Why your period stop?

It can be quite frustrating if you are trying to get pregnant, yet have no period. Having a healthy cycle is step one for boosting your fertility naturally and being able to get pregnant. There are a couple of reasons your cycle may be irregular such as stress, dietary deficiencies, low body weight, getting off of birth control pills, hormonal imbalance, per-menopause or other underlying issues.

Since the lining of the uterus is not being shed, it is very important to clear out the old blood and establish a healthy cycle again. This can be done naturally and effectively with herbs and nutrition. I have talked with many clients who have been offered synthetic estrogen to get their period going again… taking synthetic estrogen for this issue is like using a sledge hammer on a thumb tack.

Causes of Absent Period

A menstrual cycle that has stopped is not a disease, it may be a sign that there is an underlying imbalance in the body. A regular menstrual cycle is regulated by a complex system of messages and actions orchestrated by the endocrine system. The endocrine glands work together to send messages via hormones. This is called the feedback loop.

As you can see a healthy cycle is dependent on each part of the feedback loop functioning properly. Think of it as an orchestra, if just one part of the cycle is off, it will throw the entire cycle off, causing imbalances that can affect regular menstrual cycles.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Sometimes the body is not getting enough nutrition daily to be able to sustain normal functions, including the menstrual cycle. There are many very important nutrients the body requires to maintain a healthy menstrual cycle. Nutritional deficiencies can actually cause menstrual cycle irregularities and eventually may cause the entire cycle to stop.

What you eat daily makes up every part of your body. You are what you eat!

Learn how to eat a healthy whole food fertility diet! Harvard performed a recent study that showed an 80% decrease in infertility with the lifestyle changes made by switching to a fertility diet. Women who followed a combination of five or more lifestyle factors, including changing specific aspects of their diets, experienced more than 80 percent less relative risk of infertility due to ovulatory disorders compared to women who engaged in none of the factors, according to a paper published in the Nov. 1 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Eating a wide variety of whole foods is vital to a healthy menstrual cycle. The body relies on the food we consume daily to function at its best. There are key nutrients and foods that support a healthy menstrual cycle, if any of these are lacking there may be a deficiency that may be contributing to an absent period. Be sure you are getting enough of the following…

• Iron: Studies have shown that women who do not get sufficient amounts of iron may suffer anovulation (lack of ovulation) and possibly poor egg health, which can inhibit pregnancy at a rate 60% higher than those with sufficient iron stores in their blood. 

Foods rich in iron are divided into two groups heme and nonheme (an animal source or a non-animal source). 

Heme iron sources are grass fed, free range organic bison, chicken, eggs, elk, beef and wild caught Alaskan salmon. 

Nonheme iron rich foods include blackstrap molasses, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, beans, nettles, amaranth, dark leafy greens, Turkish apricots (unsulphured), seaweed, and quinoa.

“In a study women who were having ovulation problems, 40% became fertile after supplementing with iron.”


• Vitamin C: Vitamin C improves hormone levels and increases fertility in women. The body requires food sources of vitamin C for proper iron absorption, so be sure to eat a food high in vitamin C when consuming a food high in iron. Great food sources of vitamin C are red bell peppers, oranges, strawberries and hibiscus flower tea.

• B Vitamins: Green vegetables are rich in B vitamins which are necessary for proper hormonal balance. Think of Swiss chard, kale, watercress, seaweed, spirulina, collard greens, nettles, parsley and basil!

• Essential fatty acids: EFA’s are important for hormone production. Many women are low in EFA’s, specifically omega 3. Some foods rich in EFA’s are Flaxseeds, walnuts, salmon, sardines, halibut, shrimp, snapper, scallops, chia seeds and cod liver oil.

• Cholesterol: Cholesterol is necessary for hormone production. Avoid eating a ‘low-fat’ diet and make sure to eat a diet that includes whole fat animal products sourced from grass-fed animals. Foods rich in clean cholesterol: grass-fed beef, raw milk from grass-fed cows or goats, whole milk yogurt and kefir, free-range/pastured eggs, butter from grass-fed milk (Kerry Gold is a common one) and coconut oil.

• Fiber: Fiber helps to remove excess hormones from the body which may be causing hormonal imbalance. Fiber also helps to regulate the blood sugar levels which helps to reduce fertility issues such as PCOS, immunological issues, and promotes healthy hormonal balance. Some examples of high fiber foods are fresh fruits, vegetables, dark leafy greens, and beans.
  

• Zinc: This is just one of the minerals that the body uses to keep hormone levels (like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) levels stable throughout the entire menstrual cycle. It is especially important during stage 2 and 4 of a woman’s cycle. A woman’s body needs a certain amount of zinc to produce mature eggs that are ripe for fertilization. The richest source of Zinc are oysters, but some easy to find sources are raw pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds and tahini sesame seed butter.

A great way to support the body in getting all the necessary nutrients it needs daily is to take a whole food multivitamin. Including a whole food multivitamin, along with eating a fertility diet is the first step in getting your period back!

Being Overweight or Underweight

There is a direct link between anovulation and obesity and those women who are. Body fat cells, called adipocytes produce estrogen.

 Obese women may have too much estrogen due to too much body fat. Women who are underweight may also have anovulation due to lack of body fat. There may not be enough estrogen or adequate cholesterol levels being maintained to support the menstrual cycle. 

Studies have shown that women with extreme exercise habits have significantly lower levels of estradiol due to low levels of body fat in key areas of the body, leading to anovulation.

Estrogen is essential for healthy bone formation, healthy gene expression, maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, and is vital for a healthy menstrual cycle. Too much estrogen, or too little in the body may cause the feedback loop to not function properly and the menstrual cycle may cease. Now you can see why it is so important to have adequate amounts of body fat; not too much and not too little!

Stress

Stress may cause the body to stop the menstrual cycle. Stress causes the body to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenalin that prevent our fertility hormones from being released at the correct times in the menstrual cycle. This can cause a disruption in the menstrual cycle by affecting how the adrenal glands function. Reducing stress and supporting adrenal health is essential to a healthy menstrual cycle and is a relatively easy fix for healthy fertility. The adrenal glands also directly impact thyroid health.

Thyroid issues

Poor thyroid function may cause the menstrual cycle to stop. An overactive thyroid that produces too many thyroid hormones is called Hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid is underactive and does not produce enough thyroid hormones. An absent menstrual cycle is a sign of hyperthyroidism, where irregular or heavy cycles may be a sign of hypothyroidism. 

Pituitary tumor

A pituitary tumor may cause disruption of the release of and manufacturing of certain hormones which may cause the menstrual cycle to stop. 

Premature Ovarian Failure

POF, also known as Ovarian Hypofunction, is defined as a loss of normal ovarian function before the age of 40. The menstrual cycle may cease before the age of 40, or become sporadic.

Perimenopause and Menopause

Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause. As perimenopause progresses toward menopause, it is normal for menstrual cycles to become irregular and for hormone levels to fluctuate. The menstrual cycle may become absent for many cycles and then suddenly come back for a couple cycles, and then go away again, becoming sporadic for a some years. As ovarian reserve diminishes and egg health declines, FSH levels rise, the menstrual cycle will become more and more irregular, until eventually it stops.

Menopause is defined as absent menstruation for a year or longer. Menopause may also be confirmed by elevated FSH levels between 60 to 100mL/L on two tests done at least 1 month apart, and/or LH level greater than 50mIU/L and estradiol less than 50pg/mL. Natural therapies cannot reverse the aging process, or bring back the menstrual cycles in a woman who has already gone through, or is going through menopause.

When to see a doctor?

If you have not had a menstrual period for 3 consecutive cycles or more, it is time to make an appointment with your healthcare practitioner. They can help you to determine what the causes may be. Most medical doctors will often prescribe oral contraceptives (birth control pill) to get the menstrual cycle to regulate. It is important to realize that this method will force the body to have a cycle and prevent pregnancy. Oral contraceptives do not solve the problem of why the menstrual cycle is absent to begin with. Luckily there are natural therapies such as herbs, specific massage techniques, supplements, stress reduction techniques and dietary changes than can help support the body in regulating the menstrual cycle in most cases.