The Female Factor: Making women’s health count – and what it means for you

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Hazel Wallace: Yeah, absolutely. Cycle syncing has become quite, big in the last couple of years. Essentially, it's just about syncing your lifestyle to the faces of your menstrual cycle because as we mentioned, those different hormonal phases cause our body to have different needs be that sleep needs, nutritional needs. And so I'm really excited that we're having more conversations about it because like I mentioned in the beginning, those hormones not, they don't just influence. Are reproductive health, they influence all aspects of health. So by looking after our menstrual health, by tapping into it, we can look after all aspects of health I think that we talk a lot about menopause on this show and we talk a lot about how much of a taboo it's historically been and how little it was discussed. I often talk about the fact that, you know, my mother never talked about that. She definitely never talked about her menstrual cycle either. So, you know, it's something that I learned at school in biology and otherwise.

Hazel Wallace: Yeah, so over 90% of women report. Experiencing premenstrual symptoms, and there are over 150 of them from bloating to low mood to irritability, gut symptoms, headache, breast tenderness. The list is endless, but you're right in saying there's a spectrum of how women experience this and the terminology's really important, so while over 90% of women experience premenstrual symptoms, a smaller percentage, about 20 to 40% experience, premenstrual syndrome. This is where the symptoms are so debilitating that they interfere with day-to-day quality of life, and we see this pattern emerge. One to two weeks before the next period, typically a week before, and it should end or get better when your period starts. It's how we can essentially cycle sync. But, Keeping the individual and personalized to us, and I'm a huge fan of that instead of, we can use the research as a guide, but not the rule. The most important research that you can get is from yourself. Jonathan Wolf: when you say sleep architecture. I love the idea that I have sleep architecture. Can you explain a little bit more what that means?And so the first five days typically could be up to seven days, will be the bleed or menstruation or what most people know as the period. And that's when we're in a low hormone phase. So estrogen and progesterone are the lowest that they are across the cycle. And then after that, we move closer to ovulation and estrogen comes up in peaks just before ovulation and progesterone remains low. Hazel Wallace: Yes. Yeah. There's not really much information or support out there for women. I think it's considered part and parcel of being a woman, and as someone who's gone through medical training and written a book on female health. I absolutely do not think, while it's common, I don't think we should normalize it. And I think there are lots of things we can do to support women there. Dr. Hazel Wallace, author of “The Female Factor” told CNN she wishes she could be more direct in how she speaks about the female body and hormone cycle, including menstrual health. However, said has learned that “to educate people, you almost have to play the game.”

Imagine a world where we are teaching young girls and women from puberty - this is what to expect, this is normal, this is not normal, this is when to ask for help. We would feel a lot more empowered,” Wallace stated.

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Jonathan Wolf: How much do you know about menstrual cycles? Half of you will be a lot more informed than the other half, but whether you've had a menstrual cycle or not, I promise you'll learn a lot during this episode. Even if you aren't having periods, I'd say it's important you listen to better understand and support the people in your life who are today. Categorizing reproductive health as an R-rated topic is an issue that extends far beyond Meta advertising policies, reflecting wider societal views, from politics to sex education curriculums. We're joined by Hazel Wallace. She's a medical doctor, nutritionist, and author of The Female Factor here to give us an education on the menstrual cycle. In this episode, we'll learn how the cycle affects almost every aspect of the body from heart health and sleep to metabolism and even the microbiome. We’ve got a round up of the no-nonsense books that will tell you everything you need to know about women’s health – all written by women. The Female Factor by Dr Hazel Wallace