Intermittent fasting for your fertility
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Unlike traditional diets, which focus on what to eat, intermittent fasting is primarily about when you eat. The idea is to give your body extended breaks between meals.
Our bodies have the ability to go without food for long periods of time. We developed this feature perhaps because our ancestors did not always have an abundance of food.
How does intermittent fasting help with fertility?
Intermittent fasting may improve your sensitivity to insulin, therefore, supporting healthy blood sugar levels, restoring ovulation and improving your chances to conceive.
Unfortunately, most of the time-restricted eating studies were done on men or mice. Consequently, science has limited proof of how it affects women’s bodies and their fertility.
However, we believe, fasting may be particularly useful in some situations, for instance:
- high levels of insulin (prediabetes)
- need to lose weight quickly (for instance women needing a rapid weight loss leading to IVF)
- your periods stopped because of the excess weight
- you are diagnosed with PCOS with metabolic syndrome.
Popular intermittent fasting regimes:
- Fast for 16 or 14 hours each day, and then eat within an eight or 10-hour window.
- Alternate-day fasting: alternate days of regular eating with days of fasting.
- 5:2 fasting: fast for two days a week, and eat normal meals the other five days.
- One meal a day, no snacking in between.
A word of caution
While intermittent fasting may benefit some women, it’s essential to approach it carefully, as it may also disrupt your menstrual cycle – especially if you are underweight or at a healthy weight.
The female reproductive system is sensitive to calorie restriction. When you fast for long periods of time, your brain may decide that because no food is coming you must be in danger. Consequently, it starts conserving energy. The reproductive hormone axis goes into a pause mode, reducing estrogen production. Insufficient estrogen leads to suppressed ovulation, and your periods may become irregular or disappear completely. Even if it is scary, the good news is that this disruption is often reversible. In most cases, your periods will resume once you return to regular eating patterns and adequate caloric intake.
One of the most well known guides to intermittent fasting is the book by Jason Fung ‘The Obesity code’. This book provides an in-depth explanation of intermittent fasting, particularly in relation to weight management and insulin regulation.