Well, not entirely wrong - but there are some major inaccuracies and confusion with The Cycle Syncing method that could be affecting how you take care of your cycle. Let's investigate.
Alisa Vitti pioneered The Cycle Syncing method in 2014 and although I love and share her work - I have found parts of this method to be misleading and confusing. Especially when it comes to seed cycling.
What's the problem?
The length of some of the phases and the order they are in are biologically incorrect. Which means, if we use this method, we may not be nourishing our cycles correctly - and we risk unplanned pregnancy. And if you’re following the advice from Alisa Vitti’s book 'In the Flo' regarding seed cycling - you’ll be seed cycling in the wrong phases of the cycle. See the explanation video here.
Here are the 4 phases of The Cycle Syncing method taken from the floliving.com website.
- Phase 1: Follicular (the 7 to 10 days after your period)
- Phase 2: Ovulatory (the 4 days in the middle of your cycle)
- Phase 3: Luteal (the 10 to 14 days between ovulation and your period)
- Phase 4: Menstrual (the 3 to 7 days of your period)
Image credit: floliving.com
So what’s biologically incorrect here?
- The Cycle Syncing Method states the follicular phase starts after your period. This is biologically incorrect. The follicular phase starts at the same time as your period and ends at ovulation. The minute we bleed, our body wants to get started developing our next follicle. A follicle holds our egg hence the name follicular phase.
- The ovulatory phase states it’s 'the 4 days in the middle of your cycle.' This is wrong and dangerous when it comes to unwanted pregnancy. The scientific definition of ovulatory means a specific stage of the menstrual cycle when ovulation occurs - not ‘4 days in the middle of your cycle’. Not everyone ovulates in the middle of their cycle. Some have shorter luteal phases or delayed ovulation. This definition is scientifically incorrect and misleading.
- The order of these phases is also wrong. The menstrual phase signifies the START of the menstrual cycle not the end. I can see how this would be considered the last phase of clearing out the old to bring in the new but in medical literature menstruation signifies the start of the menstrual cycle alongside the start of the follicular phase. Also, the luteal phase is the last phase of the menstrual cycle, not the third as suggested in The Cycle Syncing method.
What are the real cycle phases?
The reality is, our cycle isn't separated into four tidy categories. We have two cycles happening simultaneously during a menstrual cycle. This is driven by communication between brain hormones (Follicle Stimulating Hormone aka FSH and Lutenizing Hormone aka LH) and ovarian hormones (Estrogen, Testosterone and Progesterone).
Here are the two cycles:
- The Ovarian Cycle (activities in the ovaries):
- The Follicular Phase - where the ovary selects a follicle to grow and develop. This phase starts on day 1 of your period and finishes at ovulation.
- Ovulation - the 24 hour window where the matured egg is released from the ovary into the fallopian tube with the goal to get fertilised.
- The Luteal Phase - the sac left inside the ovary from ovulation - known as the corpus luteum - produces progesterone. This phase starts directly after ovulation and ends on day 1 of your period.
- The Uterine Cycle (activities in the uterus):
- Menstruation - shedding of the uterine lining aka your period
- Proliferation - thickening of the lining. This process starts directly after your period until ovulation.
- Secretory - Infusing the lining with nutrients incase the egg is fertilised. This process starts at ovulation and finishes on day 1 of your period.
There are lots of overlaps between these cycles, they don’t fit perfectly into four categories and they don’t have to. Because ladies, we can handle the complexity of our menstrual cycle.
My thoughts on The Cycle Syncing method
What it looks like Alisa Vitti has done is picked out bits of the ovarian and uterine cycle to create her own Cycle Syncing system - and to be honest it works pretty well. It's a basic framework where women have learnt that their bodies change throughout a menstrual cycle and function better when they are fuelled and rested in sync with their cycle. I totally agree with this.
BUT, if we are teaching women about their cycle using medical terms like 'Follicular Phase' or 'Ovulatory Phase' without the correct biological descriptions - this is wrong and misleading.
We don't need to oversimplify the menstrual cycle to understand it or adapt our lifestyle to it. We are completely capable of understanding how it all works on a biological level. This can help us to track our cycle accurately with something like the sympto-thermal method - instead of the risky business of predictive apps.
A better approach could be to include the whole picture of our menstrual cycle including the ovarian and uterine cycle, then highlight these key stages where we notice the most change in our energy and apetite - using the correct biological terminology and order:
- Menstruation (duration of your period)
- Late Follicular Phase (post-menstruation until ovulation)
- Fertile window (can range between 7-14 days prior to ovulation and includes ovulation)
- Early and Late Luteal Phase (from ovulation until day 1 of your period)
It would look like this:
Alisa Vitti's advice on seed cycling is wrong.
The recommendation in Alisa Vitti’s book In Flo - is to take pumpkin seed and flaxseed after your period until the end of the ovulatory phase and then take sesame seed and sunflower seed in your luteal phase and menstrual. This is NOT how you seed cycle.
You want to take your FOL blend (pumpkin and flax) in the biological Follicular phase from day 1 of your period until ovulation to support the hormones and symptoms in this phase. Then switch to your LUT blend (sunflower and sesame) at ovulation until your period to support boosting progesterone in this phase. FOL for follicular and LUT for luteal.
Let's wrap this up
I brought up this topic due to the scientific inaccuracies in The Cycle Syncing Method. Seed cycling follows the biological ovarian cycle, so it becomes confusing when The Cycle Syncing Method uses similar terminology but with different durations and descriptions that are biologically incorrect.
I love Alisa Vitti's work. A lot of it really opened my eyes to the world of being a cyclical female. Even though she is incredibly established in this work, it doesn't mean all of her work is correct. This goes for all of us in the women's health space. I think it's important that we leave room for conscious critiquing about any methodology or person, especially with a big reputation. We are still learning about female physiology and although this cycle syncing framework can be helpful lifestyle advice it could also be harmful if it's considered the gold standard of menstrual education as it lacks scientific accuracy.
It would be great to see The Cycle Syncing Method evolve into a more scientifically accurate system to avoid future confusion.
The end.
Let me know what you think.
Rochelle x
