Pregnancy Over 40, Ovulation Is Key To Get Pregnant
I've written before about the importance of melatonin (which is stimulated by darkness) when you're trying to conceive.See Also: www.getpregnantover40.com for ways to lengthen and regulate your menstrual cycle
and this article recommends that you sleep with a night light during your ovulation period. This mimics the full moon light and helps women return to normal cycles. Read more:
Night-Lighting
In addition to incorporating Dr. Price's principles into their diets, many women with irregular cycles have benefitted from addressing their night-lighting situation. Exposure to light at night can inhibit the pineal gland's production of melatonin. The pineal gland directs your body's rhythmic activities--including sleep, appetite, and the onset of puberty--through its production of melatonin. This hormone is primarily secreted at night, and it requires darkness to be produced. Bright light suppresses melatonin secretion.2
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SEE ALSO: SHORT MENSTRUAL CYCLES, HOW TO LENGTHEN NATURALLY(getpregnantover40.com)
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The hypothalamus gland, also located in the brain, is richly supplied with melatonin receptors. This gland regulates your body's overall homeostasis, including things like blood pressure, emotions, temperature, and the endocrine (hormonal) system. Hormones secreted by the hypothalamus stimulate the anterior pituitary gland to secrete its hormones; and these, in turn, stimulate the thyroid gland, the adrenals and the ovaries to secrete yet other hormones. The ovaries (and the testicles) are also thought to contain melatonin receptors.3
You can see how melatonin production--and thereby sleeping in darkness or with light--can affect the whole body's functioning, including the menstrual cycle: if the hypothalamus doesn't receive sufficient melatonin, its ability to regulate the hormonal system will be impaired...
...Other clinical researchers have also found that sleeping in the absence of light (introducing it for a few days each cycle, or sleeping only in the absence of light) can help women in a variety of situations to strengthen their cycles.6,7
Women with anovulatory cycles have become ovulatory.
Women with unclear mucus readings develop discernible, healthy mucus build-up.
Cycles that had been very short (26 days or less) or very long (35 days or more) become 27-31 days long.
FSH levels become healthy.
Spotting at various times during the cycle is significantly reduced.
Progesterone levels are strengthened.
Women with a history of miscarriage are able to sustain pregnancy.
Premenopausal women develop a more discernible mucus pattern; and the intensity of their premenopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, sleeplessness, and mood changes are reduced.
from www.westonaprice.org