Myths vs. Truths Challenge
There are many misconceptions about the Female and Male Athlete Triad.
Some of the statements below are myths — others are truths.
Read each one, make your guess, then open to reveal what’s really true.
How many can you spot correctly?
The Triad can affect ANYONE, regardless of whether they are a competitive athlete, or are simply recreationally active.
The Triad does not discriminate based on age! An energy deficiency is what drives the Triad, and anyone of any age can be in an energy deficient state.
The reproductive suppression can be reversed relatively quickly (weeks-months), however, it is very hard to recover your bone health back to normal.
Once energy returns to a healthy level, your body is able to resume normal reproductive functioning again. Even though this may take a few weeks-months to occur, your reproductive health will return to normal functioning with proper nutrition. Once energy and reproduction are recovered, bone breakdown may decrease, but it is very difficult to recover your bone health back to normal. We now know that when an energy deficient athlete eats more calories, it protects from further bone loss- but we don’t have good data yet to know if increasing food intake results in improving bone. More research is necessary- so it is important to simply avoid the bone loss in the first place and fuel your body properly to avoid negative health effects.
The Triad affects both males AND females. Loss of menses is a prime signal of the Triad’s presence in females, while low testosterone/decreased libido are signals of the Triad’s presence in males.
A younger individual in an energy deficient state would still be at risk for increased bone breakdown, and therefore, osteopenia, osteoporosis, and stress fractures.These periods of monthly bleeding while on the pill are not from naturally occurring estrogen. Instead, the bleeding known as “withdrawal bleeding” is actually from hormones in the pill.
The type of estrogen that is naturally produced within a female’s body is different than the estrogen contained in birth control pills, and thus, affects the body differently. While it may appear as though you “regain” your period once you are put on the pill, this is not a true period- in fact, you do not ovulate, nor do you have the normal hormones being produced in your ovaries. To truly restore your natural menstrual cycle, when not on the pill, energy levels (calories consumed) must be increased to signal that you are healthy enough to resume proper reproductive functioning.