly making some shifts in the inflammation markers. Mm-hmm. And it's fun to measure them if you have access to measuring them and seeing what's happening so you can, can iterate and know you're doing all the things.

And I just wanna come back to this, um. As a mom, like one of the things that really inspired me to write this book is I [00:40:00] really wish I had had this. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. Like 

Anna Shippy: seeing what my kids have gone through and they're, they're okay. But I just know that if I had known these things, their own health journeys would've been a lot easier for them.

Yeah. 

Dr. Brighten: Well, I think it, and I wanna say also it's really important to recognize, 'cause sometimes someone might be listening to this and they're like, but my child had health problems, so I have a nutrition degree. I did preconception care. Both my husband, myself, I grew my own food. I ate straight out of the garden.

And my son still went on to have some health issues and people would, there were actually other practitioners who were like, well, if you had done this, if you had done that, I'm like, I did do all of that. And things still happen, but in the reality is how much worse would this have been? Exactly His body recovered faster like that.

When I look at everything and it's often we think, well, if I just do everything right, we'll never have problems, [00:41:00] except that there's a lot in the environment that you can't control. And I think when problems do arise, we have to look at it from the lens of, but what is it like on average? So. My son had panda's autoimmune condition of the brain.

Most children are struggling for six years with nonstop flares. This child was coming out of a flare, recovered at a month. Yes, we had the ebbs and flows like the disease does, like every autoimmune disease does. But I looked at that and like, wow, I could have taken the perspective of. What did I do? I didn't do 'em enough, and instead I looked at, I'm so grateful I did all of this because the recovery process, like the resiliency of the body and not getting stuck in these patterns was so much more.

And so I just wanna offer that reframe for parents because I think all the best parents blame themselves for literally everything that ever goes wrong. 

Anna Shippy: Yeah. I love that. I, I know you're right that, that by doing this [00:42:00] process, no matter what your child is confronted with, they will have better 

Dr. Brighten: resilience.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Is there any message you wanna leave parents with who are maybe struggling to conceive now? They're staring down the, do I go the IVF route? Which as someone who's done IVF and looked at all the research, it is very sad how inefficient and really, um. Expensive. Not always. You don't get the, you know, you don't get the results for how much money you put in, and we don't talk about that enough.

Usually IVF is framed as like, if you can't get pregnant, don't worry. IVF will save you. And I think, you know, I was reading recent statistics that it was like, yeah, it's like 30% success rate. Like that's not great when you're looking at investing 20, $30,000 for a single round. 

Anna Shippy: So I want to reframe infertility.

Mm-hmm. I want to frame it as there's a check engine light on one or both [00:43:00] bodies are just giving a warning sign. Mm-hmm. That it's not a great time to conceive and that it's time to look under the hood. And see what's going on and help the body to get back into better balance. There are a couple of exceptions to that, but what I find is that even people who failed at IVF, when they do this process, they get super fertile even into their mid forties.

Mm-hmm. So, um, I want there to be hope and um, it was really interesting 'cause I was doing a book signing yesterday and one of the people that came up to the. To get a book, um. He, he just, I kind of wanted to have a conversation and so, um, he was asking me some questions and then there was this woman kind of listening in on the conversation right behind him.

And it turned out [00:44:00] that he's an IVF doctor. Mm-hmm. And he was getting the hardest cases. And so he, and he had started doing some integrative medicine training. So he had started implying that with preparing some of his patients before doing IVF on them. Well, he gotta just practice. He said they all got pregnant naturally without, almost all of them got pregnant naturally unless they had black tubes.

Mm-hmm. That's so and so then the woman who was listening in had, she was like. Tearing up and I, so I was like, what's, what's going on? And she said she failed four rounds of IVF. Mm-hmm. And so listening to this conversation between me and this IVF doc, it was such a gift to me to see her hear this message of hope.

Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Brighten: Is there any reason someone couldn't do the protocol in your book and go through IVF? If someone's listening right now, 

Anna Shippy: I think. A lot of times you won't need IVF, but especially if you, if there's [00:45:00] a reason, um, like the, the woman that was listening in doesn't have a partner. Mm-hmm. So she had decided she was gonna do this on her own.

Um, I just had two women that are preparing to do IVF, the, uh, couple that's married and, um, so certainly there are reasons that people will do IVF or, you know, they haven't met their partner yet and they're concerned about when that's gonna happen and they wanna store some eggs. Um, this will make the process more.

Effective. Mm-hmm. It's, you're gonna have a better success rate if you do this preparation. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Your book is available everywhere, correct? Everywhere. Fantastic. Well, we will link it in the show notes and it is always good to see you. We haven't seen each other in so long, so good to catch up with you.

You look amazing. 

Anna Shippy: You, I can. You're just glowing. Oh, well thank you. It's so good to see you. I have a good lighting guy in the room. 

Dr. Brighten: Well, thank you so much. Thanks. It's [00:46:00] so good to see you. Awesome. Do you, you wanna do photos? Yeah. Cool, cool. I'm gonna just push this back a bit 'cause I'll lean in.