"To See Things In the Seed, That is Genius" - Lao Tzu
My gut has always craved seeds; sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds - all of them!! An Everything Bagel is crack to me. I spend way too much time at the end of a salad bar with the sunflower seeds. When it's time to carve pumpkins, I'm most excited about the fresh pumpkin seeds (not the carving). I would never have guessed that the answer to my hormone imbalance could be found in my deep love for crunchy, yummy, seeds.
I’ve been struggling with a heavy menstrual cycle for my whole life. 7-10 days long since age 13. In the big scheme of health challenges, this is not a real problem and can even be a blessing. Thanks to my heavy cycle, I’ve been able to have an easier time getting pregnant. This factor alone is well worth any struggle. However, now that we are in the post baby-creating years, I’ve been interested in solving the puzzle of my 10 day period that shows up every 25 days.
I started with my favorite Ob-Gyn, Dr. Shuermann who suggested either birth control or an ablation (a surgical procedure that burns off the uterine lining). I'm open to both options but unfortunately I feel the different mentally and physically on any type of birth control. That is not a win. The ablation is an actual surgical procedure that I was considering as a last resort.
However a third alternative showed up during my kids hip-hop dance. I happen to sit next to a delightful mom, Sharmilee, who was a Naturopathic Doctor (ND not MD) recently transplanted from Connecticut. What luck to find a natural healing expert sitting right next to me every Wednesday night for a year! I had considered myself fairly knowledgeable about holistic care but have learned so much from Sharmilee! Simple ways to build immunity, treat cold sores, and boost my sluggish vegetarian metabolism. Through an at-home, low cost spit test, I found out how low my progesterone dropped. The good news from Sharmilee was that there are several natural ways to rebalance progesterone.
Twenty minutes later I had a new respect for seeds. Apparently pumpkin & flax seeds in the first half of my cycle followed by sunflower & sesame seeds the second half of my cycle could help regulate my hormones. I was doubtful of the mechanisms as to why but yet also was curious. I had always LOVED seeds but rarely took the time to mix them into my daily nutrition. So I started this naturopathic recommended seed protocol. I’m only two months in but a miracle has already started. The last two months my cycle was only 5-6 days. That’s half of the typical!! I honestly didn’t expect it to work but now seeds are an easy daily snack.
I’m shouting from the rooftops about Seeds. Now everyone needs to decide for themselves who they trust to analyze their body so please don’t think I’m preaching. That said, Sharmilee asked me questions no physician ever had about my specific nutrition and sleep patterns. Most importantly, helped me understand why certain patterns could be impacting my health. For example, how staying up past midnight every night for the past 5 years could be killing my metabolism - more about this in an upcoming blog.
Feel free to email Sharmilee directly to learn more about simple natural life hacks for better health. She can be reached at nd@jcnaturopathicwellness.com and she treats patients across the US through Skype conversations and in Cincinnati in person. I receive no benefit from referring her to you other than helping you – of course you can always reach out to me if you have any further questions: ami@arkadiance.com
Wishing you Radiance and Joy,
Ami