Fertility Q&A: Inflammation, Hormones, Cycle Tracking & More

As a Woman

Natalie Crawford

Medicine, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whether you’re just starting to think about your future family or you’ve been navigating the frustrating "one out of eight" (now one out of five) statistics for years, this conversation is for you. Host Dr. Natalie Crawford sits down with Emily Whitlock to peel back the curtain on the science of conception and the launch of Natalie’s new book, The Fertility Formula. This episode is all about moving past the "eyes glazed over" medical jargon to give you a clear, actionable roadmap for your reproductive health - because you can’t make empowered decisions on data you don’t actually have. We talk about: • What the first chapter is about and why it is the start of the book • Important study findings • Why infertility rates are increasing • My personal favorite way to track my cycle And more! What You’ll Learn: The Weather and the Runway: Why a specific "biological hailstorm" might be the hidden culprit behind communication breakdowns between your brain and your ovaries. The Modern Inflammatory Storm: Exploring the shift in infertility rates and how our current environment dictates everything from sperm counts to miscarriage risk. The 20% Accuracy Trap: Why relying solely on a period tracking app might be leading you astray and the "gold standard" combinations for fertility awareness. The Biotin Blindspot: The surprising reason this common "hair, skin, and nails" supplement could be completely sabotaging your hormone lab results. Kitchen-First Detox: The high-impact strategy for reducing endocrine disruptors and forever chemicals by changing how you handle heat and storage in your own home. Resources: Pre-Order The Fertility Formula ⁠https://www.nataliecrawfordmd.com/book⁠ Newsletter: nataliecrawfordmd.com/newsletter Instagram: @nataliecrawfordmd Youtube Channel: Natalie Crawford MD Interested in becoming a patient?: Fora Fertility Earn FREE CE/CME: Learn at Pinnacle App This episode is brought to you by The Pinnacle Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today we are doing one of your favorite episodes. This is Fertility Q&A. I am joined by Emily Whitlock. I actually wrote down like the page numbers and everything. So we're going to be really specific. So the book starts out talking about inflammation. Why did you start with this? It's interesting to start a fertility book out with Chapter 1 saying how inflammation hijacks your fertility. It's not the normal of what you would think. It feels like everything in this whole world is toxic.
0:22.6	Where do we even start?
0:23.4	Your doctor can't just do a bunch of tests.
0:25.8	It's so important to know what's happening with your cycle.
0:28.2	That's not something that doctors are taught at any point.
0:31.4	Infertility rates are increasing.
0:33.3	We don't want to look back and wish we made different decisions.
0:36.7	You can't make decisions on data you don't know. Hi, friends. Welcome back to the As a Woman podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Natalie Crawford. And today we are doing one of your favorite episodes. This is Fertility Q&A. I am joined by Emily Whitlock, who has got a series of questions for us to cover. So let's jump in. I am. Hi. Okay. So we're going to do a little book Q&A. Okay. So I am lucky enough to have read this book early, perk of the job. So as I was reading it, I took some notes and I'm going to ask you some questions. Let's do it. Okay, so I actually wrote down
1:13.3	like the page numbers and everything. So we're going to be really specific. Okay. So the book starts
1:18.0	out talking about inflammation. Yes. And how it hijacks your fertility. Why did you start
1:23.4	with this? Why is this part one? Was this strategic? Give me your thoughts on that. It's interesting
1:29.4	to start a fertility book out with Chapter 1 saying how inflammation hijacks your fertility. It's not
1:33.7	the normal of what you would think. And what's so interesting about the book writing process
1:37.6	is that you have your proposal for a nonfiction book. You submit a list of all the chapters
1:43.7	and what you want to
1:44.5	talk about, and then you work with your editor to structure it. And I actually didn't want to talk
1:48.5	about inflammation as the first because I felt like it's a hard entry point. Coming in, talking
1:53.2	about acute and chronic inflammation, feels very cell biology. And I thought that that would be a
1:59.3	little bit of a deterrent. So my editor felt very strongly,
2:03.2	though, that it lays the framework for everything we're talking about. And then to dive in to how
2:08.0	hormones work, your menstrual cycle, tracking, all the problems, all the non-negotiable,
2:13.8	the lifestyle factors, that having that core understanding of what chronic inflammation
	...

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