Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods
How a low carb or keto diet can affect female hormones and the menstrual cycle. Adequate glucose intake is required to signal the hypothalamus and LH pulsatility. Insufficient starch intake can, therefore, suppress luteinizing hormone and ovulation.
There can be a strong hormonal component to abdominal weight gain. And in most people, that hormone is insulin.
In episode six of my podcast/YouTube video (released in May 2022), I discuss insulin resistance, including why you could have insulin resistance even if your blood sugar is normal, the role of mitochondria, and all the ways to lower insulin and improve metabolism.
Ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone are beneficial for health. That means natural ovulatory menstrual cycles are beneficial for health because ovulation is how women make hormones.
Does that surprise you? Men make testosterone every day, so you might think women do something similar, but we don’t. Instead, women make hormones as a surge of estradiol leading up to ovulation and an even bigger surge of progesterone after ovulation.
In women, too much testosterone can cause insulin resistance and abdominal weight gain.
That’s why androgen excess is a factor in the weight gain associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), menopause, and some types of birth control.
This is my open letter to every clinician, personal trainer, and blogger who offers health advice without thinking about the importance of ovulation and natural ovulatory menstrual cycles.
Dear Sir,
Your restrictive dietary advice may cause young women to stop ovulating which is a problem because ovulation is how women make hormones.
That makes ovulation an essential part of human physiology and not just for making babies. Ovulation is not optional. Thank you.