Eating disorders and fertility in women
Updated: Apr 14
Fertility is not gender, size or shape based; it is for everyone. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder can affect fertility.
In this blog we give tips on how to improve your fertility if you have an eating disorder, have had an eating disorder in the past, or are in recovery.
It is important to remember that there are elements we can not control so if a natural pregnancy does not happen for you there is nothing wrong with you and there are elements you can focus on to improve fertility.
How eating disorders impact fertility
Eating disorders disrupt your body's function, including reproductive health. Women who have an eating disorder, in recovery or who are recovered, are more likely than other women to take over a year to conceive.
5 ways eating disorders impact fertility
1. Being underweight
If you are underweight from an eating disorder or stress caused from eating disorders it can cause hormonal imbalances which can cause disruptions to menstruation and your cycle.
2. Lack of periods
Eating disorders have a severe impact on women, 68-89% reported amenorrhoea during their eating disorder. If you do not have a period, this means you won't be ovulating. Which means no egg is released to become fertilised.
3. Hormone fluctuations
During an eating disorder the hormones progesterone and oestrogen will fluctuate. Their role in these hormones is to thicken the lining of the uterus to support a pregnancy.
4. Calorie intake
Oestrogen can decrease in cases of prolonged calorie restriction causing the ovaries and uterus to return to prepubertal length and size.
5. Ability to support a pregnancy
When trying to conceive and grow a foetus it requires extra vitamins and minerals which are often not met when you are struggling with an eating disorder. Depleted levels of potassium, vitamin D, and calcium will increase difficulty of conception.
Can you become pregnant if you have an eating disorder?
Yes. You can become pregnant if you have an eating disorder as not all lose their period.
Eating disorder recovery is the first step in improving your fertility to become pregnant. This is because your body needs to be prepared to ensure you have a safe and healthy pregnancy
Can you get pregnant if you don't have a period?
It depends. If you are still ovulating, then yes. If you ovulating irregularly, it might be less common but no impossible.
There are many reasons you may have lost your period, for example:
Too little food intake or not eating enough
Stress
Hormonal changes
Health conditions, especially PCOS
Medications you're taking
Breastfeeding
Birth control or coming off of contraceptive (known as a post-pill bleed)
How to improve your fertility if you have an eating disorder
If you are having trouble with your fertility there are a few steps you can take to improve your fertility and help you on your journey to pregnancy.
It's important to remember there are elements which we can not change. We need to acknowledge that a natural pregnancy is not a guarantee for everyone. We want to remind you if this is the case for you, it's not your fault and there's nothing wrong with you.
It can be a hard thing to accept but once you do you can focus your time and energy on what you can do to move forward with your fertility journey.
Having a good support system can help a partner, friends, family, doctors and nurses.
Self care; having time to yourself, reducing your screen time, and doing what makes you feel good.
Stress management like meditating, doing yoga or journaling
Sleep is so important for our bodies and can have a positive impact on our reproductive health. There is evidence to show that it affects hormones related to ovulation.
Smoking damages the material in the egg and sperm and reduces the chance of getting pregnant by half compared to a non-smoking couple. We recommend getting support from your GP.
Supplements during the pre-natal stage and in early pregnancy can help the risk of preeclampsia, preterm deliveries, and neural tube defects.
Gentle nutrition focuses on what to add to our diets to enhance health. Our nutritionists + dietitians can support you with a healthy approach to nutrition, while healing your realtionship to food.
Movement can be enjoyable, but only if its approaches are supportable but if you feel like it's causing you too much stress and making you feel exhausted it might be doing more harm than good.
There are many factors that influence fertility. One of the biggest is your relationship to food - which impacts so many areas of your life.
If you're looking to become pregnant, but you're struggling with your realtionship to food, we encourage you to get in touch with us. We can support you where you are, and your hopeful pregnancy in the future.
Team Ease Nutrition Therapy x
