Understanding our Menstrual Cycle
Your monthly cycle is a monthly report card and can be an indicator of your health. There are many misconceptions around what our cycle should be and what has been deemed “normal”. It is common to have painful cycles but not normal. We have been taught birth control helps regulate our cycle in a healthy way and these misconceptions have led us astray. My goal with this blog is to help you understand and honor your menstrual cycle. What is your body telling you? How can we honor our body with lifestyle and foods. Let’s dive in.
Most women start to pay attention to their cycle when they want to become pregnant. And while that is important, understanding your cycle in all stages of life is an indicator of health. I want you to think of your cycle like the 4 seasons of weather. We will walk through each season and see what is happening.
The Basics
A normal cycle is anywhere from 28 days to 35 days. And when we say normal it is consistent. If you have a 26 days cycle that is fine as long as it is 26 days every month (give or take a 1-2 days). It is split into 2 phases with ovulation occurring in between these phases. Phase 1, known as the Follicular Phase, I want you to think of winter and spring. Day 1 is the day you start your period, and this is when your hormones are lowest. Most people think this is when you have PMS but that is not the case. A normal period length is 3-6 days, and it should not be painful. Think of wintertime, you feel sluggish and want to stay inside. During your period you want to eat red meat to build blood production.
Next, we enter Springtime, and this is when hormones start to rise, and you get more energy back. During this time, you want to focus on eating healthy fats, grass-fed butter, avocado, eggs etc. Next is the main event, ovulation! The body has been prepping your uterine wall and building an egg to be released. Day 14 you have a surge of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) that triggers the release of the egg. This is when you feel your best. Around this time, you usually feel more confident and have an increase in libido. If you are trying to conceive, knowing when you ovulate is important. You are most fertile 5 days prior to ovulation and 1 day after. So, knowing your cycle allows you to plan accordingly.
Now that ovulation has occurred, we enter phase 2, the Luteal Phase, think summer and fall seasons. Your uterus has built up the wall for implantation. During this summer season you want to increase fiber foods and think summer foods, light salads, and fruit. Estrogen starts to level off and progesterone increases in preparation to implant the egg. You want to take it easy from workouts that put stress on the body. Why is this? Because the goal (if you are wanting to get pregnant) is to get the egg to implant and stress is not helpful for implantation. Stress increases our cortisol levels and instead of making progesterone the body will prioritize survival and make cortisol. Summer is over and now fall season begins. Day 21 to 28 (or end of you cycle) is fall season. If no implantation occurs, then the body knows to stop producing the hormones necessary to sustain a pregnancy. The cycle ends and you have your period (shedding of your uterine lining and the cycle starts over.)
Now that you understand the basics, do you know your cycle well? How is your monthly report card? If you are having cycle issues and your monthly report is not good, then we can help! Through evaluation and testing we can determine what is going on with your hormones and work with you to start feeling better.
Dr.KS
