Cycle Synching and Seed Cycling

In this episode, we dive into the buzz around cycle syncing and seed cycling — two popular trends in the women's wellness space. We’ll break down what they are, the theory behind them, what the research actually says, and practical tips for dietitians working with clients. Tune in to get the facts and learn how to separate hype from science!

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Nilou 0:01

Hi, and welcome to the Femme Health Nutrition Podcast. I'm Nilou Deilami, a registered dietician and founder of the Women's Health Nutrition Learning Hub, a platform where dieticians and nutrition professionals can learn, connect, and collaborate on all things related to female health and nutrition. If you haven't already, you can check out the website, atn learning hub.com. The link is in the episode description below as well. This podcast is intended as an educational podcast for dieticians, healthcare professionals, and anyone interested in female health and nutrition. And the content covered in this podcast is not intended as medical advice. So if you have questions or concerns about your health, please consult your dietician or healthcare team. So before we jump into today's topic, yesterday was dietician's day. So I just wanted to wish everyone. A happy dietician's day. I'm so grateful to be in an industry where I get to work with such passionate, driven, and intelligent professionals. So today we're going to be exploring two hot topics that have been around for a while, but still tend to circulate around social media and the wellness space. And those two topics are cycle synching and seed cycling, both of which are related to eating in a certain way to optimize health during different phases of the menstrual cycle. So we'll break down what cycle synching and seed cycling are. We'll talk about the theory behind these approaches. We'll briefly touch on what the research actually says. And to be honest, there isn't much research to go through, but I'll just share some studies that I found and then we can talk a little bit about practical takeaways that you can use in your practice with your clients if they ask questions or are interested in cycles synching and seed cycling. Let's quickly review the phases of the menstrual cycle. If you've attended any of my webinars in the past, you've probably heard me repeat this cycle many times. but it is good to just have it in mind. some of the research will make a little bit more sense if this is sort of fresh in your mind. So the menstrual cycle for the average person lasts around 28 days, but it can vary from person to person to some extent, and it consists of four main phases. The first phase is the menstrual phase, and this is from day one to five, and this is where menstruation happens and there's that shedding of the uterine lining. From a hormone perspective, at this point, levels of estrogen and progesterone are low. And what this might feel like in terms of symptoms is that an individual may have cramps, may feel some fatigue, may have some low energy, and for some people they might not feel any symptoms at all. But these are some of the more common ones. So the next phase is the follicular phase, which does overlap with that first menstrual phase as well. So the follicular phase is from day one to 14, and this is where the pituitary gland releases follicle stimulating hormone or FSH. And this stimulates follicle growth in the ovaries and the release of estrogen. So at this point, we're seeing that estrogen start to rise, and in the follicular phase, one of these follicles will become the dominant one and mature Now in this phase because of that rise in estrogen that we're seeing some might experience improved energy levels and better mood as well. Around day 14, there is ovulation and at this point there's a surge in another hormone that's released by the pituitary gland, and that's luteinizing hormone or lh. And this triggers the release of an egg from the ovary. So at this point, estrogen peaks and testosterone rises a little bit as well. So at this point we might see higher energy levels, increased libido and overall better mood. Now after ovulation, that empty follicles turns into something called the corpus lutetium, which produces progesterone. So here we're seeing progesterone start to go up, and the purpose of the progesterone is to help thicken that lining of the uterus so that it can be able to support the implantation of the embryo. Now, if pregnancy doesn't occur and there is no implantation, progesterone and estrogen levels actually start to drop. So towards the end of the luteal phase, going into the menstruation phase, we see progesterone and estrogen levels quite low. So at this point in the luteal phase, there might be increased appetite, there might be fluid retention, changes in mood and overall lower energy levels. So now that we kind of understand these phases, let's talk about cycle synching and seed cycling and what those are. So cycle synching is the idea that you can adjust your diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits to align with the phases of the menstrual cycle in order to optimize health and performance. And there are entire apps and meal plans that are dedicated to this. So what that might look like, for example, is during menstruation, someone might do gentle physical activity like yoga or stretching. They might have a focus on iron rich foods, because of the blood loss that they're having during menstruation, and an overall focus on anti-inflammatory foods as well. In the follicular phase where there's higher estrogen levels and there's that higher energy and better mood, what the cycle syncing approach might recommend is more aerobic exercise, a generally overall healthy eating pattern, and what's called estrogen, balancing foods such as cruciferous vegetables and fermented foods. Ovulation because this is where energy levels really peak. What this approach recommends is higher intensity exercises, including both strength and aerobic training, and to increase protein to support this, uh, exercise. And finally, in the luteal phase where we see that progesterone increasing and there might be more food cravings and more fatigue. The advice is to focus on things like healthy fats, low glycemic carbohydrates, including more protein, and also doing more gentle activity like yoga and stretching. Now, while this all sounds very logical, the actual research on cycle syncing is very limited, and I would say almost non-existent. And most of the recommendations that I just mentioned are pretty much based on theory rather than direct evidence. now I did find one randomized control trial that was done in 2016, and this was more of a weight loss program that was tailored to the menstrual cycle. The researchers didn't really look at things like mood or energy levels or any other symptoms that may happen during the menstrual cycle. Now, there were 60 participants in this study, all of whom were premenopausal women who had higher body weights. In the intervention group, they adjusted the macronutrient ratios and exercise plans to match different phases of the cycle. For example, the recommended protein intake was higher in the follicular and luteal phases compared to the menstrual phase and there was an extra 200 calories allotted for in the luteal phase because we think that there may be an increased level of energy expenditure in this phase. Higher intensity exercise was recommended in the follicular phase and lighter exercises in the menstruation phase. In the luteal phase they focused mostly on weight training, the control diet. They had the same diet from day one to 28, and the diet had standard micronutrient distributions and about 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity per day. In the intervention and control groups, they were all recommended to have 1600 calories per day, except in that luteal phase where there was that extra 200 calories allotted for that possible increase in energy expenditure. Now when we look at the results, there are kind of two ways they analyze the results. So one was the intention to treat analysis, and this is where they look at all the participants who were included in the study, whether or not they actually completed the study. And when they analyzed the group this way, they found that there was no difference in weight loss between Cycle synching group and the control group. They also looked at the results and analyzed them per protocol analysis. And this is when they look at just those people who actually adhere to the program and didn't drop out. And when they analyzed it this way, the cycle synching group lost about 4.3 kilograms more than the control group. Now, when we do a comparison of the intention to treat analysis versus the per protocol analysis, it's actually more meaningful in the real world to look at the intention to treat, analysis results. And those results showed no difference. So in plain language, what that means is that in a perfect world, if everybody follows this diet strictly, they may have more weight loss, but it's likely not possible to actually follow this in the real world. Now there are some serious limitations to the study. First of all, there was a high dropout rate. 38% of participants in the intervention group dropped out. And 61% in the control group. Also, it's kind of difficult to separate the effect of cycle synching from just an increased protein intake and just more mindfulness of the diet overall. And the other thing to consider is that this study only looked at weight loss. And weight loss isn't really the only purpose of cycle synching that's promoted. The study doesn't look at other aspects like mood and energy levels at all. So what I would say is that this is an interesting study, but it's the only study we have and it's flawed. So in conclusion, when it comes to cycle syncing specifically, we just don't have as much high quality research right now. Now, should people follow it? It honestly depends on the person. If they enjoy doing it, then that's fine. I wouldn't have an issue with that. If it's becoming disruptive to their daily lives, if it's taking them into a disordered eating pattern, then it's a conversation that I would have, Now I'll spend some time talking about seed cycling as well. So seed cycling is the practice of consuming specific seeds during different phases of the menstrual cycle to support hormonal balance. And I put hormonal balance in quotations here because it's unclear what that really means. Like what hormones are we actually trying to balance here. Now the theory is that in the follicular phase, there should be a focus on flax and pumpkin seeds because they're rich in lignins and zinc. Now, lignins are plant compounds that are phytoestrogens. and these phytoestrogens may be able to bind to estrogen receptors and influence hormone levels. Now, this is very theoretical of course. 'cause when you actually look at the research on lignin, for example, in menopause, there isn't that much of an estrogenic effect that we actually see. The other recommendation is that in the luteal phase, to focus on sunflower and sesame seeds, which are rich in vitamin E and selenium. And the reason for this is to support progesterone production. Now, when we look at the actual research and the data. There isn't, again, much direct evidence on seed cycling itself. There has been some research on flax seeds, but again, the research is very limited. So for example, there was one study done in 1993 which included 18 women who had normal cycles, and they had a baseline diet that was omnivorous and low in fiber to begin with, So each of the subjects was advised to have their usual diet for three cycles, and then for the next three cycles they did their usual diet plus flax seeds. And what the researchers did is that they compared the second and third flax cycles to the second and third control cycles. What they found is that when they were having flax seeds, that luteal phase length increased by an average of 1.2 days. There were fewer cycles where there was no ovulation. There was an increased progesterone to estrogen ratio in the luteal phase, and there was no significant effect on total estrogen or testosterone levels. Now, of course, this study does have several flaws. The first study was, of course, just 18 women. It wasn't really a randomized control trial, and we're starting with people who have low fiber diets. So is it the flax? Or is it the fact that they're now having more fiber in their diets? We can't really tease that apart. So again, this is just one study. We don't have much research other than this one study. So it really shouldn't be influencing what we're advising to, to women regarding what they should eat during their menstrual cycles. Now there is also a study in rats, and they found that seed mixtures could influence levels of estrogen, testosterone, FSH, LH and prolactin. But we can't really take that and apply it to humans, of course. So what are the key takeaways here? So for both cycles synching and seed cycling, there isn't any actual research to show the benefits but also in my practice, I don't like to dismiss things that patients bring to me, and I like to honor the fact that they have done research and are working towards feeling better and being healthier. So we go through pros and cons, of course we don't have that hard evidence, but what are some things that we can possibly take away from these two trends? So when it comes to cycle synching, one thing to consider is that not everybody will experience these fluctuations in mood and appetite and energy levels, but for some people it can be felt very intensely.. So one thing that we can do here is actually do a little bit of tracking, cycle tracking, uh, looking into changes in mood and appetite and energy levels for that specific individual. And then coming up with a plan together, not based on these cycle synching rules, but practical strategies to help that person in that moment in time. With seed cycling, all of these seeds are great. We get fiber, vitamins, selenium, zinc, all of things that are important for health in general. So I encourage them, you know, maybe we don't need to time these seeds, but try to include them in your diet every day in some form. Now, if there is an insistence of following things like cycle synching and seed cycling to a point where it's disruptive to a person's daily life, I would dig deeper and I would search for patterns of disordered eating and understand why this is happening. Or is it because they're having severe PMS symptoms? Maybe they have undiagnosed PMDD, and this is just a desperate attempt to get their life back. And at that point, it is good to have that conversation about. These things might not actually help you that much, and maybe we need to get you referred to someone who can support you, maybe your physician, psychotherapist, pelvic physiotherapist, for example. So just having that conversation and understanding on a deeper level why someone might be going for these sorts of changes. So thank you so much for tuning in. I hope that you found this episode helpful. I am sure we're going to continue seeing these trends come up on social media and with our clients. So. If you have any other topics like these that you would like me to cover, please just feel free to send me an email. I'd love to hear from you. If you found this episode helpful, please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and share it with your colleagues as well. Until next time, take care and have a lovely day.