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

by Alisa Vitti

Most of the advice you’re following is intended for men with the assumption—and it’s a big one—that the same advice will translate to women. I’ve got news for you—it doesn’t.

Our menstrual cycle is so critical to our overall health and well-being that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has decreed that menstruation is the fifth vital sign, just as important as pulse, temperature, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

In addition, our foundational beliefs about our own health are largely informed by research done by men, on male subjects.

In fact, women have been historically underrepresented in all health, drug, and biological research.

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

The evidence is clear. You cannot biohack your nutrition and fitness the same way men do. You need a food and fitness program that caters to your female metabolism.

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.

This was an absolute aha moment for me. Tend-and-befriend vs the more commonly know fight-or-flight in men. Explained to me why I often found it difficult to leave the house without a buddy during my early postpartum years.

Nothing about our distinctive female biology prevents us from standing on an equal footing with men or having access to the same opportunities. But from a health standpoint, now we deserve even more. Medicine is already moving toward a bio-individual treatment approach. The concept of one-size-fits-all treatments is becoming a thing of the past.

What needs to happen next is the health care arena finally adding our female biology and fluctuating hormonal cycle into the equation when it comes to our health care and wellness.

When I first experienced this powerful shift in understanding, I found it to be incredibly liberating. Finally, I could let go of this notion that I needed to somehow force myself to be the same every day, which got twisted into an idea that I needed to be perfect.