With…what now?! I’ve been talking with my friends for a while about seed cycling and most of the reactions I get are pretty bemused. Seed cycling is a long-standing practice, one i’d been aware of for many years and one which was covered both in my IIN course and also my prenatal yoga teacher training. I started seed cycling around three months ago and it now feels like an integral part of my routine. Looking after our hormonal health and integrating a new practice can be daunting but seed cycling has been really beneficial for me for very little effort.

Start from the beginning, what exactly is seed cycling?

Seed cycling is the practice of consuming seeds daily, changing up the combination of seeds throughout the month based on the point you are in your cycle. The easiest way to start is by downloading a cycle tracking app (I use Clue) or using a diary to keep track of your cycle. The first day of your period is “Day 1”. Depending on the length of your cycle, you can estimate that ovulation takes place halfway through, for example, if your cycle is 26 days long then day 13 would be your estimated ovulation day. The last day before your next period is the final day of your cycle, and then when your next period starts, that is the new “Day 1”.

For the first half of your cycle (Day 1 until ovulation), you eat a mix of flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds daily. For the second half of your cycle (ovulation until the day before your next cycle) you eat a mix of sesame and sunflower seeds daily. The seeds can be consumed at any time of the day, and you can start seed cycling at any point in your cycle.

How do you do it?

I bought a small spice grinder for AED100 (£20) and each morning I add in that day’s seeds (around one tablespoon of each), grind for 20 seconds, add a splash of Rude Health plant milk and drink down the mixture. You could add the seeds to porridge or a smoothie if these are your breakfasts of choice (I am not a big breakfast person so find just knocking them back is easier but learned from error that it’s best to mix them with at least a little liquid or it’s VERY dry to force down). The seeds have a slightly nutty flavour but no discernible taste. The seeds do not need to be consumed at breakfast, I just find this the best time in my routine. You could also add the ground seeds to a soup or salad or have them in the evening.

It’s really important that the seeds are freshly ground to make the nutrients more accessible to the body and that the seeds are ground fresh each day or every few days. I keep my seeds in the fridge to further preserve freshness, especially as it is hot in Dubai. Eating the seeds whole will not bring about the same benefits.

Why did I start seed cycling?

I came off of the pill in December 2020 and at first noticed no difference, my cycle came back after around 30 days and came regularly. After around 6 months of tracking, it became clear that my cycle was a little on the short side – around 23 days rather than the 28 days I had had while on the pill (which is not a true period but a “withdrawal bleed” between pill packets and creates a false notion that anything other than 28 days is “bad”).

After 8 months off of the pill I started to notice hormonal acne on my chin and lower cheeks. I first attributed this to the compulsory face mask wearing in Dubai at the time, but the year plus of face mask wearing had only resulted in quite minor “maskne” and nothing on the level of the painful, inflamed spots I had started to get right around my 34th birthday. The entire time I’d been on the pill my skin had been perfect, even during stressful periods or when my diet wasn’t great. I also noticed that I was shedding a lot of hair, and that my ponytail thickness was really suffering.

This also coincided with a personally stressful period for me so I wasn’t sure if the hair loss and hormonal acne could entirely be attributed to coming off of the pill, but I wanted to deal with both, as well as try to length my cycle a little. I went to a couple of conventional doctors and was advised to either go back on the pill (which I didn’t want to do after already being on it for so long) or to take a blood pressure medication that could have helped with the acne and hair loss but would have lowered my already low blood pressure even further. While the medication sounded like it could have got me my desired results, I was hesitant to go straight from one pill to another without trying a more natural alternative first.

The science

The four seeds used in seed cycling contain lignans, plant compounds that are believed to weakly mimic some of the effects of estrogen. Estrogen is a key hormone to balance to have a healthy cycle. There is lots more information on seed cycling on Dr Jolene Brighten’s blog which I found really helpful, and also in the module with IIN.

There haven’t been a huge number of studies on seed cycling, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that it is effective. Given that there are no side effects or downsides to the practice, the lack of “evidence” does not really bother me as the likelihood of Big Seed funding a study into the efficacy of a low costs, natural treatment is pretty low.

My experience

Since I started this practice my hormonal acne has cleared up to just one or two small spots per cycle, usually around ovulation (which I see as a fair exchange for not taking the synthetic hormones in the pill), my hair loss has lessened a lot but this is something I am still working on as the thickness hasn’t returned. Another benefit of seed cycling is that it has really helped my digestion due to the added fibre in the seeds.

I’m also more in tune with my body and after 16 years of being on the pill and having my natural cycles masked, I can now identify when I’m ovulating, and when my period is due. I’ve had no PMS or cramps at all and my cycle has now settled to 26-27 days rather than 23.

The seeds also provide a range of vitamins and minerals which are super beneficial, and ones which my usual diet may not have been providing me before such as Omega-3 (flaxseeds), magnesium (pumpkin seeds), calcium (sesame seeds) and vitamin E (sunflower seeds). Seeds are some of the most nutritious foods we can eat as they contain all of the nutrients that a seedling needs to grow.

The downsides

There aren’t really any? The seeds are inexpensive, grinding them takes 30 seconds and incorporating this practice into my morning routine takes two minutes in total. Seeds are packed full of nutrition and adding more seeds to your diet cannot do any harm (unless you are allergic to them, of course).

Have you tried seed cycling?

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