Intermittent Fasting Reduces Fertility Boosting Hormone: Study

Intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating (TRE), impacts the DHEA hormone in pre and post-menopausal women. The popular dieting pattern causes decreases in the production of the hormone, which is recommended for enhanced egg quality and ovarian function, a study has revealed.

The findings of the study were published in the monthly journal, Obesity. The study, whose participants comprised pre and post-menopausal women, was conducted over a period of eight weeks. The study is a step towards answering an important question: Is it healthy to do intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that restricts the time one can eat during the day. It could involve not eating for a certain number of hours a day or having 24-hour fasts a couple of times during the week. In this particular study, pre and post-menopausal women had a 4 to 6-hour eating window. Women who undertook the diet reported a weight loss of 3 to 4%. The research team found that the TRE did not change the levels of sex-binding globulin hormone. This is a protein that carries reproductive hormones throughout the body. Levels of testosterone and estrogen also remained unchanged.

However, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) was significantly reduced in both groups of women at the end of the eight weeks. It had decreased by about 14%. DHEA has fertility benefits and fertility clinics often recommend it for better ovarian function. A 14% drop is minor; despite the drop, DHEA levels fell in the normal range.

Lead researcher Krista Varady highlighted that the hormone has been connected to the risk for breast cancer. Thus, a moderate drop in levels may help reduce that risk. Varady also pointed out that women in the control group lost almost no weight, while those who fasted lost 3 to 4% of their body weight. The researcher said that “in pre-menopausal women, the minor drop in DHEA levels has to be weighed against the proven fertility benefits of lower body mass.”

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