The connection between the menstrual cycle and health is absolutely critical to understand. Did you know that tracking your menstrual/ovulation cycle can tell you a lot more about your health than when your next period is going to start? In fact it tells so much more.
Often I think this is what gets lost in translation with algorithm-based apps that track your cycle and estimate ovulation. They tend to get so focused on estimated day of ovulation and when the next period may begin, that they forget how many other things your individual cycle can tell you about your health.
In fact, the menstrual cycle, or what I like to refer to as the ovulation cycle, acts kind of like a cycle-by-cycle report card of what is going on internally. Tracking your cycle via the Fertility Awareness Method, offers a plethora of information that can be used to pursue total-body wellness on a month-to-month basis. It’s about way more than tracking for family planning, because fertility has to do with so much more than planning or preventing pregnancy.
So let’s get into it! What can your cycle tell you about your health? How does the menstrual cycle and health connect?
Menstrual Cycle and Health: What are the Overall Things a Cycle Can Tell You About Your Health?
A cycle can tell you a lot about your health.
Here are 3 things that tracking your cycle can tell you about your health
And I’m not just talking about tracking your period.
I’m talking about tracking your period, but also your cervical mucus, your estimated date of ovulation,
your BBT, your point or point of change, your peak day, your luteal phase, and symptoms you experience throughout each day of your cycle. Want to learn more of what I am talking about? Check out this post here.
These things compiled create a magical report card telling you all about your health.
Here are three things tracking your cycle can tell you about your health:
- Health of Sex Hormones like Estrogen and Progesterone
- Thyroid Health
- Stress Levels Within the Body
- Potential Reasons for Fertility Issues
Let’s dive a little deeper than that though, going through each phase of the cycle…
Menstrual Cycle and Health: What Periods Can Tell You About Your Health
Believe it or not, your period is a wealth of information. In fact, research is coming out showing that testing period blood can give big indications into what is happen internally.
But we’re not here to talk about lab tests. We’re here to talk about using your observational senses in order to see what your period can tell you about your health.
What a Healthy Period Looks Like
A healthy period can vary in a few different factors, but in general should look like this:
- 3-7 days of bleeding without spotting
- At least 1 day of medium or heavy bleeding.
- 30-80 mL of blood loss
- Nearly or completely symptom free
Healthy menstruation indicates that the body is in sync with its hormonal systems and is getting the support it needs.
What would some red flags be when looking at the health of a period
Since we now know what a healthy period looks like, let’s dig into what is out of the range of normal and what it could mean:
- A period that is too long or too short can reflect that estrogen was out of balance in the previous cycle.
- Not enough bleeding can indicate that estrogen did not sufficiently build up the uterine wall.
- Too heavy of bleeding can indicate too much estrogen, or other hormonal issues such as fibroids, PCOS, or Endometriosis.
- Painful menstruation can indicate that hormones are imbalanced within the body, and that the body is not getting the support it needs and is under stress and inflammation.
- Spotting can indicate insufficient progesterone levels to maintain a pregnancy.
Want to dive deeper into periods? Check out my post here.
Menstrual Cycle and Health: What the Follicular Phase Can Tell You About Your Health
The Follicular Phase is the first day of your cycle up until the estimated day of ovulation. It can also give a tone of good information about your health.
What a healthy follicular phase looks like
- Steady and rapid rise in estrogen levels that occur mid-cycle, as reflected through the rise in estrogenic mucus. This mucus should gradually become more estrogenic over a period of 5 to 6 days, with extremely estrogenic mucus occurring for 2-3 days. If this is not observed, this can be a sign that estrogen levels are inadequate, as are FSH levels, potentially. Want to learn what estrogenic mucus looks like? I can teach you when you click here!
- A healthy follicular phase should lead to a cycle that ultimately lasts 24 to 36 days between the follicular and luteal phases. This means that follicular growth does not begin during menses, but instead begins rising a few days following menses.
- There should be a clear point of change from dryness the estrogenic mucus
- There should be a clear final day of highly estrogenic mucus followed by dryness or low-level estrogenic mucus.
- A basil body temperature at or slightly above 97.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
What would some red flags be when looking at the health of the follicular phase
- If a cycle is less than 24 days and estrogen rises early, this can mean that hormones are launching too early, due to misfiring signals.
- If a cycle is longer than 36 days, this can mean that ovulation is delayed due to late follicular development and struggling estrogen levels. A big reason for this is chronic stress on the body.
- There is a lack of estrogenic mucus, or irregular estrogenic mucus can indicate lack of ovulation and inflammation.
- There is well over 6 days of estrogenic mucus experienced can indicate estrogen than does not reach peak levels to trigger the ovulation process.
- A basil body temperature below 97.4 degrees Fahrenheit can indicate thyroid issues.
Want to dive deeper into the follicular phase? Check out this post here.
Menstrual Cycle and Health: What the Luteal Phase Can Tell You About Your Health
The luteal phase begins the day following the estimated day of ovulation, and ends the day before your next period begins. It can give you a lot of good information about the health of your cycle, mainly in the realm of progesterone health.
What a healthy luteal phase looks like
- Healthy rise in progesterone levels that occur after ovulation, as indicated by the change from estrogenic mucus to dryness.
- Dryness due to high progesterone levels stimulating the cervix to produce a dense antimicrobial barrier that blocks out all foreign invaders from entering the uterus.
- Sometimes a little cellular sloughing or the breakdown of this barrier can be noticed, but overall a healthy luteal phase will not experience cervical mucus or discharge.
- A healthy luteal phase should work alongside the follicular phase to create a cycle that ultimately lasts 24 to 36 days in length. This means that luteal length should be between 9-18 days in length. This can indicate the body’s ability to maintain a pregnancy.
- A rise in basil body temperature at or above 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
What would some red flags be when looking at the health of the Luteal phase
- Spotting prior to menses is a sign that progesterone may not be sufficient to maintain the uterine lining, a vital task in pregnancy.
- Constant mucus observations instead of dryness can indicate lower levels of progesterone and estrogen dominance.
- A basil body temperature below 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit can indicate an anovulatory cycle, as well as thyroid issues.
Want to learn more about the luteal phase? Check out this post.
Menstrual Cycle and Health: Recap
As you can see, there is a lot that your menstrual cycle can tell you about your health. Connecting the menstrual cycle and health is key.
From your period to your follicular phase to your ovulation to your luteal phase, there is so much information to glean from. The absolutely amazing thing too is that you can read this monthly report card, and then take it to your doctor if needed in order to provide all of that extra information that can help you get to the root cause!
This is what happened with my client Hannah:
Just like Hannah learned to understand her cycles and was able to use this so that she and her doctor could figure out the root of her issue together, you can too.
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