A friend of mine is exploring a keto eating lifestyle. I bought him a bag of grain free crackers and the first thing out of his mouth was “I’ve been looking for a cracker to eat with my cheese!”. I totally get it. You still want to enjoy that brie cheese without the refined carbs that most crackers contain.
Away I went on creating a grain free cracker of my own which I’ll share with you in a sec.
Recently, I’ve been talking about my experience with seed cycling.
There is a theory around seed cycling that says that consuming certain seeds at certain times of your menstrual cycle can benefit the body. These seeds carry certain vitamins, oils, and nutrients that may help the body’s production, release, and metabolism of hormones.
I haven’t been shy to talk about my own hormonal imbalances. With the level of stress that I’ve been dealing with the past couple of years, I had a swift decline of my stress hormone cortisol. And, when cortisol is depleted, it steals from other hormones, namely progesterone. I was then diagnosed with low cortisol and low progesterone which affected the health of my cycle.
Since that time, I’ve been able to improve both these hormones through various methods including stress management, self-care, changing my diet, and including some cycling syncing methods such as seed cycling.
The other element, especially for us women 40+, estrogen also declines as we age. I was recently diagnosed with low estrogen which makes sense given my age. So that’s another factor to consider when we start to eat a diet that helps to optimize our cycle because, no matter what age we’re at, it’s extremely important to keep healthy.
Here’s how seed cycling works:
Days 1-13 are your menstrual and follicular phases. Day 1 of your cycle is considered the first day of your menstrual cycle, when you start bleeding. Flax and pumpkin seeds may boost estrogen which helps support these phases.
Days 14-28 are your ovulation and luteal phases, which is when your body is looking for a progesterone boost. Sesame and sunflower seeds are great for this.
This is not to say that seed cycling will heal all of your hormonal issues but if there’s a possibility that certain seeds can help to support the body and balance hormones, it’s probably worth a try.
Ingredients
1/4 cup flax seeds, roughly ground
3 tablespoons white sesame seeds
3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
3 tablespoons of either pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt (plus extra for topping)
1 cup of boiling water
Directions
- Set oven to 325 degrees.
- Mix all ingredients together with boiling water. Let sit for 15 minutes until the mixture firms.
- Pour mixture onto a parchment lined baking tray.
- Spread mixture into about an 8X8 square shape and about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place in oven for 45-50 minutes until firm.
- Let cool completely and then break into desirable shapes.
- Store into air tight container for about one week.
If you make these babies, post a picture on Instagram and be sure to tag @balancebyjulie or on Facebook and @juliepecarskinutrition when you do!
