---
title: Can not eating enough or overexercising stop your period? | Niyora
description: Yes. Between 16% and 47% of lean female athletes have disordered eating. Low energy, excessive exercise, and stress can stop periods, but periods usually retu
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menses-requires-energy-a-review-of-how-disordered-eating-excessive-exercise-and-2020/
---

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- Can not eating enough or overexercising stop your period?

Review, 2020

# Can not eating enough or overexercising stop your period?

Yes. Between 16% and 47% of lean female athletes have disordered eating. Low energy, excessive exercise, and stress can stop periods, but periods usually return when these causes are addressed.

 Early or limited evidence

Young women, especially female athletes in ballet, running, gymnastics, and figure skating

## What they did

Reviewed scientific literature on how low weight, excessive exercise, and high stress cause menstrual irregularities.

## What they found

Between 16% and 47% of lean female athletes have disordered eating. Low energy availability, excessive exercise, and stress disrupt hormone regulation, causing low estrogen and amenorrhea. Low estrogen leads to bone loss, tissue atrophy, infertility, and pain during intercourse. Weight gain and addressing eating disorders or stress restore menstruation.

## What it means for you

If your periods have stopped, consider whether eating, exercise, or stress might be responsible. Gaining weight and recovering from eating disorders are the best treatments. In resistant cases, hormone therapy with transdermal estrogen and progesterone may be needed. This is a review of existing research.

16-47%

Lean female athletes with disordered eating

## About the study

Original title Menses Requires Energy: A Review of How Disordered Eating, Excessive Exercise, and High Stress Lead to Menstrual Irregularities Authors Huhmann K Journal Clinical therapeutics Year 2020 Study design Review What was tested Weight gain and lifestyle modification; hormone replacement in resistant cases Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2020.01.016](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2020.01.016)

## Topics

[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Exercise and yoga](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-exercise/)[Eating disorders](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-eating-disorders/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)[Athletes and sport](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-athletes/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

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Survey study, 2026

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Survey study, 2021

Does physical activity or age at first period affect how much PMS a teenage girl experiences?

Cohort study, 2019

How do exercise, diet and weight affect menstrual problems?

Cohort study, 2015

How common are PMS and PMDD in young female athletes?

Survey study, 2009

What factors are linked to more severe premenstrual syndrome in adolescents?

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