Question about fat and periods....

I've noticed that you need a lot more fat in your diet than i've been getting. I love fruits, vegetables, cereal, yogurt, and those deli turkey sandwich meats and thats pretty much all i ever eat. The problem is everything i eat has like no fat in it. I eat peanut butter a lot too but that only amounts to about 150 fat cals a day and everywhere i read i noticed says someone my age needs like 500 fat cals a day.

The reason i want to know if the amount of fat in your diet matters is because i basically lost my period and have no idea why. I was wondering if fat intake could be part of the problem. I usually have to take a progestine pill every 3 months or so because my doctor says i need to have on so estrogen cant build up and give me breast cancer or something like that.

I'm 18 5'3 115 pounds and somewhere between moderate and very active.

You should incorporate olives, olive oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, nuts, seeds, avocados & fish like salmon in your food routine! These fats will benefit your body greatly and perhaps help you get your period back, although a lot of girls lose their periods when they are very active, like you say you are. Now I am not saying you should cut back on your activity because that is also good for the body, but I think you should see your gyno or doctor about that one. My mom happens to be a gyno and she told me to go on birth control when I lost my period, and when I went back on it, it came back. 

If you're not getting enough fat from your diet, your body will take it from your deposits, and therefore you should still get your period. Unless you are skin and bones I wouldn't worry but you sound like you're at a healthy weight so you probably dont need to up your fat intake.

If you are getting enough calories, you should not stop having your period, even if you do not have a ton of fat.  Most guidelines recommend about 25-30% of your daily calories from fat, which would be around 500 if you're on a 2000 calorie diet.  Also, strenuous physical activity (like running a marathon) often causes women to miss periods, especially when they're younger and your cycles aren't as well established.  Most likely, losing your period is related to your birth control/hormones.  It's common to lose your period on some kinds of birth control, especially Depo or IUDs.  I would definitely ask your doctor; an OB/GYN would be best.

ok thankss .. i did go to the dr. and she said it was probably hormones and never said anything about diet. I was just curious since i realized how little fat i get on most days. I do get on medicine its just been over a year and a half and they havent came back yet... Ill just wait and see i guesss. I'm in no hurry to have a baby yet  

hey! sorry to hijack youre thread here rachel :)

i was just wondering if when people say you need a certain amount of fat for your period, do they mean you need to eat a certain amount or you need a certain amount on your body?? thats always confused me!

thanks x

Original Post by charlie1990:

hey! sorry to hijack youre thread here rachel :)

i was just wondering if when people say you need a certain amount of fat for your period, do they mean you need to eat a certain amount or you need a certain amount on your body?? thats always confused me!

thanks x

 Both :) I think you need to have around an 18% body fat or above ie the fat on your body, and be consuming about 25-30% fats from your diet. But someone may correct these figures because I'm likely to be wrong!

Things that cause your period to stop:

-lower body weight and/or body fat % than your body is comfortable at

-low calorie intake [even if you are maintaining, part of starvation mode as it gets worse is losing your period in an effort TO maintain on those too low calories]

-low fat intake

-high fiber intake

-over activity

...sometimes it's worth considering priorities and balance.  Yes you love certain foods, but is it worth indulging in eating "how you like" to the point it harms your health and limits your future? 

I mean what if someone just loved off of big mac's and fries then questioned if they should really change that becaues they were starting to have high blood pressure?  They would have to decide whether it was worth all the "yummy food" for the long term consequences. 

And just like they wouldn't need to have NO hamburgers and ALL fruits and veggies, increasing your fat intake and moderating fiber is a matter of proportions, not completely cutting out stuff.

I have to agree with the low dietary fat intake and lack of periods, I lost about 20lbs over a 2 year period going from 139 to 117ish, the dietary changes included elimating meats, a lot of dairy and cheese and basically eating fruit, veg, fat free yogurt and tofu (have started to add cheeses nad some dairy fat into my diet)

But I lost my period in Sept 07 and finally went to the gyno in Dec, had every hormone level known to man drawn and were all normal, the only thing we could determine was taht my fat intake was just too low, (25 grams/day max)

I am going to be starting BCP's in a week and hope that brings it back on, but I totally do believe that low fat intake (maybe even low cholesterol? intake) has something to do with the lack of menses.

Has the pill brought yours back?

I had exactly that issue!  I'm 5'3", got to 115 pounds, was between moderate and very active, and lost my period.  Although I had several tbsp of peanut butter every day, I was still not getting it.  Did you lose a lot of weight in a small amoutn of time recently?  That may have done it, since it stresses out your system and inbalances the hormones.

i lost like 15 pounds over about a year i would say.. not fast.

ive been trying to incorporate more fats in my diet as an experiment so we'll see how that goes. It's so hard for some reason though, i always feel sick to my stomach, it may be partly a mind thing though..

And the pill does bring it back but only after i take it.. after that it won't come back unless i take the progestine pill again