Improving Ovulation Advice
“Dear Abby, I’m working on my 2nd recovery period, any advice to have healthy/on time ovulation?” –Meredith
Yes! When we are working on improving our cycles, we approach it similarly to how we recovered in the first place. There are 4 main things I push for better ovulation and progesterone levels.
Protein-
All three of the macronutrients are important for your health (protein, fats, and carbs). Balancing all three helps with blood sugar—which we will talk about below. However, protein is a huge powerhouse. Protein BUILDS your hormones. It also builds your organs, muscles, hair, blood cells, immune molecules, enzymes… I could go on, but you get the point. Most women struggle to eat enough meat. When we do eat enough meat, we see a direct correlation to:
An uptick in metabolism (basal body temperature)
Increased bone mass
Improved progesterone levels and a longer luteal phase
Appetite regulation
Calories-
It's not an increase in weight that I look for, it's the availability of calories for your body to do its functioning. Do I like this to come from protein? Yes. Does it all have to come from protein? Absolutely not. In fact, it's very healing to have these extra calories come from something decadent or at one time “forbidden” for you to eat like macaroni and cheese or a cookie. When I see girls who are still restricting, relaxing on the calories does usually show a happier/on time ovulation.
Blood Sugar-
The golden standard is to balance all three macronutrients like I mentioned above! Why? All three macronutrients have different jobs to do. Protein, again, builds your body. Fats are needed to PROCESS THE PROTEIN. Hello! That’s important, or all the protein your eating isn’t even ABLE to be used! And carbs are the energy and fuel to make that process happen. Girls who fast and avoid life with carbs (I was at one time guilty of this) do so because we have been told that the body can function without carbs. It can… just not optimally. The body is put into a stressed state to then create energy from your fat. But wait a minute… Did you read that too quickly? I said IT PUTS THE BODY IN A STRESSED STATE. Yes! It does! Because the body needs to change its natural processes to then make the energy it needs FROM your fat! While that sounds all well and good for those of us focused on body composition, the stress of that raises our cortisol levels and therefore causes a whole other mix of issues.
So! Long story short, yes, eat all three macronutrients to keep your blood sugar properly regulated. When we do not eat all three macronutrients (or overeat one of them like carbs) our blood sugar rises high and then drops low. Your body will be working extra hard (again, raising your cortisol levels) to bring that back into a healthy range.
Nutrients-
As we look into optimization of ovulation and luteal phases, I often like to check on nutrient levels. A HTMA test (hair tissue mineral analysis test) will show us if all the levels are bouncing back the way they should so that we can either make some other lifestyle tweaks, or include some supplements to help with this part of the journey.
So, in a nutshell, improving ovulation and cycle parameters? Protein, calories, blood sugar, and nutrients! Good luck out there! Keep asking questions!
