FLO Living Blog

The 24 Hour Cycle vs 28 Day Cycle

Some weeks you’re on - you’re crushing it at work, you’re killing it in the gym, and you have energy after work to meet up with friends or to engage in leisure activities you love. But other weeks? Not so much. You have to drag yourself out of bed, you feel like you’re phoning it in at work and during workouts, and after work, you crash on the sofa and stare at the ceiling.

If that describes you, you’re probably (and rightfully) frustrated by these swings in mood, productivity, and energy. And being the wickedly intelligent woman that you are, you’ve probably set out to try to fix them.

Maybe you’ve tried the Bullet journal or a to-do list app.  Maybe you bought an inspiring day planner, hoping that the beautiful pages would zap you into action. Maybe you read one of the million books out there on time management or productivity secrets. . But none of those things have worked—or will work in the future.

Why?

Because traditional time management strategies don’t work for women. These external “solutions” force us to follow the 24-hour circadian cycle and they ignore a woman’s natural, 28-day hormone clock. We’ve been taught to plan our lives on the 24-hour circadian schedule, which works well for men—but not for women.

With most time management systems, we’re expected to make to-do lists, check things off as the day goes by, and then wake up the next day and repeat. Every day, every 24 hours, the same thing. But when women are forced to function as if their natural 28-day hormone clock doesn’t exist, we miss out on the superpower granted to us by our hormones.

We have different strengths during each of the four phases of our 28-day hormone cycle, and when we align our activities with our strengths during each phase—instead of keeping the rhythm of our lives the same, day in and day out— we can accomplish more, with less stress. When we understand and sync our lives with our hormone cycle, all of a sudden (and with very little effort!) we have plenty of time to do all that we want and need to. We have more spaciousness to get things done.

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Really? This all sounds a little woo woo….

Now, you might be thinking Wow, that sounds great. Far-fetched and totally made up, but great! But this isn’t theoretical at all. Research shows that our hormone cycles have a direct influence on our mood, energy, creativity, and worldview. So, when we plan our activities in accordance with the natural flow of our hormones, we can be top-performing, high-achieving women with energy left over at the end of the day—no to-do list app necessary. (Though we benefit greatly from knowing where we're at in our cycle, which is the reason our MyFLO app was designed!)

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Leverage your hormones for productivity

As women, our cyclical nature means we can and should work differently, (and plan our food and exercise differently), depending on which abilities are amplified by our hormones, during each phase of our cycle. When we start to get familiar with our different strengths during each phase, we become more predictable powerhouses at work and in life, instead of believing we’re victims to our hormonal fluctuations.

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Time Management for Women: Step into your power

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Step 1

Your essential first step is to sync your diet and exercise with each phase of your cycle. Research shows that your body has different micronutrient needs each week, and that, hormonally speaking, you are better equipped to handle intense workouts during the first half of our cycle. When your system gets the nourishment and movement it needs when it needs it, you will feel energized, creative, and naturally more productive.

Step 2

The second step? Respect your feminine energy. Now, when we say “feminine energy”, we're not talking about how you dress or behave. We're talking about connecting with your unique cyclical nature as a woman, and recognizing the natural shifts in energy and focus that come along with each part of your cycle.

These natural shifts are not vulnerabilities. When we learn how to use them in a way that benefits us, they become strengths. Harnessing the power of these shifts is the secret to achieving your personal, professional, and romantic goals. There is a timing and seasonality to your life—and when you use that knowledge to your advantage, you’re doing what I’ve coined as, Cycle Syncing®. Practicing Cycle Syncing® allows for greater creativity and productivity, without greater stress.

Through Cycle Syncing®, you can accomplish more of what really matters with ease, grace, and less stress. Cycle Syncing® isn’t mysterious or made-up. It’s a practice that starts with understanding the delicate (and often off-kilter) balance between estrogen and progesterone, and how those hormones shift during the month.

After that, it’s about structuring your life around the ebbs and flows of those hormones. It's actually quite simple! In practice, Cycle Syncing® is a totally doable and intuitive way to live.

Step 3

The third step is when things really get exciting. This is when you start to embody Cycle Syncing®, by learning about the four phases of your cycle and aligning your activities with your strengths in each phase. This is the magic that will help you do more of what matters to you, without burning out.

‍The follicular phase

• ‍When: The week after your period ends
• What’s happening hormonally: Estrogen is on the rise
• What to do: Set your intentions for the future, clarify your vision, spend time journaling (or otherwise recording your feelings and thoughts), organize what you want to accomplish in the coming weeks

‍The ovulation phase

• ‍When: Mid-cycle for 3–5 days
• What’s happening hormonally: Estrogen is at its highest point
• What to do: Talk about your vision, collaborate with like-minded folks, schedule meetings, connect with others, embrace your desire to be social during this phase

‍The luteal/premenstrual phase

• ‍When: About 10–12 days before your period begins
• What’s happening hormonally: Progesterone is at its highest point
• What to do: This is your do, do, do time! You are at your most organized during this phase and you love getting granular about the details. Make this phase all about accomplishing the activities and goals you outlined during your follicular phase

‍The menstrual phase

• ‍When: The days during your bleed, when you're on your period
• What’s happening hormonally: All of your hormones are at a low point
• What to do: Slow down, reflect on what’s happened over the last month, and practice gratitude for the good things that have occurred and all you’ve accomplished. Think back on any areas of your life that feel less than optimal or that need more attention, and use them as a starting point for setting intentions during your next follicular phase

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Cheers to your Cycle Syncing® journey! 

Not Meeting Your Goals? Here's Why

If you’ve been trying different diet and exercise plans to lose weight, or simply to feel healthier and less plagued by period problems, fantastic! Feeling better is a whole-systems approach, and a journey that involves food, movement, and lifestyle changes.

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But if you've been feeling like things aren't quite...working out, there's a reason. That’s because the diet and fitness industry offers well-meaning solutions, but those solutions are not universally applicable. The truth is that most of the research behind most mainstream diet and fitness recommendations is conducted on men — and women have unique biochemical needs that go unaddressed by male-centered research.

At the same time, women are the largest consumers of wellness industry products and protocols! But because women’s bodies work differently, this creates a vicious cycle, causing unnecessary stress, and depleting your time, energy and money. When these protocols are positioned in such a universally applicable way,  struggling to achieve results can feel like your fault. But it's not your fault! And we're here to set the record straight. The time is up on the gender bias in the diet and fitness industry.

As women, we’re biochemically different than men. When we adopt approaches that are designed to work with our unique biological distinctions—and stop biohacking with the boys—we will start to see results. The key to biohacking your unique female biochemistry is to understand your 28-day cycle & to match your food and exercise to your natural hormonal shifts. When you sync with your cycle, you’ll experience easier periods, less PMS, reduced bloating, get clearer skin, and see improvements in weight and body composition. By acknowledging your hormonal reality, you’ll finally be able to look and feel your best.

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The Science of Cycle Syncing®

Your body has different micronutrient needs during each week of the 28-day cycle, because your ovaries and uterus are doing different jobs during each week of the cycle. When you think about it, it makes sense: your body isn’t the same every day so your diet shouldn’t be either! But this isn’t just speculation.

‍Research suggests that our fluctuating hormones affect our nutrient levels—and, in turn, our nutrient levels affect our hormones (the research also shows that micronutrient deficiencies play a role in the severity of PMS symptoms). This means that we have different micronutrient needs at different times in our cycle.

All of today’s most popular diet plans— from keto and grain-free to a raw vegan diet—require eating the same way everyday, which ignores the natural interplay between micronutrients and our rhythmic, fluctuating hormones.

Add to that the fact that many nutrition and weight loss protocols emphasize calorie restriction, and you have an additional problem. Calorie restriction has been linked to thyroid hormone imbalances, which can cause sluggish metabolism, lackluster hair and skin, fatigue, and brain fog. Limiting calories also drives up cortisol production (cortisol is one of the body’s stress hormones) and high cortisol is a known factor in weight gain.

As women, we need to eat specific foods in order to make hormones. Healthy fats are especially important since estrogen and progesterone are made from cholesterol. Without enough cholesterol, we can’t adequately produce enough of these hormones to support healthy periods and fertility. We also need to eat specific foods to help break down and eliminate used-up hormones (so we don’t become estrogen dominant). Eating the right plant foods supports the liver in eliminating excess hormones and helps a specific group of bacteria in the gut microbiome, called the estrobolome, process estrogen overload.

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What you Can Expect When You Cycle Sync Your Diet

The Cycle Syncing® Method provides key foods at critical times to help break down excess levels of estrogen and keep estrogen and progesterone in balance. When this happens, you can expect fewer breakouts, less severe (or nonexistent) PMS, no more hormonal headaches, and less bloating. You can also expect improvements in fertility, sex drive, energy, and mood.

Another benefit of Cycle Syncing® your diet? Because you’re switching the foods you emphasize in your diet with each phase of you're cycle, you’re freed from the pressure from “sticking with a diet”. Not only is this practice more fun and satisfying, but it’s more sustainable in the long run.

‍Your big hormone-diet takeaway: You need to eat specific foods at specific times to maintain robust micronutrient levels and support hormone production and elimination. When you enjoy the right foods at the right times, you’ll experience remarkable results.

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Cycle Syncing® Your Exercise

This cyclical self care method extends into exercise as well.  There is a time and a place for short, intense workouts—but that’s not how you should workout all the time. When you consider your cycle, and when you look at the evidence, you’ll see that you may be able to handle the stress of intense exercise in the first half of your cycle, but doing a full-throttle workout in the second half of your cycle will sabotage your health and weight loss goals.

Here’s a closer look at why working out out hard all the time isn’t ideal: When you get your heart rate pounding, you burn through the glucose in your bloodstream (which is a good thing!). But you’re only burning glucose for about half an hour. After that, your body starts to pump out cortisol, the better to convert your fat cells into blood sugar so you have energy to keep working out.

At this point, you might be thinking, great! More energy to keep working out! But If you struggle with estrogen dominance, that excess estrogen tells your body to convert any leftover sugar back into fat. So instead of burning fat, you get stuck in a vicious cycle of burning stored fat with cortisol, only to have your high estrogen levels send it right back to all the wrong places.

Lots of women wonder if they should exercise during their period. Our answer is to listen to your body and to expand your focus to your entire cycle. Instead of just asking, "Should I workout on my period?" look further into the best times for higher intensity workouts and balance that with the best times for other types of movement.

You can use the MyFLO app to track your cycle and know what type of movement to do when, and you can look here for more on movement and exercise during each phase of your cycle.

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Workouts For Each Phase of Your Cycle‍

Here are the different types of exercise Alisa Vitti recommend for each of the four phases of your menstrual cycle:

Menstrual Phase

The 3 to 7 days during your bleed:

• Workout: Gentle Walking, Light Yoga - Keep your workouts relaxed, even if you’re not feeling discomfort. It’s a time to take things slowly and prioritize rest. Your hormones are at their lowest levels during this phase.
• Timing: An evening stroll is the perfect way to get some simple movement.

Follicular Phase

The 7 to 10 days after your period ends:

• Workout: Running or other cardio
• Timing: Mid-day – Your estrogen will be low and your cortisol levels will be just right for a challenging cardio burst.

Ovulatory Phase

The 3 to 4 days in the middle of your cycle, right after the follicular phase:

• Workout: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) or bodyweight circuit
• Time of Day: Early morning – you’ll have tons of energy during this time of the month, so take advantage of that natural high! Your testosterone is higher during this phase, so whatever you do, feel free to go all out.

Luteal Phase

The 10 to 14 days after ovulation and before your bleed:

• Workout: Pilates, yoga
• Time of Day: Keep it early during the first half of this phase, and then transition into the early evening in the second half. You might still feel full of energy during the first days of your luteal phase, so feel free to keep doing more intense workouts early in the day. But if you start to experience PMS symptoms in the days before your period, it’s time to tone it down and switch to Pilates or strength training in the early evening. Restorative (yin) yoga before bed can also be hugely helpful in combating issues like moodiness and bloat.

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What you Can Expect When You Practice The Cycle Syncing Method® With Your Exercise

You’ll deepen your intuitive sense of what type of movement your body wants and needs every day (and at every phase of your cycle). You can expect to lose weight and gain muscle more easily and sustainably, as well as prevent injury by varying your movement consistently.

‍Your big hormone-exercise takeaway: How you work out during the first half of your cycle shouldn’t be the same as how you work out during the second half of your cycle. When you sync your exercise with your cycle, you’ll experience remarkable results!

A Timeline for How to Heal

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You’re making the move from conventional to organic, you’re syncing your workouts with your cycle, and you’re taking the necessary steps to get your gut and hormonal health back on track. So when exactly can you expect to see a payoff from all that dedicated effort?

If you’ve finally committed to resolving your menstrual symptoms, you’re probably anxious to see results. After all, if you’re like most women dealing with issues including PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, or otherwise problematic cycles, you’ve been struggling with symptoms for way too long and you’re frustrated that you haven't found the cure. Trust us, I get it. Our founder Alisa Vitti suffered through years of painful symptoms before doctors diagnosed me with PCOS. Even then, she had to tell them that she thought it was PCOS before they diagnosed her. It was her own extensive research that led them to the answer! That was her first clue that conventional medicine didn’t hold all the answers.

With a hormone-related diagnosis in hand, Alisa was offered conventional medicine’s most common answer to all hormonal issues: synthetic birth control. After experimenting with every other option, naturopathy, acupuncture, elimination diets, she finally decided to try it even though her gut was telling her not to take the pill. Maybe it will help, she thought?Turns out, it can hurt A LOT. After ten days, she was having a heart arrhythmia and migraines so severe that she would temporarily lose her vision! Alisa quit the pill immediately and never looked back.

Today we know—and research shows—that the pill actually causes a host of hormonal issues. It does the opposite of solve hormonal problems. The fact is, once you have the right tools and you start taking your hormonal healing seriously, you can absolutely see results fast. True, lasting, permanent change takes time and patience, but there’s nothing as encouraging as seeing evidence that things are moving in the right direction. If you commit to the FLO protocol, here are some of the amazing results you can expect to see—and when you can expect to see them.

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In 1 week: You can reduce the endocrine disruptors in your body by up to 90%

How long does it take to restore hormone balance? There are many benefits to healing your hormones that show up quickly, even in just 1 week. We've long encouraged women to follow an organic protocol in every area of their life at least 80% of the time. Now, science is finally catching up to this wisdom, with research revealing that switching to an organic diet reduces the harmful, endocrine-disrupting pesticides in your body by nearly 90 percent.

‍Researchers found that participants’ urinary dialkyl phosphates (DAPs) — a common method of assessing exposure to pesticides — were 89% lower when they ate an organic diet for a week compared to a conventional diet for the same amount of time. Why does pesticide exposure matter so much for hormonal health? Pesticides add synthetic hormones to your body (like xenoestrogens), congest your liver, making it harder for your body to process and eliminate excess hormones, and confuse the hormonal conversation your body needs to have to create balance and avoid symptoms. What’s more, too many pesticides in the body can impair fertility, make the growth of fibroids worse, interfere with regular ovulation, and damage thyroid function.

So if you’ve ever thought that eating organic doesn’t matter, think again! It is a foundational piece of balancing your hormones and erasing your symptoms. And the fact that you can reduce your pesticide load by almost 90% in a week is seriously motivating, right?

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In 9 days: You can improve your blood sugar (and other important biomarkers)

How long does it take to reverse estrogen dominance? When it comes to dietary offenders, there few more hormonally-disruptive bad guys than sugar. When you consume too much of it, it sends your blood sugar and insulin levels soaring and then crashing, which can stop your hormones from triggering ovulation and producing progesterone. This leads to estrogen dominance, the most common culprit behind a slew of hormonal conditions.

‍Research suggests that eating less sugar can stop the blood sugar roller coaster in just 9 days. This is the fastest proven way to reset your hormones. When researchers modified pubescent participants’ food intake by reducing the portion of their diet they typically filled with sugar (from 28% to 10% of their daily calories), and swapped it for starch, their fasting blood sugar levels dropped by 53%, along with the amount of insulin their bodies produced.  Participants’ triglyceride levels, LDL levels, and the amount of fat in their liver, also dropped.

The takeaway? Balanced blood sugar—which can be achieved in under two weeks—protects against estrogen dominance and all the devastating symptoms that come with having imbalanced estrogen levels, including irregular ovulation, severe PMS, acne, weight gain, and painful fibroids. If you’ve been dragging your heels on giving up sugar, consider how much better you could feel in a seriously short amount of time!

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In 2 months: You can improve estrogen metabolism and reduce PMS symptoms

Estrogen dominance is at the root of most hormonal conditions, so flushing the excess hormones from your body is essential to maintaining your overall health. One critical way to do a hormone flush is to fix your gut.

Your digestive health is deeply connected with your hormonal healing. The gut contains a colony of beneficial bacteria called the estrobolome, which produces an enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Having a healthy gut means having a healthy estrobolome—and a healthy estrobolome efficiently eliminates used hormones from the body, preventing estrogen build-up (and all the problems that come with it). But in our modern world, everything from a sugar-rich diet to overuse of antibiotics (and even the birth control pill) can throw your gut bacteria off-kilter, increasing your chances for estrogen dominance. There is great news here, though.

Studies have shown that what you eat matters, and your diet can start having a major impact on the composition of your gut bacteria quickly — in some cases, as quickly in a few days. One study showed that microbiome composition changed detectably within just 24 hours of initiating a high-fat/low-fiber or low-fat/high-fiber diet. And the research indicated that the longer participants adhered to specific food plans, the more significant the changes to the bacteria were, which should show you that committing to a hormone-healthy diet for the long haul is your best bet for continued success.

Another study found that increased dietary fiber intake elicits a wide range of physiologic effects, not just locally in the gut, but systemically — something we talk about often at FLO Living. Specifically, fiber helps support the liver, a critical organ necessary in the detoxification process that helps prevent and heal estrogen dominance. One great, easy, Harvard and FLO-approved way to start making major changes: eat fermented foods and use probiotics to help heal the gut.

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In 4 months: You can lower stress and improve menstrual regularity

Stress isn’t just something that’s out of your control or something that requires a variety of meditation principles to cope with. It turns out that the intake of vitamins, particularly the B-vitamins including B6, B9 and B12 may have a number of positive effects on mood and stress.

In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, 138 adults (aged 20 to 50 years) were administered a multivitamin containing B-vitamins versus placebo over a 16-week period. Researchers found that compared to the placebo, 16 weeks of supplementation was associated with a trend towards an increased Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) — an increase of about 50% in cortisol levels occurring 20–30 minutes after waking. One interpretation of that elevation in CAR associated with multivitamin supplementation is that the supplements helped healthy participants develop an adaptive response to everyday demands. And when stress goes down, that means ovulation regularity and fertility go up.

‍Food is, of course, an amazing source of B vitamins — bananas, wild-caught tuna, spinach, poultry, sweet potato, and more are chock-full of it — but supplements are an important insurance policy to ensure you’re getting the right amount. An easy way to assess whether you’re experiencing the net effects of all these dietary changes is to actually examine the color of your blood. It’s true — just taking stock of your menstrual flow can help you see the progress you’re making and confirm the fact that food is clearly the best medicinal approach to dealing with problematic periods.

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Long-term: Continuing to eat in a hormonally-supportive way over time can slow down aging and protect fertility

Healing is truly all about balance. The New York Times recently covered emerging research that supports everything we stand for at FLO Living! Using the health and behavioral data of 914 women who went through menopause naturally, British researchers found that women who ate an additional two-and-a-half-ounce daily portion of fresh legumes (like peas or beans) were able to delay menopause by about one year, and women who ate an additional three-ounce daily portion of oily fish delayed menopause by about three years.

On the other hand, eating refined rice and pasta, was associated with an earlier age of menopause. This information should inspire and empower you to look at the FLO protocol as a hormonally-supportive way of life (not to mention, we’ve been talking about how to avoid premature hormonal aging years before scientists caught up). No diet, pill, patch, or surgery can address and resolve the root of your endocrine imbalance the way a total lifestyle overhaul can. Learning to eat, exercise, work, love, and play in a way that keeps your hormones happy will change your whole life — and the positive changes may come sooner than you think!

Need more inspiration? Check out these testimonials from real clients below:

• " Thanks to FLO Living, my PCOS symptoms are so much better!  The feeling when you really start believing in yourself is so so powerful! I just want to tell to all the woman with hormonal imbalances to not give up. The answer is closer than you think. Be patient and start step by step. You will get there!" — Lavinia

• "It in many ways changed the trajectory of my life, health and skin. I am happy to say that my skin has cleared, I have a handle on my PCOS symptoms and I now know and respect my body better than before. I now see my struggles as a blessing. WomanCode is a book that I recommend to women a lot and it even served as the foundation of starting one of my now closest friendships. The MyFLO app is an essential and daily companion I now use to keep track of my cycle and FLO Living is a place of community and empowerment and I am eternally grateful for the knowledge that Alisa chose to share with the world and women through WomanCode. I’d hate to think where I’d be right now had I not found that interview that lead me to Alisa’s work." — Jamie

• "My cycles are regular again! There’s an inner peace that comes with predictable cycles throughout the month with a deep understanding and respect for my body’s natural ability to function in a state of wellness." — Kelsey

• "Alisa Vitti, her team and the FLO Living movement inspire me every day to listen to my body and its intuition, live and love in my feminine power and to pass on cycle syncing wisdom to the world!" — Amber

• "I'm totally in and I feel amazing! Anemia is gone. I haven't had another sonogram to confirm the fibroids are gone, but my periods are regular and because of rituals and synced workouts I actually look forward to each phase. My body is looking svelte and stunning with the delicious recipes and food list. Sex is better than ever, my husband loves his emails from MyFLO, work is syncing like never before due to scheduling my life around my hormonal strengths. I'm telling everyone I know about MyFLO." — Nicole

• “Having PCOS, confirmed having anovulation, and having spent several thousands of dollars at fertility clinics to try to get to the root of things only coming up with the possibility of having to take Clomid (which doesn’t guarantee ovulation, and ovulation doesn’t guarantee pregnancy), I was searching for a more natural way to regulate my body and make it function ‘like a normal person.’ I implemented the diet and lifestyle protocol 100%, even getting everything organic because I was fully ready to be fully committed to do WHATEVER it takes. About a month later I had confirmed ovulation and then from the same cycle confirmed positive pregnancy test. I am now 2 months pregnant for the first time ever! I will say, based on how much this makes sense, I fully expected to be pregnant at some point this year, but was shocked when it happened so fast.” — Nate.
• “This got me pregnant at 43! I had FSH levels of 15 and was told IVF was the only way to go. After following this protocol, after 3 months, they were a 7.5! We then got pregnant naturally 3 months later! Every woman should start living this way as soon as possible to avoid any hormonal health problem ever.” — Diane.

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Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) affects one in 10 women in the United States (and an estimated one in five women worldwide) and it’s the leading cause of female infertility. So when a new study claims to have found a pharmaceutical cure for PCOS, it makes a big splash in the headlines.When I was younger, I might have jumped on this story as a beacon of hope. I suffered from PCOS and a crushing list of symptoms: severe cystic acne on my chest and back, depression, weight gain, and irregular ovulation. I would have done pretty much anything to stop them.If you find yourself today where I was a decade ago, you might be intrigued by this recent study. One pill might solve all your symptoms! But the secret behind this new PCOS “cure” is that it’s not really a cure at all. First, the body’s hormonal system is far too intricate and environmentally sensitive to have one root cause (and, hence, one solution). “There are a lot of things that can upset the balance of what’s going on hormonally,” professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern, Lauren Streicher, MD, tells The Cut. “We wish with all medical conditions that we could have a one-cause, one-effect sort of thing, but that’s just not the nature with most medical conditions.”Second, the study was done on mice—and what news reports often ignore is that mice aren’t people. Knowing what worked for mice is a far cry from knowing what might help human beings.Finally, the “cure” is a drug. While drugs have an important place in the Western medical arsenal, sometimes they can do more harm than good when it comes to hormonal conditionsTake hormonal birth control, which is commonly prescribed for PCOS. The pill can have serious side effects and it doesn’t solve the core hormonal imbalances at the heart of PCOS. It merely covers them up. It’s too early to tell if the same is true for cetrorelix, the drug used in the study. I put my PCOS into remission with food and lifestyle changes. You can, too.

What You Need to Know About the Study

Researchers at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research suspected that PCOS might be triggered in utero by overexposure to a specific hormone (called anti-Müllerian hormone). They tested their theory by injecting anti-Müllerian hormone into pregnant mice and observing symptoms in their female offspring.Indeed, the daughters of the mice injected with anti-Müllerian hormone showed many of the same symptoms as women with PCOS: irregular ovulation, delayed pregnancy, and fewer offspring. Then the researchers treated the symptomatic mice with cetrorelix, a drug that is commonly used during IVF, and the symptoms reversed. Naturally, the idea that a drug could reverse PCOS generated a lot of excitement. But treatment in humans is a long way off, the side effects and long-term consequences of the drug require more research, and the body’s intricate hormone system is unlikely to be thrown off balance—and brought back into balance—by one single intervention.But the best news of all? You don’t need drugs to feel better. You can find the answers to easing your symptoms in your home, on your plate, and in your supplement drawer. Best of all, when you make lifestyle and nutrition modifications, you address the root hormonal imbalances that give rise to PCOS, something a drug can’t do. Your Food & Lifestyle Rx for PCOS. PCOS is still best addressed with food and lifestyle. Ready to feel better without drugs? Here’s your step-by-step plan:Get some healthy protein and healthy fat at breakfast.You want to get some of both macronutrients for your first meal of the day, which you should eat within 30 minutes of waking up, to help keep blood sugar steady—and keep you feeling full—until lunch. Eggs and avocado make a good combo. Consider adding some leafy greens or other veggies so your plate is brimming with inflammation-fighting and detox-promoting phytonutrients.Don’t overdo animal protein.A Harvard study showed that women improved their chances of fertility when they got more of their protein from vegetable sources than animal sources. For the absolute best sources of protein for your hormones, click here. (Spoiler alert: eggs are included. They appear to be the exception to the rule when it comes to animal protein!)Don’t fear carbs. Not all carbs are created equal. While some carbohydrates are notoriously bad for health—think baked goods, white bread, pasta—others are important for hormonal harmony. Most women with PCOS struggle on a low-carb diet, like Atkins or Paleo. I recommend making rice, quinoa, buckwheat and millet part of your regular diet. Ditch caffeine. Caffeine is a catastrophe for your hormones. So many studies link caffeine with impaired fertility (which is a hallmark of PCOS) and hormonal discord that it’s hard to keep up with them all. Here’s just a few: research shows that drinking 3 cups of coffee a day (consumed by either men or women) increases the risk of miscarriage by 74%. Coffee is considered equal to drinking alcohol and smoking in terms of impairing fertility. And coffee depletes the B vitamins that are so necessary for healthy ovulation and hormone balance. If you suspect you’re low on B vitamins, you can find the formula I recommend in my Balance Supplement Kit. Steer clear of toxins. Many of the everyday chemicals we’re exposed to through cleaning products, conventional health and body care products, and lawn care products and household pesticides are endocrine disruptors and are known to to have negative reproductive, neurological, and immune system effects. The Environmental Working Group lists 12 of the worst endocrine offenders. Read labels on cleaning products carefully or, better yet, make your own products with vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils. A study commissioned by the independent research group, Women’s Voices for the Earth, found that a large number of popular cleaning products contained toxic chemicals that weren’t listed on the labels.Sync your life to your cycle. When you live your life in accordance with your natural hormonal rhythms, your hormones are happier—and so are you. It’s as simple as that. Sync your life with the MyFLO tracker, the first ever hormone balancing app. Tend your microbiome. A healthy microbiome, the group of bacteria that lives in your gut, means a healthy estrobolome, the colony of bacteria in the microbiome that help metabolize estrogen. Hormonal healing is impossible if your gut is out of balance. The best way to bring your microbiome into balance is to supplement with probiotics. Patch up nutrient deficiencies. Micronutrient support is critical for women with PCOS. Our bodies need the B vitamins that can help with mood and progesterone production; the liver support that helps detox estrogen; the magnesium that helps balance the production of progesterone, estrogen and testosterone; the probiotics that help heal the gut; and vitamins D, K1, and K2 to support healthy immune function and regular ovulation. You can find all these supplements together in the Balance Supplement Kit I created specifically to bring hormones back into balance. Always remember that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making healthy choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program 

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

If you’re a young woman with thick, luxurious hair, you might think of hair loss as an older woman’s issue, something that strikes during perimenopause or menopause.

But hair loss happens to women at every age—and it’s increasingly happening to younger women. It’s estimated that 21 million women in the United States alone experience hair loss.

I have seen many women in their 20s and 30s with thinning hair seek out support at FLO Living. Hair loss is also a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is a hormone condition that affects one in 10 women of childbearing age.

Hair loss in women hasn’t always been so common. Think of historic images of women and their heavenly hair, so thick it had to be swept up in intricate braids. Imagine of Lady Godiva and Guinevere. Picture the historical female characters on TV and in movies, portrayed with rivers of hair running down their backs.

Here’s why hair loss is increasingly common in women of all ages today: the factors that drive hair loss—hormone imbalances, toxic exposures, thyroid issues, stress, and nutrient deficiencies —are more common in the modern era.

If you’re experiencing hair loss, topical treatments like minoxidil (Rogaine) and others tend to only be partially effective, if they are effective at all; they don’t address the root causes of hair loss; they target androgenic alopecia (which only accounts for some cases of hair loss); and they come with a host of unpleasant side effects—side effects that can worsen the aesthetic problem you were hoping to fix. Rogaine can cause hair to grow in different colors and textures than the surrounding hair and can cause unwanted hair to grow on your cheeks and forehead.

But there are simple, straightforward strategies you can use to stop thinning hair. Here’s what you need to know about the root causes of hair loss in women of every age and, most importantly, how you can take steps to reverse it.

The Hormone Imbalances & Nutrient Deficiencies Behind Hair Loss

Several different types of hormonal imbalances can lead to thinning hair. Understanding them is the first step in knowing how to treat them with lifestyle, nutrition and supplements.

Testosterone troubles

The male hormones, called androgens, have long been associated with scalp hair. (Over 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates noticed that eunuchs never went bald.) Historically, experts blamed hormonal hair loss across both genders on too much testosterone, but that is only part of the story. The real culprit appears to be dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a more potent form of testosterone. DHT is made from testosterone by a specific enzyme in the body, and while both testosterone and DHT are known to have a weakening effect on hair follicles, there appears to be something unique about the conversion process of testosterone to DHT that relates to thinning hair. This is why some drugs that are marketed for hair loss block the conversion of testosterone to DHT. (It’s important to note, however, that these drugs tend to be less effective in women than men, and that one of them—finasteride—is only approved for hormonal hair loss in men, not women. What’s more, the drug has been associated with increased risk of sexual side effects, depression, nausea, hot flashes, and increased estrogen levels—and too much estrogen is its own risk factor for thinning hair; more on that below.)This is all to say that high levels of testosterone, high levels of DHT (which can occur even when testosterone levels are normal), and the conversion of testosterone to DHT, all appear to play a role in the thinning hair for some women with hair loss.

Insulin Imbalances

Insulin is one of the body’s master hormones. It’s released every time we eat food and it allows our cells to utilize the energy we get from food. It’s released in smaller amounts when we eat low-glycemic foods and in higher amounts when we eat high-glycemic foods (like those made with sugar and refined flour). Eating too many high-glycemic foods for too long (often in combination with other lifestyle factors, like being sedentary and experiencing chronic, unremitting stress) can cause an overload of insulin in the body—and too much insulin disrupts ovulation and signals the ovaries to make testosterone. More testosterone predisposes the body to more DHT conversion, and, hence, more hair loss.

Estrogen Excess

Just like excess testosterone and excess DHT can cause hair troubles, so can too much estrogen. For some women, excess estrogen may trigger hair loss because of a gene variant that affects the functioning of an enzyme (aromatase) that processes estrogen. For other women, the problem with estrogen dominance is that they’re also experiencing lower levels of progesterone relative to estrogen—and progesterone helps protect hair follicles from the hair-thinning effects of testosterone, DHT, and estrogen. Evidence suggests that progesterone may act as an aromatase inhibitor and other research suggests that the genes involved in aromatase activity are implicated in female hair loss.

Post-Pregnancy

Postpartum hair loss is related to the drop in estrogen experienced after giving birth. During pregnancy, the body has higher levels of estrogen (and progesterone) and estrogen increases hair’s “resting phase,” or the time hair stays on your head before naturally falling out (which is what accounts for the 100 or so hairs that healthy heads shed every day). When estrogen drops after pregnancy, all the hair that had been “resting” starts to shed. Post-pregnancy hair loss is usually temporary, lasting for several months.

Thyroid hormone imbalances

The thyroid gland’s main role in the body is to regulate energy use. It releases a steady stream of thyroid hormones into the body to support and regulate vital bodily functions, from our breathing and heart rate to body temperature, body weight, and, yes, hair growth. When the thyroid is under stress or poorly nourished—the thyroid is highly dependent on optimal levels of vitamins and nutrients to function optimally—it starts to focus its efforts on supporting the bodily processes (like breathing and regulating heart rate) that support and sustain life—and it stops paying as much attention to less vital functions, like hair growth.

Natural Strategies to Heal Hair Loss

Ready to discover the natural strategies that support hair growth? Here are my top suggestions:

Scalp Massage with Essential Oils

 A study found that, when mixed with a carrier oil (like jojoba oil), the essential oils of rosemary, thyme, lavender, and cedarwood can help promote hair growth. The participants in the study massaged the carrier oil with essential oils onto their scalp daily for 7 months.

Try onion juice and aloe vera gel

A small study published in 2002 found that applying topical onion juice to the scalp increased hair growth. Two groups of participants were asked to use topical treatments on their scalps twice each day for two months: one group was given onion juice to apply to their scalp. The other was given tap water. After six weeks, hair growth was observed in close to 90 percent of the participants who used onion juice (though the researchers noted that more men in the group than women experienced hair growth). In the tap water group, only 13 percent of the participants experienced hair growth (with no difference between the sexes.) The benefit from onion juice is thought to come from its high sulfur content. Sulfur is found in amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, which are needed for robust hair growth. Onion juice may also stimulate collagen production, which in turn stimulates hair growth. You can buy onion juice at most health food stores or online, or you can make your own. Grate and strain an onion to extract the juice, apply to scalp, and then wash off after 30 minutes. It’s also been suggested that aloe vera has benefits for hair growth, though research specifically on hair growth is sparse, but studies do suggest that aloe vera is effective as a treatment for seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition that often affects the face and scalp. You can also try mixing onion juice and aloe vera and applying to the scalp for 30 minutes, followed by shampooing.

Detox Estrogen

 Estrogen dominance is an extremely common imbalance and it can fuel thinning hair as well as an arms-length list of annoying symptoms, from bloating and PMS to irregular periods and infertility. Your first, best step in clearing excess estrogen from the body is doing a liver supportive detox. My 4-Day Hormone Detox has you eating fresh, nourishing foods for three meals a day, plus snacks. You won’t feel hungry or deprived and, most importantly, you will help kickstart hormonal healing. A hormone detox is one of the best first steps you can take to reverse thinning hair.

Balance testosterone

 Because too much insulin (which is released by the pancreas in large amounts when we consume foods high in sugar or refined flour) signals the ovaries to produce more testosterone, and because an overload of testosterone increases the likelihood that our bodies may make more of the hair-thinning hormone DHT, work to keep blood sugar steady by eating fiber-rich whole foods. In addition, the Saw Palmetto herb has shown promise for its ability to block the conversion of testosterone into DHT, so it may help androgen-related hair loss. To date, research on saw palmetto for hair loss is limited, but the research that has been done is promising.

Correct nutrient deficiencies

Hair health is highly dependent on vitamins and minerals for optimal functioning. Several specific vitamins and minerals are key.

• B vitamins. improve circulation, resulting in greater blood flow to the scalp
• Vitamins A and C. support cell growth and collagen production for stronger hair
• Magnesium supports healthier hair follicles and also helps calm your nervous system
• Omega 3s. give you shinier hair and healthier follicle growth
• Probiotics. help you absorb and assimilate more nutrients and reduce stress
• Zinc. has unmatched benefits for hair health, according to research. It has been shown to help speed up the recovery of damaged hair follicles
• Vitamin D3. research suggests that optimal vitamin D levels are critical for thyroid function, immune system function, hormone balance and hair-follicle health

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These important micronutrients, which are all essential for hair health, are part of my Balance Supplements. And even if you eat a healthy, phytonutrient rich diet, you might not have optimal levels of the vitamins and minerals you need to promote hair health. Environmental factors beyond our control, from the mineral-depleted soil in which most of our food is now grown to shifts in growing practices that have reduced the amount of vitamins and minerals in various foods, can leave us eating a picture-perfect diet and still deficient in certain micronutrients.Also, if your digestion isn’t optimal, you can eat all the right foods but not be able to absorb the minerals from the food. This is one of the reasons I include a probiotic in my Balance Supplements. It’s precisely because vitamins and minerals are SO critical to hormonal healing—and to healing the devastating side effects that come with it, like thinning hair—that I created the FLOLiving Balance Supplements. The supplement industry has very little oversight and I saw so many women waste money on supplements that at best didn’t work and at worse contained dangerous ingredients. There was also the question of what to take. Which key vitamins and minerals were the best for hormones? After nearly two decades of researching the non-negotiable micronutrients, I formulated my own line of supplements to biohack your hormones and help heal symptoms like hormone-related hair loss. The supplement kit contains five formulas, rigorously tested, thoroughly researched, and perfectly suited to meet your needs. After years of research, I’ve determined that these are the five essential micronutrients that women need in order to balance hormones, reverse symptoms, and look and feel their best. If you’re ready to feel energized, detoxed, replenished, harmonized, and gutsy, order the Balance by FLO Living Supplement Kit now!

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To your FLO,

Alisa

If you’re considering quitting the pill, congrats! You’re taking a huge step toward reclaiming your health, happiness, and hormones. And you’re not alone. Surveys suggest that 70% of millennials have ditched (or are thinking about ditching) hormonal birth control.

Seriously—the list of birth control’s harmful effects never ceases to amaze us, and yet it’s the most common Band-Aid solution doctors rely on to spot-treat deep-seated endocrine issues. Many doctors recommend the pill to “solve” symptoms, but the pill doesn’t solve anything. Symptoms disappear because the pill covers them up. Meanwhile, the root causes of your symptoms continue to simmer beneath the surface—and the longer they go unaddressed, the harder they are to treat. Not only that, the pill can damage the microbiome, increase inflammation, suppress ovulation, and lead to micronutrient deficiencies.

So yes—quitting the pill is one of the most significant things you can do in the process of hormonal healing. But saying goodbye to the pill without knowing how to protect yourself from rebound symptoms can cause them to return with a vengeance—especially if you give up the drugs cold turkey. That’s because your body suddenly has to manage and balance its own hormones for the first time in months or years, and it goes through a re-education process as your natural hormone cycle comes back online. Luckily, there are smart strategies for coming off the pill. We've developed a foolproof plan for quitting synthetic hormones once and for all, and sidestepping the unpleasant symptoms that can come with it.

The Surefire Plan to Transitioning Off the Pill Without Symptoms

• Discuss it with your doctor. Before you take the plunge, let your doctor know that you’ll be coming off the pill. A good doctor will help you find alternative, natural methods of contraception & support you through the change.
• Start the FLO protocol ASAP. A lot of women don’t realize that they need to lay the groundwork for hormonal health before they quit synthetic hormones. Cycle-Syncing® your diet and exercise while you’re still taking the pill can make this transition much gentler on your endocrine system and ease post-pill side effects like acne, insomnia, mood swings and irregular cycles. Moving into a FLO lifestyle will enable your body to begin the process of detoxification & recalibration, readying it for a pill-free lifestyle.
• Identify and address nutrient deficiencies. Synthetic hormones deplete your body of vitamins and minerals, especially B vitamins, vitamins C and E, and the minerals magnesium, selenium, and zinc. If you’re considering coming off the pill, consider taking a high-quality supplements now to make the transition easier. The FLO Living Balance Supplement Kit contains all of these key nutrients.
• Start tracking your period. If your periods return quickly and they become regular, great! If not, then it’s likely that there is an underlying health problem that we recommend you address naturally with food changes. Many women do find it takes months for their period to show up and even then it is sporadic. Tracking your cycle  before you stop the pill, and using our eating plan during the transition, will help you avoid this. If your period still isn’t back in six months, investigate potential underlying causes with your doctor. You’ll want to rule out insulin resistance, PCOS, thyroid troubles, vitamin D deficiency (as well as the deficiencies mentioned above), and severe food sensitivities like celiac disease (though we recommend avoiding gluten no matter what).
• Re-establish a healthy gut. The pill ravages your internal microbial ecosystem. The longer you’ve been taking it, the worse the impact on your body. When you’re on the pill, eating good, clean, healthy food is the best way to start the healing process, but in order to fast track your healing, you’ll need a powerful probiotic to replenish the balance of good gut bacteria. The probiotic in the FLO Living Balance Supplement Kit is a highly-concentrated dose that helps balance flora, support mood, improve digestive function and nutrient absorption, and reduce the chances of getting yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis.
• Make more of your own hormones. Vitamin B6 is essential for making progesterone. Include whole foods that are rich in B6 in your diet, like bananas, spinach, sweet potato, garlic, chicken, grass-fed beef, and salmon. Supplements are also key here. The Energize formula in our Balance Supplements Kit is a powerful B vitamin combination that supplies most of the B vitamins in their coenzymated forms. Incorporating lots of good quality fats and amino acids in your diet is essential, too - they’re what hormones are made from and what your body needs to start making more of its own and fast. If you can and do eat animal protein, have fish and organic poultry as well as pasture-raised eggs (including their yolks), olive oil, and avocados. It’s particularly important to get enough high-quality omega-3 fats. Omega-3s are less abundant than other types of fats in our modern food supply, so supplementing is often necessary. The Harmonize formulation in our Balance Supplement Kit contains fish oil that’s ultra potent and delivered in the form found in nature, to support hormone production and healthy ovulation.
• Do an estrogen detox. A lot of women are hit with a condition called estrogen dominance after quitting the pill—the most common cause of all hormonal dysfunction. Leafy greens are the absolute best way to combat this problem. Tuck into kale, chard, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and more (at every meal if you can!). To speed up estrogen detox, supplement with the Detox formula in the Balance Supplement Kit. It offers liver support for overall detox function and supports healthy detox of excess estrogen, which is essential to regaining your hormonal health.

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Summer’s almost here and it seems like every magazine, blog, and social media post is featuring images of the “perfect” bikini body—and trying to sell you a fad diet or new fitness craze to get you ready for swimsuit season.But buying into deprivation diets or crazy workout plans that ignore the importance of cycle syncing your exercise will only hurt your chances of true hormonal healing and the benefits that come with it: clearer skin, less bloating, and steady, sustainable weight loss. For women, feeling confident, sexy, and slim is not simply calories in and calories out. It’s about the way your body uses fuel based on your hormones, food, sleep, stress, toxin exposure, supplements, and unique genetics. Understanding how to manipulate these variables gets you the body and health you want. Looking and feeling your best is all about biohacking. You deserve to feel sexy and stunning this summer! Here’s what you need to know to biohack your way to feeling great all summer long.

Problem 1: Bloating

Bloating has several root causes and one of the most common is a compromised microbiome. When the microbiome—the bacteria that live in your gut—are off balance, your digestive system starts to react to certain foods, stops being able to absorb certain nutrients, and becomes inflamed and—you guessed it—bloated. But that’s not all. The bacterial colonies that make up the microbiome promote health in an almost endless number of ways, including helping the body process and eliminate excess hormones. Specifically, there’s a colony known as the estrobolome that metabolizes estrogen and helps maintain a healthy balance between estrogen and progesterone. When the estrobolome is off balance, so is the balance of estrogen and progesterone in the body—and that can be a recipe for fluid retention.Stress can also cause bloating. Having too much of the stress hormone cortisol puffs you up due to its antidiuretic function, causing your body to retain sodium. Nutrient deficiencies can contribute to bloating, too—specifically magnesium deficiency. That’s because the human body is like a battery that runs on a special electricity derived from four key electrolytes: calcium, sodium, potassium, and, magnesium. If you’re coming up short — which so many women are — your body might respond with unpleasant symptoms, including bloat. If you’re low on magnesium, you can find magnesium in the FLO Living Balance Supplement Kit.

Solution 1: Probiotics

So how do you de-puff in time for summer? The key is to nourish your microbiome. When you start to have symptoms like a low libido, acne, trouble losing weight, cramps, heavy bleeding, or bloating, it could mean your microbiome is compromised. Probiotics are the good guys you want in your gut bacteria. The formulation in the Balance Supplement Kit helps balance gut bacteria and offers support for balanced moods and improved digestive function and nutrient absorption. If you suspect stress and magnesium deficiency are also involved in your bloating consider giving up coffee for the summer. You can read more about the dangers of drinking coffee here.

Problem 2: Acne

Acne is usually triggered during shifts in your monthly cycle, for example when you’re moving from the ovulation phase to pre-menstruation phase. It can also come when your hormonal patterns change as you age from your 20s to your 30s. The good news is hormonal acne is super responsive to treatment and healing (and then prevention) using natural supplements. The right use of natural supplements can see your acne gone in just a couple of months!

Solution 2: Patch up nutrient deficiencies

The major players when it comes to skincare supplementation are magnesium, omega-3s, zinc, B vitamins and, once again, probiotics:

• A lack of magnesium causes skin inflammation; supplementing with it can lower the amount of C-reactive protein in your body. C-reactive protein is a marker of inflammation in the body.
• Omega-3s help promote clearer skin, as well as stronger hair and nails, in just a matter of days.
• Zinc deficiency is a very common issue for many women, and when we’re deficient, our pores become easily irritated by bacteria and show redness.
• A common symptom of a damaged and depleted microbiome is acne and other skin issues like rosacea. That’s why it’s so important to heal your gut with the help of a high-quality probiotic.
• Your skin needs B-vitamins to regenerate and renew as they provide the energy all of your cells need for fuel. Taking a good B-complex every day that includes a high level of B6 will target hormonal or premenstrual acne. B6 prevents skin inflammation and overproduction of sebum (the oil your skin produces that can create acne issues).

Problem 3: Weight gain and heavy periods

The hormonal problem I see most often in my practice—the same one that fuels some of the most quality-of-life-diminishing symptoms—is estrogen dominance. It is a main factor in weight gain and heavy periods (both of which can interfere with summer fun) and it occurs when there is too much estrogen in the body relative to progesterone. Estrogen dominance is the result of a perfect storm of environmental factors, including eating non-organic food, using toxic health and body care products, experiencing unrelenting stress, and being exposed to everyday chemicals, like those found in everything from upholstered furniture to nail polish. Pair these toxic exposures with a sluggish liver (which is the body’s key detoxification organ) and a compromised estrobolome (which means we’re not getting rid of estrogen efficiently) and it’s a recipe for estrogen overload.

Solution 3: Do a safe detox

Detox diets are incredibly popular just before summer, but deprivation plans and strict protocols can be seriously bad news. They can do more hormone damage than good. But that doesn’t mean a detox is a bad idea — it just has to be the right kind of detox. Many health issues – including fatigue, depression, anxiety, brain fog, mood swings, weight gain, and acne can be helped by doing a gentle, hormone-supportive detox. Detoxing your body of excess estrogen has many immediate and long-term benefits. I designed a special 4-Day Hormone Detox that’s packed full of cleansing foods to support your body’s elimination system, which includes your liver, intestines, and lymphatic system. During the four days of the hormone detox, you’ll eliminate triggers like dairy, soy, caffeine, sugar, and gluten. You’ll also increase the amount of hormone-supportive nutrients in your diet—especially the vital omega-3s and B vitamins. This 4-day reset is a great jumpstart to overcome weight loss resistance, ease severe PMS, and feel healthier overall for summer. Bonus! If you’re particularly prone to acne around your ovulation days or before your period, this detox can work wonders. To really kick your hormonal healing into high gear, add the Detox formula in the Balance Supplement Kit to the 4-Day Detox: it offers liver support for overall detox function, supports healthy detox of excess estrogen, contains nutrients that combat inflammation-promoting free radicals, and helps support healthy weight loss.to your FLO,Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements is a complete package that works together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycles) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

Believe it or not, the majority of women will develop uterine fibroids at some point in their lifetime. Crazy, right? But it’s true—a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that 80%-90% of African American women and 70% of white women will develop fibroids by age 50. That means you or someone you love will almost certainly be affected by this condition. But chances are, you’re not sure what to do about it. The good news is that by understanding the issue, you can apply a few simple, natural protocols to effectively treat fibroids.

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What Are Uterine Fibroids?

Uterine fibroids are benign tumors that develop in the wall of the uterus. They’re the most common non-cancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. Fibroids can range in size from tiny (the size of a pea) to very large (the size of a melon). Symptoms can vary from none at all, to heavy or painful periods, bleeding between periods, pain during intercourse, lower back pain, frequent urination, and reproductive problems.

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What Causes Uterine Fibroids?

According to Western medicine, no one knows for sure what causes fibroids to form. What we do know is that they seem to be affected by our hormones. Specifically, excess estrogen in the body seems to make them grow, and they will often decrease in size after menopause (when overall body estrogen is lower). So one of the ways to treat uterine fibroids naturally is to address estrogen excess—or estrogen dominance—in the body’s ecosystem.

Estrogen dominance occurs in the body when there is too much estrogen in relation to progesterone. This can happen as a result of the foods we eat, the beauty and body care products we use, stress, poor sleep, other environmental factors—or a combination of all of the above. It can be very hard to completely avoid estrogen excess because we’re surrounded by chemicals that disrupt hormonal harmony every day. Endocrine disruptors are in everything from our furniture to our nail polish and even household cleaning supplies.

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Is Birth Control the Answer for Treating Fibroids?

At the doctor’s office, a diagnosis of uterine fibroids often means one thing: a prescription for the birth control pill. That’s because most doctors consider the pill to be a way to control the growth of fibroids as well as the symptoms you’re experiencing. But the problem is, this “treatment” doesn’t actually treat the root cause of uterine fibroids or address uterine health long-term. In fact, hormonal birth control comes with a slew of side effects that ultimately make hormonal imbalances worse.

The other option that doctors give women with fibroids is surgery—and most of us, quite rightly, want to avoid invasive procedures as much as possible, especially as the scar tissue that can develop from this surgery can complicate pregnancy.

But don’t despair: Despite what your doctor may have told you, medications and surgery are not your only options. You can use natural strategies to reduce the size of the fibroids you have now, prevent the growth of new fibroids, and reverse the problem.

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The Best Natural Ways to Treat Uterine Fibroids

To treat fibroids and alleviate symptoms, the first step is to make food and lifestyle choices that support your body in processing and eliminating excess estrogen as efficiently as possible. Your goal is to bring estrogen levels back into balance with progesterone levels in your body.

You may have heard that women with fibroids should specifically avoid meat and dairy products from animals treated with synthetic hormones. This is because synthetic hormones are powerful estrogens that can create estrogen dominance and provoke fibroid growth. But, just as some foods are bad for fibroids, other foods are great for fixing and even shrinking fibroids. Fibroid-fighting foods help the body process and flush excess estrogen and boost progesterone—both of which can help slow (or stop!) the growth of fibroids.  

Another piece of the fibroid puzzle is genetics. If you have fibroids, it’s likely your mom or sisters have this health issue, too. It’s also more likely that a daughter of yours will be at higher risk of developing fibroids in her teens and 20s. But you can stop this domino effect in its tracks by addressing the estrogen excess that is the source of the problem.

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The 6 Simple Steps To Naturally Treat Fibroids

To heal fibroids, you need to address one of the underlying causes of the issue: estrogen dominance. That’s the best way to stay fibroid-free for the future. This natural healing isn’t complicated, but it requires several steps, including eating in a way that flushes estrogen, elevating your progesterone levels, eliminating sources of synthetic estrogen like pesticides, chemical-based beauty products and cosmetics, and conventional household cleaners from your life, and supporting your body’s natural detoxification and elimination systems. There are steps you can take to reduce and ultimately get rid of fibroids.

1. Take a supplement specifically designed to treat fibroids at the source.

The FLO Living RELEASE Kit offers targeted nutrients that help support healthy estrogen and metabolism for easier, healthier periods. Our custom supplement blend provides you with the best-known optimizers to clear out excess estrogen and support the liver through each detox phase. We made sure to include an ideal blend of natural and herbal support which includes DIM, Sulforaphane, NAC, and Calcium-D-Glucarate in one spot.

2. Eat to nourish your hormones.

Reduce your estrogen overload by changing your diet and daily routine—this is called Cycle Syncing®. It involves eating, working out, and living your best life in a cyclical manner that optimizes your healing and long-term success. When you eat in a hormonally supportive way, you incorporate specific foods each week of your cycle and change that selection of foods as you move through each different phase of your cycle. This cyclical approach supports optimal hormone balance and metabolism all month long.

3. Cut out chemicals.

Research suggests that endocrine-disrupting chemicals—like those found in everyday cleaning supplies, cosmetic and body care products, lawn treatment chemicals, upholstered furniture, vinyl products (like shower curtains), plastic food containers and plastic food wrap—are strongly linked to the development of uterine fibroids.

The list of things to avoid (the shower curtain?!) might feel long and overwhelming, but avoiding these chemicals is easy—and, in great news, many of the chemical-free options are less expensive than conventional options. For example, baking soda and vinegar for cleaning the house can be bought in bulk—and for pennies on the dollar compared to chemical cleaning agents. Similarly, opting to not treat your lawn with chemicals is free! If you use plastic food storage containers, you can replace them over time with glass and stainless steel options (which last a lifetime); same with a shower curtain made of healthier material.

4. Support your microbiome.

You’ve likely heard of the microbiome, or, the collection of bacteria that live in the gut. What’s less well known is that the microbiome contains a colony of bacteria that actually helps metabolize estrogen. This colony of bacteria is called the estrobolome, and when the microbiome is healthy, so is the estrobolome. But when the good and bad bugs in the microbiome are out of balance (gut dysbiosis), the estrobolome can’t do its job efficiently and estrogen builds up in the body.

In other words, gut dysbiosis can contribute to conditions related to estrogen dominance, including the development of fibroids. Ditching sugar, dairy, and gluten is the first step in healing the microbiome. (If you’re ready to give up those estrobolome-destroying foods, try our free 4-Day Detox.) The other key to building and maintaining a healthy microbiome is supplementing with a great probiotic.

What is the estrobolome? The estrobolome is a term used to describe the collection of microbes living in the human gut that are involved in estrogen metabolism. These microbes play a crucial role in regulating the levels and balance of estrogen in the body. The estrobolome helps to break down estrogen and convert it into less potent forms, which can be excreted from the body.

When the estrobolome is not functioning properly, it can lead to an imbalance in estrogen levels, which has been associated with several health conditions, including breast cancer, endometriosis, and obesity. Research into the estrobolome is ongoing, and it is believed that maintaining a healthy balance of gut microbes through a balanced diet and probiotic supplements may help to optimize estrogen metabolism and reduce the risk of these conditions.

5. Improve your liver function.

The estrobolome metabolizes used-up estrogen. Then the liver gets it ready for elimination. So if your liver is sluggish (just like if your microbiome is imbalanced), estrogen can build up in the body—and, once again, you’re facing estrogen dominance.

Food is powerful when it comes to liver health. The liver thrives when we eat specific liver-nourishing foods—and it suffers greatly when we eat high fructose-containing processed foods and when we drink caffeine. The liver uses an enzyme called CYP1A2 to break down caffeine—and how much or how little CYP1A2 you produce is genetic. If your genes enable you to make a lot of this enzyme, you’re better at processing caffeine. But you are probably in the minority! It’s estimated that only 10% of the population makes robust levels of CYP1A2.

And here’s where things get really interesting: CYP1A2 is also involved in the metabolism of estrogen. So if you struggle with fibroids, there’s reason to suspect you might not be making enough of this enzyme—which underscores why giving up caffeine is so important. You need all the CYP1A2 available to you to process estrogen. You don’t want to waste your precious stores of this enzyme on caffeine.

More good news about our RELEASE supplement kit? It provides you with the best-known optimizers to clear out excess estrogen and support the liver through each detox phase.

6. Eat more of these 5 hormone balancing foods:

• Flax seeds are part of a food group called “selective estrogen receptor modulators” that inhibit estrogen sensitivity in the uterus, which is beneficial when you have fibroids. They are also a fantastic source of fiber, which you need to move excess estrogen out of your bowels as quickly as possible to eliminate it from your body. Finally, flax seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids (which reduce the insulin resistance and inflammation that can suppress liver function) and lignans (which bind to estrogen receptors and prevent absorption of excess estrogen).
• Whole grains are the best substitute for white processed stuff like bread, pasta, and noodles, and will help with insulin stabilization. High insulin levels from white starchy food (which acts like sugar in the body) are a factor in making fibroids grow. Whole grains are also a great source of fiber and will help to speed up the process and elimination of excess estrogen.

• Soy isn’t my favorite food for women with hormonal issues, but in the case of fibroids, certain forms of soy can be beneficial. Specifically seek out non-processed, organic soy in the form of tempeh and miso to add to your diet.  This kind of soy has an anti-estrogenic effect on the uterus. Avoid all processed soy like soy cheese, soy meat, and other meat and dairy replacements. Moderation is key here and I wouldn’t recommend having soy every day, but unprocessed and organic soy is a useful dietary tool for managing fibroids.
• Beans are an excellent source of fiber and protein, plus they have a low glycemic impact for most women, which reduces the kind of inflammation that can increase fibroid growth. You should focus on kidney beans, lentils, and mung beans. Beans and legumes can be a healthy protein replacement if you’re working to reduce meat (which can also help heal fibroids).
• Pears and apples are liver-supporting foods that contain lots of fiber, along with a flavonoid named phloretin, which impairs tumor growth.

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If you’re a woman living in today’s crazy world, chances are you’re pushing yourself to the limit in a lot of ways that can affect your fertility. Maybe you’re burning the midnight oil at the office way too many nights in a row. Or maybe you’re signing up for intense workout classes and restricting calories so you can achieve that “bikini body” you’re dreaming of. Or perhaps you’re popping the birth control pill because your period was causing way too many problematic symptoms, and some medical professional assured you the pill was a cure (spoiler alert: it’s not).While all these methods of survival seem part and parcel of modern womanhood, they all carry an unfortunate consequence: They compromise and undermine your chances of becoming pregnant. Whether you’re actively trying to conceive or you’re just entertaining the thought of one day becoming a mom, you need to have all the information about what’s affecting your odds. And the reality is that stress, caffeine, extreme workouts, diets, and chemical exposure all deplete your body of the very micronutrients needed to make enough hormones and to maintain optimal fertility. Idiopathic infertility is on the rise; that means more and more women are having trouble conceiving for no known single reason. In my opinion, the alarming rise in infertility is undeniably tied to the unprecedented amount of chemicals, pesticides, hormonally-disruptive medications and activities of our modern world. The only way to truly protect yourself against these unavoidable threats is to bolster your body with five micronutrients essential for optimal fertility and successful conception.

The 5 Micronutrients You Need For Optimal Fertility

If you’ve been unknowingly living a hormonally-unsupportive life, swilling coffee and stressing yourself out, don’t panic. Your brilliant, resilient body is absolutely capable of recovery. But it takes time, patience, and a commitment to an endocrine-nourishing diet and lifestyle. In addition to those critical components, supplementing with the right micronutrients is the best way to fast-track your fertility success and ensure quick, significant results that will directly impact your chance of conceiving. Here are the five must-have fertility-boosting micronutrients you need in your life now:

1. B6. Vitamin B6 is essential for the development of the corpus luteum, the group of cells that’s produced in the ovary after the egg is released. The corpus luteum is responsible for making progesterone during the luteal phase of your cycle—and during the early stages of pregnancy. A deficiency in vitamin B6—and, hence, a deficiency in progesterone—will have a profound effect on your reproductive health.

The list of everyday habits and practices that deplete B6 is long: stress, , over-exercising, alcohol, and the pill, plenty of women are depleting their bodies of B6, and subsequently, progesterone. Supplementing a B-vitamin-rich diet (with foods like wild-caught fish, bananas, spinach, and grass-fed beef) will help ensure a healthy balance of progesterone.

2. Magnesium. Our bodies purge magnesium in times of stress because its a calm-inducer (this makes sense evolutionarily – if cavewomen were stressed, it was usually due to immediate threats to their lives. The body doesn’t want you to feel chilled out in a moment of life-threatening danger, so it gets rid of the relaxing mineral). Sugar and caffeine intake also deplete magnesium, which is essential for cortisol regulation, blood sugar balance, thyroid support, sleep, and — perhaps most importantly for fertility — hormone creation. Magnesium actually makes progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you’re getting into perimenopause or just coming of the pill, your levels will be especially low and in need of replenishing.

3. D3. A staggering 93% of women dealing with infertility are deficient in vitamin D3, and women with higher vitamin D3 levels are four times more likely to conceive via IVF than women with low levels. That’s because a low concentration of vitamin D3 causes estrogen dominance, the primary cause of so many hormonal issues.

4. Probiotics. A healthy gut is essential for conception because a specific community of gut flora called the estrobolome produces an enzyme that supports the metabolization of estrogen. When you take medications, eat dairy, gluten, and foods covered in pesticides, you disrupt this hugely important bacterial balance and compromise your ability to eliminate excess estrogen that can significantly disrupt your reproductive ability.

5. Zinc. Zinc deficiency is a very common issue for many women, and it can have a real negative impact on your natural hormonal balance. That’s because zinc helps to boost your testosterone production and it blocks the enzyme responsible for turning testosterone into estrogen (again, staving off the possibility of estrogen dominance, which is so widely responsible for endocrine dysfunction and subsequent fertility issues).

If you’re in desperate need of supplementing your diet with the essential micronutrients for optimized fertility, I’ve got you covered: All five of these fertility boosters are conveniently packaged in the FLO Living Balance Supplement Kit. Now that you have the knowledge, you just need the tools — this kit will help you recover faster and reclaim your reproductive health ASAP. Love and ovaries,Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

Looking for Vitamins for Hormonal Acne?

Let's face it, hormonal acne is frustrating. You’ve suffered through the skin issues of adolescence only to discover that adulthood comes with its own host of blemishes! Or perhaps you had great skin in your youth and only NOW is it plaguing you. So unfair, right? Trust me, our founder Alisa Vitti has been there.

Before Alisa created the FLO Living protocol, it took her an hour and a half just to leave the house. Her face and back were covered in cystic hormonal acne that she covered with heavy makeup just to feel confident enough to carry on with her life.

So, if that painful scenario sounds even remotely familiar, then you’ll really want to pay attention. Your skin shouldn’t rule your life and diminish your self-esteem. By learning to heal your endocrine system (the system responsible for hormone production) naturally, you can regain control of your beautiful face and body and learn to love your skin again. And Flo Living is living proof of that!

Why Hormonal Acne Happens

Hormonal acne can accompany natural shifts in the menstrual cycle—for example, when you’re moving from your ovulation phase into your pre-menstrual phase. It can also be triggered by high levels of androgens (male hormones) and stress.

‍Research suggests that the oil-producing glands in the skin can act as their own independent endocrine organs, responding to messages from hormones like testosterone and the stress hormone cortisol. Women need androgens for optimal health (they just need less of them than men), some stress in life is inevitable, and hormonal fluctuations during the month are not just normal but important. You want them to happen! But here’s what’s NOT a sure thing: acne.

Acne isn’t an inevitable side effect of normal hormonal fluctuations and life stressors. It’s a sign of endocrine dysfunction and a big SOS: your hormones are in trouble! And this can happen any time in adulthood: during your 20s and 30s, during pregnancy, after baby, and even during perimenopause.

The good news is that sending help to your hormones, including using supplements to help heal and balance them, is easy.

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Why the Conventional Acne Treatments You’re Using Aren’t Working

When Alisa Vitti had acne, she tried everything that her doctor would give her, desperate to improve the way her skin looked and the way she felt about herself. Maybe you can relate: going through a list of potions and pills, hoping each would work for you.

Alisa personally tried a long course of antibiotics to stop the acne, which permanently stained her teeth slightly yellow (to this day!) and destroyed her gut microbiome so badly that she spent my entire freshman year of college with viruses, yeast infections, and flu-like symptoms.

She tried Retinol-A cream and Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide thinking she could heal my skin from the outside and just fix the surface of the issue. Needless to say, none of those things worked.

There’s a reason these commonly prescribed medications don’t work — and most even come with dangerous side effects:

• ‍The birth control pill: The pill disrupts your microbiome, endocrine system, and micronutrient levels – all systems essential for keeping your skin clear. You may have clear skin while you’re taking it, but not without added side effects that can worsen issues like PCOS, plus increase your risk of some reproductive cancers. Once you decide to stop using hormonal birth control, a common symptom of the withdrawal period is acne, often worse than you’ve had before because of the internal disruption that has occurred as a result of the medication.
• ‍Antibiotics: Antibiotics do incredible damage to the microbiome because they don’t distinguish between good bacteria and bad bacteria—they just kill all of them—and robust gut health is important for clear skin. As with hormonal birth control, when you come off the antibiotics, the acne may not only return, it can be much worse than it was before because of the microbiome damage.
• ‍Spironolactone/Aldactone: Just as we don’t recommend synthetic hormonal birth control or meat and dairy that contain synthetic hormones, we don’t recommend the steroid medication spironolactone. This steroid is nothing like the hormones your body produces on its own. It disrupts your body’s production of testosterone by confusing your body with a synthetically similar steroid. Plus, spironolactone use can trigger one of the most common hormone imbalance issues (and a cause of acne)—estrogen dominance—as well as depression, blood clots, and increased risk of some cancers. Spironolactone is not safe to take long-term and is not going to prevent acne beyond the point that you are using it.
• ‍Isotretinoin (originally Accutane): If you’re prescribed Isotretinoin, then you are also prescribed hormonal birth control, because Isotretinoin causes birth defects. That in itself should be enough to dissuade you from using this medication. There are other side effects—including an initial worsening of acne—and severe depression. The original patented drug, Accutane, was removed from the market after many users developed inflammatory bowel disease and use of the drug was associated with increased risk of suicide. Usually this medication is offered as a last resort, but rarely have diet and lifestyle changes been part of prior acne-treatment protocols.

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The problem with all of the treatments for acne that you’ve probably been offered, or tried already, is that they don’t address the root cause of an adult woman’s acne issues: hormone imbalance. In fact, antibiotics and the birth control pills only worsen the hormonal imbalance that triggers acne. And no shade to dermatologists, but most of them are not really focused on a systemic approach or gut health. A cascade of (seemingly unrelated) health problems fuels the development of hormonal acne: a damaged and depleted gut microbiome leads to estrogen dominance, testosterone sensitivity, and a deficiency in key micronutrients necessary for skin health. Or you could say: hormonal acne starts in the gut.  

But we promise, there’s great news here! The microbiome is super responsive to treatment—and prevention and healing are both attainable by shifting the way you eat and embracing specific natural supplements. With the right use of natural supplements, you can see your acne disappear in just a couple of months.

Once Alisa Vitti figured out how to eat and live to support her hormones, her skin cleared up (and a lot of other great stuff happened, too). Her skin’s been clear ever since and she has helped many other women achieve the same lasting success.

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The 6 Natural Supplements You Need to Stop Hormonal Acne

Food is always the most powerful weapon in your arsenal to combat hormonal dysfunction, but natural supplements are essential for speeding up the process of healing and recovery. Using the best natural herbs and supplements every day can get you to where you want to be much faster than using food alone.

Ready to recover your glowing complexion and regain your confidence? Here are our top 6 natural supplements for preventing and healing hormonal acne:

1. Magnesium. Magnesium is an important nutrient for fighting inflammation (acne is inflammatory). Calcium is part of the body’s tissue matrix—comprising bones, cells, and skin—and is important for skin cell renewal. Taking magnesium with calcium combined in supplement form can reduce inflammation and acne.
2. Omega-3s. Getting enough omega-3 fatty acids from fish, algae or flax oil can improve skin significantly. With these oils, many women see improvements in their skin (as well as stronger hair and nails) in just a few days.
3. Zinc. Zinc deficiency is a common issue for many women. When we’re deficient in zinc, our pores become easily irritated by bacteria and show redness. Research has shown that zinc supplementation can be very effective in easing acne, even when compared to commonly prescribed antibiotics.
4. Probiotics. We need probiotics for a healthy gut. Common symptoms of a damaged and depleted microbiome are acne and other skin issues like rosacea. Probiotics are particularly important with hormonal acne, as your microbiome assists your body in processing and eliminating excess estrogen. If you’ve been on the pill or antibiotics for any length of time, probiotics could be key to getting your skin back on track.
5. B Vitamins. Your skin needs B-vitamins to regenerate and renew, as they provide the energy all of your cells need for fuel. Taking a good B-complex every day that includes a high level of B6 will target hormonal or premenstrual acne. B6 prevents skin inflammation and overproduction of sebum (the oil your skin produces that can create acne issues).

      6. Milk thistle - Liver detoxification is crucial for getting to the root cause of healing acne. Milk thistle aids in supporting the liver to detoxify and eliminate excess estrogen from the body.

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Making a baby may seem straightforward, but if you’ve ever tried and struggled to conceive—or witnessed one of your girlfriends endure the experience—then you know getting pregnant isn’t always so simple. In the United States, 12 percent of percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 have impaired fertility, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s over 7 million women who want to get pregnant and can’t. Assisted reproductive technology can help women conceive, but many infertility interventions are prohibitively expensive. A single round of IVF costs around $12,000 (more if you want or need to pre-screen for genetic disorders) and only between 30 and 40 percent of IGF cycles are successful. Why is infertility such a big problem? A number of factors in the modern world work against us in our journey to motherhood. In fact, you can think of the major obstacles as a trifecta of fertility-reducing factors: Abundant environmental chemicals, long-term exposure to hormonally-disruptive medications, and unprecedented food pesticides. The hopeful news? Women can work to counteract the damaging effects of these modern obstacles when they learn simple but powerful ways to optimize their biology. Women who want to be mothers can take steps now to preserve and enhance their fertility—and reduce the need for expensive and invasive treatments.

The 3 Reasons Why It’s Harder to Get Pregnant Now Than Ever Before

1. Dangerous chemicals are everywhere, every day. From your sunscreen to your furniture polish, products in your everyday life are putting your fertility at risk. Research has shown that many of the chemicals found in everyday household products are bioaccumulative and very toxic, which means that once they’re in your system, they stay there, allowing for increased free radical damage, which makes you more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases and cancers, not to mention compromised fertility.
2. Years of medication use can and do affect fertility. Birth control, antibiotics, and other common drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen (NSAIDs) are guilty of destroying microbiome balance, an essential factor in fertility. Recent research suggests that long-term use of the pill is associated with an increased risk for Crohn’s, a disease related to microbiome imbalance.
4. Pesticide use in food is pervasive. This isn’t a trivial matter; research has long pointed to a connection between pesticide exposure and infertility, and a study published just a few months ago in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine reports that, among women undergoing infertility treatment, eating more fruits and vegetables with high amounts of pesticide residue was associated with a reduced chance of pregnancy and an increased risk of pregnancy loss.

The Steps You Need to Take Now to Protect Your Future Fertility

If you’re thinking of becoming a mom one day, you’ll want to start taking the crucial steps to enhance your chances of conception right now. Here are the must-dos:

1. Get real with your period. Assess where you’re at and decide once and for all if you really want to keep masking the menstrual symptoms that are indicative of a hormonal imbalance or if you’re ready to start making some real changes. Once you’ve quit the pill, pay attention to your cycles and use the MyFLO app to track your symptoms. If your periods return quickly post-pill and they become regular, great! If not, then it’s likely that there is an underlying health condition that the pill was covering up. I recommend addressing symptoms naturally with food changes. Not sure where to start? Take the V-Sign Quiz to pinpoint your period problems now.
2. Go green. Clean up your act and replace your chemical-laden cleaning supplies and beauty products with hormone-friendly replacements. Need some inspiration? Check out how I clean my home and learn which ingredients to avoid in your beauty products.
3. Buy organic. I get it, going organic isn’t exactly cheap. But the Environmental Working Group has made organic shopping a lot easier and more accessible with their Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists. Avoid eating non-organic foods on the Dirty Dozen list as often as possible, but you can save money by being less strict with the Clean 15.
4. Quit the pill immediately. Eliminating the pill and other damaging medications from your life will help you begin to replenish your out-of-whack gut flora. Eating nourishing, clean food is a must for a healthy gut, as is getting plenty of fiber, but don’t forget to add in a probiotic. The formulation found in the Balance Supplements helps balance gut bacteria and supports healthy digestion, an essential component of healthy fertility. Learn more about quitting the pill seamlessly here. Remember, The longer you’ve been taking birth control, the more tender loving care you’ll need to show your delicate system. That’s because you’ll be more likely to suffer from synthetic birth control syndrome (SBCS), a collection of symptoms that crops up because the pill has been acting like a Band-Aid, suppressing the original symptoms that probably convinced your doctor to put you on the pill in the first place. And now that it’s depleted your your system of crucial vitamins and nutrients, quitting the pill is likely to make those symptoms come back with a vengeance if you’re not prepared. Counteract that damage by learning to cope with SBCS.
5. Boost your micronutrients now. Stress, caffeine, working out, dieting, and all of the above chemical exposure depletes your body of the very micronutrients needed to make enough hormones and to maintain optimal fertility. With idiopathic (no known cause) infertility on the rise, it’s critical to feed your endocrine system today with the micronutrients it needs to do its job. These 5 formulations provide the non-negotiable support needed.

The Top Foods To Eat Now If You’re Ready To Make a Baby

If you’re already at the point where you want to start trying to conceive, then it’s absolutely critical you integrate nourishing, micronutrient-rich foods. Add these essentials to your daily diet, ASAP:

1. Avocado. You want to be eating an avocado a day when you’re trying to conceive. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health discovered that avocados contain the best kind of monounsaturated fat and the least saturated fat, making them the ideal food for boosting the health of your eggs. I love avocados for breakfast and as a snack – try some of my recipes.
2. Royal jelly. A 2007 Japanese study discovered that royal jelly is similar to a phytoestrogen and contains properties that might support healthy uterine muscles and lining. There have been multiple studies with royal jelly on fertility in animals that suggest it has the potential to increase rates of pregnancy and support fertility overall. I love making a royal jelly smoothie that’s rich in folic acid and zinc.
4. Turmeric. Certain spices, like turmeric, improve circulation to all organs – including the uterus and ovaries. The better the blood is flowing, the more oxygen is present, the better their health – boosting fertility. Because turmeric increases blood flow to the uterus it can also help with regulation of periods and support the development of healthy periods.
6. Cinnamon. Another spice that’s excellent is cinnamon, which slows down the speed at which your stomach empties after you’ve eaten a meal, helping to stabilize your blood sugar and support regular ovulation. It .You can get more of this spice into your day by sprinkling it on your smoothie or non-caffeinated latte at breakfast or adding fresh cinnamon sticks to hot water for a refreshing drink.
8. Leafy greens. Magnesium is such a vital nutrient for optimizing fertility and dark, leafy greens like spinach and chard have the highest level of magnesium of any foods, which is why I like to have a side of them with almost every meal (sautéed, with a little coconut oil is my favorite). Just one cup gives you half your daily requirement.
10. Egg yolks. Eggs are the perfect protein for women, and, despite the myths we’ve all heard, they do not cause high cholesterol – sugar does that. Eat your eggs poached or soft boiled to preserve the vitamin D and B6 content, which helps progesterone production.

Love,Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

I want to hear from you!

First, what is the consistency of your period like?Second, is your period problematic – how so?Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ?Need more Hormone Help?If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation.

Stress: it’s something everyone seems to suffer from, but no one knows how to overcome. Is it just a part of “normal” life? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you struggle with sleep at night worrying about anything and everything?
• Do you get overwhelmingly anxious when faced with a work deadline or big social event?
• Do you have panic attacks?

If so, you’re not alone: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in America, affecting 40 million adults in the United States or 18.1% of the population every year. And women are hit particularly hard by issues related to stress: Women are more likely than men to report having a great deal of stress, and almost half of all women say their stress has increased over the past five years (compared 39 percent of men). Unfortunately, to address these issues, conventional doctors often turn to pharmaceuticals, prescribing stressed-out women powerful medications that come with a host of serious side effects. Thankfully, drugs are not the only option and there are in fact natural ways to alleviate stress.Many of us do deal with extremely stressful times at some point in our lives (from what I call “external” stressors). But we should not be feeling stressed every day or even every week. When you start to feel like you’re constantly living on the edge regardless of your circumstances, it’s time to address your physical health (or “internal” stressors) in order to support your mental health.The fact is that stress is a hormonal reaction in your body that has some serious side effects that are endocrine disruptive. Maybe you’re trying to improve your period, fertility or sex drive. Unchecked stress is a real obstacle in achieving those health goals. Stress and anxiety are unfortunately common — particularly in women — but you shouldn’t just sit and take it - there are ways to help your body and hormones respond to stress more effectively!

The Damage Stress Does To Your Hormones

Stress, in all its various forms, does a number on your hormones: it forces your adrenal glands to pump out adrenaline, and then churn out cortisol in order to protect itself from the damaging effects of too much adrenaline. It’s a natural process, and in rare instances of extreme danger, it’s a useful one. But when this happens over and over again all the time, triggered by everyday stressors like deadlines instead of life-or-death threats, it can actually deplete your cortisol reserve, prompting your adrenals to begin responding poorly to stress and becoming fatigued. This has a lot of negative effects on your health. Here are the dangerous ways stress damages your hormones and negatively affects your well-being:

• It disrupts your blood sugar. When your blood sugar levels soar and crash (courtesy of too much sugar/alcohol/coffee/carbs, and/or inadequate sleep) your adrenal glands perceive the rollercoaster as a stressor and churn out cortisol in response. Disruption to cortisol has a domino effect on your hormones: it forces your body to eat up progesterone, lengthening your luteal phase, and making your cycles longer and the start of your period sluggish (you may see brown spotting and brown blood before the full flow). You’re also more likely to experience anovulatory cycles and killer PMS. That’s I have some advice on getting a good night’s sleep and how to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol, coffee and sugar.

• It causes vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Excess cortisol from stress depletes your body’s nutrient stores, which are essential for keeping your cool. B vitamins, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids are especially crucial for this purpose, and if you’re stressed, you’re undoubtedly robbing your body of these important players, which actually help prevent the hyper-production of cortisol by your adrenals (and perform a host of other functions like thyroid support and blood sugar regulation).

• It messes up your gut. Ever used birth control pills? Then it’s almost a guarantee your gut is in need of some serious TLC. Every week there’s more research on the gut-mental health connection. A set of gut bacteria, more specifically bacterial genes, called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your gut is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. A gut flora imbalance can cause everything from bloating and gas to acne and frequent illness.

• It can disrupt ovulation and compromise your fertility. Stress can have a powerful effect on our hormonal health and fertility. In fact, during periods of high anxiety your body is likely to stop you from ovulating. That’s because your body winds up using progesterone to churn out cortisol when you’re stressing out instead of putting that progesterone toward the hormonal harmony you need to be fertile. Evolutionarily, your body “knows” when you’re anxious and can decide that it’s a bad time to make a baby. Even low level constant feelings of anxiety can potentially throw off your hormonal balance.

The 3 Supplements To (Finally) Kick Stress to the Curb

1. Magnesium: This powerful mineral calms your nervous system and prevents the creation of excess cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone. When your stress hormonal system is in balance your levels of progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, FSH and LH will follow suit. Magnesium also helps to control insulin production, which reduces sugar cravings and blood sugar spikes, and it helps you get a great night’s sleep.
2. B5: Also known as pantothenic acid, this vitamin is crucial to the health of your adrenals, the glands responsible for pumping out cortisol. Studies have shown that supplementing with B5 helps stimulate adrenal cells, which in turn, helps regulate your body’s stress response.
3. Omega-3s: Research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids go a long way in reducing perceived stress levels and they can have a significant mood-boosting effect.

How to Help Yourself De-Stress With Supplements

If you’re ready to stop living with daily, debilitating stress, then it’s time to seek out natural solutions that will support your adrenals, balance your mood, and empower you to take on everything life throws your way. You can’t always control the external stressors around you, but you absolutely can better manage your internal responses. Why not arm yourself with the most effective, safe, and natural tools available? Stop spot-treating your symptoms and white-knuckling through your anxiety: Order the Balance Supplement Kit and get the daily dose of essential vitamins and minerals you need to kick stress to the curb, once and for all.Love and ovaries,Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the BALANCE Bio-Hacking Supplement Kit.

Have you ever wondered about the cause of all your hormonal problems? Every thought about the origin of the miserable symptoms affecting your weight, skin, fertility, health, and happiness? What if I told you that no matter what kind of hormonal dysfunction you’re dealing with — be it endometriosis, PCOS, PMS, or something else —you’re almost certainly struggling with one single cause? And that all it takes to overcome your issues once and for all is to understand how to outsmart the problem?It’s true: The most typical root cause of hormonal dysfunction is a poorly understood (overwhelmingly common) condition called estrogen dominance. Everything from an inadequate intake of micronutrients to an abundance of stress to uncontrollable environmental toxins can throw your hormonal balance off. And when that delicate system is disrupted, estrogen often dominates, causing just about every hormonal problem you can think of. I see it all the time: Women of all ages, histories, and “official” diagnoses complaining of the exact same symptoms. Whether they’re dealing with ovarian cysts, fibroids, or conditions like PCOS or endometriosis (or they don’t know what they’re dealing with), they’re battling the same hormonal issues every day — from PMS and hormonal acne to crazy periods and weight gain, and more. Does any of this sound familiar? If so, you’re unfortunately in good company and you’re dealing with an unbelievably common, root cause of hormonal dysfunction called estrogen dominance.

What Is Estrogen Dominance?

You probably know that estrogen is the female sex hormone and it’s mainly produced in the ovaries thanks to your fat cells and the adrenal gland. It’s a super important chemical messenger that — when in balance — helps regulate your period. It also plays a big role in pregnancy, bone formation, blood clotting, and more.So yes, estrogen is a beautiful thing when it’s in balance with your other hormones. But when too much of it builds up in the body or there’s too much in relation to progesterone, it results in a condition called estrogen dominance. There are lots of reasons your levels of estrogen can be tipped in this way, including stress, poor sleep, the use of synthetic estrogens like the birth control pill, pesticides in your food, and chemicals in your environment. And even if you do your best to ensure absolutely stellar self-care, you may still be exposing yourself to all sorts of excess estrogens because we’re all constantly surrounded by endocrine disruptors – in everything from our furniture to our nail polish. Scary, right?

Why Is Too Much Estrogen Bad For You?

Again, hormones are all about balance. When your levels are thrown off in any direction, it inevitably initiates a dangerous chain reaction that can have devastating effects on your health and happiness. In the case of estrogen dominance, the imbalance can cause all kinds of unpleasant symptoms like irritability and fatigue, but it’s also been linked to major, permanent problems like infertility and even cancer. if you have estrogen dominance, there are long-term health effects for those struggling with this hormonal imbalance. Over the years and decades, a persistent estrogen overload increases the risk of many diseases and health issues including:

• Female cancers, particularly breast cancer
• Hypertension
• Diabetes

Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance

Once you discover the symptoms of estrogen dominance it’s hard not to see the signs all around you – in your own cycle experience and the difficult, uncomfortable PMS and period symptoms of your friends. That’s because many, many women are experiencing estrogen dominance, because their bodies are not equipped to cope with the incoming estrogen overload. Here are some of the signs of estrogen dominance:

• PMS – premenstrual symptoms from moodiness to bloating
• Fibroids
• Ovarian cysts
• PCOS
• Endometriosis
• Weight gain
• Infertility
• Heavy periods
• Irregular periods
• Early onset puberty (before 12 years of age) in yourself and/or your daughter(s)

How Estrogen Dominance Happens and Why It’s Happening to You

Women simply aren’t taught to properly care for their delicate hormonal ecosystem. As a result of inadequate micronutrient intake, a disrupted microbiome, and an inability to deal with unnatural levels of toxins, many women are operating with a subpar elimination system that simply can’t process and eliminate excess estrogen efficiently. A body nourished with nutrient-dense and hormonally-supportive foods has a better chance of coping with and managing the synthetic estrogens we’re surrounded by, but many of us are not eating in a way that supports and bolsters our elimination system. This leads to a toxic build up and hormonal soup swimming around your body – throwing your delicate hormonal balance out of whack and triggering symptoms.The other side of this coin here is progesterone deficiency – if you have too much estrogen in your bloodstream, your progesterone levels will be low in comparison.

What Your Doctor Can Do To Treat Estrogen Dominance

There’s a reason your doctor hasn’t told you about estrogen dominance and why this may be the first time you’ve ever heard about it: The condition really only has one medically-approved “treatment” and that’s birth control. When you visit an OB/GYN, they don’t often tell you exactly why you’re experiencing these symptoms — and when it comes to how to deal with these symptoms, their answer will always be birth control.Of course, the path to you getting better begins with understanding why this is happening in your body. Even if you now know (or you’ve long known) that you have estrogen dominance, the most helpful part of naming the problem is knowing that you now need to take immediate action to address the root causes. Addressing the root causes is the key to moving past symptoms and feeling better. And birth control does not address the root causes. It is only a Band-Aid for those symptoms — it may help to stop some symptoms or manage them some of the time, but when you eventually come off it will leave you even more sensitive to excess estrogen, setting you up to experience the same problems and potentially at worsened levels. Still not convinced? There are a slew of other reasons you should quit the pill ASAP and—if you’re a longtime user—watch this to learn how to deal with something called Synthetic Birth Control Syndrome.

Men Deal With Estrogen Dominance Too

These days we also see a lot of men dealing with the symptoms of estrogen dominance. They’re exposed to the same environmental factors as us and their bodies are often no better equipped to deal with the excess estrogen and eliminate it efficiently. For men, this brings about low testosterone levels (instead of low progesterone levels). You may have seen ads on TV for “Low-T” treatments for men. Men dealing with high estrogen and low testosterone will also gain weight, experience moodiness and irritability, get bloated…all of those issues we usually associated as only “female” in nature! Men also need to nourish their bodies so that their elimination system works at an optimum level and to increase their testosterone levels (especially as they age).

3 Natural Ways To Overcome Estrogen Dominance

The natural treatment for estrogen dominance is also the most effective and the longest lasting. This is because it gets down to the root cause, changes your hormonal ecosystem, and supports your elimination pathways. Following the Flo Living protocol sets your body up to combat all that incoming estrogen and helps it to deal with some of the unavoidable sources that inevitably come your way.

1. Eat more fiber. There are three foods that contain a good amount of fiber as well as the other vital vitamins and minerals – such as glutathione, B vitamins, and C vitamins – that you need to help your liver process the excess estrogen so that it can be transported to the large intestine and then eliminated quickly: Broccoli, flax seeds and pears.
2. Support your microbiome. A set of good gut bacteria and certain bacterial genes, called the estrobolome, produce an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen. Your microbiome is part of the elimination system that is vital in ushering hormones out of the body. Eat fermented foods daily like kimchi and sauerkraut and take a probiotic. And be sure to add a trusted probiotic to your daily regimen, like the one found in the FLO Living Balance Supplement Kit.
3. Love your liver. Eggs, glutathione-heavy vegetables like carrots, spinach and asparagus, plus cilantro are all great liver detoxifiers and boost the whole elimination system’s function. Try my special cilantro-based juice once a week. The Detox formula in the Balance Supplement Kit also provides liver support for overall detox function and supports a healthy, natural detox of excess estrogen.

Cycle Syncing™ Is the Ultimate Key To Overcoming Estrogen Dominance

In addition to nourishing your body with all the necessary nutrients, you need to establish a cyclical lifestyle that supports your endocrine balance. The foolproof way to do this: cycle syncing. By not only eating in a way that encourages optimal hormonal production and elimination at each phase of your menstrual cycle, but also tailoring everything from your workouts to your work activities to perfectly complement and enhance the assets of each phase of your cycle, you ensure you’re doing everything to keep elevated estrogen in check.  It’s a must-do holistic approach to completely overcoming estrogen dominance, and it works. One major consequence of estrogen dominance that so many women struggle with is weight gain. Many of my clients at FLO Living come to me with this issue – and these are women who see themselves as healthy living, conscientious about eating right, and who exercise regularly. But there’s a piece missing to their method. They are not tackling the estrogen dominance head on and it’s stalling their weight loss efforts (and sometimes even exacerbating the issue). Cycle syncing is the way to beat the root cause of unwanted weight gain and here’s why:

• Your body demands different kinds of workouts at different times of the month. Rather than doing hardcore cardio all month long, change how you work out to match what your hormones are doing. This means choosing different kinds of exercise depending on if you’re in your follicular, ovulatory, luteal or menstrual phase. High intensity workouts during your luteal and menstrual phases can lead to estrogen dominance, because of the stress put on your adrenals.
• Your nutrient needs change from phase to phase. Counting calories doesn’t help a woman who’s is gaining weight because of estrogen dominance. Fasting, cutting calories, and dieting as deprivation will actually worsen estrogen dominance and cause you to put on more pounds. You need to feed your body the micronutrients it needs to process the excess estrogen and manage the xenoestrogens that contribute to the overload. You need to support and bolster your liver and microbiome, these are your friends in combating the toxic soup of estrogen dominance. The best way to do this, long-term, is to cycle sync your diet.
• Your self-care routine shouldn’t be static. Unless you’re engaging in self-care that takes your cycle into account, you won’t get all the benefits you’re looking for, and in some cases, you may even be making your estrogen dominance worse. That’s because while certain times of the month call for smoothies and super intense workouts, these same activities at other times of the month could mess with your blood sugar, jack up your cortisol, make a mess of your hormones, and subsequently, result in too much estrogen. That means the very things you think you’re doing to feel your best could be impeding your success.

If you’re ready to overcome estrogen dominance once and for all and put your period condition into remission naturally, stop spot-treating the symptoms and start healing the root cause of your issue. Sign up for Monthly FLO to get an easy, accessible plan for cycle syncing your diet, download the MyFLO period tracking and cycle syncing app,  and order your Balance Supplement Kit to ensure you’re supporting your brilliant body from top to bottom all month long.Love and ovaries,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you

First, what is the consistency of your period like?Second, is your period problematic – how so?Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social ?Need more Hormone Help?If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.

When you purchase Balance by FLO supplements this week, you’ll get the 4 Day Hormone Detox free!

Clear out estrogen and support your liver with a spring cleanse and Balance by FLO supplements. They’re 5 formulations working together to help your body have healthy hormone balance.

•    B vitamins give you more energy and adrenal and cortisol support
•    Probiotics balance your microbiome for healthier digestion and mood-boosting
•    Magnesium helps you flush cortisol, sleep more deeply and relax
•    Omega 3’s offer healthy, mood-boosting support
•    Vitamin A + C and other antioxidants detox you from excess estrogen

I’ve designed a 4-day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer. The 4 Day Hormone Detox includes recipes, a shopping list, menu plan, and complete instructions for feeling better in just 4 days! Get your free gift with purchase here!

Stress causes late periods by the way it disrupts your hormonal patterns. Your hormones need to meet certain levels and follow certain patterns in order to trigger both ovulation and your period. If stress gets in the way this can disrupt the cycle. Stress causes a rise in stress hormones — specifically cortisol — which affect the production and interaction of other hormones. Your hormonal cycle is a chain reaction. If one stage of your cycle does not occur as it should, the following stages will not receive the correct triggers. When your ovary releases an egg, the ruptured egg sack produces progesterone. The increase of progesterone in your body encourages the buildup and eventual release of the lining of your uterus, aka your period. When cortisol is elevated, this gets majorly interrupted. Here are the 5 specific ways stress can affect your period:

1. Disrupts Insulin - Stress raises cortisol levels and disrupts your blood sugar which, in turn, disrupts your ovulation and period.
2. Lowers Progesterone - The stress hormone cortisol blocks progesterone production and lowers progesterone levels. Your body actually uses your progesterone to make more cortisol to react and respond to the stress. This not only messes with your cycle, but it can make it difficult for you to conceive.
3. Delays Ovulation - If you experience stress around the time you typically ovulate, the increased levels of cortisol can delay or even prevent ovulation. This one makes sense evolutionarily – a pregnancy on top of a stressful period in a person’s life is not ideal. Your body in a way is trying to keep your energy available to address the stress before conception takes place.
4. Changes timing of your Period - Stress post-ovulation can cause a hormonal imbalance too. If you do ovulate and stress comes later in your cycle, it can potentially cause spotting, an early period, or a period that looks or feels different than your norm (in consistency, color, length, or symptoms like cramping).
5. Period can go missing - Even if you do eventually bleed, a late period may not be considered a period at all – it’s more of a breakthrough bleed. You didn’t ovulate, so it’s not a physiological period – however, your uterus still needs to shed the lining it has built up.

How to Outsmart Stress And Finally Fix Your Hormones

Your body is brilliant and your late period isn’t just a nuisance you can ignore; it’s your body’s way of telling you that it’s under constant or chronic levels of stress and unable to operate optimally. In order to perform all the countless functions it needs to do to keep you alive, it shuts down ovulation in an effort to conserve resources and energy. If you’re not trying to conceive, maybe you think this lack of ovulation is no big deal. But think again: when your body doesn’t ovulate, it sets the stage for more hormonal symptoms and period problems – everything from PMS, to acne, to cramps. A late period is more than just an inconvenience — it’s a precursor to a long list of other serious health issues.I’m an advocate for listening to your body and a late period is your body saying something loud and clear, but what exactly is your body trying to tell you? A stressed out cycle is a message. It’s a call-to-action from your body. Once you period is late, there’s not much you can do to make your period come when you want during that cycle. But you can avoid future late periods by taking action today. How? Simple. Your body isn’t just brilliant; it’s resilient. By nourishing it with the proper micronutrients and lifestyle support, you can absolutely heal your hormones, eliminate your symptoms, and get your period back on track. When you eat in a hormonally-supportive way, you soothe and support your adrenal glands, which turns the dial down on cortisol production and breaks the stress cycle. Not to mention that eating nutrient-dense foods at the right times of your cycle will boost your metabolism, digestion, and help you lose weight with blood sugar balance, regulate your cycles, detoxify your system, and increase your energy.If you’re ready for the type of in-depth guidance necessary to kick stress to the curb and reclaim your hormonal health, it’s time to sign up for MonthlyFLO, a three-month program that will show you how to tap into your body’s unique rhythm, feed yourself at all four phases for optimal hormonal balance, and get more done with less effort. Get started now and stop letting all those daily stressors mess with your beautiful body. Love and ovaries,Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

The sad truth is that just about every woman you know — from your childhood best friend to your favorite coworker — is dealing with some sort of hormonal imbalance. Whether that imbalance manifests as PMS, uncontrollable acne, weight gain, or a full-blown endocrine disorder like PCOS or endometriosis depends on a host of factors. But the basic root of all these conditions is the same: hormones gone haywire. So how is it possible that the vast majority of women are suffering like this? And why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? It all goes back to our education. Think back to your middle school health ed class. How much did your teacher or your textbook talk in-depth about the phases of the menstrual cycle, female hormonal patterns, and the lifestyle factors that can optimize or impede these things? My guess is that the most you ever got on this topic was a cursory mention of periods and what they have to do with making babies; it’s unlikely that you ever got a true education in how your body works, and that’s unfortunately the case for most women. If you think things have changed in this social-media-savvy age, think again. Sure, there are thankfully scores of outspoken feminists trying change the cultural landscape and improving society’s concept of female health. But doctors are still doling out birth control as a “treatment” for all kinds of period problems and ignoring the underlying root causes of endocrine issues ranging from cramps to cysts. There are far too many women and girls suffering needlessly and in silence because they don’t know how to heal themselves. Let’s stop the silence now. We can demystify menstrual issues for all women if we start spreading awareness and education to our close circle. Whether you’re dropping knowledge on your mom, sister, daughter, niece, or best friend, you have the power to start making a change. Here are the five must-discuss topics to start with:

1) The color of your period matters — a lot

Think of checking your flow every month like being able to access free lab work for your hormone levels. Knowing the color tells you exactly what hormones are in and out of balance. The most important thing we’re not told as women is that we can absolutely change our periods for the better. And you’ll know right away if your eating is on track with your hormones because your period color will change as you get back in balance. Your period, your fifth vital sign, provides genius biofeedback for you! Use this quick guide to decode your period and discover the ways you can get your hormonal health back on track.

2) PMS isn’t normal — period

PMS is the result of a hormone imbalance and it’s absolutely not something you should expect to be part of your period. In fact it’s a warning sign that something is majorly off in your endocrine system. It’s not something you should have to endure, put up with, or get through on a monthly basis. You can, should, and deserve to live a PMS-free life! All that crabbiness, agitation, anxiety, irritability, and moodiness that you’ve come to expect can actually be put in the past, once and for all. Talk honestly with your girlfriends about PMS and learn how you can help yourselves conquer the endocrine dysfunction at the root of it.

3) Birth control pills aren’t fixing your problems — in fact, they’re probably making things worse

Not only do birth control pills simply mask the causes of hormonal conditions and lull you into a false sense of normalcy; they come with a host of side effects that are very likely wreaking havoc on your entire body from your microbiome to your ovaries. This Band-Aid strategy isn’t a solution for any kind of hormonal imbalance and if your best gal pals are all on the pill, it’s time to talk about why transitioning off is a good idea.

4) You can get a handle on cramps naturally

Ready for this truth bomb?: Your body is not designed for period cramps. In fact it is perfectly, beautifully designed for you to not have period cramps. It just needs a little support from you to return to that wonderful state. Women who have period cramps have higher levels of prostaglandins, which constrict blood vessels and make the uterus contract, than women who experience little to no period pain. Luckily, there are plenty of natural ways to manage and prevent the pain — be sure your girlfriends know about them!

5) No matter what kind of hormonal condition you have, it’s totally within your power to fix it

The most important thing you can discuss and share with your female friends is this: hormonal healing is absolutely, totally within your power and control. Whether you’re struggling with minor symptoms or you’ve been diagnosed with a full-fledged hormonal disorder and feel hopeless, know that there are natural, simple solutions to bring your body back into balance and harmony. Not sure where to start? Take the free Period Type Quiz and figure out what your period is trying to tell you. Then download my new MyFLO app to start tracking your symptoms and learning the right actions to take at each phase of your cycle. The Balance by FLO supplements can help your endocrine system have the right building blocks to balance your hormones. And when you’re ready to combat your symptoms once and for all, it’s time to check out MonthlyFLO.Love and ovaries,Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

Move more, lose more...right? It’s a supposed fact of physiology that’s ingrained in us early on: the longer and harder you work out, the more pounds you’ll drop, the fitter you’ll be, and the more energized you’ll feel. But have you ever launched enthusiastically into a high-intensity regimen only to find yourself feeling drained, depleted, and somehow up a pants size?These effects aren’t in your head and they’re definitely not your fault. I see so many women needlessly suffer and sweat only to see the pounds keep piling on. So what gives? If you’re sick of busting your butt at the gym to no avail, then it’s time you learned why your no-pain-no-gain strategy is hurting your fitness efforts, not helping them. Your hormones play a huge role in how you’ll respond to workouts. Until you understand how to work with your physiology, not against it, you’ll continue to get fed up and frustrated.

Why Your High-Intensity Workout Plan May Be Causing You to Gain Weight

First, let’s break down why extreme exercise can make you — surprise! — gain weight because you’re female. That’s right — while you’ve likely been led to believe your entire life that dropping pounds was a matter of pushing harder for longer in the gym (and suffering the whole time), there’s biological evidence for why this approach is working against you.When you jump into a hardcore exercise routine in January, it’s important to remember where you’re coming from: a stressful and sugar-laden holiday season that’s compromised your adrenal glands. When you work out, you burn through the glucose in your bloodstream (which is great). But that process only takes about 30 minutes ; after that first half hour, you’re simply tapping into your adrenal reserve and forcing those glands to pump out cortisol like crazy in order to convert your fat cells into blood sugar.While that may sound like an appealing prospect, it’s the wrong way to go about fat burning. When you have estrogen overload due to unresolved period and fertility issues (as just about every client I see does), the excess estrogen programs your body to actually convert any circulating sugar back into fat. So instead of becoming a fat burning machine, you become stuck in a vicious cycle of desperately trying to burn stored fat with cortisol only to have your sky-high estrogen send it right back to all the wrong places.

Add In Adrenal Fatigue and Watch the Pounds Pile On

Worse yet, all of this is under the assumption that your adrenals are in tip top shape; if they’re out of whack, the results could be even more disastrous. And guess what’s notorious for knocking the adrenals out of whack: out-of-control stress, boatloads of sugar, and way too much booze — three familiar staples of the overstimulating holiday season. Add to all of this the fact that in the second half of your cycle (your luteal phase), estrogen is out of balance with progesterone, making you more fatigued and putting further strain on your adrenals.And what happens when your adrenals are wiped out? You produce less cortisol, making it painful to crawl out of bed each morning and next-to-impossible to finish a workout without feeling fatigued (and miserable) to the max. So now you’re exhausted, unmotivated, and holding onto fat for dear life, despite all your best efforts to shed it — and each time you work out thinking you’re doing your body a favor, you’re just reinforcing the same bad cycle.

Exercise Impacts You Differently During Your Cycle

If you’ve subscribed to the “no pain, no gain” workout mentality so many of us are sold on (especially around the New Year), then you’re falling into a predictable trap that’s likely backfiring. The predominant “push-’til-it-hurts” mentality around exercise is entirely rooted in male physiology and a 24-hour circadian rhythm that loses sight of natural, predictable female fluctuations throughout the month. By your very nature, your biochemistry is composed of an ever-changing symphony of hormonal ups and downs; your body simply isn’t the same day in and day out, so why would you constantly put it through the same, hardcore workout routine when it’s begging for something different?The science is on your side here: research has shown that increased estrogen affects your body’s sensitivity to insulin, and subsequently impacts fat storage and burning. While your hormones may be able to handle more intense exercise in the first half of your cycle, going extra hard in the later luteal phase will only drain your nutritional resources, encourage fat storage, and waste muscle mass. To add insult to injury and perpetuate the vicious train-drain-and-gain cycle, increasing your cardiovascular efforts requires more calories (during the PMS time when you have more carb cravings or bingeing), which in turn, sabotages your weight loss efforts and leaves you frustrated and running back to the gym to up your cardio yet again. It’s a never-ending losing battle, but there is a way out.

Body Cues that Signal Fat Storage

I want you to use a two-part approach here to help yourself transition away from the conditioning you’ve received via the male-oriented fitness theories that you have to be consistent, go hard, push past your discomfort. Some of that of course is applicable, but it depends where you are in your cycle and where you are in your lifecycle. The first part of this approach is to simply ask yourself how you’re feeling after a particular workout. Do you feel energized and awesome or drained and depleted? Maybe you’ve never taken the time to take stock of your feelings with this level of detail — after all, we’re typically so busy seeking out quick fixes that we forget to take a moment to dig deep and actually ask ourselves how our choices are affecting our mind, body, and spirit. We’re conditioned to ignore the signals our body tells us and push past pain in the name of “success.” If you are feeling fatigued and it takes you hours to recover your mood and energy, it’s an excellent indicator from your body that it has used up it’s adrenal and glucose reserves and now your body is going into survival and fat storage mode. Examining your body’s response to exercise will give you invaluable insight into what your body really needs to thrive and allow you to workout smarter not harder. The second piece is to link how you’re feeling after a workout to where you are in your cycle. This is why understanding how our body works within the context of the female ecosystem is so empowering and liberating; knowing how your biochemistry directly impacts your results will allow you to make smarter, healthier decisions. So if you’re trying to lose weight or improve your fitness but you haven’t gotten where you want to be, you may be frustrated. But by educating yourself on your body’s unique cyclical nature, you can achieve lasting results — no pain required.

Workout Less, Lose More — Seriously

If all this info leaves you feeling ready to throw in the towel completely, I have great news: you can pull the plug on all those painful, fatigue-inducing workouts you dread and actually watch the pounds melt off — by working out for no more than 30 minutes in the second half of your cycle. Too good to be true? It’s not when you consider this: exercising for more than 30 minutes at a time puts undue stress on your adrenal glands by causing cortisol to rise at first, mixing with your estrogen keeping fat on. If you’re picking up a new year, new workout discipline, mixed with untreated PMS and period problems, you will easily find yourself tired and not losing the weight you had hoped.Trust me, having been 200 pounds myself, and having tried for years to lose weight before I cracked my WomanCode, I know how frustrating this can be. And of course this is typically when we give up on our new year’s resolutions.If you’re totally sick of trying, failing, and trying again, then it’s time to ditch what you’ve been doing and try something totally new. Rather than running your adrenals into the ground with hour-long-plus high-intensity training sessions, try 20-minute bouts of cardio or weight training, and longer sessions of more gentle movement like hatha yoga or walking. Not sure when to do which type of activity? No sweat — we’ve got a handy guide for that. Tracking your body throughout the month is also really helpful, which is just one more reason the MyFLO app should be your new best friend. Keeping tabs on your symptoms will help you get to know how your body functions at different points in your cycle which can help you choose the right kind of exercise for your hormonal phase. Now that you’ve got the knowledge, you’ve got what it takes to start feeling your fiercest and getting fit once and for all! Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

Have you ever felt like something’s missing from your life but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Everything looks fine on paper, but your purpose, your drive, your direction feels fuzzy, or unclear? You’re trying to bring your A game but something’s not clicking? Self-careDo you have a tough time trusting your intuition?Do you struggle to start or complete things?Are you facing a vague feeling of dissatisfaction in your life and you want to know once and for all how to address it?The real deal is this: while soul-searching and self-improvement is extremely valuable, if your hormonal health is suffering, it’s compromising your capacity to flourish.

Why Your Self-Care Routine Isn’t Working For You

So often we’re motivated to do self care to bring relief from symptoms and of course that is a great place to start. What if however, the right self care practice could give you access to true creativity, freedom of expression, and your most authentic self on top of symptom resolution?Have you been seeking a connection to something bigger? Have you dabbled in yoga? Pored over your horoscope? Whipped up an endless array of Instagram-worthy kale smoothies? All in hopes of finding your path and feeling your best? Are you still struggling with your period, fertility or sex drive?The missing piece in your self-care strategy is this: cyclical awareness. What does that mean? It means feeding your body exactly what it needs at the right times of the month, nourishing your endocrine system with the right micronutrients so that you can rebalance, recalibrate, and reclaim your life. Without this critical structure as the foundation, all your self care, done at the wrong time, could actually be what’s sabotaging you.Self-care without cyclical awareness doesn’t give you access to all the benefits you’re looking for, and in some cases, it can actually exacerbate your hormonal imbalances. Why? While certain times of the month call for smoothies and super intense workouts, these same activities at other times of the month could mess with your blood sugar, jack up your cortisol, make a mess of your hormones, and subsequently, throw off your hormones, mood, and energy. That means the very things you think you’re doing to feel your best could be impeding your chance for a deeper connection to your body’s innate creative process; an integral aspect of your feminine soul.

Self Care That Supports The Female Mind Body Hormone Connection

Let me assure you: this is not all new-age, woo-woo, it’s actual science based approach to working with the body you have. Ancient traditions often reference the chakra system, which are energy centers in the body. The second chakra, otherwise known as your sacral chakra, is ruled by the principal of pleasure. It represents the womb, it’s your source of money, sex, creativity, and the feminine center. Sometimes this space is actually called the “low heart” (the clitoris, after all, does have a pulse!). But even if you’re not a chakra believer, there’s no denying the scientific fact that when your hormones — estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, insulin, testosterone, cortisol, etc. — aren’t functioning at their optimal levels, their dysfunction has a direct impact on your serotonin and dopamine, the neurotransmitters that dictate your mood and that impacts what thoughts your thinking, how you view the world around you and your desires and creativity. Your endocrine system is powerful and it’s at the root of your mind-body connection. By dismissing the signs and symptoms of your period problems, you’re not just doing a disservice to your health; you’re effectively undermining your power as a woman to be happy, creative, and powerful. These aren’t trivial details — making smoothies at the wrong time of the month can significantly disturb your insulin levels, eating the wrong foods at the wrong time in your cycle can deprive your endocrine system of the right micronutrients, and working out at the wrong time in the wrong way can set off a dangerous chain reaction of hormonal chaos. This kind of ill-timed self care or doesn’t take your female biology into account, and it is endocrine disruptive. That means your mind-body connection, your ability to create, and all the things you’ve been soul-searching for are being blocked by improperly caring for your unique, female body.

Your Body’s Biofeedback and Self Care

So what's all of your self-care really for if it’s not to kick your life into high gear in every way possible? Aligning your self care choices with your cycle is precisely the way for you to ground it in something that honors you and the sacred feminine energy that creates everything. Maybe you’ve heard of the “Flow State,” popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s the concept of being “in the zone,” and it occurs when you’re skill level and the task at hand are equal. Tony Robbins has talked about this concept as well, in relation to athletes: elite performers need to meet their needs in order to flow. Cyclical self-care is the only way for women to tap into this type of flow-based peak performance. Without the cyclical aspect, your self-care is keeping you from achieving your flow state, creatively, and health-wise. You’ll know if you’re not in your flow (or FLO!): your body will tell you loud and clear. If you have PMS, period disturbances, a serious endocrine disorder — those are all specific types of biofeedback from your body that your current lifestyle and self-care practices are not supporting your endocrine system and therefore your ability to perform at your peak. If your hormones are out of whack, that’s your starting point. Your ultimate goal should not be to do more elaborate acts of self-care more often; it should be to give your body what it’s asking for in the right way at the right time — then everything will open up for you.If you’ve been dedicating this month to self-love and self-care, then do yourself the biggest favor possible: set yourself up for success by getting back on track with your hormones, reclaiming your body, and getting realigned and ready to be the brilliant badass you know you can be. Not sure where to start? Take the V-Sign Quiz and discover what the state of your period says about your overall health. When you’re ready for more, sign up for Monthly FLO and Balance Supplements and download the app MyFLO to elevate your efforts and fast track your progress.Love and ovaries,Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

When I launched FLO Living over a decade ago, I knew it had the potential to change lives. After all, I’d lived through my very own hormonal transformation as a direct result of the protocol I was now ready to offer women all over the world. I went from weighing 200 lbs, covered in cystic acne, and suffering from all the emotional and physical turmoil of a PCOS diagnosis to living a healthier, more vibrant, and fulfilling life than I ever thought possible. I shed the weight, fixed my skin, and most importantly, recalibrated my endocrine system through a sustainable method I knew millions of other women could benefit from.I’ve been humbled and inspired by the countless accounts from women throughout the world about how FLO Living has healed their hormones and completely changed their lives. These personal success stories are what fuel the mission of FLO Living and motivate our team to continue establishing a new ‘normal’ of womanhood: a reality where easy periods, a juicy sex drive, a halted aging process, and tons of energy are par for the course.

What You Don’t Know is Holding You Back From Healing Your Symptoms

If you’re considering starting your own hormonal healing journey, you’re in the middle of your process, or you know someone who needs a nudge, the personal accounts of FLO Living graduates are the best sources of inspiration you’ll find. Maybe you’re curious about the program but you don’t really believe anything like this is possible. You may be on the Pill (or IUD or ring) and you’re scared of the long-term consequences of hormonal contraception...but you’re even more scared to suffer the rumored side effects of quitting. Perhaps you’re worried about your fertility now or in the future, or you’ve been struggling for years with a condition like PCOS, endometriosis, or fibroids and you’re sick and tired of sinking your hopes into “treatments” that continue to fail you. I want you to know that above all, your body is designed to perform optimally. It’s not luck—it’s science. You weren’t pre-programmed for endocrine dysfunction simply because you’re a woman. And when it comes to your period, you absolutely can get your body to perform better naturally. That’s why it’s so important for you to see and hear the stories below—because you’ve been conditioned to believe your body is broken, your period is a painful sentence, and there are simply no solutions for the burdens of being a woman. These are total lies that not only unnecessarily prevent you from achieving total health, but they also keep you from realizing your full potential. Now that we all recognize the menstrual cycle as a fifth vital sign (as important an indicator of your health as your blood pressure is), it’s time to take charge and correct the hormonal dysfunction you’ve been taught to silently accept. Beyond signifying your baseline health, your healthy cycle powers your overall wellbeing, your creativity, your productivity, and more. You want to smash the patriarchy? Fix your period.

How Do You Actually Get Rid of your Period Symptoms Naturally?

How do we do this at FLO Living? The FLO Protocol as described in the book, WomanCode, and detailed in the premier digital program, MonthlyFLO, works to address the root causes of your symptoms, whatever they may be. And because in my research, I uncovered the correct sequence of approaching the endocrine system to turn it’s self correcting mechanisms on and the micronutrients it absolutely needs to function optimally, the protocol works regardless of your symptoms or your diagnosed condition. What FLO treats is the endocrine system, not the symptom — this is why it’s so effective for so many women with totally different symptoms and diagnosed menstrual conditions. In order for your symptoms to resolve, you have to address your blood sugar, your stress, your estrogen overload, your micronutrient deficiencies, and your lifestyle. Once you start supporting your hormones with the right foods and self care, within two to three cycles you can expect to see shifts in your symptoms.One of my most significant discoveries I made in my years of research was the fact that you and your body have cyclical needs. They shift as your hormones shift in your regular cycle. And they shift as you move from your teens to your twenties to your thirties and forties and beyond. In order for you to live at your most vibrant level at any stage, you have to feed yourself the things that nurture and protect what makes you uniquely female — your hormones. Everything that’s inside allows you to manifest outside. There’s absolutely no reason you should suffer needlessly with hormonal imbalances.

Here's What Happens When You Put Your Conditions and Symptoms Into Remission Naturally:

For years, women have written to me detailing the most incredible, permanent, lasting improvements to conditions they were told were “incurable:” PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, and more. Women who’ve struggled for years with irregular periods, debilitating cramps, intolerable mood swings have told me they’re symptom-free. And I truly, wholeheartedly believe this kind of full hormonal recovery is possible for every woman. If you’re still skeptical, read to the stories below....You can quit the pill without any crazy side effects. “Flo Living was my birth control rehab. I looked you up and bought your book. I read it, but I needed more of a step-by-step, hold-my-hand, and give me feedback experience and that’s why I signed up for Monthly FLO. It worked completely. I dropped the NuvaRing. I quit and my skin stayed completely clear....I think if I could go back and tell myself anything it would be to do this program 7 years ago instead of hiding and medicating the problem using birth control. I would have done it earlier.” - Shawna...You can overcome infertility and become a first-time mom. “In reading Alisa’s book the WomanCode, immersing myself in the program (January-March 2016) and using much of the info that was given to me I was able to get almost a normal 28 day cycle...The combination of it all finally led to me writing you to let you know I got pregnant at 38 years old!! I’m so excited that after a little over 3.5 years of hoping, my dream for me and my husband has come true!! I only hope this story can inspire others to know that your body is amazing and that it has so much power to heal. Many blessings on all of your journeys!!” - Cortney...You can beat “incurable” diagnoses like PCOS. “I was diagnosed with PCOS three and a half years ago. I had horrible cystic acne that kept getting worse no matter what I did. I couldn’t seem to lose the 5-10 lbs of weight after my last pregnancy. My periods were always irregular and I had strong pelvic pain in my left abdomen. I felt trapped because every book I read said that there was no cure for PCOS and that other than taking strong medications certain symptoms would not be relieved. In Monthly FLO, I surprised myself by not only meeting all the goals that I wanted to achieve, but also accomplishing things I never expected. My skin cleared up, my ovarian pain diminished, I lost the rest of my baby weight, and most importantly I found an amazing sense of peace in my life overall – peace with body image, having another child, my work. My sexual relationship with husband has blossomed. I feel more productive in my life – even in everyday chores. Life is more fun! I am completely letting go and couldn’t feel more free and light about doing so!” - Alexandra...You can put your endometriosis into remission. “The past 5 years have been utter misery for me because of endometriosis. There were times that the pain was so intense that I could not walk. I came to fear and despise my period, my entire cycle. I was on birth control pills the whole time (trying all kinds until I found the least damaging one) and they didn’t help at all. I couldn’t predict what kind of period I would have, couldn’t understand what was going on in my body, didn’t even want to start trying to understand… And this made me sad, even depressed. I’ve been on the FLO protocol for the past 6 months, after coming off birth control… I FEEL PERFECT. And by perfect I mean, not only have my endometriosis pains vanished almost completely (once in a while when I’m ovulating I feel a 1 or a 2 out of a scale of 10 for pain), but I am truly aware of what is going on in my body all the time. I am 95% of the time acne-free, bloating-free, PMS-FREE, refreshed and energized and when I do have these symptoms, even a little bit of them, I immediately know what caused them.” - Natalia...You can learn how to sync with your body. “Before FLO Living, I never paid attention to my body. I bought tampons, and that was the extent of it. I never had very extreme periods before so I didn’t think about it. Now I am really paying a lot more attention. I’m in the luteal phase right now and I feel a little less sociable. I know I can take a few minutes of silence for myself. I am careful not to eat sugar. It’s really cool to recognize what’s going on inside.” - Ashley...You can ease your perimenopausal symptoms. “Not only did I learn not to fear my body during this process, I also learned that I could have a transition that leaves me better than before! I’ve lost weight, my periods are over, my sex drive is the highest it has ever been in my life, and I’m excited about my life again.” - Lori

What’s Your Story

The stories I read every day from FLO Living graduates confirm the gut feeling I had all those years ago when I founded the company: building a place where women can get information, support, answers, and effective care for their period problems. These stories are what make all the work we do at FLO Living worthwhile. Sharing your story with us keeps us going and lights us up. If you have a story of FLO transformation, I’d love to hear it. Share it in the comments below. If you know someone who is struggling with her period and hasn’t heard the good news that you can recover from menstrual issues naturally, share this article with her! You taking the time to share could help motivate someone who’s struggling or unsure of her next step. If you are someone struggling with your period, now you know that change is possible! We’d love to hear what you’re struggling with and we’d love to help. Email us at support@floliving.com to connect with us for a consultation. You’ll get symptom analysis and feedback and direct, actionable tips to take your hormonal healing into your own hands. Love,Alisa

We believe that no woman should suffer simply because she has a period.

And we also know that it’s not always possible to get access to functional and holistic healthcare solutions — sometimes they’re too far away and most of the time they are way too expensive.That’s why we offer phone and Skype consultation sessions with our FLO coaches.All of our expert FLO coaches have been trained by Alisa on top of being certified health coaches and licensed acupuncturists. And they are all qualified to help you find the right next step for you in getting out of hormonal chaos and into your FLO. Work with a FLO Coach and find your customized plan to solve your period symptoms.

Click here to book your counselor consultation

New year, new you, new diet? If you’re like almost a quarter of last year’s New Year’s resolution makers, then you’ve made a vow to lose weight and improve your eating. When the new year comes around, so many women feel prompted to throw themselves into detoxes, fad diets, and get-fit-quick plans in an effort to undo the damage of holiday indulgence. But do any of these trends actually work? While every diet that comes across your social media feed this month will undoubtedly promise to transform your life, it’s important to understand how these diets affect your hormones.  This is important if you’re trying to lose weight and you’re struggling with PCOS, Fibroids, Endometriosis, or any other menstrual or fertility issue.  

Different Diets and Effects on Hormones

It’s really important to look at your whole hormonal picture when trying to figure out how best to lose weight. If you’re struggling with any of the menstrual conditions we treat at The FLO Living Hormone Center, then focusing first on restricting calories instead of reducing estrogen levels is going to result in no weight lost and worsening of your symptoms. You likely already know this from trying so many different diets to lose weight, and thinking that your period issues weren’t tied into it, and not achieving lasting results.   I myself know this personally, as a former PCOS sufferer weighing over 200 lbs. I tried all the different diets and exercise plans and not only couldn’t get the scale to budge, but also continued to see my symptoms get worse. What I learned is that the whole premise of separating out weight, skin issues, period issues, mood issues or anything else for that matter is beyond inefficient.  They body is encoded with a pattern that requires specific support and then like magic, things start to hum along the way they should and you don’t have any more struggle.So, let’s look at all the different diets, and their impact on your hormones, so you can make the right decision for you.

The Ketogenic Diet

This low-carb plan is intended to put your body into ketosis, a natural process that occurs when you restrict glucose and start burning fat as a fuel source. People on this type of diet usually eat less than 50 grams of carbs a day. Think of it as an even more carb-restrictive, fat-heavy form of Paleo or Atkins, which both glorify protein and fat and villainize carbs.  Upside: You’ll be less likely to consume processed junk if you’re seeking out fresh, whole foods, and you’ll likely feel satiated thanks to the ample protein and fat, even though most carbs will be off the table. Hormonal Downside: There is conflicting information on the effects of this diet on your thyroid health and much of it concludes that it affects T3 production.  With so many women struggling with hypothyroidism, it’s important to know this can adversely affect you.  

Raw Vegan

Just about everyone needs to consume raw fruits and veggies on a regular basis, but a true raw vegan diet means that none of the plant-based-only foods you eat can be heated over 104-118 degrees F, and absolutely nothing should be pasteurized, refined, treated with pesticides, or processed. Advocates of raw veganism believe cooking food destroys important enzymes and reduces their nutritional content. Upside: Loading up on organic, fiber-rich fruits and veggies is always a good idea!  An abundance of these can improve your digestion and improve heart health, reduce cholesterol and inflammation. The influx of antioxidants can clear your skin and, according to some research, contribute to cancer prevention. Hormonal Downside:  Studies have linked strict raw food diet to amenorrhea. If dysbiosis is present, (if you’re using any synthetic birth control, then your gut microbiome is out of whack) you will not absorb your nutrients from raw foods as well which can lead to a micronutrient deficiency due to leaky gut. This can compromise your entire hormonal system and present with a whole host of symptoms from missing periods to mood issues to weight gain. Additionally, according to Chinese medicine, this type of diet is too cooling which can make the reproductive system more sluggish. This means your tendency for delayed periods can be worsened, you can have delayed ovulation, or even heavier bleeding as a result.

Grain-free

The wheat in proteins known as gluten has gotten a particularly bad rap in recent years, and for good reason: it’s not good for your hormonal health, which is why I recommend removing it from your diet when you follow the FLO Living protocol. But many diets advocate removing sometimes all grains for the purpose of dropping LBs.   Upside: Some people believe cutting grains can alleviate brain fog, and others turn to the restrictive diet to drop pounds fast. Hormonal Downside:  If you struggle with cravings and binge eating, going grain free is going to set you up for major cravings and make you vulnerable to more binge moments of irregular insulin levels, which can throw off ovulation and wreak havoc on metabolism and fat loss.  

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting involves cycling between periods of time when it’s okay to eat and when food is off the table. There are various ways to do it (for example, allowing food for an 8-hour window during the day and fasting the other 16), but proponents claim it can help regulate blood sugar and burn fat. Upside: People drawn to intermittent fasting have likely read of clinical studies examining its ability to lower the risk of various diseases and promote new cell growth.  Hormonal Downside: Doing this incorrectly and simply skipping meals is not good for your hormones. Depriving your body of nourishment for extra long stretches of time can negatively impact hormones like cortisol, insulin, estrogen, and progesterone, which, of course, can completely throw your cycle off kilter.

What Really Leads to Results?

Do all these disparate diets have benefits? Of course — but if you’re a woman, as you’re seeing, you’re not getting the half the story that pertains to your biology. The cyclical nature of your biochemistry isn’t cut out for rigid food plans that call for the same foods day in and day out. And to nourish your body adequately, you certainly aren’t meant to restrict or eliminate essential macro and micronutrients, which is what so many of these diets do. Any diet plan — no matter how flexible it may seem — is by nature restrictive. And when you restrict food groups in any way, you’re in danger of creating a micronutrient deficiency, which can be exacerbated if you’re microbiome is out of whack, you’ve been on the birth control pill, or you’ve experienced any kind of hormonal imbalance. And restricting in one area generally means overdosing on another, which can throw your body off balance as well (for example, veggie-heavy raw vegan diets typically lack the adequate amino acids necessary to produce sufficient hormone levels and animal protein-heavy diets can lead to liver congestion and estrogen dominance, the biggest culprit in hormonal dysfunction).

Eating Right For Your Hormones to Achieve Optimal Weight

I’ve talked so much about how I’ve lost 60 lbs twice over (once when I healed my PCOS and once after my pregnancy) and did it by harnessing my hormones and supporting my metabolism, not by restricting and struggling. You have to work with your body’s internal weight management system - a.k.a. hormones - to get results. But as women, when it comes to all of the diets marketed, they totally ignore our cyclical, fluctuating hormones. It’s never mentioned.  You are essentially given information that is really only totally appropriate if you have male 24-hour hormonal patterns. It is only in that situation that eating the same way day in and day out makes sense.  Well, you do not have male hormonal patterns, as you well know. But because so many of us don’t know what our hormonal patterns are in the first place, we don’t know that we’re being short-changed in the world of diets.  What you do need is a way to eat foods that support each phase of your cycle because of course you have different micronutrient needs each week as your body is doing something very distinct each week inside the world of the ovary and uterus. Your body isn’t the same every day and your diet shouldn’t be either! I created this phase-based eating concept 15 years ago to support the function of the hormones produced in a specific time frame throughout the cycle.

The Cycle Syncing Method™

Eating specific foods each week of your cycle and changing that selection of foods as you change phases of the cycle to support optimal hormone balance and metabolism.  Upside: Provides the most variety of micronutrients to support overall hormonal balance.  Provides key foods at critical times to help break down excess levels of estrogen that can cause breakouts and PMS. Improves the quality of your bleed. Improves fertility, sex drive, energy and mood.Hormonal Downside: You’ll realize how much time you have lost feeling bloated, fat, fatigued, moody, and crampy when you never had to.  You’ll enjoy a wide variety of cuisines - macrobiotic, raw, ketogenic, mediterranean, some intermittent fasting and not ever get stuck doing one day in and day out for academic reasons.  The true differentiator for the FLO protocol, whose fourth step is The Cycle Syncing Method™,  is the integration of you and your body’s needs into the plan itself; in order to restore and reclaim your hormonal health, everything about your diet and lifestyle should be relevant and relative to your female biochemistry. No singular diet trend or food plan will give you that — only FLO will. But the key is that the foods you consume change from phase to phase — that means you get access to the most beneficial aspects of all of these different diets and you avoid forcing your body to do the same thing each and every day in the same way. That kind of monotonous, one-sided diet plan just doesn’t reflect the physiological shifts taking place in the female body, and it doesn’t set you up for success.

Eat Like a Woman

If you’re ready to be done with yo-yo diets, raging symptoms, and total hormonal chaos, it’s time to commit to a long-term lifestyle that works with the elegant ebbs and flows of your hormones. MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime. Over three months, you’ll be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally. Make this the year you make a sustainable change and achieve real, lasting success. Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing System™

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program

It’s hard to not think of love and sex this week, and whether you’re coupled up or flying solo, it’s a great time to reacquaint yourself with what self-love is all about. One major way so many of us are missing out in that department? Denying ourselves the pleasure of our biggest, best, most mind-blowing orgasms imaginable. What if I told you that by simply adding one lifestyle tweak to your routine, you could gain game-changing insight into the exact kind of stimulation that will get you off and leave you satisfied and sexually fulfilled every day of the month? The solution isn’t complicated, and you owe it to yourself to unlock the secret.In so many ways, the tide finally feels like it’s starting to turn in favor of female empowerment. But there’s one (okay, more than one) major unspoken burden that continues to be placed on women, and it’s a deep-rooted mythology surrounding the female sex drive. Thanks to a long lineage of patriarchal norms and a society steeped in pornographic images catering to male pleasure, we’ve all been fed a big lie: you should feel the same level of desire and need the same kind of stimulation any day of any month, and that your sex drive is entirely separate from your period. Before I totally tear this myth to shreds, I have to preface it with this disclaimer: If you have a hormonal imbalance resulting in an unaddressed issue like PMS, PCOS, or a host of other endocrine problems, then yes, you may absolutely be experiencing a lower-than-normal libido. But those issues all have a simple fix one you find the right information. And yes, it’s also true that the stress of work, parenting, relationships, and more can all take you out of your sexy zone. But they can do that to men too...and yet you rarely hear about men grappling with these same struggles.

The One Piece of Info That’s Dampening Your Sex Drive

This isn’t a trivial topic, ladies: in our patriarchal, porn-obsessed culture, women — and men — just aren’t taught to understand female physiology. And that’s a big deal because our bodies don’t work on the same 24-hour clock that men’s bodies do. Our needs, emotions, energy, and desires fluctuate from week to week of each cycle, and you better believe those hormonal ups and downs have a major effect on sex drive and performance.We’re about to get real here, so listen up: we all know there’s nothing more frustrating than having a mismatch in your sex drives and moods. For example, imagine a time when your partner is all raring to go and wants to have the kind of hot and heavy, fast and furious sex that would be great if you were in your ovulatory phase, but you’re not; you’re in your way more lowkey luteal phase and you’re biologically craving long, drawn-out, sensual sexy time (think: a half-hour make-out session followed by all the heavy petting and clitoral stimulation you can get). This situation is not win-win, your choices are to go along for the ride and risk not enjoying yourself the way you want, or to say no to the advance all together. Told you. #RealTalk.This scenario isn’t fun, and it often leaves you frustrated. But I guarantee if your partner knew which week it was according to your cycle and what exactly her or she had to do in advance of your sex session to help you enjoy the moment, he or she’d get to business! Not only would you both get exactly what you wanted out of the interaction, but there’d be no emotional baggage, no blaming, no passive aggression or overt aggression — basically, you’d both avoid all the bad kind of friction and only get the extra good kind of friction.

Female Sexuality Isn’t Static; It’s Cyclical

This insight isn’t just essential for couples though — understanding your cycle can completely transform your solo play experience (which, by the way, is crucial to good hormonal health). There’s this expectation that we should all feel the same and be turned on the same way and have the same kind of response that we do in our ovulatory phase (when our sex drives are soaring) every day of the month. But that’s just not biologically accurate or sound and it’s a totally unreasonable standard to hold yourself to. All that unrealistic expectation does is disconnect you from your sexuality — again, not cool. Your body has a cyclical pattern and you need to acknowledge that in the way you’re self pleasuring. Each week of your cycle, your hormones change and you need to approach your sex life accordingly. One week, you might just need a few minutes of quick stimulation to get off, and other weeks, you might need to break out the lube and read something that really turns on you. Your specific desire depends entirely on what’s happening with your hormones, and knowing that information will empower you to access the right tools in your arsenal at the right time.

Meeting Your Sexual Needs Matters More Than You Think

If you think these are trivial details, thing again: by omitting the female physiological experience from the sex drive conversation, women are made to constantly feel at fault for failing to rise to the occasion. If you’re not feeling super hot and ready for action, you can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong with you or you’re falling short in some way. This only perpetuates the inner critical voice that further disconnects us from our bodies and denies us the right to get our own needs met. This perspective doesn’t make any sense, and once you become tuned into the very real hormonal fluctuations that affect your drive and desire (and the strategies for working with them, not against them), you won’t believe you ever spent a minute feeling bad about your own biology. Knowing your body and making choices that complement its inherent wisdom will embolden you with profound confidence — a quality that’s infinitely more sexy than any piece of lacy lingerie.

The Solution to the Sex Drive Disparity

So what’s the solution here? It’s simple: Download the MyFlo app now and watch everything fall into place. If you’re trying to set up a more cycle-friendly solo play schedule, the app will get to know your unique cycle and offer suggestions for how to make the most out of everyday activities — including self-pleasuring. And if you’re coupled up, count on the one-of-a-kind Partner Sync feature. It actually sends timely emailed updates on where you're at in your cycle so they always know how you feel and what you need. I've been cycle syncing my marriage since the beginning and can tell you...it's a game changer. Let go of the guilt and get the love you deserve, ladies — it’s time! Love and ovaries,Alisa

Do You Know the Easiest Way to Fix Your Period Symptoms?

You don’t need to keep suffering with annoying symptoms that drain your energy for 1-2 weeks every single month. In fact, you can start having a better period as soon as your next period.MyFLO is the first-ever functional medicine period tracker that ALSO helps you fix your symptoms. MyFLO will help you understand why you have symptoms and what to do to improve them with food. It will also teach you how to Cycle Sync™ the 5 main areas of your life: food, exercise, work, relationships, and sex.Have a Better Period with MyFLOWhen you follow MyFLO’s weekly recommendations, you’ll get rid of frustrating symptoms and learn how to optimize your energy to be more productive and have better relationships.Click here to get MyFLO for iPhoneClick here to get MyFLO for Android

It can happen to just about any woman at any time...

• A 20-something career woman busting her butt on the job and seeing her period problems escalate the higher her stress levels rise.
• A new mom who’s just freakin’ tired and feels like she never quite got back to her old self after baby.
• A chronic worrier coping with the early effects of perimenopause in her late 30s despite a pretty regular period—everything seems fine with her flow, but she can feel herself aging way too fast and way too soon.
• A long-time birth control user who’s now noticing some major side effects after quitting the pill.

What do all these ladies have in common? A zero-mile-per-hour sex drive that’s left them feeling flat, frustrated, and completely out of touch with their femininity.Maybe you recognize yourself in one of these women, or you have a friend, family member, or romantic partner struggling to feel sexy. No matter which one of these scenarios you connect to, the bottom line is that they’re all rooted in reality and a missing libido isn’t just a figment of the imagination—it’s a concrete phenomenon that’s unfortunately an all-too-common consequence of endocrine dysfunction.

Why are so many women dealing with low sex drive?

There are so many overlooked factors that can contribute to hormonal chaos and low sex drive, but few medical experts will ever dare broach the topic. And it’s important to spell out what we mean when we’re talking about “low sex drive”: you could either be dealing with a lack of desire for sex or a lack of sexual responsiveness (i.e. mind-blowing orgasms—or any orgasms at all). Both scenarios are a problem, and both qualify as low libido.

Here are a few reasons your sex drive might be stalled:

• You’re beyond stressed. Don’t discount the profound physical effects psychological factors can have, especially on your libido. Everything from stress, anxiety, and depression to poor body image, low self-esteem, and history of abuse can significantly impact your sex drive.
• You’ve been on birth control for any length of time. A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that women who have taken the birth control pill may find that, as well as having had low sex drive when on the pill, that this side effect persists even when they stop taking it. The researchers discovered that the impact the birth control pill has on women’s testosterone levels can cause them to have a permanently suppressed sex drive when compared to women who have never used the birth control pill.
• You’re over 35. Perimenopause has a profound effect on your entire endocrine system, and can spin your sex drive out of whack. Before 35, your desire is driven primarily by the biological impetus to reproduce and your libido peaks around ovulation each month. After 35, as your hormone levels start to shift, your body just isn’t not as strongly driven by that natural instinct and it will require external direction in the form of nutritional and physical cues.
• You have an endocrine issue like PCOS. Women with PCOS typically either experience low libido as a result of low testosterone levels and high sex hormone binding globulin levels (SHBG) or a high libido (along with acne and hair loss/unwanted hair growth). Either imbalance of masculine and femininity can create a disconnect between your emotions and your libido, making sex a struggle, even if the desire is there.

The 5 Supplements You Need to Support Your Sex Drive

When it comes to healing hormonal dysfunction, food is always your best ally. But let’s be real: if your libido is lagging, you’re already tired, stressed, and dealing with one too many things on your plate. Fixing your eating habits will be crucial, but at this moment, you’re in crisis mode. You need tools that will fast track your healing so you feel motivated and empowered to keep making the right self-care choices. The easiest way to do that? Supplements. Here are the five you’ve gotta have on hand in order to kickstart the sexual healing:

‍1. B Vitamins support your adrenal glands by preventing the breakdown of too much dopamine and serotonin during stressful times, leaving enough for us to remain buoyant and energized.

2. Zinc helps to boost your testosterone production and prevents testosterone being turned into estrogen by blocking the enzyme responsible.

‍3. Omega-3 fatty acids help balance out your progesterone and estrogen levels, which in turn will increase dopamine, which will, in turn, help you produce more nitric oxide. This is absolutely essential for the dilation of blood vessels and tumescence that leads to bigger and better orgasms.

‍4. Magnesium makes it harder for your testosterone to bind onto proteins and allows for more of it to remain “free” in your bloodstream – which is exactly how you want it to be for a higher sex drive. Higher levels of free testosterone makes for more desire. Magnesium also combats anxiety and prevents depressive feelings, helping you enjoy yourself more.

‍5. Probiotics may not directly affect your sex hormones, but they do impact your mental health, which—as you already know—directly affects your sex drive. Studies have linked psychiatric disorders like depression to imbalanced gut bacteria and probiotics have the power to restore microbiome balance.

‍

Love and ovaries,

Alisa

Gifts can be so random (who hasn’t received a candle or twelve every December?). That’s why this year, I wanted to curate a sweet little gift guide of things, that I have at home and love using, and that will help you make your own self-care routine a little more delicious and hormone friendly. These are also all excellent options for any last minute gifts and stocking stuffers for yourself and your girlfriends. Let’s focus on taking good care of ourselves, helping our friends do the same, and starting the year off on a healthy path.Here are the items I have on hand to get me through the holidays and beyond:

SW Basics Joy Scrub and Soak, $29

I love to exfoliate after my period is over, and this brand new SW Basics Joy Scrub has perfected what I need - sea salt, shea butter, and immune and mood boosting lemon and orange oils. I love this brand’s commitment to organic ingredients and simple formulations.

Shiva Rose Nectar Body Oil, $80

This amazing, delicious, fragrant formulation includes serious skin hydrators, contains hormone balancing borage and evening primrose oils, and sensual essential oils of sandalwood, cardamom and ylang ylang - major must have.

MyFLO App

There’s no other app like this one to plan out the month and optimize all areas of your life!

It was even named a top trend to watch in 2018 by both MindBodyGreen and Well+Good - so yeah, you should definitely download it.

Moon Phase Calendar, $19

There may be a few different kinds of moon phase calendars out there, but this one printed using a hand-pulled silk-screen technique on 100% PCW recycled paper is my favorite!

Sustain condoms and lube, $13.99 for a box of 10 condoms, $12.99 for lube.

I simply love these products and the lube is amazing. Best barrier method for birth control and always use lube to keep your clitoris and vagina happy throughout your cycle.

Vapour holiday duo

If you haven’t yet switched to organic makeup yet, hen Vapour is the one to start with. It’s a makeup artist-grade product and these two pots are just gorgeous, fun, and easy. One of my faves.

ZenBunni Hot Cacao, $20

Cocao is the highest source of dietary magnesium,which you need an abundant supply of all of the time! This is organic, low sugar, and delicious - just scoop some into some warm coconut milk and add in some cinnamon and cayenne.

BALANCE by FLO Living

This is the first and only hormone biohacking supplement subscription box for women. Each 2 month supply comes with 5 formulations that contain all the micronutrients your body needs to keep hormones balanced. Essential if you are on any synthetic birth control or if you are trying to resolve your period symptoms.

Marie Veronique Treatment Serum, $90

This is what I use to manage any moments when my skin looks dull and congested. Put it on before bed and wake up with new skin.

Lola subscription, $8-$10/box

Stop putting chemicals in your vagina and start using these organic tampons STAT.

The Moon Deck Set, $60

Pull a card or three before you start journaling and connect to your intuition.

Gaia Golden Milk, $14.95

This makes delicious, easy, and fast golden milk lattes!

Saje Diffuser, $89.95

This ultrasonic diffuser doesn’t heat the oils, so when you use organic products, you preserve their incredible essence! It lasts for hours and can scent a huge room - such a good product.

WOMANCODE

This best selling book is the must have women’s hormonal health resource. You’ll refer back to it constantly so get one for your nightstand and one for your best friend.

2017 has certainly been a big one here at FLO Living! We released a one-of-a-kind app, made it possible for you to test your hormones from home with your saliva, launched an innovative line of supplements, reached unprecedented milestones, and helped scores of women finally, permanently achieve total hormonal harmony. I’m so proud of the life-changing work we’ve done this year, and so thrilled to see how many of you are enthusiastically enjoying our content!Whether you’ve been a loyal FLO Living fan all year or longer or you’re brand new to the site (welcome!), I hope you take advantage of this list of our top articles in 2017 so you can easily access the material that matters most to our clients. Think of this as your year-end review and go-to resource to refer back to again and again.If FLO Living has made a difference in your life this year or ever, please spread the love and share this post with anyone you feel might benefit from our blog and programs! And don’t forget to leave a comment on this post to tell me what kinds of hormonal health topics you’d like me to cover in 2018!

Our top 10 must-read FLO Living essential articles of 2017

1. The best magnesium-rich foods for you cycle: If you have PMS, PCOS, fibroids, ovarian cysts, hormonal acne, irregular cycles, or any other endocrine imbalance-related issue, magnesium is one of your most important tools for full hormonal recovery. These are the top foods to add to your diet right now.
2. 5 facts you need to know about PCOS: If you have PMS, PCOS, fibroids, ovarian cysts, hormonal acne, irregular cycles, or any other endocrine imbalance-related issue, magnesium is one of your most important tools for full hormonal recovery. These are the top foods to add to your diet right now.
3. Can you bio-hack your period?: Biohacking is simply the modification of micronutrients, diet and lifestyle to optimize the functions of the body’s biological processes. So can you biohack your way to a better period? Read this to find out!
4. 5-period myths busted: Your first health ed class, biology books, glossy magazines, religion, family hang-ups: with all those factors, it’s nearly impossible to come out of young adulthood with a good opinion about your body and the female reproductive system. Here are five period myths you may not even realize are totally wrong.
5. Why you need to do a hormone detox: I’m no fan of a quick fix, but I do believe in detoxing the right way. Learn the difference between a fad diet and a true hormonal reset.
6. Natural remedies for HPV & cervical health: Getting an abnormal pap result can be scary, but in most cases, you can actually reverse your HPV diagnosis, treat it, and get rid of it — naturally. Here’s how.
7. How to be successful at work - the secret is your cycle!: Women are cyclical in nature, and how we feel, as well as our strengths, desires, talents, and behavior shifts with our changing hormone patterns. Here’s how to make your hormones work in your favor.
8. What can the color of your period blood tell you about your health and fertility: Menstruation is an overlooked, underutilized vital sign and just like blood pressure, can tell you a whole lot about the state of your health. Here’s what your flow says about your well-being.
9. The 7 hormonal phases of your life: Many women expect their periods to be the same month after month, year after year, but in fact, there are seven hormonal phases you’ll experience over the course of your lifetime — here’s what to expect.
10. Are you a health nut with wacky periods?:Paleo? Raw? Vegan? Gluten-free? And still having period problems? Check this out to learn why and what to do about it.

Please leave me a note below and tell me what hormonal health topics you’d like me to cover in 2018 – what would you like to know more about and what are you curious to know of living in your FLO?Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,Alisa

Introducing the BALANCE by FLO Living Hormone Supplement Kit

You’ve been asking me for hormone-friendly supplement recommendations, and I finally have created a solution that I am so thrilled to be able to offer to you on your hormonal balancing journey:

Balance by FLO Living Supplements are a complete package that work together to keep your hormone levels healthy. They include a 2 month (2 cycle) supply of the following formulations so you’re never caught short in any phase of your cycle.When you take these 5 supplements daily, you’ll be giving your body excellent micronutrients to support healthier hormone levels. Which means that you’ll start to see your worst period symptoms get better… and even disappear after a while.

Click here to learn more about the brand-new BALANCE Supplement Kit.

Another January, another raging month of PMS. Not quite how you’d planned to kick off a brand new year, right? But like clockwork, your symptoms have gone into overdrive, leaving you feeling fatigued, sluggish, and anything but amped to stick to those resolutions. So why does the first month of the year always seem to be the roughest in terms of cramps, bloating, mood swings, acne, and all those other infuriating, debilitating aspects of PMS?‍

Why January Can be the worst for PMS Symptoms

‍While pop culture representations of the menstrual cycle might have you believing that a monthly week of suffering is perfectly “normal,” I want you to know that PMS is NOT something you should ignore and brush off as normal. The constellation of irritating, inconvenient, and downright painful symptoms is a sign of a hormonal imbalance. You should not have to live in a reality in which you feel like garbage every month simply because you’ve been told it’s a “normal” part of womanhood. It’s not, and you deserve better. And you can get it!Now that you know PMS is actually a red flag for some form of endocrine disruption, you might be wondering why all of this tends to feel so much more intense in January. This isn’t a spontaneous shift that occurred as soon as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. This eruption of symptoms is actually the result of a slow build-up that began all the way back in October — Halloween really winds up hitting you with more tricks than treats. All that extra sugar you likely reveled in at the end of that month simply warmed you up for super sweet pumpkin spice everything in November, which made the overindulgences of December seem totally acceptable. On top of all the refined carbs you likely consumed in those three months, you may have been traveling, stressing over presents, drinking all kinds of seasonal cocktails (more sugar!), and spending a little too much time with family. That plus the decrease in sunlight end up leaving you very depleted from a micronutrient perspective.  This makes it more difficult for you to have an adequate luteal phase of your menstrual cycle, preventing proper progesterone production, which leads to an overabundance of estrogen, the prime culprit for stereotypical symptoms. All those factors can throw your hormones completely off kilter and set the stage for endocrine chaos come January.

‍How to Combat New Year’s PMS

‍There’s a reason everyone you know is signing up for juice cleanses and crazy workout classes — the holiday season really does a number on your health and can leave you feeling terrible. But committing to a restrictive detox diet or punishing boot camp classes isn’t the way to solve a hormonal imbalance — in fact, these extreme tactics can exacerbate the issues and leave you feeling worse. When we don’t take our hormones into account, they get disrupted and it can take months to regain balance. This is why not only you feel like you can’t stick to your resolutions in january, but also why you don’t feel like yourself until April or worse, continue to spiral out into more and more period and hormone symptoms all year.The key to regaining your balance in January and kicking symptoms to the curb is to detox the right way. No intense measures required — simply practical, easy-to-implement steps to restoring your natural equilibrium. Here’s how:

1. Focus on feeding your body a nutrient-dense diet. The FLO Living protocol is all about packing your diet with cleansing foods that address your liver, intestines, and lymphatic system. Your elimination organs require nutrients to breakdown toxins, and you get nutrients from food. Load up on leafy greens, complex carbs, and healthy fats to keep you nourished and satisfied.  Try the FLO Living 4 Day Hormone Detox - it’s free!
2. Have one grain free day a week. If you’re in need of some major damage control, try going grain free for just one day a week. It’s easier than you think to cut the processed junk: For breakfast, have eggs with coconut oil. For lunch, have turkey with avocados and greens along with a cup of bone broth. Steer away from the grains and gluten-free carbs today to give your gut the break and take a fiber supplement to sweep out the white flour residue. And always try to add in a brisk walk after eating carbs to help your body use the glucose for fuel.
3. Add in a special detox juice. I’m not a fan of juice-only cleanses, but adding this potent beverage to your healthy diet will support your liver as it recovers from all that holiday eggnog. Combine a handful of spinach, 1 carrot, 2 stalks of celery, half a bunch of cilantro, one-third a bunch of parsley, half a lemon with rind, half a green apple in a blender or juicer.
4. Add in the right supplements. As far as I’m concerned, certain supplements aren’t optional; they’re non-negotiable micronutrients every woman needs to keep her hormones healthy and happy! Especially after the onslaught of micronutrient depletion from this intense and long holiday period, it’s even more important to take them to get back to homeostasis.  Magnesium, vitamins B6, E, C, omega 3s, D3, and calcium are absolutely essential, which is why I decided it was time to create 5 formulations that would deliver these to you every day. The Balance Supplements are your daily ritual to keep your hormones functioning optimally.