I’ve been eating to support my menstrual cycle for a little over two years now. There have been so many positive changed with my hormones since switching my diet to align with my cycle. If this concept is new to you.. I wrote all about cycle syncing your diet in my article: the best foods for each phase of your menstrual cycle. Here are the things I ate this past month (October 2023) to support my menstrual cycle.
As a reminder: I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to be! Any claims in this article are based on my personal experience and research. Please read my full medical disclaimer before engaging with my content or anecdotes. Also, as a reminder, this post contains affiliate links to certain products and I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you make a purchase based off of my suggestions.
While I’m a big proponent of syncing your diet to align with your cycle… I’m also a big advocate of balance in life. And in October – I found balance in my diet. I traveled to Lisbon, Portugal to visit my friend Dolores and I properly enjoyed myself. While it’s important to support ourselves when traveling, it’s also important to let go of rigidity and routine to enjoy yourself on vacation. Needless to say, this month is likely lacking a bit when it comes to inspiration for meals, eats and treats to support your menstrual cycle.
Here Are The Things I Ate This Month to Support my Menstrual Cycle: October 2023
Menstrual Phase
The menstrual phase is a time to focus on nourishing and warming foods (especially as the weather turns colder). We want to support our bodies with iron rich foods as we begin to shed our lining. Here are the foods I ate to support my menstrual phase this month:
Steak🥩 Red meat is a great addition to your menstrual phase diet.
Wild Rice Mushroom Soup🍄🍜 This was a concoction I came up with that ended up being so delicious. Let me know in the comments if I should post the recipe!
Liverwurst on Simple Mills gluten free crackers with a pickle and some mustard. I’m not the biggest fan of liverwurst but I was able to source some from my local farm and I knew I needed it. Since I was traveling (and drinking alcohol, eating gluten, processed sugar and heaps of caffeine) I knew I put a strain on my body this month and I really wanted to support it, especially during my menstrual cycle.
Other foods I ate in the menstrual phase: oysters, chicken liver pate, butternut squash, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, raw milk with raw honey, red-raspberry leaf, nettles, ginger, and hibiscus tea.
Follicular Phase
The follicular phase is a time to focus on a simple, balanced diet with an emphasis on complex carbs (fruit and starches like potatoes) and anti-inflammatory foods. Here are some of the foods I ate in my follicular phase this October 2023:
Chicken! I almost always eat chicken and eggs in my follicular phase.
Stewed Apples for Breakfast: I add raisins and some form of a nut (typically almonds but sometimes walnuts or pecans) to the apples as I stew them in butter with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and a pinch of cloves. I also top them with hemp seed just for some added protein.
Sushi 🍣 If I’m eating sushi: it’s either in my follicular or ovulatory phase. It’s one of my favorite things to lean on when I don’t feel like cooking!
Other foods I ate in my follicular phase: kimchi, raw dairy kefir, raw dairy yogurt, flax and pumpkin seeds, cottage cheese, avocado, grapefruit and oranges.
Ovulatory Phase
The ovulatory phase is a time when we can prepare to have sugary cravings. Putting a heavy emphasis on low-glycemic carbs, high-fiber foods, antioxidant rich foods, and foods with high vitamin D and folic acid. Here are some of the foods I ate in my ovulatory phase this month:
Lots of Salmon: I love salmon and its especially nourishing in the ovulatory phase. I ate salmon served on top of herbed, emulsified (“mashed”) beans and served them two ways: as salmon cakes (below left) and as broiled salmon (below right). I also had smoked salmon, eggs and avocado.
Eggs and Sourdough: eggs are great in the ovulatory phase and if you’re going to have bread – you want it to be sourdough.
Some other foods I leaned on during this ovulatory phase: tuna, eggplant, tomatoes, raw dairy yogurt, raw dairy kefir, raw dairy milk, lots of fruit
Luteal Phase
In the luteal phase we begin to prepare our body for menstruation (or pregnancy!). I, personally, was preparing for menstruation. We typically experience a drop in serotonin at this time and subsequently start to crave starches and sugars. I like to prepare for this by having healthier spins on dessert available.
Sweet Potato Brownies 🍠🍫 Yes, you read that right. I started experimenting with a brownie recipe that uses SWEET POTATOES as the main base. There was no gluten (or any other flour) in these and to be honest they were TO DIE FOR. The texture was a little off so I want to work on perfecting them before I draft a recipe.
Focaccia 🤤 We can’t always be perfect in what we eat and when I was deep in the luteal phase in Portugal and stumbled upon a panini shop run by Italians – I knew I needed a focaccia. It wasn’t a super traditional sandwich (it had herbed mayo on it LOL) but it was still delicious and the focaccia HIT.
Chicken! I almost always eat chicken in the luteal phase as it’s high in tryptophan: an amino acid that our body doesn’t produce naturally. We get tryptophan from chicken and it helps to boost our serotonin, which drops in the luteal phase. I paired it with some beans: a great complex carb for the luteal phase.
Oysters 🦪 Oysters are a rich source of Vitamin D, copper, zinc, manganese, Vitamin B12, omega 3 fatty acids and a whole bunch of other vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are great for our body. Oysters are great for us at any phase but they’re particularly supportive during the luteal and menstrual phases.
Other things I ate in my luteal phase: beef and liver stew, potatoes, apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, ginger.
Just for Fun
As I mentioned earlier, sometimes we just have to eat for fun. If we weren’t meant to enjoy eating – food wouldn’t be so delicious! Here are some of the things I ate just for fun on my trip to Portugal this month but you can also read my whole article of Everything I Ate in Lisbon, if you’re a little more curious!
To Support Myself When Traveling
While I strongly support indulging, especially when traveling, I also think it’s super important to support ourselves with supplements when we aren’t eating “the best”. I don’t believe in supplements for long term use but I do believe there is a time and a place for everything and when traveling is definitely it! I also double, triple and quadruple up on my ginger intake when I travel.
I hope that this post inspires some meals for each of your menstrual cycles! I’d also love to hear about your experience with cycle syncing your diet to your menstrual phases.💖 What are some of your favorite meals to turn to during the phases of your menstrual cycle?
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