Food is the Latest Solution for Menstrual Complications
Britt Martin never expected to have any serious health concerns as a graduate student. Because she was a college athlete, she thought she had been living the healthiest life possible. But when the diagnosis came in 2016, everything changed: she had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Although six months of chemotherapy kept the cancer from progressing, she developed polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which caused painful ovarian cysts and hormone imbalances. These symptoms caused her to lose her period.
Physically drained from the chemotherapy, Martin wanted to avoid introducing more synthetic chemicals into her body. Instead, she turned to a functional nutritionist for a natural alternative. After eating foods synced to her menstrual cycle for three months, her period returned — without any of her previous PCOS symptoms.
Martin’s story is only one part of the modern food-as-medicine movement. The movement aims to stop treating disease with pharmaceuticals and instead start incorporating food and dietary changes.
Medical institutions such as the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University have begun including this strategy in their curriculums; however, their focus is mainly on obesity and lifestyle diseases. Other areas, such as women’s health, continue to prescribe synthetic solutions. Companies are now recognizing the lack of choice available to women and are finding success with food-based treatments for menstrual complications.
Martin’s personal success motivated her to help other women with similar issues. She co-founded “Food Period,” which she describes as “a monthly subscription service offering a commercialized version of the seed-syncing [she] used.”
Seed-syncing involves eating seeds that promote hormone production in tune with a woman’s menstrual cycle. Flax seeds boost estrogen levels during the first half of the cycle, and sesame seeds boost progesterone levels during the second half. The company packages these ingredients in ‘Moon Bites,’ or palm-sized cake-like balls that may be eaten either for breakfast or as a snack.
“Our goal is to empower women to take their hormonal health into their own hands,” Martin says. “Periods are still a taboo subject to talk about. Due to this, women are often locked into synthetic birth control pills to fix their own issues.”
Over 200 women have expressed support for the product since Martin started the company in August 2017 with co-founder Jenn Kim.
Kim’s story mirrors Britt’s. Growing up in a Korean family on the West Coast, Kim always preferred traditional Chinese medicine for her menstrual health over the birth control offered by her doctor.
“Chinese medicine always worked for me, but it wasn’t pleasant to take,” she says. “Taking the herbs felt like a burden sometimes. Their bitter taste didn’t motivate me.”
Food Period avoids this obstacle by offering Moon Bites in different flavors, such as cacao-sea salt or lemon-coconut. The service aims to “put taste at the forefront with nutrition.”
Another company offering cycle-syncing advice is FLO Living, created by Alisa Vitti. Vitti had her own brush with PCOS while she was a medical student at Johns Hopkins University.
“I refused to believe that my life would have to have multiple prescription drugs,” she says. This “scary forecast for [her] future” guided her towards food in her medical career.
Vitti offers her 14 years of experience through the WomenCode System, a “virtual hormone health center.” The online subscription includes access to in-depth videos, recipes based on menstrual phases, and monthly live group sessions with other women in the program.
“What’s also great is we’ve been so embraced by the medical community,” Vitti says. “What we’re really doing is rolling up our sleeves and getting into the nitty-gritty of food coaching in-between medical sessions.”
Medical institutions are beginning to demonstrate professional support for cycle-syncing foods offered by these companies, keeping with the wider food-as-medicine trend. The University of Maryland Medical Center is one of the first to include this information online.
Their guide for menstrual pain includes treatment suggestions for foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, calcium citrate, zinc and Vitamin E. Flax seeds, dates, sesame seeds, and coconut — all used in Food Period’s ‘Moon Bites’ — fit these criteria.
Other suggestions include cutting down on refined sugars and avoiding caffeine. Such claims are backed by a list of peer-reviewed scientific studies conducted within the past ten years.
