I Ate According To My Cycle For One Month—Here’s What Happened

It’s an undeniable biological fact: Men and women have fundamentally different hormonal needs. Where men function on a 24-hour hormonal cycle that begins anew each day, women’s bodies follow a 28-day hormonal cycle, beginning with their period and all the hormonal ups and downs that follow.

In a society that pressures women to erase their biological differences from men, one of the most important ways we can defend the inherent gifts of the female body is to sync our lives to our cycles, and that begins with the food we put before ourselves three times a day.

How To Eat According to Your Cycle

Food is the fundamental energy source that our bodies rely on for everything. Our cells rely on the vitamins and nutrients we feed them (or, in some cases, don’t feed them) to provide the building blocks our very existence relies on and the physical and emotional health we all strive for.

Basically, food is really important. And if you’re a woman, being intentional about the nutrients you feed your body will make a significant difference in your hormonal health. The easiest way to learn how to eat according to your cycle is to use the app, 28, which provides users with the nutrients (and recipes) women need throughout each phase of their cycle and is verified by nutritionists and experts like Dr. Sarah Hill.

Menstrual Phase

During this time, your estrogen and progesterone are low, and your hormones need all the tender loving care you can give them. You want to eat foods that are rich in iron, vitamin C, and healthy fats like omega-3. Start with a staple protein like chicken, eggs, or beef liver, which provides many of these nutrients in abundance. Vegetables like kale, collard greens, and other leafy greens provide some necessary magnesium as well as more of the iron your body is craving. And to treat yourself, this is a good time to break out some dark chocolate for antioxidant support and grapes or blackberries, which have anti-inflammatory properties.

It’s especially important to avoid foods that cause inflammation during this time, like heavily processed foods, sugars, and alcohol. Remember – the food you’re putting into your body is either going to help your hormones or hurt them. There’s really no in-between.

Follicular Phase

Beginning as soon as your menstruation is completed, the follicular phase sees your estrogen levels slowly rise – and your energy levels with it. You want to eat foods that help your rising hormones remain balanced and develop a healthy egg. 

Beef is the perfect protein to focus on during this stage of your cycle, and you can include some collagen powder in your coffee in the morning for added support in helping your body absorb nutrients. Broccoli is your star vegetable during the follicular phase because it contains a nutrient that helps your body metabolize excess estrogen. Other good vegetables for this phase include spinach, which is rich in vitamin B2, or carrots, which naturally help the body balance its hormones.

Now is also a great time to beef up your probiotic food intake, because when you start ovulating, your gut will need particular support. Sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles – find a way to include as many as you can during this phase. Your body is still craving healthy fats as well, so this is a good time to buy that avocado you love or a nice chunk of raw cheese. And if you want something sweet? Enjoy an orange or a banana for dessert, which further augments balanced hormones in your body.

Ovulatory Phase

Everything feels great during this phase because your body is surging with all sorts of hormones – estrogen and testosterone included. This is the best time in your cycle to push yourself physically and creatively, and it’s probably when you’re feeling the most frisky. 

Treat yourself to some lamb during your ovulatory phase, which has high amounts of healthy fats and high levels of iron, vitamin B, and zinc. Pork is also great to eat during this phase, as it has high levels of iron and selenium, which support your thyroid during this time of raging hormones.

For vegetables, during this phase, you want to eat mostly zucchini, asparagus, chard, and even eggplant, if you’re feeling creative. These vegetables are all rich in fiber and a variety of minerals that your body needs to combat bloating as your hormones rise and fall.

Luteal Phase

The luteal phase is all about the rollercoaster ride of your progesterone, which rises after you ovulate, peaks, and slowly decreases as you approach menstruation. Your nutritional goal is to treat yourself, not to sugary sweets, but to foods that will make your body feel supported and will prevent your cortisol from spiking.

Lighter foods are perfect for this time because they are easier for your body to process. Chicken is a great staple protein here, which is best supplemented by seafood such as cod, shrimp, or oysters. It’s also a good time to start prepping that beef liver – you’re about to need it again. 

As your hormones are winding down, it’s good to eat zucchini, spaghetti squash, and sweet potatoes. Cooler vegetables like jicama and cucumber are also excellent because it’s important not to spike your blood sugar during the luteal phase. Steer clear of fruits and other sweets during this time; instead, give your body some extra fats by eating grass-fed butter or walnuts. 

How to Shop and Cook According to Your Cycle without Losing Your Mind

The idea of shopping for meals according to your cycle may be overwhelming at first, but if you start by thinking in terms of staple ingredients, it’s much more manageable, and ultimately, a lot more fun. I recommend that you shop for and cook ingredients, not recipes. 

For me, this meant beginning with a protein and a vegetable that meets my hormonal needs for that particular phase, and then building a simple recipe around them. Want to eat asparagus and chard with your salmon for the week? All you need is a little salt, red pepper flakes, and some delicious grass-fed butter to make that taste heavenly, and it’s not going to break the bank. This not only makes shopping according to your cycle easy, but since you’re buying fewer items, it makes it much more affordable as well. 

A surprising benefit I found to this approach was how many opportunities this method of cooking gave me to get really creative in the kitchen by finding ways to combine the foods that were good for me during each hormonal phase. Creativity is a crucial part of our feminine energy, and the more areas of our lives where we can exercise it, the better it is for our emotional well-being. Beginning with good ingredients is an invitation to let the creative part of yourself take control in the kitchen to make something healthy, yes, but fun and unique as well.

What I Noticed

There were several changes I noticed during my month of eating according to my cycle, and I’ll start with the big one: no cramps during menstruation! I’m not used to lots of cramps during my menstrual cycle to begin with, but I felt a noticeable ease during this cycle, especially after I had eaten a meal with beef liver as the base. In addition to an absence of cramps, my entire body felt much more relaxed overall than it typically does, and my emotions didn’t fluctuate nearly as much as they usually do.

Another effect I noticed during this time was how much thirstier I was, specifically for water. I’m normally one of those people who has to force themselves to drink lots of water, but when I was cycle-syncing, I frequently turned down iced tea or juice, and had no desire for drinks with sugar in them, because I had a very specific desire to drink water. This makes sense. Our bodies need about eight cups of water every day, and so a body that is becoming more in sync with its needs will begin to want more water. Now I wonder if the reason I didn’t want to drink that much water in the first place, perhaps, was because I wasn’t eating the right things during my cycle.

What surprised me the most was how quickly my body assimilated to craving the foods it would need during a particular part of my cycle anyway. After only a month, I would wake up craving sauerkraut on the day in my cycle when my body most needed probiotic foods. I would come home desperate for a light meal of chicken and cucumber salad, only to check my ingredients list and discover those were exactly the foods I should be eating. It’s a sign of how women’s bodies can communicate the need to be fed according to their hormonal cycle, if only we’re willing to listen.

If you're interested in learning more about how to eat according to your cycle, download the app, 28, now! 28 provides women with a hyper-personalized, first-of-its-kind, feminine fitness and holistic wellness experience, powered by custom technology and each user's natural cycle. The app provides world-class, customized streaming workouts, nutrition profiles designed for hormone health, and science-based insights into yourself, your relationships, and your work, tailored to your current emotional state.