How to Seed Cycle for Menstrual Optimization
Did you know that seed cycling can help make your menstrual cycle not only manageable but pretty gosh darn normal? People have seen massive improvements with PCOS, PMS, irregular cycles, infertility, and more! Seed cycling is a simple way to nourish your body through its monthly cycle using pumpkin, flax, sesame, and sunflower seeds.
The Truth About Your Cycle
The truth is, women shouldn’t find their cycles debilitating or really being such a burden that they can’t continue their day-to-day lives. While this may be common in our modern society, it’s far from normal. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t honor your body if you’re feeling tired around menses, but you shouldn’t be laid up on the couch cringing in pain. You can read more about The Truth About Your Menstrual Cycle here.
Hormones are Complex
Before we get into the exciting part of seed cycling, it needs to be said that it is not a cure all. The body is a complex system, and the female menstrual cycle is 4 phases, and there are so many other things that affect it. Sleep, adrenals, thyroid, and so much more. If you want to learn more about balancing your hormones beyond seed cycling, you can read more here.
Nurture Thy Self
The heart of seed cycling is nurturing your body. Seed cycling provides specific nutrients for the body at the right times during its cycle. The female cycle can be broken down into 4 stages:
- Menses/Period
- Follicular Phase
- Ovulation
- Luteal Phase
The seeds mentioned earlier, pumpkin/flax and sesame/sunflower go with different phases of the cycle. These are a few things that need to be mentioned about the seeds. First is you need fresh, clean, organic seeds. This is really important. To experience all the benefits of seed cycling, you don’t want old, rancid seeds. Second is you want to grind your seeds as close to consumption as possible. This goes along with the first part. As soon as you grind those seeds, you’ve started the clock on the nutrients in them. The longer you wait to consume them, the less nutrients they have, and they can even go rancid. Store all seeds in the freezer to keep them fresh.
How to Seed Cycle
An average woman’s cycle lasts 28 days, so I will use that as a base line. A lot of women see their cycle come close to this average once they’ve started seed cycling.
Day: 1-13 (Menses and Follicular Phase)
Primary Hormones: Estrogen and Testosterone
Seeds: Pumpkin and Flax
Amount: 1-2 tablespoon of each
Directions: Grind your seeds and add them to food. You can do nut butter, yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, or whatever you think they’d go well with. You will consume one tablespoon of each seed for the first 14 days.
Why these seeds?
Pumpkin:
High in zinc (supports healthy testosterone levels) and antioxidants. Also has tryptophan, which helps with serotonin and melatonin production. These are both crucial for healthy sleep.
Flax:
High in lignans, slightly estrogenic, and do double duty. They provide estrogen if needed but can also help escort out excess estrogen. It can also help reduce androgen levels associated with PCOS, acne, and excess hair (source) and reduce breast tenderness (source).
Day 14-28 (Ovulation and Luteal Phase)
Primary Hormones: Progesterone
Seeds: Sesame and Sunflower
Amount: 1-2 tablespoon of each
Directions: Grind your seeds and add them to food ( see list above for ideas). You will consume one tablespoon of each seed for the next 14 days.
Why these seeds?
Sunflower:
High in vitamin E, iron, calcium and selenium, all which help support the liver as it switches from one set of hormones to the other.
Sesame:
More zinc to help with that progesterone production! Also has lignans to continue to help escort out excess estrogen. It may help reduce inflammation (source).
Once your period starts, the seeds reset and you start all over. That’s it, the basics of seed cycling! It may take a few cycles (most recommend trying it for at least 3 months) to see the full benefits. For me, I saw small improvements with my first cycle (better sleep and shorter headache) but I saw the biggest improvements at the 3 month mark.
Seed cycling is great along with supporting the liver and adrenals (adrenal cocktails and electrolytes).
