You Can Have a Regular Period Without Ovulating — Here’s How to Know
You might think that getting a regular period means you are ovulating each month. Wrong!
The leading cause of fertility issues in women is actually not ovulating, also known as anovulation — when your body doesn’t release an egg. Even if your bleeds are regular, this doesn’t necessarily mean you are truly ovulating, and what you perceive as a period may not be a “true” period at all.
I’ve had many clients who come to me saying they get their periods consistently. One way to test whether ovulation is actually happening is through a hormone called progesterone. This hormone peaks about seven days after your predicted ovulation day. If your levels are at their highest at this point, it’s a good sign that ovulation has occurred. For many of my clients, though, testing progesterone reveals that it is lower than it should be, showing that they hadn’t actually ovulated — even though they had what looked like a period.
So, if you are getting regular bleeds but struggling to conceive, it’s worth getting your progesterone checked. Some signs that you may not be ovulating, even if you bleed monthly, include spotting throughout your cycle, very heavy or very light bleeds, or no noticeable changes in cervical mucus.
Apart from taking medication to kickstart your ovulation, nutrition should also be a factor to consider. Studies have shown that lifestyle factors contribute to about half of anovulatory infertility cases. This figure may be even higher in women who don’t have an official ‘infertility’ diagnosis but have been struggling to conceive for quite some time.
Since nutrition is considered a key lifestyle factor, if you are struggling to conceive, then nutrition should be one of the first lifestyle factors that you start to tweak.
What exactly can nutrition do for you?
-Get you ovulating again
-Optimise the quality of your eggs
-Optimise the chance of a fertilised egg actually implanting.
-Support your hormones
In essence, nutrition will help you build your dream family more easily and faster.
Powerful stuff, eh?
So, here are some small, ovulation promoting tweaks that you can get started on right away:
1) Add more plant protein into your diet (at least 5 meals per week to be based around plant protein). Plant protein includes soy-based products (think tofu, edamame beans, tempeh), beans, lentils and chickpeas, nuts and seeds.
2) Incorporate oily fish into your diet 2-3 times per week (Consider an algae-based supplement if vegan/vegetarian). One portion is considered 150g and source of oily fish include herring, salmon, trout, kippers, pilchards, mackerel and sardines.
3) Reduce consumption of confectionary goods (A treat should be something you have a couple of times per week max, not daily!).
4) Stick to the full-fat dairy. Studies have shown that full fat dairy can actually reduce the risk of anovulatory infertility whereas skimmed dairy can increase the risk.
My signature triple T framework emphasises the use of nutrition strategies that are sustainable and easy to implement in order to help restore ovulation. If you are fed up of the endless googling and engaging in FAD diets in an attempt to boost your fertility, then click here and book in for a FREE strategy call to find out how I can help you boost your fertility in a practical and sustainable way.