19 May 2025 : Seeds are superfoods for your health, power-packed with essential nutrients. Women’s reproductive health is primarily dependent on the female hormones, making it essential to keep them in balance. Seed cycling is one effective way to support hormonal balance naturally. It involves consuming certain seeds at different phases of the menstrual cycle, with the goal of naturally supporting the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.
Balancing hormones is important, as it influences everything from common daily mood swings to more serious fertility-related issues.
Nutritionist Shalini Sudhakar who regularly shares nutrition related tips on her Instagram, shared the importance of seed cycling for balancing female hormones.
She emphasised, “It is must for every woman and teenage girls for healthy hormonal balance, healthy uterus and for a peaceful happy periods. Two very important female hormones, estrogen and progesterone is responsible for healthy uterus and menstruation. Any imbalance in these two will cause a lot of issue with your periods, pregnancy, postpartum, also menopause.”
How to do seed cycling?
Seed cycle, the word cycle itself refers to a rhythm, a recurring pattern, and in this case, eating certain seeds in rotation. When seen in the context of female health, it means eating the seeds while following the female menstrual cycle, with the first fourteen days signifying the follicular phase and the next fourteen days the luteal phase.
Shalini explained, “Here is how to seed cycle. The first 14 days of your follicular cycle you have to consume flax seeds and pumpkin seeds which will help you balance your estrogen. During the next 14 days of your luteal cycle, consume sesame seeds and sunflower seeds to balance progesterone hormone.”
4 Effective ways to consume seeds
For the best results, Shalini suggested eating seeds in these ways:
- Dry roast all four kinds of seeds separately and store them in an airtight container. Do not mix the seeds.
- You can also grind them into a coarse or fine powder, if you prefer.
- Consume 1 tsp of roasted seeds or powder either early in the morning before breakfast, during mid-morning, or in the evening. Basically, don’t combine this with your meal.
- The best way to consume them is directly, without mixing them with juices, smoothies, desserts, etc.
Summary:
Consume flax and pumpkin seeds during the first 14 days, then sesame and sunflower seeds for the next 14 days, to help balance estrogen and progesterone levels.