Seed Cycling

What the heck is seed cycling and why am I blogging about it?

Since going off synthetic birth control in 2016 I’ve been learning so much about the female body. It sometimes blows my mind that I didn’t know some of these things sooner.

I’ve experienced many things since going off birth control. My period disappearing for months on end. I’ve had really heavy periods. I definitely talk a lot about excruciating day 1 cramps. I can get painful breast tenderness leading up to my period. And I was even misdiagnosed with PCOS.

In the past year, the number one health pain point I have been trying to solve is painful day 1 period cramping. I’ve worked with my functional medicine doctor to monitor my hormones through blood testing. We discovered that I have higher estrogen levels. It can sometimes be called estrogen dominance and can lead to the painful period cramps.

The protocol I’ve been on for several months now involved adding EstroSmart to my daily supplement regime. I also started taking dōTERRA Grapefruit & Thyme essential oil internally in a veggie cap.

I just experienced a day 1 period that didn’t involve excrucriating cramps and I couldn’t be happier. It feels amazing to know that I’m supporting my body in balancing my hormones. I love that my period is no longer something I dread. In the past month, I started seed cycling as well but haven’t been completely compliant. Here are some resources I used to educate myself about it.

Seed Cycling Benefits and How It Works – MindBodyGreen

How to use “seed cycling” to balance your hormones and improve your periods

Why Seed Cycle?

Certain types of seeds can either bind to estrogen or boost progesterone in your body. We should be metabolizing estrogen out of our system in the phase leading up to ovulation. Then our body should be producing more progesterone during our luteal phase. The above links explain it in detail for you.

How to Seed Cycle?

1. Eat Pumpkin and Flax Seeds from Day 1 – 14 of your Cycle
2. Eat Sesame of Sunflower Seeds from Day 15 – 28 (or longer) of your Cycle

Simple ways to incorporate these seeds into a meal plan:

1. Add freshly ground flax seed to your daily smoothie
2. Add pumpkin seeds to a daily salad
3. Eat sunflower seed butter with apples as a snack
4. Add sesame seeds to a daily salad

Once I’m back from Bali I want to incorporate even more consistenly. I’d love some recipe ideas. If you’ve been doing this for a while, let me know in the comments other recipes I can use!