Ladies-Can Cutting Meat From Your Diet Affect Ovulation?

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ronnie786
ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was wondering if any of you ladies have any imput on this.
I completely cut out meat from my diet this month well I'm a week into not eating meat.
I stopped eating meat the week I was supposed to ovulate today is cd12 I usually ovulate on cd11 but I've had no signs of ovulation what so ever so far. So is it possible the lack of meat can cause delayed/missed ovulation?

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  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    I believe it has some effect on women due to a lack of iron.. But I'm not really sure
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
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    I'm not a physician, but I don't think anything would change in a week.

    A very low calorie diet or a rapid weight loss could mess with your cycle.
  • Tigermum9
    Tigermum9 Posts: 546 Member
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    all I can say is that during 2 of my pregnancies I ate barely any fat, I concieved fine!
  • stephanieisgettingfit2
    stephanieisgettingfit2 Posts: 11
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    I'm not a doctor but I have eliminated near from my diet this month as well and I ovulated. I think it might be a case by case thing.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    How is your fat intake? I found (for myself, YMMV) that decreasing fat intake can affect menstrual cycles. Also, any change in activity (like a new, more intense workout) can delay ovulation. Happened for me the first two cycles of my weight loss. Ovulation was delayed for 7 days+, and luteal phase was shortened to 9-10days. It's back to normal now, as my body has adjusted to my new activity level.

    Also, if you track your cycles by BBT (basal body temping--that's what I do), ovulation can vary by several days, that's completely normal (I've got years of charting under my belt--so I've "seen it all"). A couple of days is no worry. If it's more than that (like several missed cycles), it's a good idea to consult with your physician.
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies guys. I've had no problems with my cycle since starting my weight loss journey, I've only had one unusual cycle but im guessing that was down to travelling and a change in my routine. I've done nothing different this month apart from cutting meat from my diet.
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    I believe it has some effect on women due to a lack of iron.. But I'm not really sure
    I do have an iron deficiency so maybe there is some truth in that.
  • Zohar94
    Zohar94 Posts: 25 Member
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    Hey I have been flexi/vegetarian for something like four years now. I have had an unregular menstruation because of being too much overweight so i cannot tell you anything about regularity of ovulation. But i do think there is a relation between meat and your cycle because the one time in the month when i really crave meat is when i am menstruating, so i think it has to do with the iron thing.. but the good news is that you can add more iron to your diet by eating more spinach, beans, nuts etc.
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    How is your fat intake? I found (for myself, YMMV) that decreasing fat intake can affect menstrual cycles. Also, any change in activity (like a new, more intense workout) can delay ovulation. Happened for me the first two cycles of my weight loss. Ovulation was delayed for 7 days+, and luteal phase was shortened to 9-10days. It's back to normal now, as my body has adjusted to my new activity level.

    Also, if you track your cycles by BBT (basal body temping--that's what I do), ovulation can vary by several days, that's completely normal (I've got years of charting under my belt--so I've "seen it all"). A couple of days is no worry. If it's more than that (like several missed cycles), it's a good idea to consult with your physician.
    I've been charting for a few year's too lol, tbh I find BBT too confusing I chart CM changes mostly and I seem to get my period 13days after the last day of EWCM, so I tend to stress when I don't see any lol.. there's no change in my fat intake as far as im aware of or activity level...
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    Hey I have been flexi/vegetarian for something like four years now. I have had an unregular menstruation because of being too much overweight so i cannot tell you anything about regularity of ovulation. But i do think there is a relation between meat and your cycle because the one time in the month when i really crave meat is when i am menstruating, so i think it has to do with the iron thing.. but the good news is that you can add more iron to your diet by eating more spinach, beans, nuts etc.
    Hey zohar94 did you notice a difference in your cycle when you became a vegetarian? I'm starting to think the lack of iron might have something to do with it.
  • lc355
    lc355 Posts: 91 Member
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    I gave up meat before puberty and have never really had a healthy diet (I'm working on that now). Whenever I've had blood tests my iron levels have always been low (working on that too now). Despite that I've always had regular periods and have two children. I'm no expert though and maybe a sudden change in diet could cause changes but on it's own, I don't think not eating meat would affect it.
    Also, iron levels don't drop suddenly by a change in diet as we have stores of it, although they would if there was significant blood loss. Is there any chance you could be pregnant?
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    I would highly recommend keeping an eye on your iron intake if you are cutting meat out of your diet and yes it can affect your cycle if you are not getting enough, same issue if you are not getting enough fat in although they affect different stages of the process.

    That being said. I get MORE than enough iron and fat in my diet (the blood bank loves me, type O+ and can do double red blood cell donations), I have been losing about as slowly as physically possible and the weight loss STILL played havoc with my cycle this last month. Just randomly decided to take a two week break in the middle :noway: and then finished up two weeks later. The husband was very annoyed :tongue: . So I would say keep an eye on it, but know that it's not uncommon for these types of changes to throw everything for a loop.
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    I gave up meat before puberty and have never really had a healthy diet (I'm working on that now). Whenever I've had blood tests my iron levels have always been low (working on that too now). Despite that I've always had regular periods and have two children. I'm no expert though and maybe a sudden change in diet could cause changes but on it's own, I don't think not eating meat would affect it.
    Also, iron levels don't drop suddenly by a change in diet as we have stores of it, although they would if there was significant blood loss. Is there any chance you could be pregnant?
    I have somewhat regular periods ranging from 24-30 days. I have an iron deficiency already so maybe the lack of meat had an effect? I'm not pregnant just charting my cycles to get a rough idea.
  • ronnie786
    ronnie786 Posts: 24 Member
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    I would highly recommend keeping an eye on your iron intake if you are cutting meat out of your diet and yes it can affect your cycle if you are not getting enough, same issue if you are not getting enough fat in although they affect different stages of the process.

    That being said. I get MORE than enough iron and fat in my diet (the blood bank loves me, type O+ and can do double red blood cell donations), I have been losing about as slowly as physically possible and the weight loss STILL played havoc with my cycle this last month. Just randomly decided to take a two week break in the middle :noway: and then finished up two weeks later. The husband was very annoyed :tongue: . So I would say keep an eye on it, but know that it's not uncommon for these types of changes to throw everything for a loop.
    I'm seeing the doctor next week to hopefully sort my iron out. Woah 2 weeks? I bet he was lol I'm guessing ovulation might be late this month:ohwell:
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
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    it may be possible but from personal experience i only had ovulation problems when i weighed 100 pounds more. Since losing I am more regular then I have ever been.

    btw.....vegetarian since 1995

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