Latest / Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast / 101. We Asked ChatGPT How to Get Your Period Back
Transcript
- 0:00If you have been listening to the Eat More Carbs podcast, you
- 0:02know that Riley and I are both in our running era.
- 0:04To make sure that we're properly fueled for training, we're using
- 0:07both carbohydrates and Tuba 4. Tuba 4 is an all natural pre
- 0:10workout designed to enhance athletic performance through the
- 0:13benefits of New Zealand blackcurrant berries.
- 0:15Studies have shown these berries to increase vasodilation and
- 0:19prime the body to kick start muscle recovery.
- 0:21These antioxidant rich berries have a sweet and tangy flavor
- 0:24and will level up your performance and recovery.
- 0:27Use code Riley for 20% off 20 packs and multi.
- 0:30Please serve packs online at 2 before dot.
- 0:32Com This is the Eat More Carbs podcast.
- 0:39Welcome back to the Eat More Carbs podcast.
- 0:41Jenna and Riley here. We are both dietitians and we
- 0:44talk every Thursday about nutrition for the girlies.
- 0:46Today we're going to be talking about our high and low.
- 0:48So giving you a little bit of update of what's going on with
- 0:50us, the good and maybe the not so good part of our weeks.
- 0:52We also asked ChatGPT how to get our period back.
- 0:55So Riley is going to review in real time the advice from chat
- 0:58PGPT on restoring a period. And then lastly, we're going to
- 1:01give our training update. Riley and I are both runners, so
- 1:03we're going to be providing you all the little bit of insight
- 1:06into our running journey for our upcoming races.
- 1:08Welcome back. Thanks for listening.
- 1:09Riley, what's going on this week?
- 1:10What's your high and low? This week, both my high and my
- 1:13low have to do with my upcoming race.
- 1:14I am going to be running the DC Rock'n'roll Half Marathon, which
- 1:19I'm really excited about because I've never done this type of
- 1:21series before. I know that you have ran a
- 1:23couple of those races, but I'm really excited.
- 1:25I'm going to be doing it with my husband, Robbie.
- 1:27We are going to be running party pace, which is actually a good
- 1:29thing because as you know, I have been running a lap
- 1:32postpartum and I am very competitive.
- 1:35And my low is that my husband is already faster than me.
- 1:39I think that I have shared this as a low before on the podcast,
- 1:43but I'm very competitive and he's already faster than me.
- 1:47So you know what? It's getting my competitive
- 1:48gears grinding a little bit. And we are supposed to be
- 1:51writing party face, but I do feel like it might end up being
- 1:53a little bit of a race in itself.
- 1:55That's usually how it happens, right?
- 1:56Like even if you set out to go party pace, I feel like there is
- 1:59that competitive edge because it is a race.
- 2:01Like everybody gets that in them.
- 2:03So I hear that. It's just like something about
- 2:05like waking up on race day and like being ready to go and
- 2:08having trained for a couple of months.
- 2:09You're like, let's go. You just always feel different
- 2:11and you feel so good on race day.
- 2:13Oh. Always.
- 2:13It's great. I love that feeling.
- 2:15On the topic of feeling good, Robbie has actually for the
- 2:18first time ever started to fuel during his runs.
- 2:22I'm so impressed with him. I know his mom, my
- 2:26mother-in-law, does listen to this podcast and she might be in
- 2:28shock right now because I don't think he would ever believe this
- 2:31as well. But Robbie has started fueling
- 2:34during his longer runs and he has said that has made such a
- 2:37positive impact on his runs. Which?
- 2:40I told you so. OK well now I have to ask what
- 2:44is he using as his inter run fuel?
- 2:45He's just using gummy bears. We get a big like pack of the
- 2:48organic ones from Costco and we've just been doing the gummy
- 2:50bears because it's just it's easy and we like it.
- 2:53Those are my current, like favorite pre run top off right
- 2:56now. Every time I feel like I'm at
- 2:58Costco, I'm picking up another box of them because they're just
- 3:00like so good and like perfect for that.
- 3:03Yeah. I know gels are really popular,
- 3:05I'm just not a dull person. They really upset my stomach and
- 3:07I know once I start doing like my marathon training and going
- 3:10for longer distances I'm going have to go to gels or at least
- 3:13incorporate gels, but right now I'm just sticking with my
- 3:16gummies. I love it.
- 3:17There's nothing wrong with that. I mean, like everybody says, you
- 3:19can use nerd gummy clusters, gummy bears, all sorts of
- 3:22things. Like it doesn't have to be a
- 3:23gel. Definitely.
- 3:24And you know, you've even shared this on previous episodes.
- 3:26Incorporating a variety of different fuel like can make it
- 3:29more enjoyable and also help with like flavor fatigue.
- 3:32Especially if you're the kind of person that loses an appetite
- 3:34while you're running. Like, I don't know how all of
- 3:36you all are feeling, but when I'm in the middle of like a long
- 3:39training run, the last thing that I want to do is just
- 3:42continually take the same lemon lime goo over and over and over
- 3:46again Because like my appetite is not there and I need to make
- 3:49it interesting. So I always save my favorite one
- 3:51for last because then it's like something I'm getting at the end
- 3:53where I'm like looking forward to it.
- 3:55Oh, I love that. Just kind of weird things that
- 3:58we do, like workarounds. Hey, everybody's a little bit
- 4:00different and we have to do what we've got to do.
- 4:02Jenna, how was your week? What's going on?
- 4:04My week is really good and the reason for that is that we have
- 4:07a lot of new athletes coming on to RBSN, which is just really
- 4:10fun to come across and and like get to know all the athletes and
- 4:13their journey and their goals and I'm just really excited
- 4:15about these athletes. A lot of runners, a lot of
- 4:17period recovery. So it's kind of like the stuff
- 4:19that we love to work with clients on so I'm super excited
- 4:22about that. My low is that I am in this is
- 4:26going to sound so funny, but like I am in marathon training
- 4:29right now like I have started I'm going to announce at the end
- 4:32of this episode what marathon I am picked.
- 4:35I know that last week I shared that I had three that I was
- 4:37deciding between but I had picked and then y'all could
- 4:40guess on which one it was. So I'm going to share that
- 4:41during our training update of which marathon I have picked,
- 4:44signed up for, and I'm going to be running this year.
- 4:46My low is just that the start of marathon training for me.
- 4:50I don't know what it is, but I have so many like calluses and
- 4:53blisters on my feet so I'm just dealing with that.
- 4:55If y'all have any recommendations for how to work
- 4:58around that. I have not found anything.
- 5:00I have tried what feels like everything.
- 5:02So if you have like foot fixes, I know feet are gross, but like
- 5:06if you have any recommendations, please send them my way because
- 5:08we've all been there with that start of training and you're
- 5:11getting all those new blisters and stuff like that.
- 5:13So let me know if you have if you have recommendations.
- 5:16I'm so sad about the blisters, but I am ecstatic to find out
- 5:20about the marathon at the end of this episode.
- 5:23I know you don't even know. I know I'm so.
- 5:25Excited this might be my high. It was so hard for me not to
- 5:28send you like a picture of my race entry and be like I did it.
- 5:32We've committed. So I will share that again at
- 5:34the end of the episode. If you haven't already listened
- 5:37to last week's episode, the three that I was deciding
- 5:39between were the OC Marathon mountains to be beach and the
- 5:42Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. So all three of those like were
- 5:46great race options for me. And I will share which one I
- 5:48picked towards the end of today. But before we get into our
- 5:51training update and talk about that, today, we're actually
- 5:54going to be asking ChatGPT for advice.
- 5:57And Riley, I'm going to share with you when I asked ChatGPT
- 6:02what do I do to get my period back, the advice that it spits
- 6:05out. And I want you to give me like
- 6:07your reaction, your review of these things that ChatGPT as
- 6:12suggested. So that way we can kind of work
- 6:14through whether or not this is good advice, bad advice,
- 6:17something we would recommend all of those things.
- 6:19So first, I'm just going to say that when it comes to period
- 6:23recovery, everybody is very individualized.
- 6:25So that's kind of why we're looking at it from that
- 6:27perspective because it spit outlet me see nine different
- 6:32pieces of advice. I don't know that we'll have
- 6:34time to get through all nine of them today.
- 6:36So I'm going to pick the top ones that kind of stand out.
- 6:38Check for hormonal imbalances was the first thing that ChatGPT
- 6:42recommended in order to get your period back.
- 6:45And they said that common causes can be stress, weight changes,
- 6:49thyroid issues, polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS or
- 6:53perimenopause. So it is kind of looking at this
- 6:55from a lifespan perspective because if there is a chance
- 6:58that an athlete has asked this question or an individual has
- 7:00asked this question that they might be a losing their period
- 7:03because of life changes that do happen it for women as we age.
- 7:06So it says, what do you do about this?
- 7:09You may want to consult with a healthcare provider to get your
- 7:11hormone levels tested like thyroid function and see if
- 7:14there is an imbalance that needs to be treated.
- 7:16Thoughts on #1 Advice tip from ChatGPT about getting your
- 7:20period back? First off, I'm going to say that
- 7:22I am doing this live. So if you are listening right
- 7:24now and you are wondering if I've seen any of this stuff,
- 7:28like I have not seen any of this stuff, this is something that
- 7:30we're going into blind altogether.
- 7:32So missing your period is a hormonal imbalance, right?
- 7:36Like I do agree with like the first step should be like going
- 7:39to see a trusted provider. You want to make sure that all
- 7:43of your hormones are looking good.
- 7:45We look at, you know, estrogen, progesterone.
- 7:47We're also looking at thyroid because there are a lot of other
- 7:50things that could result in not having your period besides HA or
- 7:54low energy availability. But feel like this is a little
- 7:57confusing. I mean I don't think it's a lot
- 7:59of tangible advice, but I do agree with chat DPT when it says
- 8:02that like you should be looking at advice from a healthcare
- 8:05provider first. I kind of was appreciative of
- 8:07that, but it wasn't just spitting out advice for things
- 8:10to change right off the bat without first consulting your
- 8:13primary care physician or whoever you see to, you know,
- 8:16get your labs done. The next three kind of play
- 8:19along the same line. So the second tip that it says
- 8:22is manager stress. And that's because the cause is
- 8:25high stress can interfere with your hypothalamus, which is the
- 8:28part of the brain that regulates your menstrual cycle.
- 8:30And then it says what to do in order to do this is practice
- 8:33stress management techniques such as yoga, mindfulness
- 8:36meditation, deep breathing exercises or regular physical
- 8:39activity. One of the biggest stressors on
- 8:41the body is low energy availability, which we did not
- 8:44mention in this recommendation. So I do agree with chat DPT with
- 8:49it saying like we want to reduce the stress.
- 8:51But one of the biggest stressors on the body especially for
- 8:55athletes is the over exercising piece and then the low
- 8:59consumption of energy piece and it doesn't mention this in
- 9:02there. It also says to possibly
- 9:04increase your exercise. Right, which we've talked about
- 9:07on previous episodes, whether or not we recommend reducing or
- 9:11stopping exercise in order to get your period back.
- 9:13So I love that you mentioned both of these two things because
- 9:15tip 3 and tip 4 are nutrition and eating habits, and then 4 is
- 9:19exercise and activity levels. So again, we can kind of see
- 9:23that there might even be some confusion here from the previous
- 9:26statement saying do regular physical activity and then tip 4
- 9:29saying exercise can lead to a missed period, but it doesn't
- 9:32really give a lot of information on that.
- 9:34And then when it comes to the eating habits and nutrition, it
- 9:37says an eating disorder, excessive dieting or too much
- 9:40weight loss can disrupt your menstrual cycle.
- 9:41Can also cause hormonal disruptions, ensuring that
- 9:44you're getting enough calories and nutrients, especially iron,
- 9:47calcium, and healthy fats. If you've suddenly lost weight,
- 9:50it might be helpful to regain weight.
- 9:52Yes, I feel like these are all really general statements.
- 9:56And I think that's why a lot of people are really confused on
- 10:00what they need to do for period recovery because we have been
- 10:02talking about this for only a couple of minutes and we've
- 10:05already come across a lot of like contradicting information.
- 10:09Yeah, which is the next one, which is exercise and activity
- 10:11level where it said previously, you know, make sure you have
- 10:14regular physical activity. Now it says excessive exercise
- 10:17can stop ovulation, leading to missed periods.
- 10:19Try to adjust your exercise routine.
- 10:21If you've been over exercising, reducing intensity or duration
- 10:25might help bring your cycle back.
- 10:26This one I'm going to let you talk on this, but this one was
- 10:28so confusing to me reading this when I was like, OK, we've just
- 10:31recommended regular exercise and now here we're saying, but
- 10:34adjust your routine if you're over exercising.
- 10:36But like what is over exercising?
- 10:38How do I know if I'm over exercising?
- 10:39What is regular routine and exercise versus over exercising
- 10:43routine in our? Episode when we talked about do
- 10:46you need to modify training to get your period back, I believe
- 10:49it was episode 100. We talked about how this
- 10:52approach is so individualized and how training modifications
- 10:55and adaptations are so individualized for the athlete.
- 10:58And we go into that a lot deeper.
- 11:00So if you are listening and you are curious about that, you
- 11:02definitely want to check out that episode in correlation to
- 11:04this one. But I think it's so hard because
- 11:07there's, I know I just said this, but there's so much like
- 11:09generalization with this advice and it can be really hard to
- 11:14understand like how to navigate this from an individualized
- 11:17perspective, right? Because yes, some athletes
- 11:20actually now that I'm thinking about it, we have recommended
- 11:23them to, to incorporate additional activity into their
- 11:28period recovery if they've completely stopped training
- 11:31because it does help from that mental health point.
- 11:34A lot of the time when we are stressed and we're controlling
- 11:37our food and we're in the space of low energy availability and
- 11:40or we are high level athlete, we also are looking at like
- 11:43perfectionism and other areas of our life that can result in
- 11:47additional stress. So oftentimes there's certain
- 11:50behaviors that are happening in our personal life that will roll
- 11:54over into like our fueling and then also into our sport life
- 11:57that we have to look at this from like a very holistic
- 12:00standpoint. You can't just apply all of
- 12:02these generic statements to everyone.
- 12:04Everyone needs a different approach because everyone is
- 12:07unique and individual #5 Are you ready for this?
- 12:10No. OK #5 is consider birth control
- 12:15I hope everyone is watching this right now because of Riley's
- 12:18immediate facial reaction was just too good and pretty much
- 12:23spoke to everything that I felt when I first read that
- 12:26recommendation. Now I want to read the cause and
- 12:30what to do that ChatGPT spit out with consider birth control.
- 12:33They said sometimes birth control like the pill, IUD or
- 12:37the shot can cause a temporary halt in periods, especially if
- 12:41you've recently stopped using it.
- 12:43What to do? Speak to your about alternatives
- 12:46or possible adjustments to your birth control.
- 12:49RBSN, we are pro birth control. I'm going to speak out against
- 12:53birth control in this situation, but I just want to be super
- 12:55clear that like I am not against birth control, but I'm against
- 13:00the why you would recommend birth control for low energy
- 13:04availability or hypothalamic amenorrhea.
- 13:07And that is so important when we look at all aspects of nutrition
- 13:10is we look at the why. If you are an athlete that has
- 13:13low energy availability, that has HA going on, birth control
- 13:17is not going to give you a real period.
- 13:19It is going to give you a withdrawal bleed that comes from
- 13:23this synthetic hormone in your birth control pill.
- 13:26There's certain different birth controls out there.
- 13:29There's different birth control methods where you will actually
- 13:31get a regular cyclical hormone pattern.
- 13:35That's not all of them. There's literally like thousands
- 13:37of birth control out there. I cannot speak to all of them,
- 13:39but most of the birth control pills at least are not going to
- 13:43give you a true period. And I get so mad about this.
- 13:47I'm so mad. Riley has clearly been asked
- 13:50this question so many times because that is the response
- 13:53that I've heard Riley say so many times to athletes that ask
- 13:56questions on Instagram on, you know, DMS through the podcast
- 13:59and things like that, that like this is such a common question
- 14:02about, well, like I'm on birth control.
- 14:03I'm still having a period and it's like, well, are you,
- 14:06that's, that's the question here.
- 14:08But I do appreciate that it suggests speaking to your doctor
- 14:11about alternatives. So talking to your physician.
- 14:13I appreciate that it did say that, but I feel very similarly
- 14:16to what Riley said. So if I could just, you know,
- 14:19put a second on all of that, I would I.
- 14:21Just want to say too, that this is not medical advice.
- 14:23We're not telling you not to go on to birth control.
- 14:24I think that's also, again, I started off by saying we are pro
- 14:27birth control. We are pro-choice.
- 14:29It's really, really important that you understand why you
- 14:31would be going on to birth control and we're not against
- 14:34it. We're against you going on birth
- 14:36control to solve low energy availability, right?
- 14:40The next couple of advice pieces that ChatGPT spit out were very
- 14:43similar to the ones that we have already covered.
- 14:46So it said check for medical conditions, which I kind of loop
- 14:48in with getting your labs tested.
- 14:50Like it recommends that for PCOS and early menopause, which it
- 14:53did in the same sense of getting your labs tested.
- 14:55It also said medications. So it's bringing up birth
- 14:58control yet again. So again, we see kind of this
- 15:00like confusion that even ChatGPT has around getting your period
- 15:03back. The last one was to try
- 15:06supplements, and it doesn't give a lot of information here.
- 15:10It just says sometimes certain vitamins or supplements like
- 15:14omega-3 fatty acids may help balance hormones, though you
- 15:18should only take them under medical advice.
- 15:20If your period has been absent for several months, it's
- 15:22important to consult a healthcare provider to determine
- 15:25the cause and get tailored advice or treatment.
- 15:27They may suggest tests like blood work, ultrasounds, pelvic
- 15:30exams to get to the root cause of the issue.
- 15:33I just went on a journey, like I just went on a roller coaster
- 15:35journey because I was so mad about the supplements on it.
- 15:37But then like, I came back around at the end because I have
- 15:40said this probably 10 times in this episode, but it is so
- 15:44individualized. And I do appreciate that like
- 15:46ChatGPT is taking a generalized approach to this.
- 15:50That being said, what supplement are we taking to get our period
- 15:54back? There's things that can help
- 15:55with side effects of that. But even when we look at like
- 15:59calcium and vitamin D, if we're not having proper energy
- 16:02availability, if we're not making those lifestyle changes,
- 16:05they'd even found that like calcium and vitamin D is not as
- 16:08efficient at helping replace and rebuild bone.
- 16:11Exactly. Yep, you have to get to the good
- 16:13fueling foundations like we talked about, supplements are
- 16:16just that they are a supplement to a good fueling foundation.
- 16:19So I don't really love that they threw this one on there.
- 16:23Of course, it is just something that's, you know, from my
- 16:25understanding of how this works, just kind of scanning everything
- 16:28and then popping in information based off of that.
- 16:30So it's probably out there on the Internet that this is advice
- 16:32pieces that people see or recommend often.
- 16:35I also think it an interesting thing that it gives this kind of
- 16:37like generic thing of take certain supplements that may
- 16:40help balance hormones. Like what hormones?
- 16:42Well, the problem with a lack of a menstrual cycle is that there
- 16:45is no hormone there. It's not like we're bouncing.
- 16:50But I do appreciate, again, similarly to how you said it is
- 16:52general, it's not giving specific pointed.
- 16:55And then it does point out that you need to consult with a
- 16:57healthcare provider if you do have the lack of a period.
- 17:00And it's not something that like you should be taking this as
- 17:02healthcare advice. Like you need more than just
- 17:05this when it comes to a condition that is as concerning
- 17:08as amenorrhea. That's kind of it for the wrap
- 17:10up of I asked ChatGPT how to get my period back and what we kind
- 17:14of thought of the advice. So not all bad, but also not
- 17:17that great as far as tailored advice to you or what you need
- 17:19in order to actually restore your cycle.
- 17:22Like we mentioned earlier in this podcast episode, we do a
- 17:24training update which just essentially is giving y'all a
- 17:27little bit of insight into the running that Riley and I are
- 17:30currently doing. Riley is training for 1/2
- 17:32marathon. She's running the DC Rock'n'roll
- 17:35half marathon and that is like what, 4 weeks away now?
- 17:37Like we're kind of getting down pretty close to race.
- 17:39It's crazy how fast it kind of sneaks up on you.
- 17:41And I'm going to be announcing which marathon I am going to be
- 17:44running this spring. So Riley, where is training out
- 17:46for you this week? So working on increasing my
- 17:49mileage. This is actually the most fun I
- 17:51think I've had like training for a race because I'm feeling so
- 17:55good. I'm not injured.
- 17:56TS and PS everybody, I'm not injured.
- 17:58But that's one of my big goals is like, I don't want to get
- 18:00injured. I want to make sure that I'm
- 18:01doing the right things outside of my training to make sure that
- 18:04I'm performing well and just also just optimizing my health
- 18:07in this training block. So I've been doing, I think
- 18:09pretty good so far. Right now I'm really working on
- 18:12like 2 speed runs a week, one just regular run about about 3
- 18:15to 4 miles. That's what I'll be doing this
- 18:16week and then I have my longer run at 11 miles this weekend.
- 18:19I love it. 11 miles this weekend, That's not so fun.
- 18:22Yeah. It's actually, it's been really,
- 18:24really, really enjoyable. I never thought I'd be the
- 18:26person that's like enjoying running, you know, 11 miles at a
- 18:29time. But I, I get a good audio book
- 18:31and I kind of just go. So I'm excited.
- 18:33I'm also very, very excited to hear your marathon announcement.
- 18:36OK, this spring on May 4th I will be running the OC Marathon
- 18:41and I am so excited. This race, from what I it's not
- 18:45one I've ever run before, is a great course, a little hilly,
- 18:48but not something that's like super severe and hilly, an
- 18:51overall net downhill. So a lot of PRS come out of this
- 18:53race. I am hoping to PR this race.
- 18:55This is not a party pace race for me.
- 18:56This is one that I'm going to like, I'm going to push it.
- 18:58I'm going to give it my everything.
- 18:59So we'll see how it goes. I'm super, super excited about
- 19:02this course. I think it's going to be a lot
- 19:03of fun and yeah, I'm just really excited.
- 19:05I had a feeling that you were going to do the OC Marathon.
- 19:07I just had a feeling. I love running in California.
- 19:11I think that like obviously like there is not a lot of elevation
- 19:13there, which is nice. And then typically the weather
- 19:16is fairly predictable. Obviously, like I have gone out
- 19:18there and I've run in, you know, feet of rain before too.
- 19:21So I know that it can happen. But I appreciate that for the
- 19:25most part, it does provide a level of predictability that is
- 19:28higher than maybe other places, which is why I decided in the
- 19:31end not to run Oklahoma City because although we can
- 19:34guarantee that there will be wind in Oklahoma, we can't
- 19:37guarantee the other types of things or predict the weather as
- 19:40well. I'm so excited for you.
- 19:41Thanks, I'm super excited. So stay tuned for training
- 19:44updates, the OC marathon. Just as a reminder, if you have
- 19:47not already entered our Now Foods giveaway, that is still
- 19:50going on. In order to enter our giveaway
- 19:52for Now Foods, protein powder and creatine, please make sure
- 19:54that you rate this podcast and give us a review and then DM me
- 19:58your reviews so that way we can enter you in our drawing to win
- 20:01the Now Foods giveaway. We're super, super excited about
- 20:03being able to do this for all of you and we so appreciate you
- 20:06listening and supporting the podcast.
- 20:08It means so much to Riley and I. So thank you for being here.
- 20:10Thank you for listening to this episode.
- 20:12Make sure you tune in next Thursday for another great
- 20:14episode. So talking all about nutrition
- 20:17for the girlies, please make sure you rate, subscribe and
- 20:19review. And as always, remember to eat
- 20:21more carbs.