Nutrition, Training & the Menstrual Cycle
Jolene Sirel • Oct 06, 2020
Do you train and eat to support the menstrual cycle?
Training and endurance sports can be hard on the body. Not supporting our systems with sufficient quality fuel can be one reason behind irregular or missing periods (amenorrhoea).
Our modern busy lives have left us detached and out of sync with all natural rhythms. As women, we have a strong cyclical nature and to fully embrace health we need to fully embrace and support this natural rhythm rather than battling against it and seeing it as an inconvenience. However, for some women in their pursuit of physical performance, amenorrhoea can be seen as a reward for “all their hard work”. But sadly, amenorrhoea is not harmless. A loss of periods is associated with a drop in blood oestrogen levels. An important function of this hormone is to maintain bone mass. Associated factors with irregular menstrual cycles include low bone density and an increased risk of stress fractures followed by osteoporosis if not addressed. Other more subtle signs are lower insulin and free t3 thyroid hormone levels, altered fasting glucose levels and elevated cholesterol levels. Oestrogen inhibits osteoclasts (a type of bone cell that breaks down bone tissue) to help preserve bone mineral density. It also has a broader metabolic function including fat stores, blood glucose, cholesterol, mood, mitochondrial function, skin and vascular tissue. When we don’t provide ourselves with enough energy and/or nutrients then imbalances in our hormone production occurs. Effectively, a lack of periods is our body telling us we have an imbalance in the system, that we’re under some kind of physical and/or mental/emotional stress and the body isn’t functioning correctly and we need to address it. When the body is under stress it puts the energy it has into the stress response and producing stress hormones such as cortisol rather than producing the sex hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone i.e. it goes into survival mode as when we’re under attack reproduction is the last thing our body needs in order to survive at that point in time.
Basic Facts of the menstrual cycle:
• On average a cycle last 28 days
• Day 1 of the cycle is the first day of the menstrual phase (bleeding)
• The average bleed is around 4-5 days
• The menstrual cycle occurs regularly throughout childbearing period of roughly 36 years
• The cycle consists of a series of changes taking place concurrently in the ovaries and uterine walls
• Changes are stimulated by changes in blood concentrations of hormones
• The hypothalamus responds to changes in the blood levels of oestrogen and progesterone
• When the ovam (egg cell) is not fertilised, oestrogen and progesterone levels drop causing the endometrium to shed.
• The menstrual flow consists of secretions from the endometrial glands, endometrial cells, blood from the broken down capillaries and the unfertilised ovum.
• After degeneration of the corpus luteum (the remains of the ovarian follicle that released the mature ovum) and falling levels of oestrogen and progesterone creates the feedback loop and triggers the anterior pituitary activity and rising levels of follicle stimulating hormone and the initiation of the next cycle.
Nutrition and Training in you cyclical rhythm:
Achieving sufficient nutrition and energy for both health and performance/energy with sport and exercise is the goal. If you don’t eat enough your resting metabolic rate (RMR) slows down in an attempt to offset the insufficient energy availability. The same is true when you lack sleep and rest. If you train too hard or too often your RMR goes down. This is a result of low energy availability (LEA). This ultimately results in less energy to support immunity, digestive and cardiovascular health, energy and red blood cell production, bone health, growth and repair.
A meta analysis of existing data published in June 2020 titled “The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-020-01319-3 ) concluded there was some possible suggestion that physical performance was reduced in the early follicular phase of the cycle but that the quality of research was lacking to make any formal recommendations. The key take away was stated as “Practically, the current evidence does not warrant general guidance on modulating exercise across the menstrual cycle. As such, we recommend that a personalised approach should be taken based on each individual's response to exercise performance across the menstrual cycle.” Now, scientific research can be a good starting point when it comes to implementing changes to diet and lifestyle. However, as this paper confirms, what it doesn’t account for is EVERYBODY and all their unique lifestyle habits and individual biochemistry. For me personally, I would agree with the, albeit weak, findings of these studies. I find it hard to be motivated and lack the energy in the first few days of my cycle and certainly in the few days leading up to my period. Science doesn’t change the fact that I know my body best and that I’m better resting and/or using light movement during days 25 through to 3 or 4 of my cycle. I know I have the most energy from around day 5 to day14 and I now use this observation to work into my training plans and give myself the rest and peace it needs at a time it needs it most but also make use of my energy for longer training sessions when I have it.
For me personally, stress (whether physical or emotional) can play havoc with my cycles. I regularly track my periods and it is evident when stress comes into play. For example, when I flew to Australia to visit relatives my cycles were thrown out of whack by 9 days.
I’m fully connected to my cycles and my energy patterns and I plan accordingly. I no longer see having a period as an inconvenience. I actually look forward to giving myself that time off, to have the excuse to hibernate and allow my body to rest and recuperate for a few days if needed. Recently I have put together a training plan for the next 40 odd weeks as I’m training for my own half iron man and my first ultra run. I don’t need 40 weeks to prepare for these, 20 would be more than adequate but part of me needs some motivation, especially over the winter months. I have the experience of working on myself a number of years ago through reiki, meditation and nutrition and I went from very irregular periods to now syncing with each new moon. This means I can now easily plan out my (loose) training schedule and make sure the few days before and following a new moon I drop my schedule to ticking over with more general movement than structured hard long training.
What we need to consider is what the body requires in order to carry out all the functions needed to stay healthy i.e. our basal metabolic rate. In addition to this we can then calculate what energy requirements are needed to preform and train to fully support the body holistically.
To have a healthy menstrual cycle we need to consider all of the following:
• Nourish your body! Make sure your food habits contain sufficient nutrients and calories for your life and training habits. Well balanced meals incorporating fats, carbohydrates and protein. Avoid low-fat diets. Yes we need quality fat in our diet to help build the correct environment for our hormones. Eating whole, organic unprocessed food, free of chemicals and preservatives etc is the best thing you can do for your health and hormones.
• Honour your body don’t abuse it! Easier said than done if you’re training for a big event. However, reducing excessive training and/or training smarter around your monthly cycle can make a huge impact to your biological systems with minimal impact to your overall goals.
• Reducing stress where possible (include more downtime/meditation).
• Include some slow movement exercise into your week whilst reducing the high intensity sessions.
• Optimum sleep and lunar cycles: Historically, women would naturally sync with the lunar cycles. It influences the tides of the oceans so why not our internal cycles? However, modern day has taken us away from this but it is possible to get back to it through meditation, optimum sleep cycles, grounding and working with the natural ebb and flow of the menstrual cycle. Our circadian rhythms need to be on point. Optimum sleep at the right time of day is crucial for this.
• Feeling safe and secure. Very difficult in the current climate where fear is being pumped through daily. There are ways round this. Turn off the TV, reduce screen time, making your home feel like a sanctuary where you can turn off the world, or have a specific room in the house for this to be the case (i.e. the bedroom).
• Avoid anti-inflammatory medications which have the potential to inhibit ovulation.
• Be mindful of your caffeine consumption. This can be an added stressor to your body. Some individuals can cope with it better than others but it is always wise to limit consumption especially where hormone disruption is evident. If you’re using caffeine to keep your energy going throughout the day then you need to address the underlying cause of the lack of energy rather than “putting a plaster over it” with caffeine.
• Connect to the earth by being out in nature and walking or standing barefoot where possible. There is significant research now available to show the physical and emotional benefits to connecting with and to the earth through things such as grounding and forest bathing etc. For example, I personally find great comfort in open water swimming and walks in woodlands.
There are obviously other factors that can cause irregular or missed periods including pregnancy and perimenopause/menopause, but these are out of the scope of this blog.
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A Balance of the Passions is Essential for Physical Health - Galen (A.D. 131–201) We are physical, emotional and spiritual beings. Where one of these aspects ends and the other starts cannot be truly defined. Without our emotions we are not human. Without our physical body we are not human. Without our energetic or soul component we are not human. This, for me, was evidenced by witnessing the death of a loved one. I was lucky enough to be with my grandma as she passed. As she took her last breath the emotional and spiritual being, that had characterised her as the person she was, disappeared. All that was left was the physical body. I knew in that moment that the body lying in the bed, although looking like my grandma, was no longer the grandma I cherished. That was just the vessel she used to exist on this physical plain. Years ago I read the book “molecules of emotion” by the neuroscientist and molecular biologist, Candace Pert. A fascinating and insightful read. Certainly one I will read again and one I highly recommend others to read if they haven’t already. This book was one of the catalysts that inspired my curiosity into the emotional and spiritual aspects of being who we are. How we feel the way we feel and how our thoughts and emotions affect our health. Through study, personal experience of delving deeper into myself and discovering who I am and also being a keen observer of others (which my husband hates btw 😂), I have developed the opinion that our bodies, emotions and souls are not distinct from one another. They cannot be separate, otherwise we can no longer be who we appear to be in human form. Our thoughts, emotions and experiences can make us laugh, cry, sweat, shake etc. These are all observable physical reactions to the emotions that came prior. One example Candace gave in her book really struck me, partly because I suffered terribly with this when I was younger. And it went something like this: “it’s through the emotion-modulating peptides that an embarrassing thought can cause blood vessels to dilate and turn a face beet red” . Therefore, the thought and feeling of being embarrassed manifested into an observable physical reaction through the face flushing. In my case I would then be highly conscious of my hot face. Inevitably, someone would point out that I’d gone “so red” and that would perpetuate the emotions resulting in close to what can only be described as a burning beacon of a throbbing, red hot face. My worst nightmare. In fact, thinking back, subconsciously this also impacted how I dressed. I hated warm clothes. Thick jumpers, polo necks and coats were out. Anything that could raise my body temperature and lead to feeling flushed, I avoided. I believed that if I could exist on the slightly cool side, I could potentially reduce the number of times or at least the intensity of my embarrassed face and be less noticeable to those around me. I’m talking highly self conscious here to the point where someone saying “hello” could set off the cascade of chemical reactions resulting in my red face. I digress. There is a name for this kind of study: Psychoneuroimmunology. It is defined as the study of the interactions between behavioural, neural and endocrine, and immune processes. Different emotions have different effects on the physical body. For example it has been shown that laughter can increase immune response and stressful life experiences and emotional states such as depression have a suppressive effect on the immune system . Stress has more recently been recognised by the medical community as having an impact on our health. But what about other thoughts, feelings and emotions. If stress can produce a cascade of biological functions that impact our health, especially chronic (long term) stress , then what other effects are felt by the body when the full range of our emotions aren’t being fully processed? With this in mind, how can we then treat any illness purely from a physical perspective when science shows us that all is entwined? One cannot be impacted without the other. The relationship is bidirectional of course. If we’re ill or injured this can effect our emotional state. However, it is also the case that our emotions can produce ill effects on the body . There are pathways that have been studied, highlighting the effect of stress and other emotional factors on our physical health. Notably, the central immunological mechanism serving as access for a range of "age associated diseases and the dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine production" (cell signalling). Cytokines impact our autonomic nervous system and can result in physical symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite and lethargy. As a result, negative emotions can produce early signs and symptoms of active disease states before more diagnostic signs appear. We are emotional beings. That is what being human is. We love, laugh and cry. We get angry and feel hurt. We laugh so hard our sides hurt and tears roll down our face. However, we seem to be growing daily in our need to suppress these emotions. We’re being told that feeling strong emotions shouldn’t be tolerated and therefore these feelings should be suppressed with medication. I’ve seen friends put on antidepressants for the break up of a marriage or the loss of a loved one. These life events are hugely challenging and certainly take their toll on us. But ultimately, don’t we need to process and fully grieve in order to begin to heal? It’s a perfectly natural human experience and one that should be fully supported not suppressed. We need to feel the whole spectrum of emotions and be able to fully lean into and process them. If we don’t, we potentially risk our long term health and vitality. We will ultimately have to deal with them at a later date as nothing can be held down forever. But by then the emotions and physical symptoms are usually dissociated from the life event that originally caused them. The two scenarios are separated by time and therefore the dots are not connected and we’re given a diagnoses of some medical label. The body keeps score, even if we don’t.
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly felt more energised or uplifted? Conversely, have you ever turned up to a friend’s house after they’ve had an argument and can sense a tense atmosphere even if they are acting as if everything is fine? This all relates to our connections via energy or field interaction. Energy is everywhere and it is the one thing that connects us all. In the early 19th century new physical phenomena were “discovered” which led to the concept of a field. A field being described as a condition in space which has the potential of producing a force. I put the word discovered in speech marks in the last paragraph to make a point. This wasn’t really discovered. It’s like saying Christopher Columbus discovered America. I find it hard to accept something can be “discovered” when there are quite clearly others that knew about it before. In the case of the Americas there were already many humans living there. In the instance of field discovery many traditions and cultures have understood, known of and worked with these energies for centuries. It’s just that scientific equipment is gradually becoming more precise at being able to record these invisible forces. Science was beginning to be able to show how individuals affect others at a distance through senses beyond speech and sight. I’ve always been sensitive to others energy and their imprints. I remember getting home one day from work and on entering the house alone, I had this real strong sense of someone else’s energy (other than my own) in the house that I wasn’t expecting. I went round the house checking all doors and windows, anticipating a break-in. Seeing no obvious signs, I went to make a cup of tea and noticed a tool case on a stool in the corner. It turns out my father in-law had let himself in to drop off the case earlier that day without my knowing and I had picked up his energy imprint left behind. On another occasion, I was out at a gig with a couple of friends. As the warm up act began I had this overwhelming sense that someone else I knew was going to be there. I had a glance around the room but it was full of hundreds of people and the lighting was low. There was no chance, unless this person came to sit next to me, that I would be able to see if they did in fact attend the same gig. In the interval before the main act, I had this energy hit my heart/heart chakra. I knew instantly that this person had just entered the room/building. The feeling was so strong. But again looking around the room I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to confirm this inner knowing with a visual sighting. It was too dark and there were too many people. As I waited for the main act to start, my eyes naturally rested looking down onto the seating below and into my line of vision walks the person I had “known” to have entered the building. They then went to get their seat out of sight of where I was sat. I’m still trying to process this and I don’t really know why or how I tapped into this person’s energy. I’m continually learning and widening my knowledge. However, as the saying goes “the more you know the more you realise you don’t know”. Without a doubt this was a field or energy connection. This ease of connecting with energy I have serves me well when it comes to Reiki healing. Whether through hands on (contact) or distance Reiki I am able to connect to a person via their energy and help balance the flow of this life force (also referred to in other traditions as ki, chi, qi, bio field or prana). Our energy field is linked to our physical body via chakras. There are 7 main chakras that align down the centre of the body. Each chakra feeds into different body parts and in turn are related to different emotional and physical states. Dis-ease in the body can occur when our energy becomes stagnant or blocked. The basic principles of energy healing is to bring a balance and alignment in our energetic body which in turn feeds our physical. According to the research by the heart math institute the heart sends more information to the brain (via the vagus nerve and electromagnetically and hormonally) than the brain sends to the heart. Fascinating right?!? It has been shown that the heart is involved in the processing and decoding of intuitive information. In my example above, it would seem I used my intuitive insights to connect to a field of information beyond my conscious awareness. On wanting to find out more about my experiences with the heart and/or heart chakra that I’d had, I did what I always do and started reading. I came across th is article and linked paper which really resonated with me and brought me closer to an understanding of what I had experienced personally. It is stated that the heart’s electromagnetic field extends several feet beyond the physical body. Some scientists state this could be much further but the lack of reliable equipment able to record this is the issue with really defining the true extent. Studies show that the heart is a sensory organ. It acts like an intelligent information centre enabling it to learn, remember and make functional decisions independent of the cerebral cortex. As a person who works with the energy systems of the body I wonder if these attributes go deeper than the physical heart itself and weave its way into the chakra system and obviously more precisely in this instance, the heart chakra. Food for thought. The heart chakra itself is the central chakra and connects our physical to our spiritual. Someone who is grounded and centred in their heart chakra follows their own path and purpose. Unconditional love is their centre. They are connected to the beauty of nature and look for the joy in themselves and in all things. They have compassion and empathy and are connected with their souls vision of the world embracing new adventures and a zest for life. When it comes to energy exchange between two people the eastern philosophies have long embraced these profound interactions. In many traditions the heart has been regarded as a conduit to a source of information and wisdom beyond our normal awareness. On going research seeks to show that intuition is a full body response based on the autonomic nervous system but ultimately incorporating all systems. Specifically it has been shown that the heart reacts to events several seconds prior to a stimulus being experienced. However, western medicine has discarded and actively seeks to re-direct awareness of these functions of the body through lack of detectable mechanisms explaining their exact nature. But numerous studies on energy healing have shown significant effects on wound healing rates, pain, haemoglobin levels, changes in DNA expressions and water structure as well as phycological states even if the exact mechanisms for this remain scientifically unproven. According to research by HeartMath the autonomic nervous system acts as an antennae which is tuned to respond to magnetic fields produced by the hearts of others. Studies show that it is possible for the magnetic signals radiated by the heart to influence the brain’s rhythm of another. However, this has not been studied at a distance of more than 5 feet. However, this does not mean that it can’t happen at greater distances. Like the gig I mentioned prior. There was well over 50ft involved and potentially a mile or more when I became aware of my initial instincts that this person may show up at the same place. It is stated that heart coherence between 2 individuals is very rare during normal waking states. Maybe my experience came about due to mutual respect and appreciation, a prior connection from another time. Who knows. I’m unlikely to ever find the true answer. But it has got me asking; “Is this purely about the entrainment of heart rhythms and their synchronicity? Or does it go beyond this and touch more metaphysical concepts?” One conclusion drawn from these papers states that if you’re a health practitioner, learning these heart coherence techniques can help build rapport and strong relationships between yourself and the client and enables the client to feel better heard and understood; A form of intuitive listening. I'll leave you with some poignant sayings regarding the heart: “ A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge ” Thomas Carlyle “Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes. ” Roy T. Bennett “Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye .” H. Jackson Brown “Let the rays of your heart shine on all who pass by. ” Terri Guillemets “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” Confucius “ Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” Rum i “The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of.” Charles H. Perkhurst “ When your heart speaks, take good notes .” Judith Campbell “Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.” Braveheart References: Mccraty, R., 2003. The Energetic Heart Bioelectromagnetic Interactions Within and Between People. [online] Institute of HeartMath. Available at: . Mccraty, R., Atkinson, M. and Bradley, R.T., 2004. The Surprising Role of the Heart. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(1), pp.133–143. McCraty, R., Atkinson, M. and Bradley, R.T., 2004. Electrophysiological Evidence of Intuition : Part 2 . A System-Wide Process? The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(2), pp.325–336.
For me, Reiki has always been quite tangible and notable. I’ve been able to feel the energy working and have always noted emotional, physical or spiritual changes in myself or others, no matter how small. However, I’ve always struggled to translate that feeling and inner knowing verbally for others to understand. So I got reading and here is my attempt to describe as best I can what Reiki is.
Cortisol has many functions in the body. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It helps regulate the use of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. It helps control blood sugar, reduce inflammation and assists memory function and blood pressure. It also plays a role in circadian rhythms (sleep wake cycles). Cortisol should naturally be raised in the morning to get us up and running (pun intended) and reduces as we head towards bedtime, allowing other hormones to take over promoting rest and sleep. This amazing balance is all critical to our health.
It has been shown that women have a lower reliance on liver carbohydrate stores when it comes to endurance activities. Some studies indicate that women potentially use 25%-50% less muscle glycogen stores compared to men (depending on the phase of their menstrual cycle) indicating women rely more on fat as fuel. When it comes to lipid metabolism during endurance exercise, some studies argue that the more prolonged an endurance activity women rely more on free fatty acids as their energy source compared to men. This could be a result of women having greater intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) with a greater capacity to use this IMCL with increased exercise duration.
