Comments on: Ketosis and Menstrual Function: a Canary in the Mine?

By: Reference Page: Go Kaleo | Taper Strength Training

Reference Page: Go Kaleo | Taper Strength Training — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 11:52:55 +0000

[…] Ketosis and Menstrual Function: a Canary in the Mine? […]

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 01:06:52 +0000

This conversation is fascinating to me. I had a lot of trouble getting pregnant with my first child – I charted and did everything “right,” but after 11 cycles, I wasn’t pregnant. My periods were very regular, but I did notice that I had a borderline short luteal phase. I was eating a low carb, low fat diet (ala South Beach) because I thought that was healthy. My BMI was low-normal, and I exercised only occasionally. I did have another problem – my hair, which has always been thin, was falling out alarmingly. Finally, in desperation, I read a book about getting pregnant and there was one paragraph devoted to being body fat. I checked my body fat with a formula and discovered that it was too low – only in the 16-17% range. It was such a shock to me that my diet–which I thought was going to help me–was actually hindering me. I immediately carb loaded and gained five pounds in a month and got pregnant that next cycle. Now I realize that this was probably hormonal more than anything. Since then, I have stayed away from low-carb diets and have focused on real foods. This post and others have helped me realize how dangerous it can be to play too much with what you eat. What amazes me now is that I went to the doctor to figure out why I couldn’t get pregnant, why my hair was falling out and no one suspected my diet.

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 06:10:42 +0000

Thank you for sharing Lily! The more stories like yours that are told, the faster we will turn this ship around. Keep sharing!

By: Lily

Lily — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:59:51 +0000

This is so right on! I lost my period pretty much for 3 years while following a paleo lifestyle that became low carb because I didn’t loose any weight just eating paleo (I didn’t even have any to loose!). Going low carb did let me loose those 5-10 lbs that I was always bothered by but it also never got my period back. I thought I just needed to eat cleaner and never, ever thought my loss of period had to do with my diet as I was at a normal weight. I tried everything including acupuncture, Chinese herbs, essential oils, vitamins, massage, meditation, black out blinds, therapy, very clean eating (no grains or sugar- raw dairy, liver, fermented foods, etc) and nothing worked.

Then I tried progesterone as a last resort (I was trying to do everything natural) but it didn’t work as my estradiol was in the post-menopausal range and I’m not in pre-menopause! Long story short I realized that it was because I was under eating. I started eating 2500-3500 calories daily and stopped exercising and my period came back less than 3 weeks later. Now I’ve had it twice and I anticipate a third time soon (or maybe I’ll be pregnant, which is my ultimate goal). I eat loads of carbs! By the way, I saw an endocrinologist, neurologist, pituitary brain specialist, OBGYN, etc all before to make sure there was no other reason I wasn’t getting my period. It was seriously just my low carb/low calorie diet. I never, ever would have thought that before because I looked healthy and every doctor said my diet was amazingly “healthy”. Thanks for all you do, Amber!

By: Ida

Ida — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 21:29:21 +0000

Well, shit, that’s me. I’d been wondering what’s happening with my body for the past two years… ironically I haven’t even been consciously trying to undereat or lose weight, just get my IBS under control and (you’ll love this) eat a more healthful diet. Har har har. I’m still “mostly healthy”, just having some mild issues with my menstrual cycle and with feeling sluggish, and it’s only as I added running to my workout regime (I lift three days a week and run two or three days) that I thought it’d be worthwhile to check my macros and calories to see that I’m eating enough to sustain all this exercise. I’m… really not.

We’ll be cycling to the bakery for bread tomorrow morning and chasing that down with ice cream. 🙂

By: Who loves GoKaleo? ME!

Who loves GoKaleo? ME! — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 20:52:08 +0000

Ok – this post was cool! This past early spring I was experiencing menstrual spotting/skipping weirdness and had no idea why. I’m at a good weight, I EAT – oh man do I EAT… ‘cept I was not eating many carbs. I wasn’t “trying” to keep them out on purpose I wasn’t afraid of them, but somehow it just sort of happened.

Partly, the gym I go to told me my plate should be meats and veggies and not many carbs. I guess I skewed things a bit that direction.

I was reading some things around the time, decided to add in more carbs and experiment… and I’ve had a normal period since. My weight didn’t go up, I didn’t experience any “negative” side effects or anything.

Goes to show that anyone, even well intentioned – and in a place of – well not authority really – but at a gym I just figured he would know…. but yeah, people DON’T know what they don’t know all the time.

Gotta keep experimenting with your own bad self and see what works for you! 🙂 Great article! We are the N1….

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:55:41 +0000

Great write up!! Even more awesome is that you know Batty!! She rocks my socks too!!

By: Jenifer

Jenifer — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:57:36 +0000

It’s really great to have someone on the net really focusing on the science as it relates to women. It’s tough because there simply isn’t as much research on us as there are on the guys, but we are definitely not the same! 😀

By: Meghan Kennihan

Meghan Kennihan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:03:06 +0000

Great Article.

By: Neesha

Neesha — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 05:44:05 +0000

Menstruation *always* ceases when on the pill – even if you have a monthly bleed, it’s not true menstruation, because “menstruation” is actually a whole hormonal cycle that involves ovulation, among other things. In a natural menstrual cycle (to dumb things down a LOT) your body gets all ready to get pregnant by producing hormones that stimulate an egg to be released (ovulation) and then, when the egg isn’t fertilised, all those hormones wind down and when they get to their lowest point, you menstruate (have a period.) The pill prevents you from ovulating, full stop. No ovulation, no period. It’s possible to have non-ovulatory periods when not on the pill too. But no, the pill does not protect against the endocrine adaptations to starvation or ketosis.