If you have hormonal imbalance, then you must have heard about seed cycling from some or the other person in your social circle. There is a lot going on about seed cycling so lets understand today. Seed cycling is an eating pattern that helps to balance hormones to optimize fertility. The method instructs women to eat 1 tbsp each of freshly ground flax and pumpkin seeds per day, for first 14 days of their menstrual cycle, which is known as the follicular phase.
Then, during the second half of your cycle, which is known as the luteal phase. You need to eat 1 tablespoon, each of ground sunflower and sesame seeds until the first day of your next period, which is when the next cycle starts. Onlymyhealth editorial team spoke to Dietitian Shivani Kandwal, Nutritionist, Diabetes Educator, Founder of Nutrivibes, to know the benefits and how to follow seeds cycling.
Who Should Do It?
Any woman who is suffering from irregular periods, excessive hairfall , acne, hirsutism, pre menstrual syndrome, mood swings, cravings or any other symptom of PCOS should definitely try seed cycling.
Also read: What Is Seed Cycling for Hormone Balance, Explains Nutritionist Dr Swati Bathwal
How does seed cycling work?
At the moment there's a little research into whether or not seed cycling, actually works. The claims are mostly based on Theory and personal antidotes. The gist of the theory is that phytoestrogens which really help. So, plant-based estrogens, which are found in both flax and pumpkin seeds, will boost estrogen levels during the follicular phase of our cycle.
Then after ovulation, the lignans in the sunflower and sesame seeds, inhibit estrogen production. Also, vitamin E boosts progesterone and moreover, there's plenty of evidence showing that the good fats and micronutrients in seeds are beneficial for fertility. Good fats help to reduce inflammation and are rich in micronutrients, such as selenium and vitamin E which act as antioxidants to fight off free radicals.
What if the cycles are irregular?
If you are someone who has a regular cycle and by regular that's usually between 28 days and 35, which is the margin there or what regular cycle is. If you are having a period you know, where the day that is, it falls on and then you have it that amount of time, you know the next month, then that's obviously a regular cycle. So, you have no clue, you know, when you ovulate, you have no clue about anything like that.
Also read: PCOS Diet: How To Make A Healthy Plate And Role Of Seed Cycling For PCOS Management
How to follow seed cycling?
You can actually work with the moon cycle. First day of the new moon, you will start your flaxseed and your pumpkin seeds. And then two weeks later start with sesame and sunflower. Now the reason why we do it the Moon is because they say that women are just so in sync with the moon .So, it can take about three to four cycles for you to actually see any effect. So don't think you're going to start, there's and then the next month you're starting to have a regular cycle.
One thing to keep in mind here is that this is a food based approach. And like, all food based approaches the results will vary from one person to the other. And, the impact of the results is going to be determined by how well you stick to it in your commitment, as well as what else is going on in your life. So, this is not a miracle cure or a magic pill of any kind. What that means is, if you're still under a lot of stress, if you are eating unhealthy, still taking alcohol etc you may not see results. So this is meant to be something that you integrate and add into your life.