Filed under: Fitness, Healthy Eating
When women exercise too much and eat too little, amenorrhea can set in, causing a woman who has been menstruating regularly to miss periods. We asked sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, author of Sports Nutrition Guidebook, to explain the connection between fitness and amenorrhea, and how you can keep your body healthy.
Q: What is the relationship between amenorrhea and fitness?
A: It’s more about nutrition. When a person is doing a lot of exercising and not eating enough to support normal body functions, the body has to conserve energy. One way it conserves energy is to stop menstruating. Women have to know that it’s not normal. They sometimes think it’s just because they’ve been training really hard and they see it as being positive and they’re happy to be rid of the inconvenience of their period. But it’s normal for a woman’s body to have regular menstrual periods and abnormal for it not to. It’s your body sending you a sign that something is wrong.
Q: How drastic does your caloric deficit have to be before you stop menstruating?
Continue reading The Danger of Too Much Exercise and Not Enough Food