A 23-year-old woman in China’s Zhejiang province has developed serious hormonal problems after spending several months following an intense exercise routine and strict diet.
According to China Press, the woman worked out six times a week for about 70 minutes each session while sticking to a low-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. Over time, she stopped menstruating and began suffering from insomnia and symptoms linked to kidney deficiency.
Medical tests later showed that she had a severe endocrine imbalance, with estrogen levels similar to those of a woman in her late 40s or 50s who had reached menopause.
A local obstetrician-gynaecologist diagnosed her with hypothalamic amenorrhea, a condition in which menstruation stops due to disruptions in the brain’s hormone-regulating system. Excessive exercise and insufficient calorie intake are among its most common causes.
In a video shared online in late 2025, the woman admitted she had become overly obsessed with fitness and had pushed herself too hard. After her diagnosis, doctors told her to stop exercising and prescribed traditional Chinese medicine to help restore her health.
A physician from a Chinese hospital explained that when the body is subjected to prolonged high-intensity workouts, combined with too little food and a rapid loss of body fat, the brain may go into energy-saving mode, shutting down non-essential functions such as reproduction.
She added that exercise should be done in moderation and paired with proper nutrition, warning that extreme training without enough fuel can have serious long-term health consequences.
