# Why would eating healthier mess up your menstrual cycle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661 "2016-09-23T18:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/21 "2016-09-24T21:07:07Z")
Well, are you or aren’t you? _\_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/22 "2016-09-25T20:31:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, are you or aren’t you? _\_ I’m not! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/23 "2016-09-25T20:37:19Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I’m not! Whew! _\_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/24 "2016-09-25T20:49:02Z")
> **[Healthfully](https://healthfully.com/545211-soy-milk-and-birth-control.html)** > > Find your way to better health. This is a list of some foods that can interact with birth control pills . If your your period get very late if would be a good idea to see your doctor to made sure everything it OK. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/25 "2016-09-25T21:17:01Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > [Birth Control | livestrong](http://www.livestrong.com/article/68243-foods-interact-birth-control/) > This is a list of some foods that can interact with birth control pills . If your your period get very late if would be a good idea to see your doctor to made sure everything it OK. Thank you! I have been eating a yam every day with dinner, so this article might very well have the answer. I’m researching this further. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/26 "2016-09-25T21:22:30Z")
All right, so after some further research, I propose this hypothesis: during ovulation, your estrogen levels rise, then after ovulation, they drop again, which signals your body to dispose of the bloody lining in your uterus. But if I was eating a shit ton of yams (which I was), then perhaps my estrogen levels remained high enough that my body didn’t get the signal to start menstruating because it thought I was still ovulating. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/27 "2016-09-25T22:26:57Z")
Oh, right - weren’t extracts in yams used in early birth control pills? Not that you stop eating them - but yeah, if you’ve suddenly upped how many you eat by a lot that could have an effect. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/28 "2016-09-25T22:38:28Z")
How old are you? My cycle changed abruptly when I was 28 or 29, going from 29 days down to 26. There wasn’t anything I’d done to my diet or exercise level to change it. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/29 "2016-09-26T00:08:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Oh, right - weren’t extracts in yams used in early birth control pills? > > Not that you stop eating them - but yeah, if you’ve suddenly upped how many you eat by a lot that could have an effect. [http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-970-wild%20yam.aspx?activeingredientid=970&activeingredientname=wild%20yam](http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-970-wild%20yam.aspx?activeingredientid=970&activeingredientname=wild%20yam) ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/30 "2016-09-26T00:18:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > How old are you? My cycle changed abruptly when I was 28 or 29, going from 29 days down to 26. There wasn’t anything I’d done to my diet or exercise level to change it. I’m 29. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/31 "2016-09-26T02:13:09Z")
Yams! I never would’ve suspected! At least we were right when we were thinking estrogen. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/32 "2016-09-26T02:13:10Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I don’t think a pregnancy test works when you’re only three days late, does it? I was figuring I’d give it another week or so before taking the test. Also, I don’t feel pregnant, you know? I’ll grant you that it’s possible I’m pregnant, but it’s unlikely. it works when your one day late. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/33 "2016-09-26T02:31:26Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > it works when your one day late. Well I’m awfully glad to hear it works, since it gave me a “not pregnant” this afternoon! ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/34 "2016-09-26T03:38:39Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Well I’m awfully glad to hear it works, since it gave me a “not pregnant” this afternoon! If you’re particularly athletic you can know almost immediately. I knew women in the Army who suddenly they weren’t able to run any more a few days after sex and sure enough they were pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/35 "2016-09-26T10:43:37Z")
I hate to slay a beautiful theory with an ugly fact, but thebthings labled “yams” in American grocery stores are actually a variety of seeet potato. Actual yams are the ones with the estrogen-like compounds. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/36 "2016-09-26T10:50:44Z")
Dunno know about where you live, but where I live you can purchase both in local stores. Sweet potatoes might have a “yam” label somewhere, but they _also_ have “sweet potato” on them somewhere as well. True yams, which are distinctly different, are also sold, as “yams” or sometimes “African yams” or some variant (particularly if trying to appeal to a particular ethnic group). ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/37 "2016-09-26T12:38:08Z")
Man, now I’m just confused as all get-out. When I looked into this further, it said that “wild yams” were the plant with estrogen-like properties, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly it was that categorized a yam as “wild,” whether it was some sort of different species or just the way it was raised. I thought I had been eating sweet potatoes every night, but when I asked my husband about it he said they were yams, and when we went grocery shopping last night, indeed, the sign by them did say yams. The next time I go I will thoroughly investigate the sign. I’m now back on my active birth control pills, which I think means that I’ve skipped my period entirely. (Right? Isn’t that how people on birth control go months without getting their period? Because the active pills keep you from getting your period?) I had thought about posting a follow-up question asking how long to give it before considering it a problem, but after re-reading this thread, I see that quite a few of you have already answered that question. Before I ask, you’ve already answered! God, I love this board. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/38 "2016-09-26T13:03:21Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I thought I had been eating sweet potatoes every night, but when I asked my husband about it he said they were yams, and when we went grocery shopping last night, indeed, the sign by them did say yams. The next time I go I will thoroughly investigate the sign. This may not help you. There’s no standardized way of labeling sweet potatoes or yams in the US. You may have to ask the produce manager at the supermarket and even then the answers you get may not help. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/39 "2016-09-26T13:17:02Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > This may not help you. There’s no standardized way of labeling sweet potatoes or yams in the US. You may have to ask the produce manager at the supermarket and even then the answers you get may not help. Ugh, if it takes that much effort then it’s probably not worth it. Thanks for letting me know. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661/40 "2016-09-28T17:26:01Z")
If you’ve kept a food journal for at least the last week, this would be a perfect time to sit down w/ a nutritionist to see if this is really what tour body needs or if tweaking it could help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-eating-healthier-mess-up-your-menstrual-cycle/766661.md?page=1)