A lot of low carb and carnivore people say your body can make its own glucose, so why eat carbs. That line sounds smart until you watch what it does to a woman’s hormones.

Your body can make glucose. That is not the same as thriving on it.

What gluconeogenesis actually is

Your body can pull glucose from protein and other tissues when it has to. That process is called gluconeogenesis. It is a backup system, not the default fuel plan for a reproductive woman.

When you force your body to run that backup process every day, you are asking your body to manufacture sugar out of muscle and amino acids instead of eating it. That is metabolically expensive. It keeps stress high because cortisol has to rise for gluconeogenesis to happen. Your body assumes we are in a famine so digestion and repair get less priority. Ovulation goes out the door because a stressed body doesn’t have time for a baby.

People also love to say you mostly burn fat to make that glucose. That part is wrong. Your body cannot turn fatty acids into glucose in any meaningful amount. A tiny bit of glycerol from fat can help. The bulk of forced gluconeogenesis comes from amino acids, which means protein, which often means your own muscle. So the “I’ll just run on fat and make my own sugar” story is not what is happening. You are borrowing from your tissue and paying for it with cortisol.

This is why “but technically your body can make glucose” is a bad fertility argument. Technical possibility is not the same as what your ovaries, thyroid, and nervous system want.

What we changed with her

We did not put her on a dessert diet with processed carbs and fake sugars. That is not what I mean by "carbs are good for you." Instead, we fed her real food carbs again. Lots of fruit, potatoes, starchy vegetables, honey, oatmeal, etc.

She stopped asking her body to invent glucose out of itself every morning. She was amazed that the migraines she’s had for YEARS suddenly vanished. Her whole body felt relaxed for once and not all tensed up. Iron and inflammation markers started trending towards normal ranges. Her cycles were becoming more robust.

Four months later she conceived a healthy boy. She is now in her third trimester and we’re super excited for her.

If you have been low carb for years and your cycle is missing, irregular, or painful, this is one of the first places I look. Are you eating enough carbs? Because there is no real reason to restrict carbs unless you have severe insulin resistance and/or PCOS where your body does not tolerate carbs well. Even in that case, the goal is not to restrict carbs forever, but to temporarily give your body a break from carbs while you uncover why your body is struggling with carb metabolism and fixing it.—

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Quick Ferta note while I’m here.

I’m running a small 12-week group starting October 12 for women with missing, irregular, or painful periods. It’s with me directly.

If your cycle has been off and you’ve not been given any answers besides “birth control”, learn more and apply here: https://joinferta.com/cycle/​

We have only 6 spots left!

More soon,

Preethi