The four phases of your menstrual cycle often mirror your overall health and wellness. Some practitioners will refer to there being 3 phases and loop menstruation into the luteal phase given it’s technically an ‘event’ and not a phase. I like to separate it out. Let’s deep dive into each phase to better understand what’s going on with your hormones and your body and will share some tips for how to best support your body during each phase.
Follicular Phase: During this phase that lasts for 7-10 days, the hypothalamus tells your pituitary gland to send follicle-stimulating hormone to your ovaries, telling them to get ready to release another egg. Several egg follicles start to swell in preparation. Estrogen increases to thicken your uterine lining so that it can host an egg. Notice how low all of your hormones are during this phase.
How you might feel: You may notice that you have more energy during this phase. You may also feel more creative, more outgoing, and upbeat.
Self-care: Since your estrogen level is just starting to rise, you can tolerate foods with a higher phytoestrogen content since you won’t be piling additional estrogen on top of already-elevated estrogen levels [think soy]. This is a great time to try that new Zumba class you’ve been eyeing, start a new project, learn a new skill or hobby, eat light, fresh foods that will complement you’re your more vibrant energy. Think broccoli, artichokes, carrots, zucchini, string beans, avocado, lemon, lima beans, cashews, chicken, eggs, and sauerkraut.
This is so enlightening! We need a maintenance log for our minds and bodies, kind of like the ones for our cars. Knowing what phase our bodies are in on any given day would help us in knowing how to nurture it.