the calcium conundrum - CONTROVERSIAL

[Viene]

If you could increase progesterone, it would help oppose estrogen, lowering CM which would sway girl.

As far as I am aware, this is a big reason. Progesterone dries CM or makes what is there creamy and thicker which makes it an environment that the girl sperm are more likely to survive and effectively swim through. My thought is that the reason is sways is mainly because of the effect progesterone has on CM and because estrogen and testosterone are more hand in hand hormones and can convert whereas estrogen and progesterone are inversely related.

[lindi]

As far as I am aware, this is a big reason. Progesterone dries CM or makes what is there creamy and thicker which makes it an environment that the girl sperm are more likely to survive and effectively swim through. My thought is that the reason is sways is mainly because of the effect progesterone has on CM and because estrogen and testosterone are more hand in hand hormones and can convert whereas estrogen and progesterone are inversely related.

Great. Do you have any thoughts on all of that ion stuff at the level of sperm meeting the egg? I know ions are big thing potentially for swaying, and it was interesting that calcium and progesterone are needed for the ionic reactions necessary for egg and sperm to fuse. Maybe extra calcium/progesterone help the x sperms permeate the egg faster somehow? Is this even possible?

I found this summary of a study that makes me think the place sperm wait and mature in a woman's body can influence x sperm over y if the woman's body would have the right chemical make-up to effect the sialic acid on the sperm- or to attract one kind of sperm over another for maturation- the sialic acid is what differs on the surface of x and y sperm, (I think this is how sperm are sorted, by like, microsort, right?) making one charged negatively and one charged positively:

After insemination in mammals, sperm move to a storage reservoir in the oviduct and bind to the epithelial cells. This appears to be critical for sperm maturation to achieve fertilization. The adhesion of sperm to these cells may be mediated by sialic acid-containing sugars on proteins (glycoproteins). These experiments determine whether or not the sialic acid that binds sperm, found in the lower oviduct, has functional importance in sperm adhesion and in forming the reservoir. To accomplish this aim, oviducts from slaughtered female pigs were extracted. In these experiments, neuraminidase was used to remove the sialic acid residues from the oviductal epithelial cells to see if sperm still bind to the oviduct. The results have shown lower sperm-binding, after removal of sialic acid. Cells incubated with neuraminidase reduced sperm binding by 52% of sperm bound compared to the control without neuraminidase. After studying this component of sperm storage we found that sialic acid has a role in the sperm binding to the oviduct. These findings will contribute to increased knowledge about how this sugar can bind cells and will help to explain how the oviduct can store sperm to promote fertilization.

and also this:
A Ca2+-dependent sialic acid-binding protein (SABP) of
human endometrium, which specifically bound to human
sperm head plasma membrane in vitro, was found to
increase the percentage motility and acrosome-reacted
pattern of uncapacitated spermatozoa. The protein was
synthesized in the endometrium and secreted into the
uterine fluid. This intra-uterine factor, which is apparently
advantageous in vitro in inducing human sperm capacitation,
may play a significant role in promoting the postrelease
maturation of ejaculated spermatozoa by enhancing
45Ca uptake into spermatozoa by a pathway which is
insensitive to calcium-channel blockers. However, the 45Ca
uptake could be enhanced on exposure to the divalent
cation ionophore A23187 and inhibited in the presence of
the calmodulin inhibitor trifluoperazine. The SABP also
induces an increase in intracellular Ca2' in spermatozoa,
as seen by FURA-2 AM studies. Furthermore, overlay
studies show human SABP to be a Ca2+-binding protein.
The data presented here suggest that SABP induces invitro
sperm capacitation and the subsequent acrosome
reaction by increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration.
Key words: acrosome reaction/calcium/human spermatozoa/

Maybe calcium helps specifically in the uterine fluids in strengthening sperm and maturing x sperm even more than y sperm? The x sperm are negatively charged , attracting Ca2+ better than y sperm, giving them a better shot at an added boost once inside the uterus?

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok, haven't read the rest of your essay- But if estrogen creates CM, that sways pink. So that makes sense with high estrogen. testosterone makes sense too. progesterone helps oppose excess estrogen- that was the basis of me being prescribed progesterone birth control pills to "balance" my unbalanced hormones- the basis of why BCPs work for PCOS. If you could increase progesterone, it would help oppose estrogen, lowering CM which would sway girl.

Nuthinbutpink- hmm...but maybe those drops in prog and estrogen don't matter with the simultaneous drop in testosterone?

I find it interesting that calcium produces progesterone, and the high calcium diet was shown in studies to sway girl. Those women MUST have had higher progesterone than before the diet then, right?

This is all so complicated! The best evidence is about the testosterone, right? I am making this my focus right now since it takes the longest to change anyways!

The good news is, even though it IS complicated we know what to do, even if we DON'T fully understand the mechanisms involved. We know that lowering testosterone is possible through a lower protein diet and weight loss, and we know we can dry up CM with antihistamines, and we know that lower sperm count sways pink and what things we can do to achieve that. So even though we don't have all the answers as to what hormone/mineral sways and why and how, we can still do a lot towards achieving our DG just by lowering testosterone, drying up CM, and lowering sperm count.

[lindi]

Well, for me, I don't have much weight to lose, and I am already a vegetarian, and I have a history of high testosterone, so I'm going to do all I can to lower testosterone through herbs, diet modifications, lavender and tea tree oil, trips to the spa to relax, but I know that's not the quickest or easiest thing to do- and DH and I are so exhausted right now anyways his sperm count is probably very low these days , so I'm hanging a LOT of additional hope on changing my minerals since those calcium studies seem convincing to me...I have been inspired to really try to believe in calcium... the more I look into it, the more I think calcium does have some effect. I know we are supposed to stay ultra low nutrient, but I do think I'm going to stick with high calcium thing.

[atomic sagebrush]

That sounds like an excellent plan!! Do keep the antihistamines in the back of your mind, I think they can help. I wish you the very best.

[Viene]

Wow, thanks for sharing that info, Lindi! You are really making me think. Hard. I like that though. Maybe you're right. Maybe that is the precise reason where the calcium and magnesium come to play. It makes sense and it does link the mineral and hormone theory together.

I still don't think there is a magic number of mg of the specific minerals, but rather the ratio of the Ca + Mg/K + Na as well as the effect on our hormones, calorie, nutrient and fat intakes.

[Zivic-Bubac]

I'm sure you are all familiar with Dutch study. This is the link to the abstract (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21051285) I coudln't find the full text, probably some of you will. The goal was to conceive girl ( so blue swayers can try for opposite) Desirable timing was "last intercourse was at least 3 days before ovulation"
There were 135 pregnancies that led to 109 live births.
Correct diet and correct timing produced 81 % of girls (26 girls, 6 boys).
Study showed direct connection between Ca blood levels and conception of girls.
I conceived my girls when I was practically living on dairy. I know Atomic says she conceived her boys while she was eating dairy, but the 2 of us are rather small sample LOL!
Calcium itself has very high pH, but then again milk is acidifying.
Maybe it is more about whole lifestyle and other aspects of diet, not just Ca/Mg and Na/K. I mean if you are eating other boy friendly food and have well balanced nutrition then Ca rich products are just a bonus et vice versa? Yoghurt for example is a great source of Potassium, but I've decreased my intake to 1-2 dl every other day because I was drinking it daily at least 2dl when I conceived my girls.
I remember one pink swayer from IG who said her CM pH started to raise because of Ca supplements. So it's really complex when it comes to dairy.....
Lindi's post is making things clearer

I apologize for my grammar mistakes.

[Zivic-Bubac]

Wow, thanks for sharing that info, Lindi! You are really making me think. Hard. I like that though. Maybe you're right. Maybe that is the precise reason where the calcium and magnesium come to play. It makes sense and it does link the mineral and hormone theory together.

I still don't think there is a magic number of mg of the specific minerals, but rather the ratio of the Ca + Mg/K + Na as well as the effect on our hormones, calorie, nutrient and fat intakes.

Exactly!

[Zivic-Bubac]

Ooops, I just saw Atomic's post about Dutch study on How we got our boys thread
I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be smart a$$.
I'm still not convinced about high Calcium intake due to my own experience, IDK....

[atomic sagebrush]

No, not at all! I would never fault anyone for wanting to include minerals as part of their sway. And I totally agree, if you conceived your girls eating a lot of dairy then try something new and see what happens. I personally think that eating just dairy probably DOES sway pink because it's still a limited and restricted diet (did you read the part 2 of this essay?) and if the calcium comes into play, even better.

I just don't want people to rely totally on minerals for swaying because I have seen a lot of people who don't do anything other than take supplements and then wonder why their sways didn't work.

The #1 problem I have with the French Diet is that 75% of all the women on planet Earth (and more than that in Africa and Asia) are lactose intolerant and cannot eat dairy at all. Yet they still conceived both boys and girls in 50-50 ratio. In fact, countries that eat the most dairy, such as the Scandinavian countries, actually have MORE boys than countries that eat no dairy at all.