S2 Episode 13: "Infertility is a symptom not a diagnosis" - Alexandria DeVito

This week I had the honor to sit down with founder, author & functional nutritionist Alexandria DeVito. Alexandria is the CEO and founder of Poplin- the first pre-pregnancy wellness company. She is also the author of the book "9 Months Is Not Enough: The Ultimate Pre-pregnancy Checklist to Create a Baby-Ready Body and Build Generational Health".

In her book, Alexandria debunks several fertility myths and aims to educate women and couples on how they can identify underlying health issues that can impair fertility, prepare for a preconception visit with their doctor, and adopt an overall fertility-friendly diet, supplementation, and lifestyle plan.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

01:23 From McKinsey consultant to nutritionist

05:13 Preparing for pregnancy like you would prepare for a wedding or job interview

08:29 Optimizing nutrient needs before you are even pregnant

11:47 How the male partner can optimize their health

15:06 Sperm quality and quantity declined by over 60% in recent years

17:55 Optimizing overall health: in with the good & out with the bad

24:16 Reproductive Anxiety: the fear of not being able to conceive

31:17 Biggest fertility myth: age is the main fertility predictor

35:08 Advocating for your health to be personalized & individualized

39:22 Does running more tests only increase our anxiety levels?

45:40 How can IVF patients optimize their chances to conceive?

48:30 Unexplained Infertility: "infertility diagnosis is similar in mental health impact to cancer diagnosis"

55:10 Closing

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Learn more about Alexandria's company Poplin: https://getpoplin.com/