Real Food for Fertility with podcast guest

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner who teaches women to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, conception, and monitoring overall health. Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based nutrition. In their new phenomenal book Real Food for Fertility, Lisa and Lily unravel the complexities of preconception nutrition and fertility optimization. I was an early reviewer of this book and can’t recommend it enough.

In this episode, Lisa, Lily, and I talk about the importance of pre-conception nutrition, the effects of hormonal birth control on fertility, strategies for optimizing fertility through diet, the significance of tracking ovulation, the role of diet in improving egg and sperm quality, challenges of nutrition research, the nuances of sperm health parameters, considerations for plant-based diets concerning fertility, and so much more. Enjoy the episode!

Episode Highlights

Why you need to give yourself time after coming off hormonal birth control before trying to conceive

Rebuilding your nutrient stores before conception

Conventional medicine’s limited focus on pre-conception health and the need for a shift in the conversation

Differences between tracking ovulation using cervical mucus versus ovulation strips

Foundational pre-conception nutrition guidelines

The significant influence of funding and bias in nutrition research and challenges in interpreting research findings

Why couples may still struggle to conceive within current conventional sperm parameters

Conventional versus optimal sperm parameters

Nutrient-rich foods that support optimal sperm health

The concept of fertility-boosting foods and why you need to focus on a nutrient-dense diet for optimal fertility

Challenges with vegetarian or vegan diets when it comes to hormone health and fertility

Strategies for optimizing nutrition within vegetarian dietary restrictions

Transitioning away from a vegetarian diet

What the research shows about the role of AMH in predicting ovarian reserve and its limitations in predicting natural conception

The variability of AMH and its implications

Fix Your Period

How Fix Your Period Supports Women on Their Fertility Journey

Whether you're trying to conceive, using fertility awareness, or optimising your cycle health before pregnancy — Fix Your Period gives you the tools and education to understand and support your fertility.

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Cycle Tracking for Fertility

Track cycle length, ovulation signs, cervical mucus patterns, and basal body temperature — the key data points for understanding your fertile window and cycle health.

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Hormone Health Assessment

Take Nicole's free Hormone Health Assessment and get personalised results that reflect your cycle health — an essential first step for anyone trying to conceive or optimise their fertility.

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Fertility & Preconception Protocols

Fix Your Period Premium includes Nicole's step-by-step protocols for fertility and preconception support — covering nutrition, supplementation, cycle regulation, and hormonal optimisation.

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Cycle Literacy Education

Nicole's signature Period Pillars cover fertility awareness, cycle charting, and the hormonal foundations of ovulation — giving you deep literacy in your own cycle.

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Nicole.AI

Fix Your Period Premium includes Nicole.AI — trained on Nicole's complete methodology — giving you personalised answers to your fertility and cycle health questions at any time.

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Personalised Protocol

Fix Your Period Premium unlocks your personalised protocol from your assessment results — giving you a targeted roadmap for supporting your hormonal health on your fertility journey.

Explore the App — It's Free to Start

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from this episode — and how Fix Your Period can help.

What is Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)?

Fertility Awareness Method involves tracking fertility signs — primarily basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and cycle length — to identify fertile and infertile phases of the cycle. It can be used both to achieve pregnancy and as a form of non-hormonal birth control when practised correctly.

How does cycle health affect fertility?

Ovulatory cycles with healthy hormonal patterns — adequate estrogen in the follicular phase, a robust LH surge, and sufficient progesterone in the luteal phase — are foundational to fertility. Cycle irregularities, short luteal phases, anovulatory cycles, and poor period blood quality can all signal underlying hormonal imbalances that affect conception.

What can I do to optimise my fertility naturally?

The most impactful steps include regulating blood sugar, supporting gut health and liver detoxification (which affect hormone clearance), managing chronic stress, ensuring adequate nutrient status (particularly folate, iron, magnesium, and omega-3s), and reducing exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Is Fix Your Period useful for women trying to conceive?

Yes. Fix Your Period's free assessment gives you personalised results based on your current cycle health. Fix Your Period Premium unlocks fertility and preconception protocols, Nicole's Period Pillars education, and Nicole.AI — all designed to support women on their journey to conception.

Can Fix Your Period help if I'm using fertility awareness as birth control?

Yes. Fix Your Period includes cycle tracking tools and — with Premium — Nicole's dedicated Fertility Awareness protocol and Period Pillars education on understanding your cycle signs, whether you're using FAM to achieve or avoid pregnancy.

Real Food for Fertility

Episode Highlights

Watch on YouTube

Resources Mentioned

How Fix Your Period Supports Women on Their Fertility Journey

Frequently Asked Questions