Book Review: Trying By Rachel Swanson

Full credit to Lara for the review below.

I have literally just finished reading ‘Trying‘ by Rachel Swanson, which is her new book about taking a science-based approach to unlocking your fertility. There is a lot of outdated advice (or lack of) on lifestyle and diet, so Rachel wrote this to give people the tools they need to improve their fertility.

A side note here, I am not actually TRYING, but Rachel sent me the book to get my thoughts as someone passionate about fertility and plastics (well not having plastics), and WOW, just WOW!

I really wish that I’d had this book before I went on my IVF journey, as there is so much I would have done differently.

In Trying, Rachel covers microbiome, metabolic function, methylation, micro/nano plastics and mitochondria. This all sounds very scientific, but the way she writes is SUPER easy to understand. Everything is explained in a simple way that isn’t boring!

I’ll break down what each section is about and then rave a bit more about the book 🙂

Microbiome, you may or may not know, are microbes that live in your body, as you usually heard about them usually when referring to gut microbes. She also talks about vaginal and mouth microbes. There is a lot of detail about the do’s and don’t for each one, and how your mcrobiome affects your health and therefore your fertility. One particular fact, which is that through kissing you can pick up 30% of your partner’s oral microbes, makes me want anyone I kiss to use mouthwash first…

After this, Trying discusses your metabolic function. This is really focusing on what you eat, your sleep and exercise. There are a lot of explanations as to how things work. I like the fact that Rachel doesn’t tell us to do x y and z. One example is when she talks about body fat and what your waist measurement should be for optimum fertility. Now, I don’t think I’ve read anything else where they talk about this relating to the man AND the woman. I know that weight affects your ability to conceive but apparently research shows that this body fat around your tummy in BOTH parties (man and woman) affects your ability to conceive and how healthy those children are in the longer term. The healthier the couple is when the baby is conceived, the healthier the baby will be in life!

The third chapter of Trying is all about methylation, which is how your body gives instructions to your genes. What you need to be eating and supplements to be taking to make sure that those genes are getting the right messages to put you at your most fertile.

In chapter four of Trying, surrounding micro/nano plastics (and the reason Rachel reached out to me), it is all those horrible PFAS, sulphites, BPA, and other plastics that are in EVERYTHING, such as food, water and air. How to try to minimise the amount you ingest through simple swaps like a metal water bottle instead of using plastic bottles, getting rid of Teflon pans and more. The chemicals in these plastics have a MASSIVE impact on fertility hormones, and this is an area where you can make a swap and not feel you are depriving yourself (vs. reducing sugar or fats 🙂 )

Finally, chapter five of Trying is dedicated to how mitochondria bring it all together, as their job is to turn the food you eat into the energy to fuel your fertility.

I loved that at the end of each chapter, there is a resource bank with recipes (many that I am going to try), tips and knowledge banks. Rachel breaks down everything into a really easy-to-understand way. If I were going to TTC, my book would have a billion sticky notes come out of it as well as scribbles in the margins.

Throughout Trying, she references articles, scientific papers and books that are all listed at the back. You can do your own research if you REALLY think something surely can’t be right. Not that I am saying she is lying, but with some of the facts I was blown away by, and they made me want to read more on the topic.

My final note on this book is that it really is targeted towards heterosexual couples, as throughout, Rachel discusses the dad’s role in all of this. Sperm health affects not only if it actually reaches the egg, but also the development of the baby and the child’s health once the child is born.

I feel like it is only recently (maybe the last twenty/thirty years) that it has been generally accepted that fertility is 50:50 egg/sperm. So it is exceptionally refreshing to read Trying and hear that the Dad can’t just lie on the couch, drink beers and smoke weed whilst you eat a healthy and exercise because he only has one job…

My recommendation is to read Trying! If you are trying to get pregnant, whether it is with a partner or sperm donor, yes I know I just said about it being 50:50, but lots of the book references things for a healthy pregnancy. The fact is that if you are healthier then you are going to have a better chance of conceiving, even if the frozen sperm potentially hasn’t followed the program.

You can additionally watch a video take on this below 🙂