In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life

by Alisa Vitti

Birth defects from the drug thalidomide in the 1960s resulted in the FDA adopting guidelines in 1977 essentially banning women of “childbearing age” from participating in clinical research. These guidelines effectively cut women who weren’t postmenopausal out of the research game.

Your menstrual cycle is an infradian rhythm, a cycle longer than a day.

This infradian rhythm is tied to your monthly menstrual cycle, which includes four distinct phases—follicular, ovulatory, luteal, and menstrual. The same way your circadian clock plays a role in your daily bodily functions, your 28-day infradian clock influences your brain chemistry and physiology, providing you with unique gifts and strengths at different times of the month.

Most important, this practice demands that I make choices continually about what works for me and what doesn’t. Making these choices is a huge departure from what I had been conditioned to believe, which is simply that I should do everything asked of me at all times. It’s not realistic or healthy to have so few boundaries that there is no room left in your life for yourself, your dreams, or your desires.

Our culture, however, demands perpetual growth and harvest. Trying to live your life in nonstop growth and harvest mode is taxing for your endocrine system. The message that you need to be in constant production mode puts you in an impossible situation.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that the more tasks and activities we have jam-packed into each day, the more valuable we are. That was the conclusion of a 2017 study in the Journal of Consumer Research, which found that a busy and overworked lifestyle has become “an aspirational status symbol.”

Today’s hero’s journey revolves around endless tasks and efficient production, hour after hour.

The same way you trim some tasks from your schedule, you may want to readjust your concept of success and productivity. Does productivity equal success? If you have to give up all the things you love in order to rise up the corporate ladder or reach a goal, is it really a win? If your endless pursuit of an objective makes you physically ill—think chronic stress, gut issues, or high blood pressure—is it really an achievement? If you’re riddled with anxiety or wracked with worry from constantly pushing, is it really worth it? What are you really trying to accomplish, what void are you trying to fill with this nonstop pursuit?

I am 100 percent convinced our bodies provide us with critical guidance.

Progesterone also counterbalances estrogen and promotes relaxation, improves sleep, and enhances moods.

Think of the luteal phase as a time of completion, when you’re naturally inclined to finish projects and tie up loose ends—you begin to turn your attention on yourself.

the female brain functions very differently, with stronger networks that foster communication, emotional memory, intuition, and anger suppression.

Women have a larger PFC,

the PFC is involved in planning, judgment, and organization. More volume in this

area is generally associated with an uptick in empathy, impulse control, controlled risk-taking, and focus.

Associated with long-term memory and emotional memory formation, the hippocampus is larger in women, which may explain why we never forget an argument, a wedding anniversary, or a first date.

The brain’s fear and anger center is a small almond-shaped group of neurons within the temporal lobes. Smaller in women, this points to a greater ability to defuse tense situations rather than getting into an all-out brawl.

you can thank your female brain that you are wired for leadership, empathy, community building, problem solving, intuition, fairness, and systems thinking.

Skyrocketing estrogen levels during ovulation lead to a boost in synaptic connections within the hippocampus, which can increase mental sharpness, creativity, and communication skills.

you’re likely to feel more social, verbal, and outgoing in the first half of your cycle as estrogen is increasing.

Rising estrogen in the first half of the cycle prompts us to be more outwardly focused and to take care of others. Falling hormone levels in the second half of the cycle balance that outward focus by allowing us to turn our attention inward to nurture ourselves. We cannot be in perpetual harvest or constantly in service to others. Nature demands that we take time to rest and attend to our own needs and has built this balance into our hormonal cycle.

Emerging science is increasingly finding differences between the sexes when it comes to the human microbiome. For example, a 2014 study in Nature Communications found that women’s and men’s gut flora responded differently to the same diet. Other researchers found discrepancies between women and men in the abundance of specific gut bacteria. Researchers also noted differences between the sexes in the proliferation of certain bacteria as weight increased.

Your gut microbiome also has a unique connection to your female brain. In fact, you have about 100 million neurons in your gut, which is often referred to as the “second brain.” Your gut is responsible for pumping out more than 90 percent of the body’s supply of serotonin,

Prior to 1995, most research on the stress response had been done almost exclusively on males, which is part of the reason why the fight-or-flight response earned a place in our cultural conditioning. Newer research, including a 2000 study in Psychological Review, suggests that our biology doesn’t always follow this same male pattern. Instead, women are more inclined to have a “tend-and-befriend” response to stress. During these times, we are more likely to tend to young ones and befriend others for support as a way to enhance the odds of survival—not only our own survival but also that of our offspring.

Your biology is programmed to heighten your stress response in the second half of your cycle compared with the first half, according to a 2017 study in the journal Physiology & Behavior. Earlier research from a 2013 issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology found that females release a greater amount of the stress hormone cortisol during the second half of the cycle compared with the first half. It’s likely this heightened response is nature’s way of helping you protect a fertilized egg in the event you’re pregnant.

A receptor in the brain’s hypothalamus, which is involved in appetite and satiety, also reacts differently in women and men when stress hits. Appetite drops in women but not men, which could be a reason women tend to be more prone to eating disorders, according to 2016 research in Cell Metabolism.

a 2005 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women whose diets included foods with higher amounts of calcium and vitamin D had less of a risk for PMS than women who got less of these micronutrients from their foods.

A 2015 review of existing research in Climacteric found that phytoestrogens—plant-derived compounds that mimic natural estrogen—significantly reduce the frequency of hot flashes. Adding phytoestrogens—found in tempeh, miso, and flaxseeds—to your meals during the right phase of your cycle is the key to keeping hot flashes in check.

For example, the foods in the follicular phase are reflective of our inner spring. These foods tend to be lighter, which fits with this phase when metabolism is naturally a bit slower. Follicular foods also have a bit of astringency, making them particularly good for liver function and detoxification. In the ovulatory phase, which is our inner summer, the foods help our bodies balance out the spike in estrogen and support the heart. In the luteal phase, which corresponds to our inner fall, the fiber-rich foods support the large intestine to increase transit time, which is critical during the luteal phase, when progesterone levels increase and slow digestion. The nutrient-dense foods here also correspond to the fact that your body’s metabolism naturally speeds up in this phase. During menstruation, which reflects our inner winter, it’s important to stock up on micronutrients that build up the blood, because you are losing blood as you shed the lining of your uterus. These foods also support the kidneys and help balance hormones as their levels drop during your monthly bleed.

This week you’ll want to focus on those phytoestrogens that I mentioned earlier—plant-based compounds that mimic the body’s natural estrogen.

Think pressed salads (kimchi and sauerkraut): plenty of veggies (string beans, zucchini, carrots); lean proteins (chicken, trout); sprouted beans and seeds; and nutrient-dense, energy-sustaining grains like oats.

Fill up on veggies (red bell pepper, spinach, tomato, leafy greens) and fruit (raspberries, strawberries) for their cooling effect and fiber.

You don’t need as many carbohydrates, so you can feel satisfied with lighter grains, such as quinoa and corn.

In the luteal phase, your body needs more calories—remember, as you saw in the previous chapter, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that your metabolism naturally speeds up during this phase—along with B vitamins to pump up the production of progesterone and to stabilize blood sugar levels.

you need to proactively eat slow-burning carbohydrates (like brown rice or sweet potato) throughout the day, and shift your diet to emphasize foods rich in B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and fiber. Eat cooked leafy greens such as collards, mustard greens, and watercress, which are high in calcium and magnesium to reduce fluid retention, something that affects many women in this phase. Consuming high-fiber foods like chickpeas, pears, apples, and walnuts will help your liver and large intestine flush out estrogen more effectively, reducing the effects of estrogen dominance.

When your body is involved in the intense process of menstruation—shedding the built-up lining of the uterus—it’s especially important to turn your focus to nutrient-dense foods, such as red meat, kidney beans, and buckwheat. According to traditional Chinese medicine, this is the coldest part of the cycle, so warming foods are ideal during this phase. Protein, fats, veggies, and fruits with a low-glycemic index—think blueberries and blackberries—keep your blood sugar steady while adding fiber and antioxidants. Seafood, kelp, and nori can help re-mineralize your body with iron and zinc, which you lose during menstruation. These foods are deeply restorative to the blood and kidneys and are ideal while you’re bleeding.

Too much estrogen can make you anxious and foggy. Too little can leave you feeling irritable.

And because you’re cycling foods in and out of your meals from week to week and transitioning from raw foods during the ovulatory phase to cooked foods during menstruation, your gut is never overexposed to any particular food that may be causing an inflammatory response. It’s as if you’re rotating crops—and it is one of the keys to better gut health.

Animal protein–heavy diets can also lead to liver congestion and estrogen dominance, which is the biggest culprit in hormonal dysfunction.

Follicular: Artichoke, broccoli, carrot, green peas, parsley, string beans, zucchini Ovulatory: Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, chard, escarole, scallion, spinach Luteal: Cauliflower, collard greens, daikon, onion, parsnip, radish, squash, sweet potato Menstrual: Beet, kale, kelp, mushrooms

Follicular: steaming, sautéing Ovulatory: raw foods, salads, juices, smoothies, steaming, poaching Luteal: roasting, baking Menstrual: soups and stews

First half of your cycle: When estrogen levels are rising, consume one tablespoon each per day of flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds.

Second half of your cycle: When progesterone levels rise, switch to one tablespoon each per day of sesame and sunflower seeds.

My old question was always something like, “How can I do more to achieve happiness and success?” The new question was radically different: “What does it look like to live as an embodied woman, connected to my inner wisdom and creativity?”

During your menstrual phase, the communication between the right and left hemispheres of your brain is more powerful than at any other time.

Anything that costs you your health, relationships, or happiness isn’t really success.

Worldwide, 66 percent of people agree that the world would be a better place if men thought more like women.