Seed Cycling for Hormone Support

Have you heard of seed cycling? It is an old - food as medicine - way to support hormone production and elimination. Our hormones are made of fats and the fatty acids in seeds give our bodies the building blocks to make hormones. Seeds also contain fiber which helps our bodies get rid of hormones. The saying is you want to use hormones and lose hormones. If they don’t get out of the body, symptoms such as PMS, breast tenderness, headaches before the cycle and cramping can occur. 

There are two broad phases of the menstrual cycle —- Day 1 (first day of bleeding) - Day 14 (ovulation) is known as the follicular phase of the cycle. During this phase the hormone estrogen dominates and leads to the release of an egg at ovulation. Flax seeds and pumpkin seeds support this phase of the cycle. After ovulation, from Day 14 - Day 1 of the next bleed, sesame and sunflower seeds help support the progesterone phase of the cycle. 

There are many ways to incorporate seeds into the daily diet. You can sprinkle them on oatmeal or yogurt if it’s tolerated. You can sprinkle them on salads or on top of soups. Recently I had the idea of making a version of famous herbalist - Rosemary Gladstar's - Zoom Balls - which are essentially a nut butter and honey base that I incorporated the seeds into. Check out my recipe for seed cycling balls here.

I source my seeds from Natural Grocers. The easiest way to take them is to get two 32 oz mason jars - one for each phase. Then, grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or Vitamix --- so one jar contains Flax/Pumpkin and the other jar contains Sesame/Sunflower. Take 2 tablespoons daily.

Another medium to consume seeds is seed butters —- particularly sesame seed butter (tahini) and sunflower seed butter. Regardless of how you get them into your daily diet, seeds can be a wonderful nutritional way to support the endocrine (hormone) system. 

Dr. Jane Litsey