Fasting and female health

This topic contains 5 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by TracyJ 10 years, 2 months ago.

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Tianithen

11:05 am
11 Jan 14
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Hi,
Sorry about a long and rambling post – I hope you guys can help me, and sorry if this is in the wrong section, it is kind of a cross topic topic…

I have been fasting a few months now (was doing 5:2 and then 6:1), and have recently been seeing blogs/ articles inferring that fasting has negative effects on hormonal health in women.
I have not had a period since September and had not linked this to fasting but perhaps it is. On the other hand I am irregular anyway it seems, the previous year I went about 6 months without and at that time was suffering with binge eating (one of the reasons I started fasting in the first place), so plenty of calories going in but still no period. I know there are many causes of irregularity and I do not have any other unusual symptoms, I am a bit of an insomniac (apparently both of these factors relate to stress, consciously I feel fine, but who knows subconsciously, but can also be caused by calorie deficits… as I am sure you can appreciate it is hard to separate the many potentially interacting factors of life into causes and effects)
Another point to add is that having reached my target weight I went on to 6:1 maintenance to try and keep my weight constant, I then moved to Copenhagen (where I do not own scales), and over xmas weighed myself at my parents house to find I had lost nearly another stone and was bordering on underweight :/ so it seems even 6:1 and eating well on the non fast days my body still looses weight.
I am considering switching to the 16/8 regime in order to still have a fasting time but also so that I can eat a reasonable number of calories each day (ie not have a calorie deficit)
Could anyone advise me on the following
1) Does the 16/8 have the same health benefits as 5:2/ 6:1 (most of what I can find is tied in with fat loss/ muscle gain and I am not so interested in that more the long term health benefits… I am a small, slim female, so unlikely to gain muscle and really don’t want to loose anymore weight!), and do I need to exercise in the fasted state to get these benefits
2) Has anyone else experienced loss of periods (and also sleeplessness and increase in pent up energy/ restlesness) during fasting and do you think me going onto 16/8 and having the RDA of calories during my feed window would help prevent this
3) Have you any advice on how I can get the benefits of fasting whilst avoiding these negative effects (unlikely I know as everyone would be doing it!), but I’m open to suggestions, even alternative methods of fasting.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies, I shall post now before it gets any longer though no doubt I’ll think of other things I want answering once I do so!

fast for life

11:53 am
11 Jan 14
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Hi Tianithen,
I dont have any advice, only i myself have had the oposite, my periods didnt stop for almost a year, i throught it was my coil so had it removed and changed to the mini pill, still no change, for a good 4/5 months i was fasting 4 3, the week i swapped back to 5 2 my period stopped for 8 weeks. my doctor had refered me to hospital for tests, i explained all about the fasting and the doctor at the hospital said it was very unlikely to be linked, he did a biopsy and im waiting for results, he thinks its all linked to my age and the change of life, im 47,
i do struggle to drop off to sleep on my fasting days, but it has got much better, this is very common with men and women here on the forum, sorry i have no words of advice or answers, but it is nice to know your not alone, x

dscarlin

6:19 am
10 Feb 14
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Hello, Tianithen

Your experiences almost mirror mine, as I have been experiencing insomnia, as well as reduced periods, which seem to have fallen into a pattern of every two months. I don’t mind this, but still get the PMT (P = Permanent!), however I am not enjoying what seems like anxiety pain. This may be explained by the article below.

I started the 5:2 in July 2013 and am thrilled with the results. The record cumulative weight loss to date has been 16.5 kg and I am now fluctuating around the 15.2 kg mark. After 26 weeks, I decided to try 6:1 and am working through this to see how effective it is.

This article is quite long, but I’ve highlighted a couple of sections which might explain my recurrent insomnia, change to periods and the pain may be related to the comments about ovaries! Fascinating …

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/373665/Caveman-fasting-diet-may-leave-women-diabetic

“There is increasing evidence that women are less likely to lose weight and more prone to unpleasant side effects such as insomnia, impaired fertility and increased stress hormones.”

“Studies at the American National Institute on Ageing found that when rats are put on a restricted diet the females stop ovulating and their ovaries shrink.”

“They also become increasingly alert and active, which may account for the fact women are also more susceptible to insomnia on the 5:2 regime.”

Of course, these symptoms would all be relevant to the peri-menopause, but something to think about! If I have any bright ideas, I’ll write again.

Meanwhile, hang in there!

arla

6:30 am
10 Feb 14
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I had crazy hormone changes for 4 months – but that was before trying IF. I had tests for perimenopause and sadly it wasn’t due to that. It was probably stress – low level and no anxiety.

If you’re usually irregular, do you have PCOS … and could that be linked more than IF?

dscarlin

8:57 am
10 Feb 14
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Arla. I was tested for PCOS, but a very long time ago. I’ve since had a fallopian tube removed. However, now you’ve prompted me, I’ve decided to book a “tune up” next week, to see if the pain is “female” or some form of IBS. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply 🙂

TracyJ

1:57 pm
10 Feb 14
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Hi Tianithen, I have a strong suspicion that 5:2 does very much affect your hormone levels, although none of it has been in a negative way for me personally.

I have had the odd bout of insomnia/restlessness at about the 6 month point but that was a long time ago and seemed to pass quickly.

My periods were horrendous prior to 5:2 and are now perfectly regular, light and almost pain free (in comparison to what they were like before it’s night & day, although to be fair I was ALWAYS regular).

My skin (spots – STILL – at 34???) cleared up completely after about 2 weeks on 5:2 and has never looked back and I did used to have eczema, which I have only had one minor flare-up of since starting 5:2 (18 months ago).

I have no idea what my levels were prior to 5:2 but I WAS about 15 stone (as a 5ft4 woman that’s not good really) so I don’t suppose they were great. I’ve just had a full ‘health MOT’ after joining a gym and my blood glucose & colesterol are both well under 5 (which is apparently very good), my BP is perfect which is AMAZING as I have always had high BP as do the entire female line of my family. I also have a “really good” resting BP of 52BPM. I am VERY happy with all of these ‘health benefits’. I had suspected that 5:2 was doing fabulous things to my insides but it is great to have it confirmed. I still have about 20lb to go before I would be considered close to my ideal weight but I honestly couldn’t care less if I stop losing weight right now, as long as I get to keep all these lovely benefits.

I think as far as your issues with periods go, you should probably get checked out by your doctor. If you’ve always had ‘spotty’ periods you may have something else going on besides the ups & downs of hormones and the first step is to know what it is and at least put your mind at rest with regards to the uncertainty.

I don’t know what your method of fasting is but mine is a mix of 5:2 and 16:8 whereby I totally fast for between 16 and 24 hours every single day and have an ‘eating window’ of between 1-8 hours every day. During this window, 5 days a week I try to stick on or under my TDEE and twice a week I eat 500-600 calories. I also try to always exercise towards the end of my fast (before I eat anything). Seems to work for me and as I say, all of my hormonal effects have been positive ones (but we were very different ‘types’ as far as periods go – prior to 5:2).

As far as maintaining your weight goes. Obviously I’m not there yet but I expect it to take some time and experimentation to get it right once I am. I think it will be important to pay attention to my total weekly intake and to ensure that whatever I am missing out on fastdays is being added to my ‘normal’ intake on non-fastdays. If you are currently still doing 2 500 calorie fastdays then your total calorie deficit for the week is going to be whatever your TDEE is, minus 500 calories X 2. Depending what your TDEE is, you could be on a deficit of well over 2000 calories per week if you are still only eating up to your TDEE on non-fastdays? You would need to add those 2000 deficit calories back into your TDEE for the other 5 days in order to maintain. I think anyway.

I hope you figure it out & find something that works for you – let us know how you get on wont you.