This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Jeanny Sánchez Gómez. Find them on Instagram at @jeanny_sanchez. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
For all my menstruating people out there, you know what it is like to have to deal with debilitating cramps and fluctuating moods every mood. It is never the easiest thing to handle, and if you are like me, you’re always trying to find ways to help your body ease through your cycle so that you’re not stuck in bed all day. So, let’s deep dive into the world of cycle-syncing tea so that you can always feel your best!
What is Cycle Syncing?
Before we deep dive into the teas, we must understand cycle syncing and why it can help with menstrual cycles.
Cycle syncing is the practice of aligning lifestyle choices—diet, exercise, and self-care routines—with the four different phases of your menstrual cycle to help support each phase and potentially boost moods, energy levels, and overall well-being throughout the cycle’s time frame.
What are the four different phases of your cycle? As someone with an unpredictable cycle, it never occurred to me that there are different phases unless my partner and TikTok talked about it!
Menstruation
The first phase is menstruation, which is more widely known as your “period”. During this time is when you probably experience the most PMS symptoms like cramps, bloating, acne, fatigue, and mood swings. With so many annoying and painful symptoms, there are some teas you can drink to help relieve some of them.
- Chamomile: Chamomile possesses anti-spasmodic properties, which means that it can help with painful cramps that usually occur during this phase, help you sleep better, and boost your mood. This tea makes me sleepy, so I would recommend taking it at night once you’re ready to go to sleep.
- Turmeric: Turmeric has many anti-inflammatory properties that will help relieve cramps. It is also known to help regulate your menstrual cycle because it can influence your hormone levels.
- Raspberry Leaf: Raspberry leaf is my favorite tea for this part of my cycle. This has been traditionally used as a uterine tonic since it is believed to help tone and tighten the uterus, which helps with cramps and reduces heavy bleeding. If you are going to try any tea during this time, I would recommend this one!
The Follicular Phase
The second phase, called the Follicular Phase, starts the first day of your period and can last up to two weeks. During this time, your hormone levels change, causing your uterus to thicken and helping the follicles to grow on your ovaries until there is one that will mature into an egg. Compared to the menstrual phase, where your body can feel very tired, and moods are low, you’ll see that during the Follicular phase, you will feel more energized as your PMS symptoms start to decrease. A huge mood booster: if you start tracking your phases, you will most likely see that this time is when you feel the most confident and extroverted! Since this phase is mostly gearing up to getting pregnant, whether or not that’s your goal, this is a good time to support your overall bodily balance and health with some of the teas below.
- Dandelion Root: Dandelion Root is known for supporting liver function, so this tea is important for hormone metabolism. A healthy liver can process and get rid of excess estrogen, which is important since, during this phase, your body is creating higher levels of estrogen. This can help regulate irregular periods, mood swings, acne, and bloating.
- Nettle: Nettle tea is high in iron, which helps support the blood loss you just experienced. It is a mood booster, helps with relieving PMS symptoms, and can be beneficial for people with PCOS who tend to have higher androgen hormones, as it can help regulate testosterone levels.
- Schisandra: Another tea that helps support liver health, Schisandra tea is also an adaptogen, which means it can help the body cope with stress and improve overall energy levels.
Ovulatory Phase
The third phase of your cycle can vary from body to body but usually lasts around 15 to 16 days. During this time, your body is ready for pregnancy, and you’ll most likely hear about your “fertile window”. Since this is what your body is prepping for, your senses feel heightened, and your breast/ nipple will experience tenderness or soreness. Some might feel ovulation pain (mittelschmerz), which can feel like a dull or sharp cramp in the area where your ovary is releasing an egg. Besides these effects, this is probably the time when your body is feeling at its peak. Energy levels are up, skin is clean, and sex drive is up, so here are the teas to help with this phase.
- Red Clover: If you are trying to get pregnant, this can be a really helpful tea as red Clover contains phytoestrogens, which help regulate hormone levels and your menstrual cycle, It is important to have regular so that you know when is the best time to try to conceive.
- Shatavari: Another tea that can be beneficial if you’re trying to get pregnant is Shatavari. This can help balance hormones, specifically estrogen, which can help your menstrual cycle and support regular ovulation. Having rejuvenating properties can also help your ovaries’ overall health and function.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is another good for this phase specifically for people with PCOS as it helps increase frequency of your cycle and helps balance hormone levels. Overall cinnamon tea can help regulate your cycle and improve fertility.
The Luteal Phase
Happening after ovulation and right before your period, when your uterus prepares for pregnancy by thickening your uterine lining, and beside your period when you will most likely experience the most symptoms. Fatigue, energy fluctuations, mood swings, irritability, depression, and bloating are some of the things you will most likely have to deal with during this time. With this being the phase in which you really want to prioritize self-care, here are some tea options to help during this phase.
- Peppermint: Peppermint helps digestion and reduces bloating. It has muscle relaxant properties that can help reduce cramps. It’s soothing, which can help reduce stress levels and promote overall well-being.
- Ginger: Ginger also helps with digestion, so it is a great tea to have if you experience a lot of bloating. It’s anti-inflammatory, so it eases any pain or discomfort and is overall relaxing.
- Green Tea: Green tea is known to influence estrogen levels, help relieve cramps and bloating, and improve metabolism, which, if you’re like me, is helpful considering my appetite increases during this time.
The good thing about many of these teas is that you can use them for more than one phase, and there are also so many more teas that can help, it all really just depends on what is best for your body. Cycling syncing is just one of many Ancient Remedies that can be used to improve your health. Teas are just the tip of the iceberg of cycle-syncing but probably the easiest to incorporate into your daily life. Menstruation shouldn’t be something you dread; it is a part of your bodily function, and supporting yourself during these different phases can make a difference in how you feel in your body!
Have you tried a cycle syncing tea schedule? What are some of your favorite teas for this?
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