How to get my period back?
Your period or female health is a reflection of your overall health so if you have lost your period it is likely that there is something in your life that is out of balance. Let’s take a look at what these might be in order to understand how we can rebalance ourselves.
The first would be a lack of calories or a nutritional deficiency. So making sure we are consuming enough calories in order to support our activity levels and general health is one of the first things we can/should address. We should also look at the quality of the foods we are eating. Remember that saying “you are what you eat”, well this is quite true/reflective of our health. If your diet is made up of too much ultra processed micronutrient sparse foods then our health will suffer as a result. It is important to focus on good quality whole foods made up of lean protein sources, healthy fats, fibre and complex carbohydrates to really help provide the body everything it needs in order to perform optimally. It is important to get a wide variety of plant foods (fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts) in your diet to help support hormonal and digestive health.
On a similar note it is important to address activity levels. Because of things like CrossFit and HIIT classes becoming very popular, there has been an increase in women losing their cycle as a result of their activity levels increasing more than their nutritional allowance allows. What I mean by this is that you can compete at a high level as a woman and still maintain your period however you need to make sure you adjust your calories and nutrition accordingly. The reason that women who start participating in these types of event lose their cycle is more an under fuelling issue rather than it being a too much exercise one.
Finally, I would say the other two main lifestyle factors that we can and should address is stress and sleep. Too much stress or too little sleep are definitely contributing factors in what is called functional hypothalamic amenorrhea. Whether working on stress management techniques and improving our sleep hygiene or bedtime routine will work towards improving our overall health and our cycle health as a result.
Finally PCOS is one of the most common reasons for a loss in cycle. This is believed to impact 20% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is usually characterised by either hyperandrogenism or insulin resistance. The first and foremost method of controlling for PCOS and recovering your cycle is through adopting a healthy lifestyle that works to reduce the insulin resistance, which in turn can help reduce the excess androgen levels. Through a combination of correct dietary practices and making sure you have started a resistance training program can help your body to become more insulin sensitive and help balance your sex hormones as a result.
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