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Way back on Valentine’s Day, when the world seemed a lot less complicated, I gave a short presentation on seed cycling for hormone balance at an LBB Coffee and Connections. After, the feedback I received was very extremely positive. So many women stopped me and expressed that they had never heard of the concept of seed cycling and were curious to know more. Seed cycling is not a new concept, in the world of holistic health it has been known about for years. Alternative health practitioners are always trying out different, sometimes unconventional, methods to balance and improve health naturally. Mother nature has provided us with so many tools, we just have to know how to utilize them. When it comes to hormones, us women know way more about them than we realize. You don’t have to be a hormone expert to notice when you feel extra irritable, extra tired or even have that intense craving for something sweet during a certain time of the month. Or maybe you are past that time of your life, you no longer get a monthly cycle, but you still feel tired, also irritable and maybe a little extra puffy. In both instances, hormones are to blame and more accurately it is that imbalance of hormones that is actually plaguing you. Our hormones are constantly changing throughout our lives, actually every 28 days, give or take. The more in balance they are, the better we feel and better our body operates at an optimal level. It is very easy to throw them out of whack. Chronic dieting, stress, lack of sleep, processed food, over consumption of sugar, overconsumption of food in general, a sedentary lifestyle (to name a few), can all contribute to an imbalance of hormones. I tell clients that when hormones are imbalanced, it is almost like telephone wires that are crossed. The signals cannot come through clearly, therefore leaving us stuck in a state of hormonal distress. There are a lot of ways to begin balancing hormones. Many of which were mentioned in the last paragraph. Yes, ditching sugar helps tremendously, but there are other ways that are less challenging and less restrictive. Insert seed cycling! Flax, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower are all part of the seed cycling process. Each of these seeds has the ability to balance estrogen and progesterone, two very important hormones in a woman’s body. How you do it is quite simple. During the first phase of your cycle (essentially the first day of your period), you begin consuming a tablespoon of flax and a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds daily. It is important to note that these seeds need to be freshly ground, but can be done ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The whole seed will not break down completely so grinding it allows your body to absorb more of the nutrients from the seeds. You can easily grind them in a food processor, blender or coffee grinder. You continue to consume those seeds daily for 13 days. On day 14, you switch to freshly ground sesame and sunflower, same amounts. During the first half of your cycle, estrogen is the queen! Consuming flax and pumpkin seeds help to support your body and the estrogen it is producing, but also helps balance any extra estrogen produced. This helps to alleviate any symptoms of estrogen dominance. During the second half of your cycle progesterone is the boss. Consuming sunflower and sesame will help bring progesterone back into balance and prepare your body for estrogen to barge back in again! Why does this matter and what is the point? Having balanced estrogen and progesterone keeps your body buzzing along happily. These are some of the unwanted symptoms this process can help:
It should be noted that if you are postpartum, perimenopausal, or menopausal, you can still seed cycle. You can base your seed cycling on the phases of the moon. I know this sounds a little unorthodox and possibly strange, but starting your seed cycling the first day of the new moon, which will be May 22nd, will be a perfect setup for your cycling system. You can switch after 13 days, or the first date of a full moon. Some believe our cycles always followed the moon, but with so much artificial light, we no longer do. So in that case, we are just getting back to our roots! If you are ready to start seed cycling, please know that you should commit to at least three months of consistent use. It can take that long for your body to begin to balance, however, I have heard for some it works faster. If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms, there is no harm in testing it out. You may find your stubborn issues are fading away with little to no effort! If you have any questions or are interested in testing out other ways to manage hormones and want to dive deeper into improving your health, let’s talk. I offer complimentary consultations so we can better assess your goals. Shoot me a message and we can tackle this together!
Most of us would probably agree that men and women frequently behave differently, and these differences often show up in professional, family and social situations. Of course, this certainly doesn’t mean either gender has an advantage in these areas. However, here’s an interesting question: Do women possess attributes that may make them better investors? Some evidence suggests this may indeed be the case. Consider the following:
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