Did you know that not having enough fat and doing enormous amounts of exercise could be contributing to your fertility issues?
How does that work?
There is a small amount of male sex hormone in the bloodstream of females. They come from the adrenals and their amount is only about 5 percent of that in males. Nevertheless, this is enough to cause trouble for your reproductive system.
Women produce an enzyme in the fat cells that usually deals with these androgens by converting them to oestrogens. But if you starve for whatever reason and your body weight drops, fat stores get depleted. So there isn’t enough fat around to convert all the androgen to oestrogen. Furthermore, androgen concentrations build up, which inhibits numerous steps in the reproductive system. The same will happen if you starve voluntarily. That means that dieting can be preventing you from having a baby.
Extreme physical activity
The same can happen in women who are extremely active physically. This has been best documented in young girls who are serious dancers or runners, in whom puberty can be delayed for years. Also in women who exercise enormous amounts, in whom cycles can become irregular or cease entirely.
It makes sense, when you think about it
An average pregnancy costs approximately 50,000 calories, and nursing costs about a thousand calories a day. Our bodies know that to become mums we need a reasonable amount of fat tucked away.
So stop the diet and the exhausting routines and focus on nourishing your body and soul.
Adapted from the book Why zebras don’t get ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky
Related articles:
Fertility yoga
Bodies in emergency: how does stress affect your fertility
Photo by Total Shape on Unsplash
