Question: Why would a woman have no cycle? Why would a woman have an anovulatory cycle?

Carrie: Remember, cortisol is very, very, very potent in the brain. If the body perceives itself is under stress, whether it's physical, mental, emotional, environmental, it doesn't matter, then reproduction is not its primary focus anymore. I had been thinking this for a long time. I didn't know how to eloquently say it and then she said it on stage one day. She said, "Ladies, whether you want to or not, I'm sorry, but you were put here to reproduce. Biology is what you do."

Now obviously not all women do and a lot of women, in fact, are trying to avoid it, but that's what the body is set up for. When you were under a lot of stress and under body fat, under body weight falls in that category, then your brain says, "This is a stressor. This is not a good time to get pregnant. I'm going to take away her ovulation and/or I'm going to make her cycle late and/or I'm going to take her cycle away completely all together."

This Q&A can also be found as part of a much longer episode, here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/podcast/2019/10/19/ask-us-anything-hormones-dr-carrie-jones-may-10-2019

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====== DISCLAIMER: I have a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and my expertise is in performing and evaluating nutritional research. I am not a medical doctor and nothing herein is medical advice. PLEASE NOTE: As a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the time I am committing to staying on top of relevant research, as well as the high volume of questions I receive, it may take me extra time to respond to questions here. For an up-to-date list of where I respond to questions most quickly, please see the contact page on chrismasterjohnphd.com.

Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

Chris Masterjohn, PhD, is the Founder and Scientific Director of the mitochondria test Mitome.