How Ice Cream Boosts Your Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Recovery
Yes, you read right, ice cream is actually really beneficial if you are trying to restore your period and recover from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. In this post I explain in what ways ice cream boosts your Hypothalamic Amenorrhea recovery.
1. Ice Cream contains Calcium that helps strengthening your bones
We know that Hypothalamic Amenorrhea is strongly associated with decreased bone density, osteoporosis and osteopenia. This has to do with the absent of estrogen (in this post you can read all about poor bone density and what you can do to reverse it). As explained more in in detailed in this post, calcium (combined with vitamin D and phosphor) are required for bone accretion. Since ice cream is produced by full fat diary it is rich in Calcium and provides a useful source in the diet. There is no differences in calcium absorption and Bioavailability of calcium in ice cream compared to milk, so ice cream is an effective vehicle for delivering calcium.
2. Ice cream provides you with essential fats
In addition to being rich in calcium, ice cream is also a good source for fats. And fat is something you really need to incorporate in your daily diet when recovering from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (and beyond). Studies have actually showed that those who include full fat dairy products into their diet show decreased risks of anovulatory cycles and infertility compared to those who go for the low fat or fat free options. So also in this aspect ice cream is beneficial if you try to recover from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea.
3. Ice cream is a soul food
A big part of recovering from HA is about redefining health and overcoming all rules and restrictive behaviors around food and diet. It might sound silly but you deserve food freedom! Now is really the time for you to allow yourself to eat unconditionally, to get away from classifying food as "healthy" and "unhealthy", as "good" or "bad".
Ice Cream + Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Recovery = <3. But these three characteristic do not only holds true for ice cream but for all full fat diary products. In addition they are a great source of phosphorus, iodine, B vitamins, potassium and vitamin D. So just pick and choose.
