Health News / July 2007
Bone Tired
Women are accustomed to being advised to eat less and exercise more, but young women who practice strict exercise and dieting regimens may harm their body’s ability to form new bone, which can lead to osteoporosis later in life. A new study indicates that women up to the age of thirty are at risk for bone loss and that rigorous exercise and extreme dieting can predispose them to osteoporosis. Researchers recommend that the more women exercise, the more they need to eat to stay healthy.
“Thousands of women severely restrict their diet and practice rigorous exercise programs for fitness and weight control,” said Anne Loucks, professor of biological sciences at Ohio University and lead author on the new study. “Because some don’t see obvious signs of undernourishment, such as a disrupted menstrual cycle, they may think they’re eating enough. If their diet does not supply enough energy to fuel their exercise level, though, they may be harming themselves. They need to replenish those calories.”
Earlier studies have shown that too few calories, which translates into low energy availability, disrupts the reproductive system and impairs bone formation in teens and college-age females. If a young woman’s menstrual cycle stopped, it was considered a warning sign of bone loss. However, this latest research indicates that a regular menstrual cycle does not necessarily mean that she is adequately nourished.
Although the reproductive system is much less dependent on energy availability in slightly older women after they stop growing, the women remain at risk for bone loss, according to new findings presented in June by Loucks and Ohio University undergraduate student Aiden Shearer at the Endocrine Society annual meeting.
Researchers restricted the caloric intake of two groups of women with regular menstrual cycles and normal body fat over five days. Participants exercised for nearly two hours each day. One group ranged in age from 18 to 23 years, and the other was aged 26 to 32. Bone formation continues in adulthood, as old bone is continually being replaced with new bone.
In both age groups, two bone formation markers were suppressed, suggesting that low energy availability continues to impair bone formation in adults as well as adolescents.
What researchers found from the study was that appetite is not a good indicator of how much female athletes should eat, and neither is a regular menstrual cycle. Low energy availability, from too few calories, can lead to low bone density putting women at higher risk for stress fractures and it can lead to osteoporosis.
The U.S. Army, Ross Laboratories and the Ohio University Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fund funded the study.
For more information, contact Anne Loucks, 740- 593-2286 or loucks@ohio.edu.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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