One of the hallmark features of systemic imbalance in female athletes is amenorrhea (missing at least three menstrual cycles in a row) or in athletes “exercise associated amenorrhea”.
A warning sign
What is it? Well quite simply the body begins to shut down organ systems that are non essential for survival. Make no mistake, this is warning sign that the body is under too much stress and has too little energy availability to support healthy athletic function.
Key causes
- High volume and intensity of exercise
- Too low body fat
- Under recovery
- Over training/Over reaching
- Inability to rest and get away from the sport (usually lots of junk miles)
- Hormone imbalance
- Blood sugar imbalance
- UNDER FUELLING & disordered eating
- Lack of understanding of energy availability
Risks of ignoring these symptoms
- Loss of bone density
- Symptoms of menopause such as flushing and hot flashes
- Vaginal dryness
- An increased risk of heart and blood vessel disorders.
- Inability to become pregnant
- Damage to the uterine lining, fibroids and polyps.
- Low mood
- Chronic poor sleeps os also really common
- Chronic high cortisol (stress hormone)
- RED-S
If you feel like you have answered yes to many of these symptoms.
Make contact with The Nadura Clinic and one of the team will arrange to give you a call to see if The Nadura Clinic is the right fit for you.
Prevention is better than cure
Remember prevention is better than cure. When women resume their regular periods after seeing a nutritionist or medical Doctor they did regain a small amount of bone density, but never completely returned to normal mass density levels. It’s true that exercise-associated amenorrhea leads to irreversible bone loss.
If your worried that you may need support, female hormone testing, bloods or if you just want to ensure your fuelling and training effectively to maintain both health & performance please contact us now
Clinic Manager at The Nadura Clinic
Lisa Tobin-Leech will direct you to one of our team.
hello@nadura.ie
