For many women, the new year means one thing: changing how we eat. After the indulgences of the holidays, we often feel pressure to clean up what’s on our dinner plates and reset our health with food. So we jump on whatever food fad is trending this month, whether it is a “hot” new diet, a detox regimen, or eliminating a whole group of macronutrients (“No more carbs!”).
We’re determined to undo holiday damage. But do any of these approaches actually work?
Every diet that crosses your social media feed this month will promise to transform your life, but the only approach that will actually give you results is the approach that matches your unique hormonal needs during each week of your 28-day cycle.
If you struggle with any hormone-related symptoms, including weight loss resistance, severe PMS, irregular or heavy periods, PCOS, fibroids, hormonal acne, or impaired fertility, it’s imperative that you understand your hormone cycle and how to match what you eat to your shifting hormone needs throughout the month.
Let’s take a close-up look at why some of today’s most popular eating plans don’t work for most women.
This low-carb plan is intended to put your body into ketosis, which occurs when you restrict glucose and start burning fat as a fuel source. People on this diet get 85 percent of their calories each day from fat, 10 percent of their calories from protein, and 5 percent from carbohydrates. The diet is used as a medical intervention for children with epilepsy and it is being studied as an adjuvant therapy for certain cancer patients. While studies suggest that the diet may have health-promoting potential, the protocol restricts carbohydrates so severely that most experts recommend doing it only with medical supervision. No one, whether you wrestle with hormone imbalances or not, should undertake a ketogenic diet lightly or without trusted medical support.
Eating an abundance of rainbow colored vegetables and fruits, whether cooked or raw (or a combo of both, is a major win for health and hormone balance. But a true raw diet consists only of plant-based foods that haven’t been heated over 104-118 degrees F, and that can come with some drawbacks. The diet also dictates that nothing you eat is pasteurized, refined, or processed. Advocates of raw veganism believe cooking food destroys important enzymes and reduces their nutritional content.
Gluten, which is the main protein in wheat, has gotten a particularly bad rap in recent years, and for good reason: it’s not good for your hormonal health, which is why I recommend removing it from your diet when you follow the FLO Living protocol. But many diets advocate removing all grains as a way to lose weight and optimize health.
Intermittent fasting is going for short or intermediate periods of time without food. This “not eating” window can be as short as 12 hours and include sleep time—for example, you could stop eating at 8:00pm one night and not eat again until 8:00am the next morning and call it a fast—or as long as 16, 20, or 24 hours.People fast in different ways. Some people try to go 12 or more hours without eating everyday. Others try to go 12 or 16 hours without food a couple days a week. Some people don’t eat for a full 24 hours one day each week.
A disruption in one hormone system in the body can trigger other hormone imbalances. The other major hormone considerations for women when it comes to intermittent fasting are cortisol, the stress hormone, and thyroid hormone. When cortisol is imbalanced, symptoms include:
When thyroid hormones are imbalanced, symptoms include:
So while intermittent fasting may have some benefits, this cascade of negative health effects for women may outweigh any benefit.
These disparate diets do have some benefits, but none of them fully support a woman’s hormonal health. The cyclical nature of female biochemistry isn’t supported by eating the same way day in and day out. We must shift what we eat each week to support our unique micronutrient needs that specific week...which is something that none of these plans take into account. Your body isn’t the same every day and your diet shouldn’t be either! I created my phase-based eating concept 15 years ago to support each stage of a woman’s cycle.
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Support whole-body hormonal balance and regular, PMS-free periods with these five essential micronutrient formulations, designed to be taken simultaneously every day.
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Support whole-body hormonal balance and regular, PMS-free periods with these five essential micronutrient formulations, designed to be taken simultaneously every day.
Feel better and perform more effectively when you support your hormonal health during every phase of your cycle.
A revolutionary roadmap for women to help balance their hormones and care for their bodies, so they can feel their best all month long with Cycle Syncing®.
For those struggling with absent or infrequent periods, heavy bleeding, and other more intense menstrual symptoms
Read Woman CodeFor those struggling with absent or infrequent periods, heavy bleeding, and other more intense menstrual symptoms
Read In the FloAlisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
“MyFLO has been a true game changer for me and my cycle. I now have an increased awareness of my body's needs throughout the month.”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
“MyFLO has completely transformed my relationship with my cycle. I am sleeping through the night, intuitively managing my stress, and eating with my cycle.”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
“I use MyFLO every day to track my cycle and symptoms. I've managed to significantly reduce PMS symptoms like breast tenderness, and my cycle length has gone down from 40 days to 30 days.”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Boost micronutrient levels
Manage blood sugar
Reduce stress
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
"My period was missing for 3 years after getting off birth control. MonthlyFLO helped me finally get my period back.”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
I feel more empowered to understand my body and heal my hormones. I no longer accept the patriarchal dismissal and confusion about the female cycle”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
“I got my period back after 15 years! Thank all of you for your support. I'm just so grateful!”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
“FLO Living has seriously changed my life. It gave me the courage and bravery to get off of birth control, and completely changed my outlook on health. I look and feel better than I ever have in my life”
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Detox estrogen
Reduce inflammatory foods
Improve elimination
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Boost progesterone production
Support estrogen elimination with dietary changes
Replenish micronutrients
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Stabilize blood sugar
Reduce Androgens
Restore ovulation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Detox estrogen
Improve bowel movements
Reduce inflammation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Manage blood sugar
Address micronutrient deficiencies
Restore ovulation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Detox chemical stress
Micronutrients to boost egg quality
Reduce inflammation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Stabilize blood sugar
Detox chemical stress
Targeted micronutrients to support ovulation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Micronutrients to boost egg quality
Reduce inflammation
Support immune function of uterus
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Implement Cycle Syncing ®
Detox chemical stress
Boost micronutrient levels
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Manage blood sugar
Detox estrogen
Boost progesterone production
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Stabilize blood sugar
Reduce stress
Boost energy
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Cycle Syncing® Food & Workouts
Stabilize blood sugar
Restore Micronutrients
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Cycle Syncing® Food & Workouts
Boost progesterone production
Support estrogen elimination
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Cycle Syncing® Food & Workouts
Micronutrients to boost egg quality
Reduce inflammation
Alisha A / 46 years old
Flo Care Plan
Cycle Syncing® Food & Workouts
Boost progesterone production
Increase micronutrient levels