GL_031617

glenviewlantern.com news
the glenview lantern | March 16, 2017 | 21
Making fertility easier, one bar at a time
GBS grad creates
nutrient bar that
boosts fertility
Courtney Jacquin
Contributing Editor
Trying to get pregnant
can be incredibly difficult
and stressful for some.
When going through fertility
treatments, not only
can the process be lengthy
and expensive, trying to
get your body in the best
physical condition is another
hurdle to jump.
Fertility doctors often
recommend an intense regimen
of vitamins that can
cost upward of $200 per
month, for both men and
women, to be in the best
health possible for fertility.
But GBS graduate Jill
Spatz wondered, isn’t
there a better way?
Spatz, a mom of three and
a fertility clinic nurse, combined
her “obsession” with
protein and granola bars
with the necessary vitamins
and nutrients needed for fertility
in Barology, a line of
bars for men and women
with a blend of vitamins
and antioxidants found to
increase the chance of successful
pregnancy.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control,
the inability to have a
child affects approximately
6.7 million women in
the United States annually,
or 11 percent of the reproductive-age
population.
Infertility affects men and
women almost equally —
in 40 percent of infertile
couples, the male partner
is a contributing cause of
the difficulty getting pregnant.
Often, these couples
seek assisted reproductive
techniques, such as medication,
surgery, or in-vitro
fertilization.
Jill Spatz, of Highland Park, creator of Barology bars, displays two of her fertility bars for women in her Highland
Park home. Photos by Courtney Jacquin/22nd Century Media
Spatz, who has worked
as a nurse at the Fertility
Centers of Illinois in
Chicago for the last four
years, has helped treat
countless couples over the
years who struggled with
starting a family, as well
as struggled herself to become
a mother.
Dr. Brian Kaplan, who
runs the center, began
recommending a slew of
supplements for men and
women over the past few
years to increase the couple’s
likelihood of pregnancy.
After handing out
page-long lists of vitamins
with different dosages
and frequencies, the
clinic became inundated
with questions about the
regimen.
“We were spending so
much of our time talking
about vitamins, which is
great, but there’s so much
else going on,” Spatz
said. “This was becoming
stressful when it shouldn’t
be.”
Enter: Barology.
Spatz always wanted to
become an entrepreneur
and create something of
her own, and Barology became
just that for her.
The bars, which are currently
only sold online atbarologybar.com,
come in
blueberry almond and dark
chocolate cherry flavors
for women and dark chocolate
cherry and blueberry
key lime for men. The bars
have a blend of vitamins
and nutrients such as Co-
Q10, Omega-3, pine bark
extract, L-Arginine, Vitamin
C, Vitamin E and
more.
By eating just one bar
per day, patients are now
able to easily get their necessary
nutrients, without
the headache of finding
dozens of different supplements
and spending hundreds
of dollars per month.
The bars are currently
only sold by the dozen
at $47.40/box, which
amounts to a little more
than $3 per day, a bargain
compared to standard vitamin
regimen.
No, eating the bars won’t
make you pregnant, they’ll
just give you a line-up of
vitamins and nutrients.
After seeing success
already in the first few
months of the bars being
sold — Barology launched
in June — Spatz is planning
to expand to a line of
bars for anti-aging and for
teens.
“We eventually want to
have a whole line like Vitamin
Water of six to eight
bars,” Spatz said. “The
concept is cradle to grave,
hitting something for everyone,
all different ages.
Barology bar in dark chocolate cherry flavor for women. The bars come in multiple
flavors for women and men.