the best supplements, seeds, herbs + essential oils for each cycle phase | menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, luteal

Welcome to the Stellar Cycles Podcast! In this episode, we’re expanding on our discussion about what foods to eat at different times of the month. 

Today, we’ll explore all the lovely extras that help us as cycling women. We’ll dive into the best vitamins and supplements, seeds for seed cycling, various herbs for hormone balance, and essential oils to invigorate, ground, soothe, and relax you. We'll break everything down by the phases of your cycle: menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal. 

Because every woman’s needs are unique, always consult with your health practitioner or doctor before starting any new supplements, vitamins, or herbs to ensure they’re right for you. 

Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more women's health and wellness tips!

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Transcript

Alina: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Stellar Cycles podcast. Your hot girl database for all things pertaining to your femininity, your cycle and wellness, and your walk in life as a woman. I'm your host, Elina. And today we are going to be talking about ways to boost your feminine health using nature's gifts. So in addition to my content regarding what foods to eat at different times of the month, I wanted to create an episode for you that covers all the lovely extras that also help us along our way as cycling women. So these will include various vitamins and supplements, seeds for seed cycling, different herbs, and how they help our hormones and essential oils that help invigorate ground, soothe and relax you as always. This will be broken down into each of the phases of the cycle. Menstrual phase, follicular phase OVULATORY and luteal phases. I just want to make a disclaimer because every woman and her needs are different. Always make sure to check with your health practitioner or doctor before starting any course of supplements, vitamins or herbs, as these can be very potent and powerful. we just want to make sure you're taking what's right and approved for you. Before we get into the episode, I just want to give you guys a few updates, few life updates. The first being that I got COVID this summer. Yeah, it's very different this time around. I first had it when I was still working in the hospital doing an ultrasound. I had taken the vaccine because they forced it onto me. They said literally, don't show up to work if you don't get vaccinated. And that was just a really scary moment for me because I just wasn't prepared to not be able to pay my rent or put gas in my car or pay for my food. This was not too long before me and Sam got married, but I was still, very much independent and responsible for my own bills, my own costs of living and so on and so forth. Back then, this was early 2022 when I got COVID. The very first time. I can honestly and confidently say that I had no idea what COVID felt like. Maybe the vaccine was working and it really reduced symptoms to the point where I didn't have any symptoms. I actually wouldn't even have known that I had COVID if it wasn't for my job testing me. I think it was like once a week or even every day that we had to go and get a COVID test, which was insane times back then. So my only consequence really was that I had to stay home from work all week, not make any money and just, yeah, isolate myself and not really do much. So this time around, I definitely felt the effects of COVID. You know, I went up to visit my family for 4th of July, and when Sam and I were traveling, the airports and planes were just absolutely slammed, just filled to the brim with people, traveling families, kids, just super spreaders of every kind imaginable. And I didn't think much of it because I really trust my immune system. And I didn't think that anything was going to happen to me. But the very next day, Friday, July 5th, I woke up with a very sore throat, a very congested nose, and just Thinking that it was a regular cold. That I had maybe caught on the plane. I don't know if anyone has any household remedies that they kind of go for, but I immediately went downstairs, made myself some salt water, gargle to the whole glass, ate an entire lemon that I had cut up into pieces and dipped in honey. that usually works for me whenever I get sick. I would say Friday, I didn't really feel it most of the days, just more or less in the morning that I woke up and just felt really, really achy. But Saturday and Sunday, all my goodness, the body aches, the fatigue, everything was hitting me full force. I would wake up with my throat feeling like someone took a cheese grater to it and pretty much was not able to breathe through my nose for a whole week. I think only now I'm able to breathe through my nose, which if you know, you know, we really take it for granted when we can breathe through both nostrils. I'll tell you that for sure. So. I went through all this time with family, just feeling like I was regular sick, but just to a completely different degree where my entire body was in pain and I just didn't have the energy for anything. And the thing is too, I was at home visiting my loved ones, so I wanted to squeeze in every possible minute of activity and just seeing people and doing stuff with them, which probably wasn't the best because I did not know that I had COVID. It didn't even cross my mind to test for it. that definitely affected my ability to rest and recuperate too, because I was getting maybe six, five, sometimes 4 hours of sleep a night. And up north, the sun goes to the sun sets very late and it rises very early. So the sun was coming up, but like 430 in the morning, or at least it was starting to get light out. And for me, in my circadian rhythm, when I see light, that's it, I can't sleep anymore. So we got back from traveling and I just felt like taking a COVID test. Went to the pharmacy, picked one up. And eventually tested positive, which was really, really crazy to see. I didn't even like I mean, I gave my test 15 minutes to show the results. But I remember I was like, you know, when the liquid is kind of climbing through the little window, it already tested positive pretty much within seconds. And yeah, that was that. I went and got some kind of herbal management for it because I figured, okay, I'm on day five of my symptoms, I'm probably on the tail and I definitely don't feel as crappy as I did over the weekend. So let's just kind of try to manage it and let it run its course. I tested a few days later and this test looked completely different. the COVID positive line, almost doesn't show up at all. It's very, very faint, but I still take that as a positive. So I'm going to give it a few more days and hopefully I will be in the clear. Currently, I'm feeling very low energy and exhausted, but I feel like I'm on the mend. I feel like I will be out of the woods soon. And of course, I had my family test themselves too. And it's kind of a 5050 split. Two people have it, two people don't. So, yeah, kudos to COVID. The RONA is back and it's definitely taking San Diego by storm because my husband had a bunch of patients canceled due to the Rona and I had to cancel some of my appointments. And yeah, so among other news that I have for you is that I am pregnant. This is not a joke. This is not a drill. I am pregnant with mine and Sam's first baby, my very first pregnancy. And I'll be honest, it came as a complete surprise, but a very welcome one. You guys know, I was not on birth control, so it was bound to happen sometime. And truly, even with all the precautions we take and all the cycle tracking that you guys hear me talk about, I do very much believe that when it's meant to happen, it will happen, which sounds so cliche and can be so, so annoying to hear, especially if you're trying to conceive or if you've had a loss of any kind. But yeah, I did not think that I would be having a baby anytime soon. So this absolutely shocked us like cold water to the face we have by now told everyone close to us. So I just wanted to share it with my listeners. I think that this will give me a few more interesting topics to cover in the show with you guys, especially things concerning pregnancy and just a lot of the questions that you guys have surrounding pregnancy, not just the female cycle. having said that, I am still in the first trimester, but I promise you guys an entire episode on the pregnancy update what I've been going through in the first trimester as well as perhaps any tips that I can share with you guys going through the same thing. So yeah, little news drop there, but to introduce this episode, we already talk a lot on this show about physic foods or what you eat during each week of the month to support your hormones and cycle. So I wanted to take an episode to focus on the other things that we can ingest that will help support those same processes. we're going to go by each phase and I will give you guys ideas for vitamins, supplements, herbs, seeds and nuts, as well as essential oils that have been shown to work best for each different time or phase of your cycle. starting with the menstrual phase, which would be day one through five, so this will be from the start of your bleed, right? Your period, some supplements that will really work to support you during this time. For example, for blood loss, iron women need about 18 milligrams of iron when they're in their reproductive years. Why? Because every single month we lose iron, which is stored in our blood when we bleed. women need 18 milligrams. Men and children need only ten. So they need, only about half Of the iron that we need. Can you believe that? we're experiencing blood loss, we're experiencing cramping. And one fantastic vitamin that has been shown to reduce cramping is vitamin E, if you're experiencing any sort of anxiety or bloating. Magnesium is recommended for this because not only does magnesium relax the muscles of your body and help ease tension that way, it also helps relax the smooth muscle in your brain, which will probably help your brain relax and reduce any anxiety. for those girls who experience menstrual migraine, which is a very special kind of headache, you really only get around your PMS or period of time. I would recommend taking C0, Q10, magnesium and B complex. Those are really going to help with headaches for herbs in the menstrual phase. My absolute favorite that I will never shut up about is red raspberry leaf tea. This is such a huge favorite of mine because it does so much for your cramps. It kind of helps to tone the uterus. So because the uterus is a muscle and when it's trying to shed that endometrium and kind of help you along on your period, it can get really, really cramped up and really tight and annoyed during your period, which is the pains that we feel. So red raspberry leaf tea is really going to help almost relax that uterus and help it do its job without hurting you too much. Next herb on the list is nettle leaf. there's nettle leaf that you can use as a greens in your salads or you can drink it in tea form. Nettle leaf is really important for menstruation because it's also very rich in iron and it's going to help replenish your blood with iron that's lost during bleeding. And finally, another herb that people really like to use during their menstrual phase is to rec. Turmeric helps because it's anti-inflammatory and it's going to help expand the uterus. Why is anti-inflammatory important during your period? Well, because when it's going through this stage of flushing things out and detoxing, a lot of the pain and discomfort that we feel is because our body is in a state of inflammation. So turmeric, it's been used in various cultures, especially the South Asian cultures, to really, really reduce inflammation not only during menstrual phase, but also during. Other processes in life, like you know, when you're getting older or through menopause. So its anti-inflammatory properties are very, very valuable during the menstrual phase for seed cycling. For those of you who don't know, seed cycling is eating different seeds and nuts at various times of your cycle to support the various levels of hormones and what they do for your body. for the menstrual phase, you are going to want to combine daily one tablespoon of flax seed and one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds. These are going to work together to bring balance to your hormones and fiber keeps your bowels moving and elimination working smoothly. because the menstrual phase is a detox phase for your body, not only is your uterus shedding the old blood vessels and the old endometrium that's been building up all month. Your body is also trying to release all of the excess hormones that have been kept up in your body this whole time. in order to kind of keep things moving, keep things eliminating the flax seed and pumpkin seed combo is really going to help with that. And if you believe it, there are some essential oils that are specific to the menstrual phase. And I'm going to give you guys some examples of maybe situations that you could run into during the menstrual phase and what kind of oils will be helpful. So if you find yourself needing comfort and peace, some really good relaxation, lavender oil is going to be your friend. Do you need to be still and get into a meditative state? Go for frankincense. In our menstrual phase, we are the most intuitive and the most sensitive to those types of things. So it's easier for us to get into a meditative state and go inward. Menstrual phase is a very inward type of state, the opposite of the menstrual phases, the ovulatory phase, and it's your most social, most outwardly expressed phase, but we'll get to that one. if you want to find yourself more meditative, go inward, do some personal work. Frankincense will really help you with that. do you need to strengthen your intuition? Australian sandalwood is going to help remove anxiety and nervous tension and kind of help you tap into what you truly feel and sense personally. What if you're angry or resentful? Well, there's grapefruit oil for that. It will bring you out of that. Right. And it's kind of considered to be a good oil for a bad day. What if you're depressed, guilty, crying? Clary Sage is your friend here because it will harmonize and restore you. Moving on, we have our follicular phase. this is right after our period ends and it's days 6 to 12. At this point, your hormones are slowly climbing back up. Your eggs are growing on your ovaries. And after this phase, one of them will be ready to pop out and ovulate. in the follicular phase, our energy is coming back, or we are feeling More energetic, more driven, but not all the way completely. So we're kind of starting to build up all this momentum again. some supplements that will help you get things moving again after your period number one is zinc. Zinc is going to be naturally decreased in our bodies from losing it while bleeding. minerals like iron, zinc, those things are what flows through our blood. So naturally when we're losing blood, we're also going to be losing zinc. So be sure to take some zinc during this phase and in order to regulate our mood and our cycle. Vitamin D is very helpful. And if you already know, vitamin D is meant to be taken with vitamin K three because vitamin K three actually helps your body absorb and use the vitamin D to keep your energy levels high and your brain focused. Vitamin B12 is going to be your friend, and if you don't want to take it every day, there's options that you can also go and get like a vitamin B12 shot in your in your shoulder. And that'll really give you a huge mental boost, too. in order to prepare those little eggs for ovulation, like I said, they're growing right now. They're getting healthy. You're going to be wanting to take omega three fatty acids, not only in the foods that you eat, of course, but make sure you have a good omega three fatty acid supplement that you're taking that is very, very important to us as women. What are going to be some? Herbs that help you in the follicular phase. Well, once again, nettle, because we want to continue replenishing the iron in our blood. Another one is going to be holy basil. So holy basil really helps to regulate blood sugar and also keep your immunity boosted. the third one that I really like is Cassandra. So Cassandra is going to nourish your kidneys post period. Why is this important? Well, because, like I said, the menstrual phase is a whole body detox. Right. any sort of detoxification is going to be a little hard on your kidneys. So, Cassandra, it's going to help nourish your kidneys and also reduce stress hormones, because the adrenal glands that sit above our kidneys are the ones that produce stress hormones, like cortisol and so on and so forth. Next for seed cycling, we are actually going to keep taking the flax seed and pumpkin seed combo. Nothing is really going to change here. But at this point, what those seeds are doing for you is preparing our ovary for that upcoming ovulation, which we're getting to really, really soon. Now, the four essential oils. Are you doing something new? Are you changing directions or are you attempting something that you haven't done before? Ginger Oil will give you self-awareness, self-acceptance, and drive you forward and really motivate you, make you feel really good about what you're doing. Do you still feel like you're detoxing? Carrot oil leaves stress and also cleanses the mind. What if you need an extra boost of confidence to get the thing done? Pine oil is going to be really good for this because it rejuvenates your concentration, really helps you snap in mentally. What if you're still nervous or tense? While there's Mandarin oil? It's uplifting and refreshing. It brings very happy and positive notes. And if you need a little bit of extra energy, nutmeg oil has just enough spice to stimulate you towards decision making and help you get on with the tasks. the oils during this time are going to be citrusy, bright, and just a little bit spicy. Now we are in our ovulatory phase. Next that'll be days 13 through 17. This is technically the Super Bowl of your cycle because you're at your highest energy wise, you're at your top level. Hormonally, your hormones are playing at the truly the highest level like the playoffs, not the playoffs, the Super Bowl. And while your body's whole entire goal is to have a healthy egg pop out and for you to hopefully get pregnant, it doesn't matter. It doesn't care what your plans are. But the body is designed for this exact thing to happen at this certain time. So supplements that you can take, number one for antioxidants and immune health is glutathione. Remember, your ovulatory phase usually tends to be your most social phase because not only are you feeling great about yourself, you also want to talk to people. You want to be communicative, you want to be out doing social things. But again, that can leave you exposed to a lot of germs and icky things. Like I said in my traveling little update, you really just want to be taking care of your immunity in the best way and glutathione can really help with that. another amazing supplement for this phase. But definitely don't take it. If you don't want to get pregnant, take it out other parts of the cycle. If you don't want to get pregnant but you still want to use its benefits. Is mocha. Mocha comes in the form of powder. It can come in gummies, it can come in extracts. And it's kind of like a miracle supplement for women because it gives you energy, it'll increase your libido, it balances your estrogen and truly, makes you quite fertile. I notice, too, that when I was taking it, it made my butt and my boobs much better. It will also make you hungrier, so just something to keep in mind. Moving on to herbs for the ovulatory phase. Red clover is really going to help with lubrication down there. Burdock root is going to help with digestion. at this point, like I said, because our hormones are operating at a full capacity, that increased estrogen can sort of have this effect that it slows down our digestion, can make us feel a little sluggish. So burdock root will help keep that up, keep your metabolism going. Another herb that's a favorite for the ovulatory phase is dandelion root. That's going to help detox your liver. So although our body is not fully in a state of detox yet, it's going to be soon. So you might as well get ahead of it and kind of, you know, start helping the liver do its job and making it easier for the liver. Finally, one herb that I think is very interesting is shutup BARI. So what shot Bari does is it increases luteinizing hormone. A quick reminder on luteinizing hormone, it's the one hormone that once it peaks in your brain, it sends a signal to your ovary that says, let's go. It's go time, it's ready to ovulate, let's pop that egg out. essentially shuts ovaries, can really support healthy ovulation, make sure that you're popping your eggs out and ovulating. Moving on to seed cycling, big surprise, but we're still on the same combo here. And at this point, the flax seeds and the pumpkin seeds are working to help flush out that excess estrogen. Remember, too much faster drain. And the female body can lead to really uncomfortable symptoms like breast tenderness, bloating, uncontrollable weight gain and so on and so forth, and can really kind of slow down the system and even later on in later years can lead to random growths and things like that because things feed on estrogen. just a quick reminder, why do we want to flush that estrogen out? Why doesn't our body just stop making it while our body is going to continue making estrogen as long as our ovaries are working? So there's really no limit on how much it makes. what we can do is kind of help our body remove the excess estrogen by eating certain things that it can bind to. And then eventually it'll come out through our bowels essential oils that will really help work for you in this ovulatory phase. your sexiest phase number one is a. Rose oil. it's going to help you feel more feminine and nurturing, which is really the tipping point of this phase if you need a conversation starter. Lime oil is fresh, light and calming and people are definitely going to ask you about it if you're wearing it. What if you need to open your heart? What if there's a tough conversation that you need to have? Sweet orange oil is going to allow you to embrace others, embrace their ideas, and just really have a good heart to heart. if you're feeling mentally exhausted, overworked, scattered, vetiver oil is going to be great for grounding you and just make you feel safe, make you feel supported make you feel grounded. And we are now at our final phase, our PMS phase, the one that we all love so very much. And that's going to be our luteal phase. Usually this is approximately day 18 to the day before your period. It can last anywhere from 10 to 14 days. So this is definitely the longest phase that we go through and can be the toughest one because we can feel very uncomfortable. We can be craving food sometimes not the best food and just feeling like we don't want to move or don't want to do anything. some ways you can help prepare your body for the period that you have coming up is by taking certain supplements. the supplements that I have listed here is going to be calcium and vitamin D as a combination. you're going to want to take this twice daily because it's actually going to cut your PMS symptoms by 40%. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. And if you anticipate that you're going to get pretty bad period cramps or you usually do you want to start taking that vitamin E about two days prior to the period? I already mentioned in the menstrual phase that vitamin E is a good supplement to take. But again, in preparation for your period, you want to start taking it two days prior for herbs, for your luteal phase, you can start again preparing for your period by drinking red raspberry leaf tea the week before once you start giving that to your body, prepping and priming your uterus, it won't be so shocked when your period starts. And it's just like literally squeezing the life out of itself, trying to get all of that blood out. You will already have done the preparatory work to help it do its job better and more painlessly in order to increase your progesterone, which is the hormone that's active in the luteal phase and also is your calming hormone. This is very important. You can help it by taking Vitacost. Vitacost is going to increase your natural progesterone levels and kind of let you have an easier time during your PMS or a luteal week. One way to reduce bloating or any feeling of digestion or discomfort is by taking ginger. if you need to balance some stress levels, you can take ashwagandha and ashwagandha has been shown to be a really good relaxant for you. For seed cycling, we are finally taking different seeds for the second half of your cycle, this two week luteal phase period, you are going to want to combine one tablespoon of sesame seeds and one tablespoon of sunflower seeds. Again, this is going to naturally boost your progesterone, give you more of that calming hormone that you really need in the second half of the cycle. as well as removing that extra estrogen that we don't really want floating around in our bodies anymore. as for essential oils, I think these can be especially extremely useful in the luteal phase because we can be very flighty, we can be really in our heads, really emotional, really sensitive, and sometimes something as simple as an essential oil that you just get to smell, do some aromatherapy can really help you chill out. So maybe your mind is too busy when you're trying to sleep. There's Roman Camomile for that. It will clear your thoughts and give you the. Bed rest. What if you find yourself feeling cranky? We've all been there. While marjoram, oil will soothe your mind and your emotions. you know, I talk about this all the time, but in the luteal phase, our self esteem is at its lowest point. And that's not your fault. It's your hormones. But if you're feeling low on confidence at this time, Lang Lang is commonly used in perfumes and will have you feeling really great about who you are in the life you live. If you need to feel more like a woman, I would really recommend jasmine oil. It's a beautiful, exotic scent that will tap you into your feminine, sensual side. In general, I just love the smell of jasmine. If I walk past some bushes with some jasmine flowers, I always have to stop and smell them. And so, so good. finally, if you're feeling sorry for yourself or if you're feeling a little bit like a victim, clove oil will help promote healthy boundaries and will empower you by encouraging you to stand up for your needs. this was the episode on Little Healthy Boosters that you can add at different points in your cycle, different phases to help your hormones, help your body, and just overall contribute to your health as a woman. again, I just want to remind you guys that before you start taking any of these aggressively or anything like that check with your doctor, whoever takes care of you just to make sure that you're not predisposed to any adverse reactions to them or anything of that sort. Because herbs, supplements, vitamins, essential oils even can be really, really strong, potent, powerful things that we are able to use because the earth gives them to us. But just in case, I don't want anybody having any adverse reactions. So please, please, please check with your provider. thank you for joining me for this episode. Please follow us on Instagram at Stellar Cycles Pod. And if you have a moment, I would love it if you would give us a five star rating if you enjoy this podcast and if you find yourself feeling extra generous today, I would love to read any review that you decide to leave for me. Till next time. Stellar cycles out.