Eating for your Cycle
How harnessing the power of your hormones can be healthy!
The beautiful part of getting older is getting more familiar with my body and its nuances, its new aches and pains and learning what it likes and dislikes.
As a woman, I’ve always struggled with the traditional medical system, especially when it comes to diagnosing and dealing with ‘feminine’ issues or women in general. From the recommended daily allowances on things like vitamins being based on the average man, to female issues often being underplayed or ignored, it often becomes imperative to take our health into our own hands and often do our own research, despite being told not to look on the internet.
It might be a trial and error situation for a while, but once things begin to click into place, it feels worth it.
A few years ago, I discovered seed cycling through the wonderful work of Alison Vitti, who specialises in female hormone health (thank god for women like her!) and it really worked for me. She also talks about cycle syncing, which is the act of adapting your lifestyle around your menstrual cycle to make the most of the hormonal fluctuations.
Both men and women have a biological circadian rhythm - the 24 hour sleep-wake clock that controls sleep, appetite and even temperature and is mainly affected by light. But there is another rhythm at play, perhaps an even more important rhythm that affects mainly women, and that is the infradian rhythm. The infradian rhythm follows a monthly cycle and affects everything from our hormones, fertility, immune health, energy levels and mental acuity.
The menstrual cycle has four phases;
The Menstrual Phase which usually lasts anywhere from 1-5 days but can vary greatly for those with issues like PCOS or endometriosis
The Follicular Phase which lasts 6-14 days on average
The Ovalutory Phase which lasts 15-17 days on average
The Luteal Phase which lasts 18-28/30days
The reason it is important to know this is because each phase affects us differently. I’ve heard each phase of the menstrual cycle described as seasons and it helped me understand what was happening a lot more;
The Menstrual Phase can be viewed as the winter of the body because the hormones estrogen and progesterone drop significantly which can lead to feelings of fatigue, discomfort and pain, low energy and feelings of unsociability to name a few of the symptoms.
The Follicular Phase can be viewed as the spring of the body, where estrogen and progesterone hormones are back on the rise, leading to feelings of being social again, feeling productive and more energised again and a higher libido.
The Ovulatory Phase is like summer, with estrogen peaking and testosterone and progesterone also rising, this the season of fertility. Confidence is high, life feels good.
The Luteal Phase is autumn, it is PMS peak season, we suffer from a lack of concentration, irritability, food cravings, depression, the whole works.
With this knowledge in hand and knowing what hormones are at work, people have worked out what the best things to eat are during certain parts of your menstrual cycle to best support its needs at the time. In the same vein, during certain parts of the cycle certain workouts might be better than other times.
A quick example is when you’re exercising on your period, I think your body will automatically tell you this but gentle exercise such as a walk or yoga is going to be the most effective and eating things that will boost your iron intake make sense, naturally. With this in mind, eating foods that contain vitamin C along with iron-rich foods to restore your iron makes sense as vitamin C helps absorb iron. However, when you’re in the ovulatory phase, increasing the intensity of your exercise makes sense and eating wholefoods that support your hormones at that juncture make sense.
Cycle syncing can become one of the most powerful tools for maximising your hormonal power.
I’m including a link to the London Clinic of Nutrition below if you are curious about what to eat at which stage of your period as a starting point;
This is amazing and helpful. I’ll definitely bear it in mind for my next cycle! ❤️