Seed Cycling: Whats all the hoopla about.
A few months ago, a friend told me about something I had never heard of before called Seed Cycling. My interest was piqued and I thought I’d give it a try. I am now on day 20 of my cycle with seed cycling. In this post I am going to cover what seed cycling is and the first two seeds you are supposed to eat during your follicular phase.
The claim is that certain seeds help boost/balance different hormones so they can help you out at different parts of your cycle. When I first heard of it I thought you had to eat a different seed everyday 😂 but don’t worry! I was relieved to find out that it was just 4 types of seeds total. The first 2 you eat during your estrogen dominant follicular phase between the 1st day of your period and ovulation. You eat the other 2 seeds during your progesterone dominant luteal phase between ovulation and the day before your period starts again. Easy enough, right?
Recommended Daily Intake:
During follicular phase (pre ovulation, estrogen dominance)
1 tbsp daily ground flax seeds
1 tbsp daily pumpkin seeds
During luteal phase (post ovulation, progesterone dominance)
1 tbsp daily sesame seeds
1 tbsp daily sunflower seeds
Let’s get into whether this works. The truth is that there is no scientific research to prove the benefits or efficacy of seed cycling’s specific effect on the menstrual cycle but there is a lot of research done on the health benefits of each seed. The good part is that this practice has actually been around for a long time, there’s loads of anecdotal evidence, and there’s probably little to no risk in ingesting seeds on a daily basis. In fact, adding seeds into your diet can be a great way to get more fiber, protein, and lots of other nutrients into your diet (1).
First up: Flax Seeds
OKAY GUYS. I kid you not, the nutritional and health benefits of flax seeds seem to be never ending. I have been finding study after study about why flax seed is SO GREAT. The one study that was done on flax seeds and menstrual cycles was rather small but ended up showing the reduction of anovulatory cycles (3). In other words, it helped women who were not ovulating get back to normal healthy ovulation. This didn’t surprise me since flax seed has been around for quite a while carrying the “superfood” title. Even if there isn’t a lot of evidence showing its direct relationship to the cycle it has loads of nutritional benefits and we all know that diet and nutrition greatly influences hormones and the menstrual cycle.
To list a few other known benefits of flax seeds (4):
they are high in protein and fiber
they are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
they help reduce cardiovascular risk
they are anti-cancerous
they are high in omega-3 fatty acids which is important to help balance our severely omega-6 dominant society
The list goes on and on. Try asking The Googs and you’ll see there are TONS articles and research papers showing the benefits of flax. This should be compelling enough to include flax seeds in your diet regardless of whether you’re male or female or what phase of your cycle you are on.
Next up: Pumpkin Seeds
If you thought flax seeds are amazing, you should check out pumpkin seeds. After diving into research of the health benefits of pumpkin seeds, it is undeniable these are great diet supplement for all human beings but especially women. The most interesting data I found is that pumpkin seeds can help reduce PMS cramping (5,7, 8) and also helps with insomnia (6) due to their high levels of zinc and tryptophan.
To list a few other known benefits of pumpkin seeds:
they are high in protein, fiber, and vitamin E (9)
they are high in iron. Iron deficiency is the largest nutritional problem in the world, especially amongst women, and pumpkin seeds have shown to improve iron levels in blood (10).
they are high in magnesium which women are commonly deficient in and this is also known to help reduce PMS pain (8)
they also protect against cancer and osteoporosis
they help promote normal growth and development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence (11)
they are anti-oxidant and anti-aging (12)
Whew!!! Ok so the evidence showing benefits of pumpkin seeds is overwhelmingly positive and I didnt even include everything I found! The message I keep getting and I want to get across here is that these seeds are highly nutritious foods that can be easily added into your diet to help protect and maintain health across so many levels. Like I said, female or male, follicular or luteal, its worth adding these amazing natural foods into your diet.
My experience and recommendation
If I am being honest, I didn’t really FEEL a difference compared to other cycles when I wasn’t seed cycling but I do get a lot of peace of mind knowing that I am getting tons of good nutrition on a daily basis. Personally, I tend to have low iron levels and am sometimes even anemic so knowing I was getting some coverage on this is a huge plus. I am now way past my follicular phase and I am still eating these two seeds on a daily basis simply because I have learned how beneficial they are on so many levels and I am curious to see if they help my PMS cramping leading up to my period. My recommendation is that all menstruating people try this! In my opinion it is a win-win situation. It could help your cycle but even it doesn’t noticeably improve your menstrual cycle you are still benefiting on so many other fronts from these tiny little power seeds.
Want to learn more about the specific benefits of these seeds? Browse the sources below.
Want to learn about the other two seeds and how they might affect your luteal phase or menstrual cycle in general? Check back in. I’ll be doing research and posting about it in the future!
xo -nina
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