BY RAHAEL MATHEW

Fertility boosters often remind us of medications and injections. While the buzz in town says that diet plays a major role in hormone balancing, we still disregard it. But what if that is true? Fertility experts are beginning to discuss the effects of seed cycling on fertility. 

Seed cycling is a form of diet supplementation. It involves four seeds namely, Pumpkin, sesame, sunflower and flax seeds. Eating the seeds in two phases is most beneficial. Each seed complements the two phases of a cycle with either estrogen or progesterone. 

To break it down further, the follicular and luteal phase of our cycles set the tone for fertility responses. The follicular stage is when the ovaries are growing eggs to be ready for ovulation. This stage needs estrogen to be a dominant hormone. The luteal phase needs progesterone to support a pregnancy and maintain the uterine lining. 

How seed cycling works:

Pumpkin and Flax seeds both have plant lignans that act similarly to estrogen hormones. Essentially consuming this seed mix can increase estrogen and reduce anovulatory cycles. Anovulatory cycles are cycles in which the eggs do not form but you still get a period. By increasing estrogen and having real cycles , it boosts your chances of getting pregnant faster. 

Moving onto the next phase – sunflower and sesame seeds. These seeds boost progesterone. What’s more, sunflower seeds contain Vitamin E, which supports the production of progesterone helping you maintain the pregnancy. 

A light method to support hormones and PMS symptoms is seed cycling. Research shows that women who tried this for a month saw visible changes in cervical mucus. Live pregnancy rates also increased. 

However, seed cycling is not the ultimate fertility plan. Medical conditions like PCOD need a fertility endocrinologist. Other concerns like painful menses warrants consultation with a gynecologist.

For more check out our other article – https://browngirlgossip.com/ttc-pregnancy-conceiving-guide/