Women’s Health: How do Hormones affect your health and wellbeing?

After my blog on children’s immunity, I thought I would look at two other important topics: women’s health and men’s health. Women and men are so different, with very different hormones and health requirements, so I will address this in two different blog posts. First up, women’s health, female hormones and how to optimise nutrition and exercise as a woman.

The Circadian Cycle and the Infradian Cycle

What is good for the gander is not always what is good for the goose! Did you know that as a woman you have a biological rhythm that is very different to men? Or that their biochemistry is very different? We all know this on a very superficial level but we don’t let that knowledge affect our day to day lives, our creativity, our performance, the way we look after ourselves.

Alisa Vitti, a functional nutrition and women’s hormone expert, has a book called In the Flo:  which was an eye-opener for me recently. In it she explores the way a woman’s biological rhythm is based on a 28-day cycle rather than a 24-hour cycle, which is what defines a man’s biological rhythm. We all live by the daily circadian rhythms of the 24-hour cycle, but women have a second biological cycle running at the same time – the infradian cycle. This second cycle is based on the monthly menstrual cycle and affects most of the key systems of the body – cognition, metabolism, immune, microbiome, stress/cortisol, and reproduction.

Alisa describes the way a woman’s biological rhythm is based one four hormonal phases that affect how we function and how we feel. This is important because as Alisa says ‘what’s good for the gander is not good for the goose!’ Women do not thrive on working to cram as much as possible into each day or on diets or lifestyles that ignore the monthly cycle of hormonal phases that dictates their bodies.

Hormonal phases 

So, what are these four hormonal phases? It may sound strange to link nutrition and lifestyle to the menstrual cycle, but most women intuitively know that there are times in the month when they are much more productive, times when they are more creative and times when they need to take it easy. But do you know the difference between the four phases: follicular, ovulatory, luteal and menstrual phases? Or do you know what phase your body is in right now?

The important place to start is to take time to listen to your body, to be aware of the four hormonal phases that change each month and to implement small changes to work with your body, rather than against it. Understanding one’s menstrual cycle and hormonal phases can really help with how our hormones are affecting us. This can be in relation to PMS each month or menopause[1] when hormones are changing the most. Hormone-related health problems that most women face at some point in their lives (eg heavy or painful periods, severe PMS, bloating, fibroids, irritability, insomnia, low libido, irregular or missing periods, migraines or infertility).

Once you are familiar with the different phases of your cycle, it is good to think about the nutrition and exercise your body needs at each different phase. For example, during the menstrual phase, energy levels are likely to be low, so the body needs extra support with nutrient rich foods including lean proteins, eggs and fish, healthy fats, root vegetables and iron-rich food such as lentils, spinach, prunes etc. During the luteal phase, hormones are at their highest so emotions and physical discomfort may also be at their highest, so complex carbohydrates can help curb cravings for sweets, salty foods or alcohol which will exacerbate bloating and mood swings.

Where to start to make changes?

You may want to read the book yourself for more information that will not fit into one blog post! I will leave you with the following suggestions if you are interested in making some changes based on this information:

1. Be creative with your exercise! Less intense exercise is far more helpful during the menstrual phase, so think about more gentle exercise like walking or Pilates, rather than long exhausting runs or intense weight sessions. As Alisa puts it: ‘you need to nurture your cyclical patterns and endocrine system’s nutritional needs, and you will feel the benefits quickly.’
2. Have different morning rituals: Women actually need 4 different morning routines based on the 4 shifts you go through each month during one turn of the infradian biological rhythm. So work out how best to spend your mornings and don’t feel guilty about needing to get more sleep at different times of the month!
3. Track your cycle! You can download an app like Clue https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/clue-period-cycle-tracker/id657189652  to help you with this.
4. Take different supplements to support female hormones. B vitamins, including folic acid, and Vitamin D are important for supporting female physiology. Magnesium helps with hormone imbalances and is especially important during menstruation phase. Probiotics are invaluable in supplying the body’s micronutrient needs and mood during the follicular phase.
5. Think about including different foods during the different parts of the hormonal cycle. There are lots of examples in Alisa’s book, however, if this is overwhelming, I suggest focussing on the different nuts and seeds she recommends at different times of the month as the oils found there are so important for hormones. Flaxseeds are particularly good during menstrual phase and sesame seeds are particularly good during the luteal phase. *

*Note: I often recommend different dietary approaches for different people. If someone has a problem with hormones the approaches to nutrition and exercise described by Alisa is broadly what I would recommend. However, if someone has an autoimmune problem, a consultation with me might be a better starting point as you will need unique advice. Also, for a more thorough discussion of different dietary and lifestyle changes that would be best for you, please contact me for a consultation.

I hope this has been an interesting perspective for all the women reading this blog. Fighting against these phases and this second biological cycle is sometimes exhausting, but to understand what the body needs and to support it with the correct nutrition and exercise at each phase can be a game-changer. I hope you find many benefits to your health and well being by exploring this further!

With every blessing,

Emma

Emma Maitland-Carew – Registered Nutritional Therapist

Dip.ION, mBANT, CHNC Registered Practitioner,

Metabolic Balance® Coach, HeartMath Coach.

For further research

While I do not agree with everything Alisa recommends, I would encourage you to find out more about her work and research. You can read her book here: In the Flo: A 28-day plan working with your monthly cycle to do more and stress less. You can follow Alisa on Instagram and watch her in this video or in this interview.

You might like to listen to these podcasts by Dr Hazel Wallace. Episode 4: Women are not Small Men with Dr Stacy Sims, an Environmental Exercise Physiologist and Nutrition Scientist. Episode 5: The Female Brain with Dr Sarah McKay, a neuroscientist and science communicator about the female brain. Episode 7: How Science Got Women Wrong with Angela Saini, an award-winning science journalist who holds Masters degrees in Engineering from The University of Oxford, and in Science and Security from King’s College London.

[1] If you would like to read more about nutrition and menopause, you can see this blog post by ‘The Food Medic’, Dr Hazel Wallace.