Some food can hurt fertility —Odagwu, green therapist

Some fertility problems have found answers in Natural Medicine, sometimes, winning where orthodox medicine have failed.

In this interview with UCHE AKOLISA, a Lagos-based herbal medicine practitioner, Ebere Odagwu, express concern that many Nigerian men are reluctant to submit themselves for fertility treatment among other fertility-related issues. Excerpts:

Is it true that some foods can harm fertility?

Yes, sometimes, the kind of food we eat also affects our hormones. There some foods we call estrogen mimickers. They mimick estrogen;  food like soyabeans. Most times I advise women of reproductive age to reduce or stop their intake of soyabeans. It is good for menopausal women-women in their 50s, it will make their body fresh. But women in their reproductive age already have enough estrogen.

You don’t want to make it to be too much. Estrogen is a good hormone because it is what makes a woman who she is- it is responsible for the firmness of the breasts, curves, suppleness of the skin. That is why once a woman gets to menopause, estrogen stops producing, the skin starts getting wrinkles and the breasts start sagging. What is why some of these women who can afford it, may begin to take estrogen pills though that has its own side effects.

What are the side effects?

It could lead to breast cancer. It is better you allow your body to do its work. Don’t fight nature too much

Apart from soyabeans, what other foods may hurt ?

These days, the cow milk we take are becoming too loaded with antibiotics and fattening things to make them produce more milk. For reason of commerciality, most farmers inject their cows with steroid and things to make them fat, things to make hem produce more milk. You see a young cow it is already looking very big. all these end up in the breast milk of the cow or the meat. So when the farmer sells the milk to  people who make milk, all these thing still remains there. at the end of the day, the finished product whether the liquid or powdered milk have them in there, you end up ingesting the estrogen mimickers and they now cause a dominance of estrogen in the body.

That is why I said earlier that if a woman is at risk of having fibroid, maybe there are some people that had fibroid, there are some foods that she should not be taking including these things. She should reduce her intake of the milk except if you know the farmer and know he does not use antibiotics and steroid to grow his cows. But it is going to be difficult.

Another thing is white flour used in making pastries, white bread and all those things. They could also contribute to high estrogen in the body.

Is estrogen not a protein compound?

Yes, they are. Hormones are amino-acid

So if white flour is carbohydrate. Why did you say that the increase estrogen level in the blood.

No, it mimicks estrogen so when it gets into the body, there will be reaction that will lead to increase in

Another food is sugar. High intake of sugar’s method of making estrogen is different. High in-take of sugar increases insulin and when insulin is high, estrogen will be very high. That is why most people that are fat have high insulin and when you check their estrogen, it is also high.

Coffee is another thing too. High intake of coffee,  high intake of alcohol,  high intake of processed packaged foods contribute to estrogen dominance. They should be avoided or reduced by women of reproductive age.

Then, there is environmental contributor to estrogen dominance. Things like pesticides, insecticides deodorants, air refresher, detergents. Some of these things you cannot really do without them but you can reduce use of them. Commercial detergents are not good for estrogen because they use a lot of chemicals. Chemicals generally are not helpful for estrogen compared to locally made things which are made from roots and plants. Soaps like Dudu-Osun or the real black soap mixed with honey. But how many people want to use them?

There are some fertility cases I handled without seeing the clients. It was just a phone thing. I just send them stuffs through way-bill to Abuja, Bayelsa, Port-Harcourt.

For fertility problems you handled, what are the major complaints?

The major complaints were infections which leads to pelvic inflammatory disease(PID) followed by hormonal imbalance, ovarian cyst and fibroids. Some people have ovarian cysts attached to it. Some other people have fibroids.

How do you know they have ovarian cysts?

I send them for scan. You have to go for test for me to confirm it your case. Most times it is chronic infections. I have also handled ceased periods.  There was this woman who had ceased period for 6 months and I treated it and she later got pregnant. Although when she got pregnant she didn’t handle it well. She was involved in a mechanical accident and lost the pregnancy. I have handled fibroids.

Big fibroids?

Big and small fibroids

Do you shrink them or remove them?

The herbs remove the fibroid. I had somebody who have had a fibroid surgery and conceived though she lost the baby. The fibroid came back after three years. So, she took the fibroid treatment and the follow up test showed they are gone.

I have seen one woman that had no complaint. She went to the doctor. They tested everything and could not find anything. Her doctor had placed her on clomid without result. She said that her husband would not want her to try natural medicine.

Did you ask her if the doctor is treating her alongside her husband?

Nigerian men are the most stubborn husbands. I have a lot of female clients and their major problem is their husbands’ refusal to be part of accessing fertility treatment. Imagine a husband wanting to beat up the wife because she is offering him herbs. He told her that if she wanted him to prove to her that he can impregnate a woman, he would go and prove it outside. Women are scared. We really need to talk about it because infertility is 50:50. It takes a man and woman to make a baby.

There is this Northern man who is my client. He has fathered five children. He married a younger wife and for 9 years she could not get pregnant and he was wondering why because all the tests on her said she was okay. When he went for test he discovered he had low sperm count and he was wondering: ‘I am I not the one that fathered all these kids?’

So, I was telling him that your sperm may be healthy today, sick tomorrow. The same way women’s hormone are affected by factors like the environment, food, alcohol, age and so on, so are men’s testosterone. The man is a very understanding and started using the herbs. 70 % of our men attached a lot of ego to their reproductive tracts. He sees it as his power house. It is not wise. I think there is need for enlightenment that it takes two people to make a baby.