Is Running Bad For You?

When I first saw the headline Female Athletes Have 4 Times Worse Health Than Average Women I felt as though I had been instantly catapulted back into the 70's. More propaganda about how running will prevent you from having children? Running will cause osteoporosis? Prevent you from finding a husband?

But upon further investigation, it turns out that a recent study done by the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University on women runners between 18 and 35 years of age has shown that female athletes suffer from several rather critical (and preventable) health issues:

- Less than 40% of female athletes were having regular meals
- Nearly 80% were not getting enough calories to support their active lifestyles
- About 30% were missing their periods for 6 months or longer (amenorrhea)
- 23% had inadequate bone mass
- 64% had abnormal enlargement of the arteries (in response to blood flow)

These numbers kind of surprised me. Far from being the "justification" for not exercising regularly that these studies typically provide, this study gives us a wake-up call. 

Tough training schedules can have long-lasting effects on our health if the proper precautions aren't taken - in particular simply taking supplements to counteract the negative effects of hard, regular workouts. Preventing irregularities in your cycles and cardiovascular dysfunction may be as simple as taking special supplements, in particular folic acid which is necessary for the proper production of normal red blood cells and provides protection against anemia. 

If you are finding yourself impossibly tired, are missing your periods or are suffering from abnormally intense soreness after long workouts, it is probably a good idea to make an appointment with your health-care practitioner (optimally one who works out herself), and get some supplements specific to your needs. Traditional medical doctors can order blood work that aid in diagnosis of symptoms.

The pay-off? What we all want.  To be active and pain free well into our advanced years...and to be running for a long, long time to come.

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