Q My period stopped after an extreme low-calorie diet. What should I eat to get it back?
A The most important thing for restoring menstruation is recovering your total calorie intake. The priority is eating plenty of iron-rich foods such as red lean meat, spinach, and tofu, along with healthy fats (avocado, nuts) and sufficient protein.
Detailed Answer
Diet-induced amenorrhea is fundamentally about an energy deficit, so total calorie intake must first be restored to a normal range. Especially important are iron (red lean meat, spinach, legumes) needed for red blood cells and hormone synthesis, healthy fats (avocado, nuts, olive oil) needed for estrogen synthesis, and protein needed to regenerate the endometrium. Overly strict vegetarian or single-food diets can worsen amenorrhea.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
In Korean medicine, diet-induced amenorrhea is viewed as a state in which there is simply no material to produce menstruation - Blood Deficiency (hyeolheo). Replenishing Blood with Samul-tang (Four-Substance decoction) type formulas, combined with warming-the-uterus (ongung) treatment for the lower abdomen, can speed up the uterus returning to function alongside nutritional recovery. Because formulas alone have limited effect without nutritional recovery, we emphasize dietary correction together with treatment.
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