A pretty girl refused to eat starch to lose weight, and she actually stopped ovulating! Doctor: Extremely low-sugar diets for rapid weight loss may cause infertility

The media recently reported a case where a pretty girl refused to eat starch (carbohydrates) in order to lose weight, which led to her cessation of ovulation! Family physicians specifically remind people that if people adopt a low-sugar weight loss method, it can indeed produce quick results, but it is not recommended to follow an "extremely low-sugar diet" as it may lead to infertility due to excessive weight loss!

Dr. Lu Yunshan from the Department of Family Medicine at Taichung Maosheng Hospital pointed out that young women may suffer from hormonal imbalance and stop ovulating due to adopting an "extremely low-sugar diet." (Photo provided by Maosheng Hospital)

Dr. Lu Yunshan from the Department of Family Medicine at Taichung Maosheng Hospital pointed out that young women may suffer from hormonal imbalance and stop ovulating due to adopting an "extremely low-sugar diet." It is recommended that at least 50% of the food you consume every day should be starch, and the BMI should be maintained above 18.5. At the same time, Dr. You Zining from the Infertility Department also explained that not ovulating can cause infertility. In her clinical practice, she found that among people who do not eat starch to control their weight, this is very common among young women who love beauty, athletes, models, and entertainers, who are a high-risk group for difficulty in getting pregnant. But Dr. You warns that if losing too much weight leads to infertility, the benefits will outweigh the costs.

Avoiding starch to lose weight quickly may cause infertility. Keeping BMI above 18.5 will not harm fertility.

Dr. Lu Yunshan also pointed out that it is popular nowadays to adopt a low-sugar weight loss method, which can indeed produce quick results, but she does not recommend a "very low-sugar diet." If you don't eat starch, or eat too little, your body will not get enough calories, your hormone secretion will be abnormal (the endocrine system cannot function normally), your menstrual cycle will be disrupted, and it will be difficult to conceive.

A reminder: 50% of each person's daily food intake must be carbohydrates (starch). It would be even better if the intake of "refined starch" could be reduced at the same time. For example, bread, cakes, snacks, biscuits, etc. are all poor quality foods, high in calories and fat, but very few nutrients. Grains and root vegetables are high-quality sources of calories for the human body, such as rice, brown rice, and noodles, which are all very good carbohydrates. As long as the food is in its "original form", it is good for the human body.

Losing too much weight or being too underweight can cause the ovaries to stop ovulating and lead to infertility. (Photo provided by Maosheng Hospital)

In addition to providing the body with the main calories, carbohydrates are also rich in many essential nutrients, such as vitamin B, which must be converted through carbohydrates before it can be absorbed by the body. Therefore, Dr. Lu Yunshan urges women who want to lose weight not to stop eating starch in order to lose weight. Not only should they have a balanced diet, but their BMI (body mass index) should also be maintained above 18.5. Otherwise, being too thin will affect the menstrual cycle and endanger fertility.

Being too thin or too fat can affect hormone secretion and lead to infertility

Dr. You Zining from the Infertility Department of Maosheng Hospital also pointed out that clinically, it has been found that among the groups who do not eat starch to control their weight, in addition to young women who want to be thin, it is also common among athletes who need to strictly control their weight, and models and entertainers who want to maintain a slim figure in front of the camera. However, insufficient calorie intake will make it difficult to meet the needs of the body's organs, and it will be impossible to maintain normal hormone secretion. Losing too much weight or being too underweight will cause the ovaries to stop ovulating and lead to infertility.

In addition to infertility caused by excessive weight loss, being overweight is also one of the main causes of infertility, which is also caused by hormonal imbalance in the body. She observed that among many women of fertile age but infertile, those with polycystic ovary disease formed a large group. Because being overweight affects their body's ovulation function, and if the ovulation function is abnormal, it will be difficult to conceive. Further investigation, is it polycystic ovary that causes obesity? Or is it obesity that causes polycystic ovary? This big question is one that is difficult for the medical community to trace back to its source, but a vicious cycle will be formed between the two, so women should be careful.

When encountering obese infertile patients in clinical practice, Dr. You Zining will first ask them to adopt a weight loss plan. Young women have enough time to spend half a year to lose weight and then return to treat infertility. Dr. You has treated overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome. After losing 10% of their weight, the patients ovulated naturally and became pregnant successfully. However, older women over 40 years old do not have time to lose weight slowly and have to continue with infertility treatment, which is a difficult process. As for women who have lost weight for more than half a year without any effect, the infertility treatment is equally difficult.