How to Use Seed Cycling to Balance Hormones

Written by Lauren Arent (Lo Clark)

Owner of Bewitched Esthetics & Licensed Esthetician since 2013

May 22nd, 2023

Disclosure: Bewitched Esthetics is supported by its audience. Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Hello my darlings,

In my previous post, I gave you a recipe for Seed Cycling Moon Milk, an easy way to incorporate the practice of Seed Cycling in your life to restore hormonal imbalances we discussed in the post before that. Today I want to teach you the method of seed cycling recommended by my doctor AND I want to take a minute to explain the cycle of a woman, briefly.

What Is a Menstrual Cycle

As a woman, your cycle is a span of about 28-35 days in which your hormones have specific periods where they rise, periods where they fall. Each phase of your cycle will look different in your life – from what you should be eating to how you should be exercising, how your mood will be impacted, even how you should be handling work and relationship situations in your life. Understanding this cycle has made an incredible difference in my life, hopefully it will really help you too.

There are two main phases in your hormone cycle or menstrual cycle – the Follicular Phase and the Luteal Phase. During these phases there are two main events that occur: ovulation and menstruation.

Follicular Phase

Your follicular phase is the first half of your cycle. It can last anywhere from 14 to 21 days. It is the phase where the egg is maturing in your ovaries. You have these fluid filled sacs called follicles that hold your eggs as they mature. The dominant follicle will release a mature egg when you ovulate. During the Follicular Phase, you will be focused on producing estrogen to build your uterine lining and support your eggs as they mature. Your Follicular Phase begins the day you begin to bleed (not just spotting) and you can begin to track your cycle when you understand this.

Luteal Phase

Your luteal phase is the second half of your cycle. This phase lasts about 14 days and is fairly consistent compared to your follicular phase. It begins anywhere around day 15-28, depending on when you ovulate. The best way to discover when you are ovulating is by tracking your basal temp. or you might notice a clear discharge at this point in your cycle. The main activity of your Luteal Phase is thickening and preparing your uterus for pregnancy. If your egg is not fertilized after ovulation, you’ll get your period and this marks the end of the Luteal Phase. It is during this phase that progesterone rises to help thicken the uterus to protect the egg as it grows.

Understanding what hormones are vital during each phase is very important to understand why balance is necessary. When we are out of balance, our bodies to do not operate properly. This can appear in weight gain, anxiety and mood swings, acne, inflammation, even more serious conditions if the imbalances are prolonged.

What is Seed Cycling

Seed Cycling is a natural method of restoring balance to your hormones by harnessing the nutritional & chemical properties of specific seeds at specific times in your hormone cycle.

During your Follicular Phase you will want to use flax and pumpkin seeds. During your Luteal Phase you’ll want to use sesame and sunflower seeds.

Benefits of Seed Cycling

Seed cycling can help to reduce PMS symptoms, hormonal acne, boost fertility, and regulate your menstrual cycle if needed by naturally balancing your hormones. Honestly at first, I was afraid seed cycling was a lot more complicated than it really is. I assumed if I was estrogen dominant I needed to understand this so I could take one set of seeds or the other. My fear was that I would add to the issue if I used seeds that boosted my estrogen. Seed cycling brings balance naturally, meaning you really don’t have to worry about managing the levels of your hormones. Let me explain.

Flax seeds will aid in improving estrogen levels while preventing excess estrogen. This is achieved with lignans, which bind to the excess estrogen. Pumpkin seeds contain plenty of zinc which helps with progesterone production, the other half of the sister hormones. This is really helpful as you move into the Luteal Phase.

Sesame seeds are the progesterone aid in this phase, due to their zinc content. They also contain lignans, the excess estrogen binder. While Sunflower seeds on the other hand aid in an entirely different way. They contain selenium, which aids the liver in detoxing excess estrogen, and Vitamin E, which aids in progesterone production.

So you can see, this nutrition is built to work naturally with your body, isn’t that incredible?!

How to Use Seed Cycling

What you’ll want to do is this:

Follicular – So technically, you will want to start tracking your cycle the first day you bleed. However, seed cycling won’t begin until the after the third day, so from day 4-14ish you will want to take 2 tablespoons of ground pumpkin, chia or flax seeds. My doc also recommends 3 grams of fish oil. I use The Omega from Cymboitika because it tastes DELICIOUS and the CEO of this company (Chervain) is someone I follow extensively as a leader in the health and nutrition world.

Luteal – During this phase, day 15-28, you’ll want to take 3 tablespoons of ground sunflower or sesame seeds. My doc also recommends 1 gram of evening primrose oil and 1.5 grams of fish oil.

*I have included an image of the chart/map my doc gave me so you can see this is a worksheet she hands out at the office. This isn’t something I pulled off Pinterest or that was curated specially for me and I am sure MANY others. This is how seed cycling was “medically” recommended to me. My goal here is to share this information with you and explain the power behind the method and why it works.

Based on the information I’ve given you, I hope you realize that although I said *or* with using types of seeds, it truly is important to use a combination of seeds to receive the full benefits.

What if I Don't Have a Cycle?

If you don’t have a cycle the best news is you can turn to Mother Nature for answers here. Does it seem like some massive coincidence that the moon has cycles too? That this cycle is a 30 day cycle? In which the moon begins in darkness and builds into a full and bright light only to fade away once more. This mimics our menstrual cycle perfectly! The New Moon represents a time of rebuilding and manifestation, much like our ability to rebuild our womb and manifest life. The Full Moon is ovulation after which we fall back into a phase of inward reflection until the cycle restarts. So if you don’t have a cycle either due to birth control or severe hormonal imbalances, begin your seed cycling on the first day of the New Moon.

Do You Wanna Know More?

I absolutely love the concept of hormones and the effect they have in our lives. As a holistic esthetician, and from personal experience, I realized a long time ago the incredible need to have balance if you were to heal. My acne when I was growing up was the most frustrating concept. I pride myself on my intelligence and my drive, so when I tried EVERYTHING I educated myself to fix my acne and NOTHING worked, I kinda gave up for awhile. It has taken me years to understand the complexities of balance in the body and how they worked to heal and treat my acne, bringing me to a point in my life where I am proud to bear my natural skin. I want to share all of this knowledge with all of you. Please let me know in the comments if you would like to know more about hormones and how to restore balance naturally.

Wishing you a life full of beauty and blessings!