Seed Cycling: A Complete Guide
Women have a lot going on every month. I’m not talking about work, kids, cleaning, bills etc. I’m talking about hormones. There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to our hormones. Basically, when we are mensurating we have different levels of hormones than when we’re ovulating. When you look at a graph of our hormones, it’s no wonder we have mood swings! Different hormones require us to treat our bodies, well, differently. I could go into so many things here like exercise, working, sleeping and more. But for sake of keeping with our topic of seed cycling, I’ll start with nutrition. Keep reading for a complete guide on seed cycling!
How to Seed Cycle
Seed cycling is a practice of eating different seeds at different times of your monthly cycle. This practice regulates, balances and supports our reproductive hormones. By seed cycling you can ease unpleasant symptoms associated with your monthly cycle, encourage fertility, reduce PMS, and so much more!
For the first part of your cycle (start of your period to ovulation) you will eat 1-2 tablespoons of both ground Pumpkin seeds, and ground Flax seeds
For the second part of your cycle (from ovulation to the start of your period) you will eat 1-2 tablespoons of both ground Sesame seeds and ground Sunflower seeds.
What do These Different Seeds Do Exactly?
In order to fully understand how exactly these seeds help with hormone balance, you need to first understand how our hormones work, and fluctuate during our cycle. This is a good chart to visualize our sex hormones and the levels they are at during our cycle:
As you can see from this map, our hormones are at an all-time low when we start our period. That’s why we usually feel like crap and want to just stay on the couch and nap add day! You’ll notice that during ovulation, everything peaks! Normally during ovulation, you feel like a million bucks, you have a higher sex drive, and you have more energy. Too bad this phase only lasts a few days!! Then after ovulation, there’s a huge increase in progesterone and a slight increase in estrogen. Seed cycling will support these hormone changes during our monthly cycle.
FLAX SEEDS – Flax is rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids. This seed contains estrogenic-like properties that encourage healthy estrogen production. It also has lignans that block excess estrogen from being produced.
PUMPKIN SEEDS – Pumpkin seeds are rich in omega 6 and zinc; two nutrients that support our sex hormones and encourage reproduction.
SUNFLOWER SEEDS – Sunflower is an excellent source of vitamin e and selenium. These seeds contain lignans that mimic and support progesterone production.
SESAME SEEDS – Sesame is high in vitamin e, and contains the same hormone-balancing lignans as flax. The seeds encourage fertility and support progesterone balance.
Can You Seed Cycle if You Don’t Have a Period?
If you don’t have a period for whatever reason (PCOS, Endometriosis, Menopause, Peri- Menopause etc.), You can definitely still seed cycle! In fact, I would encourage it!
To incorporate seed cycling without a period, you will need to use the moon cycles. At the new moon you will start to consume 1 tablespoon of both flax seeds and pumpkin seeds, and at the full moon, you will switch to 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds.
Can You Seed Cycle While on Birth Conrol?
Simple answer is no. The way hormonal birth control pills work by releasing synthetic hormones. Seed cycling will not have much affect over top these artificial hormones.
An IUD is a little bit different. If you have a copper IUD, it doesn’t release any hormones, so you can for sure seed cycle with that form of birth control. But if you have the Mirena or Skyla that do release hormones, you wont get the benefits of seed cycling.
How Should You Consume the Seeds?
This is a great question. One that I had when I started to seed cycle. Can’t I just throw some pumpkin seeds on a salad and call it a day? No, not really. The proper way to reap all of the benefits and nutrition from these small seeds is to grind them first. You especially need to be grinding your flax seeds. Our bodies can’t digest whole flax seeds that aren’t ground up first, and you will just pass them without any of the benefits. You also don’t want to buy flax seeds that are already ground because they are usually rancid by the time you open them to use them.
I recommend a coffee grinder or blender. Once the seeds are ground, you will need to store them in the refrigerator. I normally measure out my seeds that I need for the month, grind them up and place them in a glass jar in the refrigerator then eat a tablespoon of the correct seeds every day. That way it’s super easy. I only have to grind the seeds once a month and they are fresh for me to eat however I want.
What Else Can I Do to Help Regulate My Hormones?
There are lots of other ways to help regulate your sex hormones and keep period symptoms at bay. Taking evening primrose oil is an awesome supplement that naturally balances our cycle. It’s also incredibly helpful for women with amenorrhea or very light periods. Evening primrose oil also reduces PMS symptoms and helps regulate our emotions.
Another big way to help our bodies balance hormones is to incorporate a good probiotic. Probiotics are so important for gut health, and so many undesirable symptoms occur in our bodies when we don’t have good gut health.
I hope this complete guide to seed cycling was helpful! It’s also important to note that it can take about 3 cycles for you to start noticing a big difference in your symptoms. So don’t give up! Let me know if you like this kind of content. I also like to post beauty and skincare reviews here on my blog. If you like that sort of thing, check out my Eight Saints reviews, where I review a bunch of natural skincare from a reputable brand that is cruelty free and strives for clean, non-toxic ingredients.
xo,
Winky Pink