Stress Fractures and Dieting

Catherine wrote:

Hypothetical Question:

Can reducing calorie intake cause stress fractures in runners? And, can one recover from a stress fracture while dieting by reducing calories if calcium and vitamin D supplements are taken?

Hypothetical Answer:

Possibly. But read this.

Yes. If you are chronically cutting too many calories (especially in teens early 20s) the body cannot maintain adequate bone density, leaving a runner vulnerable to stress fracture. This is why it's especially important for women to pay attention when their body stops menstruating regularly, because it means that calorie intake is inaufficient.

First, you should be getting enough vitamin d from being outside. If you are a runner and are not, this is worrisome. Second, supplements are not as readily absorbed as dietary sources of minerals. Third, make sure you don't consume a lot of iron with your calcium supplement and consume it with both a full meal and vitamin c, ideally from a dietary source, like oranges, kumquats, limes, etc. Fourth, make sure you get all the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs either from supplementing or dietary sources.

Aggresively dieting to hit a perceived race weight or ideal weight isn't worth it. Just by eating healthy (but not dieting) and training (either running or cross training if injured) you'll reach an ideal weight. By training enough and not eating excessive crap food (ie starbucks, hersheys, cheetos, etc.) your bmi will probably end up somewhere between 18.5-20 EVENTUALLY. This is fine and does not need to be changed by anyone. You won't run as well with a bmi below 18.5 as you will at 18.5. If you grew up speaking swahili or amharic, I'd say you could go as low as 18, MAYBE. Aggresively dieting is a recipe for disaster and I wouldn't reccommend an injured athlete diet at all. You can cross train a buttload though.

I am not a doctor and this is not professional medical advice and nor should it be used as such or substituted for such.

Avoid dairy, depsite what you have been told it is terrible for getting calcium. The animal proteins in milk cause the body to become acidic, and to neutralise that the body uses calcium from the bones, thereby weakening them. Dairy makes weak bones, not strong ones.