Balancing Out Your Hormones by Seed Cycling

Seed cycling is well-known these days, but some have been practicing this approach to improving hormone health for years.  Also called seed rotation, seed cycling has its roots in naturopathic philosophy and Chinese Medicine. Picked up by the natural medicine community, it has become more and more popular in recent years and seed cycling advocates claim this approach is one of the best “food as medicine” tools. What is Seed Cycling? Seed cycling uses the powerful nutrients in specific seeds during different stages of your menstrual cycle.  Seeds contain beneficial nutrients for overall health that have been shown to help with blood sugar regulation, digestion challenges, hormonal balance, and PMS symptoms. Incorporating seed cycling into your daily routine can be beneficial at any stage of a woman’s life.  Seed cycling can help women who are coming off birth control as a way to get their menstrual cycle back. Postpartum and women suffering from amenorrhea (the absence of a period) can have menstruation stimulated. Those with PMS and PCOS symptoms can be supported by seed cycling. It can help boost fertility for those of child bearing age and balance hormones for perimenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal women. What Seeds are Included in Seed Cycling? Seed cycling uses pumpkin, flax, sesame, sunflower, and hemp seeds. There is a specific combination of these seeds that benefit you during your cycle. Pumpkin Seeds have a high zinc content and help boost progesterone. They can help restore hormone balance as you move towards progesterone rise in the second phase of the cycle. Pumpkin seeds can improve acne and weight gain while promoting more regular periods. Flax Seeds are rich in lignans which have been shown to be beneficial in preventing osteoporosis, improving estrogen and progesterone ratios, and heart disease in women. Eating flax seeds may also help soothe breast tenderness which is experienced by many women right before their period. Sesame Seeds and Sunflower Seeds contain omega-6 essential fatty acids, and lignans which support the hormones that carry you through the luteal phase, the second half of the menstrual cycle. Hemp Seeds are a good source of essential fatty acids and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which help balance hormones. Hemp seeds also aid in inflammation.  How to Seed Cycle Seed cycling is based on a 28-day cycle, but it is still possible to follow if you have a longer or shorter cycle. Day 1 (the first day of your period) through Day 14 is the Follicular Phase of the menstrual cycle. During this phase, your estrogen increases and an egg prepares for ovulation. Your uterine lining also thickens.  On days 1-14, eat 1-2 Tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseeds and raw pumpkin seeds as well as hemp seeds. These seeds will naturally increase estrogen. Ovulation usually occurs around Day 14 of a 28-day cycle and the egg is released. This ends the Follicular Phase. On Day 15, the second half of your cycle—the Luteal Phase—begins. Following ovulation, eat 1-2 Tablespoons of fresh ground sunflower and sesame seeds as well as hemp seeds. Progesterone levels rise and peak during this phase. Progesterone will ease unwanted PMS symptoms. When your period arrives, you are back to Day 1.  For postpartum, postmenopausal women, and those experiencing inconsistent periods or amenorrhea (lack of a period), seed cycling can be done following the moon cycle. Use the New Moon as Day 1 and then when the Full Moon arrives, that begins Phase 2. Pretty cool, right? Seed cycling can be fun and incorporated to enhance many types of foods. Sprinkle on yogurt or in a smoothie, on a tossed salad, or over a poached egg on avocado toast. Seeds can be used in place of granola, added to oatmeal, sprinkled on a sweet potato, and even added to a favorite cookie recipe. Options are endless. Seed cycling is a great tool to help you live your most nutritious life as it has so many hormonal health and wellness benefits. It is an inexpensive way to support your natural cycle. Give it time, at least 3 months to create balance. It is worth a try!  (Image: Shutterstock)

4 Reasons You Lost Your Period (Besides Pregnancy)

By Karla Walsh It’s not just pregnancy and menopause that can cause your period to go MIA, and I know from experience. The first month I went without mine, it was a relief, honestly. No need to scramble for a tampon or worry about leaks? All right! But as the months—and, eventually years—progressed, it was clear something was wrong with my body. Very wrong.  After finally regaining enough weight and balancing my hormones with a kickstart from medication from my ob-gyn, my flow returned. A whopping 16 years later, when I recovered from my eating disorder. RELATED: Emotional Eating vs. Eating Disorders: How to Tell the Difference “It’s important to have a menstrual cycle,” says Arianna Sholes-Douglas, MD, founder and owner of Tula Wellness and Aesthetics Center in Tucson, Arizona and the author of The Menopause Myth. “Ovulation is the key, and every month around Day 14, you should ovulate.” What’s the big deal if you’re not TTC? Well, if you aren’t getting your period, the lining of your uterus keeps building thicker and thicker, and an unstable or irregular amount of lining can affect your health over time. “Overgrowth of the endometrium over the long-term can increase your risk of endometrial cancer,” Sholes-Douglas says. “And if the lining of the uterus continues to build, bleeding—when it does occur—will be irregular and unpredictable. Heavy bleeding can lead to anemia.” RELATED: 5 Delicious Foods For Cancer Prevention You can be officially diagnosed with amenorrhea, or absent periods, after three months of a missing period, according to the National Institutes of Health. After six months, the health problems above become a real concern, so you should def see a doc by then. Also important? A missing period not related to pregnancy, lactation, or menopause—referred to as “secondary amenorrhea”—is often a sign that something else is off, too, like the problems below:  You’re super stressed out Stress hormones have a ton of consequences, and losing your period can be one of them. Target the source of stress and ease it through a healthy morning routine, calm yoga flows, meditation, journaling, counseling, or whatever you find helps you feel less on-edge. Once your stress levels decrease, your period should return back to its regularly scheduled programming. If not, it’s time to see a pro for some advice and possibly a birth control RX, which will force the lining to shed. RELATED: 3 Interesting New Findings About How Stress Affects Your Health (and Life) You lost a ton of weight Despite what you see on runways and in fashion ads, you can indeed be too skinny. And one of the many things that can result from reaching an extremely low body weight is that your reproductive system will slow or stop due to interruptions in usual hormone activity. Once a woman reaches about 10 percent below her normal weight or falls below a body mass index of 20 (calculate yours here), she’s at risk for losing her period, Sholes-Douglas says.  Work with your medical team (doctor, dietitian, and mental health professional, if needed), to return to a healthy weight. (By the way, here’s how to tell if you have disordered eating patterns.) You’re exercising too much Even if your weight falls within a “normal” range, too much physical activity can turn off your flow. About 5 to 25 percent of women athletes exercise so hard or so much they lose their periods, reports WebMD. Dancers, gymnasts, and runners are at particularly high risk, since intense activities are most likely to impact reproductive hormone levels. If your doctor diagnoses you with exercise-induced amenorrhea, the most common treatment strategies include getting estrogen levels back to a normal range and adjusting caloric intake to ensure your body is receiving enough fuel. RELATED: Why You Should Consider Breaking Up With Your Scale You have PCOS PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome, is caused by too much insulin (the hormone that helps to convert food into energy) or too many androgens (male hormones) in the body, according to the Office on Women’s Health. As many as one in 10 women between 15 and 44 may have PCOS. Beyond messing with your menstrual cycle, PCOS symptoms include acne, extra facial hair, thinning scalp hair, and weight gain—or trouble losing weight, if attempting to do so. Your doctor can diagnose and potentially provide medicine to help control your symptoms, if necessary. While there’s no cure for PCOS, focusing on lifestyle factors, such as eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly, and losing extra weight (if you have it to lose) can help improve your symptoms.   (Photo: Shutterstock)

How to Eat for PMS Prevention and Relief

Your monthly visitor is a given, but feeling so awful it disrupts your life is (fortunately!) not.

Should You Be Using Organic Tampons?

Organic tampons used to occupy a dusty spot on the drugstore shelf, inspiring questions like, “But…do they work?” (And who wants to take that risk?) Now, there are lots of companies turning better menstrual products into major modern brands by making them with healthy materials, chic packaging, and sometimes a bigger mission. First, a little science: Most medical experts say there is no clear evidence showing benefits of choosing organic tampons over non-organic, and research showing they’re safer doesn’t exist. Regular tampons are generally considered safe (and, um, really useful). However, companies that sell “healthier” tampons mainly use organic cotton, with the idea that you may not want materials that were once soaked in pesticides touching your most sensitive areas (cue leg crossing). Just like you may choose to eat organic foods to avoid potential chemical residues, you may not want those residues in a place they could be absorbed. They also use applicators that are free of potentially harmful ingredients in plastic like phthalates and BPA. (Again, it’s unclear how much of those would get into your bloodstream via a tampon.) Either way, if chemicals concern you, these products offer a way to avoid them, and there’s another totally solid reason to do so: Conventional cotton production definitely does disrupt ecosystems and pollute waterways via heavy pesticide and insecticide use. RELATED: The One Simple Diet Change that’s Best for the Planet Plus, these mod menstrual products come with other benefits, like monthly delivery (so you stop running out RIGHT at the worst moment) and give-back programs that mean your purchase helps women in poor countries take control of their health. Check out one of these four organic tampon brands to find the one that’s right for you. Which Organic Tampons Are Right For You? Cora For: Do-gooders Cora’s products are not only made with certified organic cotton, they’re also GOTS certified, a designation that means the workers that produced them were treated well. Plus, did you know that in many developing countries girls are forced to drop out of school because they lack access to menstrual products? For every monthly box you buy (it’s a subscription service), they donate pads to women and girls who need them in India and Kenya. o.b. organic For: Eco-warriors o.b. is the O.G. when it comes to making period products that are better for the planet. The company has sold applicator-free tampons for almost 70 years. Can you even imagine how much plastic waste that is that didn’t end up in a landfill (or gobble up resources to produce)? And recently, it jumped into the organic market with a new line called o.b. organic. You can now get the classic no-applicator version without the pesticides (and also without chlorine, dyes, fragrance, or BPA). Or, if you’re still not up for the more hands-on approach to insertion (it’s easy—seriously!), the company is also making an o.b. organic tampon with a plant-based applicator. Lola For: Fashionistas Lola makes organic tampons, pads, and panty liners, all of which come in chic, minimalist blue-and-white packaging. Like Cora, they’re a subscription service, but they offer even more flexibility in what you get each month: you can mix and match pads and tampons based on your own unique body. Bonus: they also make a non-applicator version, so you can ditch the plastic if you’re up for it. RELATED: Switch to Healthier Beauty Products in Two Simple Steps Honest Co. For: Healthy moms Jessica Alba’s The Honest Co. makes all kinds of non-toxic products for the whole family, and tampons are now included. They’re hypoallergenic and are made with certified organic cotton and no fragrances or other additives. This is an example of one-stop shopping for a busy, healthy mom, since you can add these to your cart alongside organic diapers, all-natural laundry and dish detergents, and all kinds of natural skin-care products (for mom and babies).