Have you heard of seed cycling?
Seed cycling is an excellent wellness practice for supporting hormonal balance in women. The practice consists of eating specific seeds during the two main phases of your menstrual cycle (follicular and luteal) to help promote the healthy balance of estrogen and progesterone levels. This method of supporting your hormones is gentle and completely natural. It proves to be very effective, especially when used alongside other hormone support like acupuncture.
Seed cycling can be used at any stage of a woman’s life and cycle.
Women’s hormones are heavily influenced by diet, exercise, sleep, stress levels, and environmental toxins. Our hormones can quickly be thrown out of balance by any one of these factors. Whenever our hormones are imbalanced, it can lead to an array of health issues such as: hormonal acne, irregular cycle, heavier periods, PCOS, infertility, and thyroid issues. These issues, along with others, can overall effect our daily quality of life.
How Does the Cycling Process Work?
From Day 1 to Day 15 (first day of menstruation - ovulation), we need more estrogen in order to build up our endometrium. This phase in our cycles is the Follicular Phase. When using seeds like flaxseed and pumpkin seed, we can naturally increase the estrogen levels in our body.
From Day 15 to Day 30, or the second part of the cycle (the luteal phase), progesterone begins to release. This sex hormone helps to thicken the uterine lining and prepare for implantation. Sesame seeds contain high levels of zinc and sunflower seeds contain Vitamin E, both stimulating progesterone production.
The idea is that by adding these specific seeds into your daily diet throughout your cycle, you will naturally balance the hormones estrogen and progesterone in your body. It is recommended that you take one tablespoon of each seed during both halves of your cycle (flaxseed and pumpkin seed in the first 15 days and then sesame and sunflower in the last 15 days).
Ideas for integrating seeds into your daily diet ~
Sprinkle seeds on salads, oatmeal, smoothie bowls
Make a homemade granola, energy bar, or cookie/bread
Blend up homemade seed butter and spread onto toast - add bananas, honey, and cinnamon for an extra yummy treat
Throw them into dinners, for easiest incorporation
Try This RECIPE:
Estrogen-boosting crackers
This recipe is great for menstruating women in the first part of the cycle, as well as women going through perimenopause and menopause who would benefit from an estrogen boost. This recipe is using an oven. If you have a dehydrator, feel free to use it and set it to 115F for 8 hours.
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
Time to soak: 12 hours
Time to bake: 6 hours
Serves: 20 servings
Equipment: thermometer, parchment paper and 18’ x 13’ baking tray
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1 cup flaxseed
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dried apples, roughly chopped
1 cup roasted coconut flakes
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
How to Make:
1. Soak almonds for 12 hours.
2. Soak flaxseed and pumpkin seeds in 3 cups of water for 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 150F or the lowest temperature your oven allows. The trick to keeping the temperature low (ideally in the range of 120 to 150F) and to leave the oven door ajar. This will prevent the crackers from burning and will create air circulation to dry the crackers.
4. Strain all the excess water from the almonds and combine with all the remaining ingredients. Toss to mix them well.
5. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and spread the mixture evenly.
6. Bake for 6 hours or until fully dried. It’s recommended to check your crackers regularly using the thermometer to be sure they are getting dried but not burned. If the oven gets too hot, just open the oven door slightly wider. I use a metal tool (like a can opener) to keep the oven door ajar. The second batch will be easier to make as you will know how to keep the oven temperature in the 120-150F range.
These crackers store well for two weeks in an air-tight container.