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Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: [00:00:00] we have a lot of high performing woman, their training, they've got busy lifestyles. We find when these women start seed cycling, they'll maybe notice different types of results like an increase in muscle strength or these things that extra estrogen is going to help out with, for example, is like instead of it being about a pain point or a symptom.
I can sleep better at night because I'm getting more of these essential fatty acids, for example, or I'm more satiated throughout the day because I feel fuller for longer from these seeds. So everyone gets different results, but the point is that you are maintaining your menstrual health. You're maintaining your reproductive health, the same way that we maintain our skin, maintain our gut health, maintain heart health.
Welcome to the wild and well, a collective podcast where we believe empowered health is your superpower. We have combined our expertise in medicine and nutrition to bring you the latest research expert insights and success stories of people on a mission to live a big life. So buckle up and [00:01:00] get ready to learn how to live wildly well.
Sheree: Welcome back to another episode of the Wild and Well Collective. We are joined today by the beautiful Rochelle of Seed Cycle Blend. Rochelle, thank you so much for being here.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Thank you for having me. Super excited to talk about seed cycling today.
Sheree: It's such an interesting topic, right? Like it's something that I'm sure some of our listeners, listeners are really familiar with, but others, this may be a completely new concept.
So why don't we dive right in and just share the magic that is seed cycling with our beautiful listeners? Like what is it?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah. So seed cycling, it's actually been around for quite a while. It's on the same vein as Ayurvedic medicine and, food is medicine approach. And it is a nutritional protocol, a whole food nutritional protocol where you take specific seeds at different times of your cycle or if you don't have a period, you'd have them at different times of the [00:02:00] moon phases to help regulate levels of hormones.
And there's all these other added benefits that Christa and I were talking about before, like fiber, omega. Omega threes, your essential fatty acids it's satiating, but basically what seed cycling does is the particular nutrients taken in a therapeutic dose at these specific times of our cycle where we have these.
a rise of estrogen in the follicular phase from the first day of our period into ovulation. That's when we're going to need to regulate estrogen and the nutrients in the seeds are going to help to either block production or stimulate production of estrogen as well as attaching to excess estrogen, out of the body.
Same goes with the luteal phase. So when you're switching to the next phase. blends, and I'll tell you what each of those seeds are in a minute, when you switch those blends in the luteal phase, those particular nutrients like the selenium like the pantothenic acid, which is [00:03:00] amazing for our neurological balance, mood, things like that we're giving, we're basically giving the body, the female biology, the nutrients it needs when it needs it, so it can help to regulate those levels of hormones and help us to, yeah, not experience all these menstrual symptoms that can really hold us back from great relationships, living life and feeling really good in our bodies.
Christa: I think it's interesting I always love when there's a natural way to boost whatever goal that we're trying to do. One thing, seed cycling is not new to me. I think I've heard of like changing that up, but I've never really paid attention or heard to dosing. Alongside of that. So that's interesting.
I want to hear a little bit more about that as well. And then, yeah, what kind of so I think you did a really great job of kind of describing. What it does and it sounds like this is something that we can do during While we're having our cycle and postmenopausal as well, right? Is there any risk factors any risk [00:04:00] factors for women doing it?
Who maybe need to avoid estrogen?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, I would say the only time we don't recommend it just because the literature isn't there yet We've got the literature for these other times to seed cycle, but when you are breastfeeding, so postpartum, we don't recommend seed cycling at that time because prolactin's doing its job.
When you are ready to get your cycle back postpartum, that's when we would recommend introducing it again. But every other time of, any other hormonal stage of life, these seeds are going to be incredibly beneficial for regulating those. Hormone levels, even through menopause. When our ovaries are essentially retiring and the energy is being transferred to our adrenalines, the nutrients, the macro micronutrients in the seeds are going to be incredibly beneficial for those other estrogen progesterone cells that are around the body.
So, yeah, it can be any time. And on the [00:05:00] point of risk factors, I'd say the only time. The only situation other than the breastfeeding is if you're allergic to seeds, obviously. I wouldn't recommend seed cycling if you're allergic to flax seed, pumpkin seed, sunflower or sesame seed. Sesame can be an allergen for a lot of people.
But in general, this is the beauty of having a whole food supplement in a therapeutic dose is that the body recognizes the structure of the food. All the parts of the seeds that are ground down and yeah, it's really gentle but incredibly powerful And this is what is kind of crazy and I heard this from Lara Brydon I went to a talk with her and she mentioned that just because the problem is big and the reason that I Created this product having cramps Which feels big, debilitating every month, two days in bed, just because the problem is big, it doesn't mean you need a big solution.
Something as simple as Z Cycling can be enough to make a really great impact. Yeah, [00:06:00] and having that therapeutic dose is really what makes it work. that impact. You're not just sprinkling seeds on a salad, you're taking two tablespoons of the follicular blend, which is flax seed, flax seed and pumpkin seed daily.
So two tablespoons daily or two tablespoons of the sunflower and sesame seed in the luteal phase from ovulation until your period.
Sheree: I love that. And it's so, like you say, empowering to be able to have a whole food supplement. Like I love my supplements and I love being able to give people tools. But when I know that we can utilize food as medicine, it's even more, I think an empowered asset that we can have in our health.
And I just want to circle back because you mentioned there that part of the reason you started this journey was because of the cramps and We are constantly led to believe, particularly as women, I believe that our symptoms are so normal when in reality, it's the fact that they're common and not normal.
So can you share a little bit about your story and how that led you to [00:07:00] creating the seed cycle blend? Because I think a lot of women would be able to resonate.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's quite a common story, as you say, that once we get our period, we're like, Oh well, we're just gonna have to expect pain, cramps, mood swings, acne, all of these things and we just kind of get lumped into this narrative that you just have, that's what you expect.
But I've always been quite a curious person and I've just wanted to know why, why do I get cramps? What's the actual mechanism that's causing the cramps? Because yeah, it really held me back every single month. Most of my menstruating life I had debilitating cramps. I would have these crazy mood swings before my period.
My poor partner at the time was like, Are we staying together? Are we breaking up? Like, what's going on? So, and, we can laugh about it, but at the same time, it's like, these things are detrimental. Like, we can damage relationships when we don't address our symptoms. So I asked the question, why?
[00:08:00] And it took me down a journey I studied. Nutrition to become a nutrition coach. And I realized that my symptoms were due to a hormonal imbalance. And once I addressed that, all of these amazing tools came up and I had tried everything for the pain devices. The things that you kind of put on your belly, heat therapy, all these kind of painkillers and nothing worked long term.
And that was the point I wanted a long term solution. And the only way I was going to do that is by addressing the root cause. And I stumbled across seed cycling when I was studying nutrition and I had nothing to lose other than some cramps, hopefully. And sure enough, after three months, my cramps.
disappeared. And month after month, no cramps, calm before my period, just like actually life changing, like I had these parts of my life that felt like were kind of stolen. I had those parts of my life back and I just felt like a complete person again. So yeah, I was [00:09:00] really lucky as a graphic designer.
I was able to create the brand and the product and put it all together myself. And. Yeah, make it accessible to as many women who could make use of this protocol and, and hopefully change some of their lives as well.
Christa: Wow. That's impressive. Do you find that, have you found that you've had women who are going through right?
So that's kind of another time that women sometimes really find themselves skewed. I see it time and time again in my office where they were plunking along fine, their periods maybe weren't a problem at all. And now all of a sudden they've got terrible mood swings. Periods are crazy. Part of that is just what naturally happens before menopause actually hits, but like you said, a big problem maybe doesn't require big solution.
It can be something very simple. Have you found that seed cycling helps in those instances as well?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, seed cycling helps in perimenopause and menopause, definitely basically [00:10:00] buffers that spike of the fluctuation of hormones when they're basically declining, it's going to buffer those spikes. So instead of it going up and then down, it's going to be going up and down like that.
And you're going to reduce these symptoms. We've had women seed cycling with seed cycle blend, having reduced night sweats, insomnia that kind of heat regulation, which is interesting that that's seems to be something that seed cycling helps with. Everyone's really different. Obviously it's like the nutrients will kind of do, do what it needs to do for your particular biology.
But yeah, we, it's just. As you say, it's just a simple, powerful tool that is utilizing the accumulation of nutrients over time. So it's not an overnight thing. It's not a pill. It's a long term lifestyle habit that you create to just constantly support. Just like we work out, we go to the [00:11:00] gym.
We do our skin care or our hair care. It's the same thing with our reproductive health and our menstrual cycle and ovaries. It's that regular care. And I think for so long, we haven't really thought about. That area of organs needing that much attention, like with the gut health is coming out. That's been amazing in the last kind of 10 years, but it's like, cool, let's go to the ovaries.
Let's go to the uterus. Let's go to that area and that connection between the brain and, our, our kind of womb space and start taking care of that on a regular basis so that we don't experience those extreme highs and extreme lows as we go through perimenopause, intermenopause.
Sheree: Yeah, that's so fascinating.
Do you have another question on that?
Christa: No, what I'm thinking is. How, because, life gets busy, life is crazy. I think it's difficult for, I know, sometimes for myself and definitely, across the board, [00:12:00] people have a hard time being consistent. When you are doing something, for two weeks and then you're changing it up for two weeks, how do you address that for women so that they do find success in being consistent with switching it up midway in the month?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah. So there's a few parts to this. The first part is having a really compelling reason to change your lifestyle. I would say that's a really important foundational piece, because we can kind of say on the surface, let's take this new powder or this new protein or some creatine or collagen, and let's start this healthy habit.
But if we haven't established a really compelling reason to start that habit in the first place, it's not going to be, it's like starting to, Run or go to the gym, it's, you've gotta have a really good reason to decide to do that in the first place. I'd say that's number one. Number two is having like looking at your existing lifestyle and thinking, how can I add [00:13:00] this in without too much impact?
Without too much overhaul? I don't think we need to kind of. Reinvent the wheel when it comes to introducing another habit. I think it's a matter of what am I already doing? And this is the beauty with seed cycling is that you add it to what you're already eating. This is what I say to people because you don't need to create a protein bar and put it in there and make some.
Bliss balls, even though it was delicious and we've got a good recipe for that But there's no need to overhaul your lifestyle. You can just I put it on my scrambled eggs. I put it in Water sometimes if i'm rushing out the door, I put it in my smoothie I mix it with avocado on toast like there's so many ways that you can do it that feels accessible.
And the third part is having accountability, which is where our app comes in. So I created this for myself because I noticed that exact thing of consistency being a challenge. So I created an app where you can track your seed [00:14:00] cycling either with your menstrual cycle or the moon phases. And the little moon phases will come up, which can help you, help guide you with that.
But it will basically, you put in when your first day of your period is, and then it switches to the right blend. And then you put in when you ovulate or you manually switch the blends, so, you know what to take next. And you can keep on track. I've noticed a lot of people, a lot of our customers who have started using the app are just feeling So much more kind of supported.
It's like a seed cycling companion. So yeah, I'd say those are the three parts is having a really compelling reason to change your lifestyle and just kind of deciding that, put it up on the wall, whatever you need to do, a word I'd say instead of like, I need to start taking this. It's like, I need to be consistent.
And that's just across the board, and then the second part is. not overhauling your lifestyle, adding it to what you already do. And the third part is tracking it so that you can have, hold yourself accountable and get some little [00:15:00] reminders on your phone here and there to kind of help you develop that habit on the way.
Sheree: I can speak first hand to how easy this is. Like I've been doing it for the last month. It was a while ago I really wanted to try this, but like you mentioned sometimes there can be an intolerance or an allergy, and sesame was one of those things for me, so I'm really pleased that I'm able to, I've healed that, and I'm able to give this a go, and it really is simple.
You just reminded me I should probably download the app, but I just, every, like, every morning, I just mix it into my powdered magnesium but there have been times that I had you in my head being like, you could put it on other things. So I've like mixed it in with my salad and it's added like this, like nutty, like you put seeds in your salad anyway.
So it's just like quite a nice little addition and things like that, or lunches if I haven't remembered to take it in the morning. So. It is really easy to do, and only having the two blends is quite helpful, and I love sesame, so the second half of my cycle, I'm like, so excited to put it in, like, my Asian inspired recipes, and be able to utilize it more.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, that's what I have because you've got the sesame and the [00:16:00] sunflower seed. It's so good with Asian dishes. Like I did a stir fry the other day and just put my L'Oreal blend in and it just like elevated the dish. Like sometimes it can, like if you're thinking about it that way, like how can I make my food more yummy with this, with these blends?
Maybe that's an inspiring way to use it. But yeah, I love that about the Asian infusion. And great that the L'Oreal phases your. Kind of favorite blend just before your period. So you can kind of get a bit of joy with the flavors somehow. Cause
Sheree: we can often not feel like cooking and I'll let you, yeah,
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: totally.
Sheree: Yeah. I'm sorry. One of the things that I know Rochelle that you've, and I love about what you do is that, yes, this. This beautiful natural approach, but it is so heavily backed by science. And I know one of the studies that really inspired me when I started learning a little bit more that you'd shared was around the literature of the PCOS or PCOS and how I'll get, I'll let you talk to that cause I'm going to [00:17:00] butcher it, but how that has really been impacted by seed cycling.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah. So like any natural protocol, it's not until there's some substantial evidence and, like the literature that backs it up that people start taking it seriously. So we were really excited to see a clinical trial in 2023 by a group of professors who gathered 90 women with PCOS and they split them into three groups.
One group was the control group with nothing. The second group was. The seed cycling group and the third group was They took a common pharmaceutical drug for PCOS called metformin. You've probably heard of it before and It was across 90 days. So the three month Recommendation that we recommend to get you know, really good results for seed cycling and Seed cycling outperformed on most of the metrics on the follicle stimulating hormone, the luteinizing hormone.
There was ultrasounds done before and after [00:18:00] on the ovaries and people. Some of the participants found that their cysts completely disappeared. Energy levels, weight weight regulation, just all of these metrics that seed cycling just trumped this. pharmaceutical drug that's been used for so long to treat PCOS.
So this particular study was testing the effectiveness of seed cycling as an adjacent treatment for PCOS, meaning it's, you kind of bolted on to other things you're doing, like a food plan or an exercise plan, making sure that it's integrated with other aspects. It's not just like standalone seed cycling.
That's all you need to do. It's adding it on. It's bolting it on to those other lifestyle habits like sleep, diet and movement. But yeah, we were so excited to see that clinical trial and we're hoping to get more literature over the years when people start to [00:19:00] see the impacts of seed cycling.
Yeah.
Christa: Yeah. I think too, the seeds themselves. So I would say. The challenges I find the most in nutritionally is protein and fiber and the two things that most men and women both need more of is protein and fiber for multiple reasons. But I mean, yes, there is some protein to the C's, but I think the fiber part could be kind of a win win situation.
So you're balancing that out. The fiber, I mean, if you can speak to this, but in my mind, I'm thinking, okay, that's going to increase microbiome diversity in the gut. It's going to help cholesterol levels because of the fiber, like all the reasons that we take fiber, right? So can you speak to that? Is that something that, I don't know if you've done the calculations.
Yeah. How much fiber is actually in this daily dose?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, well, , we don't have the exact amount, actually, that would be amazing to look at, but you're right, everything you said is exactly what these blends have, and it's, [00:20:00] that's why whole food is so amazing, because it's not just an isolated nutrient, you've got whole foods.
Those, you've got the fiber, you've got the essential fatty acids that are helping with building those steroid hormones, and you've got the lignins, which are the nutrients that plug into the receptors. On the surface of cells and block or stimulate estrogen. Or there's a plant sterol called beta cetosterol, which is in pumpkin seed, that attaches to excess estrogen and flushes it out of the body.
So you've got your fiber, you've got The hormone regulating nutrients, you've got the essential fatty acids and other minerals like selenium, zinc, magnesium. So it's just, it's like the whole picture of things that female bodies really thrive on. But fiber is a big one and it's a really great way to kind of sneak it in to your diet without really realizing it.
Yeah, so we love that kind of, myriad of nutrients in one dose.
Christa: I'd like to point out too [00:21:00] that what you're, the zinc and the selenium, all of those are really important for thyroid health as well. And I find that a lot of women, more so women than men do struggle with thyroid health.
And at least if we're giving our bodies the building blocks, we have a better chance of maybe avoiding medication or needing less of a medication to help support the thyroid. So it sounds like that could also support that plan as well, based on the nutrients they're high in.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: And I actually used to have adrenal fatigue.
So I, I know that experience and it's a trickle down effect. We know that. The hormones, Cherie does this well with the funnel, how you've got your cortisol hormones, your thyroid and your sex hormones. They all have to work kind of harmoniously together and the beauty of being able to have a supplement, a whole food supplement that addresses.
Not only the sex hormones, but as you say, the thyroid hormones and I, I would say as well [00:22:00] that having those nutrients is going to help with your adrenal hormones, like your adrenal and cortisol hormones. I know that's more stress related, but I think when your body feels like it's getting the nutrients it needs, it feels safer.
And. I feel like it's a trickle down effect and it will impact the other categories of hormones as well, like the thyroid. And also, if you're getting into that routine where, so our seed cycling app will remind you in the morning to take your seed cycle blend. If you're getting into that routine of.
And this is where it comes down to how you're eating, not necessarily what you're eating, even though the seed cycle blend is great. It's eating regularly when you wake up, like even within a half hour, like this morning I would, I had my seed cycle blend in a smoothie. And that just kind of, it, It will blunt that kind of cortisol spike or it will just kind of help regulate that morning shift of [00:23:00] hormones, which will then help with the thyroid because it's this regular eating at the same time.
And you're getting these, beautiful nutrients that are going to impact those thyroid hormones and our metabolism as well. So, yeah, it's a win win.
Sheree: I love that. And, just to keep on the topic of the nutrients, the ones that we've mentioned, your selenium, your zinc, your magnesium, a lot of those really support a healthy ovulation, and that is really what we're aiming for every single month.
Again, not necessarily having to take a supplement. Being able to have this through food is phenomenal. And even in the clinical study you mentioned before, they give you that 90 days to really start to see a result. And a huge part of that is because it takes 90 days. for that egg that you ovulate with to actually mature.
So, a lot of the times we can start these processes or we start these protocols. And like I said, I'm a month in and I don't actually have a specific goal cause I have beautiful, healthy periods, [00:24:00] but I know this is going to optimize my and support my physical body and my physical being and my hormone health.
But for women to know that. Just like I know we're always looking for the magic thing or the quick fix or the you know the opportunity the supplement that's going to take away our period pain. Knowing that this is a process and understanding why this is a three month process, why you're giving your body that beautiful time to give these like nutrients time to nourish us and build our levels back up.
Because chances are, a lot of those nutrients, especially things like selenium that aren't in our soil, zinc that isn't in our soil, particularly in New Zealand, you're probably already going to be in a deficiency. So, that first month might only be bringing you up to Where you need to be and then we start to get to those optimal levels and you can start to see real change
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Exactly.
Yeah, and that's why so we have a three month We have a one month in a three month and we always recommend the three months not it's like it's cheaper when you get more but also Yeah, you're [00:25:00] giving yourself that chance to accumulate the nutrients, let it impact the cells because when we, exactly like what you say, it's just superficial if we consume the nutrients and we're kind of done after a month and we haven't given our bodies a chance to really get into the cells.
It takes time, I, I know that we want a quick fix and we want the hack, but I really want to shift our mindset around menstrual and reproductive health being, it's worth it to invest long term, and it helps. It's a, once again, another trickle on effect into perimenopause and menopause.
We're setting ourselves up with the this abundance of nutrients, or for example, if you want to get pregnant, you're giving your body this nutrients as a foundation to be able to build on top of it with all these other kinds of lifestyle additions, but it does take time. And I'm proud that it takes time because that, that is how you get long term results.
It's not just like an overnight. it's like [00:26:00] a very different industry, but like hair growth supplements, you're not going to take one and go, I'm going to wake up with a full head of hair. You take it over time and you have the patience to go. I know that this is, I'm going to get results in time to come.
And I want to apply that to this. this tool of seed cycling as well, because yeah, you've got to believe in your body's ability to accumulate that nutrients, impact the cells and get real long term results.
Christa: What about for women who aren't necessarily having symptoms? Do you find that Still beneficial, right?
I mean, because of all the things that we're talking about between the fiber, the nutrients, et cetera. I think the only thing that maybe would be lacking is the why, sometimes if you don't have a big pain point, then you don't stick to something new. But can you speak to the importance of like there, even if you're not having terrible period cramps or terrible mood swings there's still.
room for improvement nutrition wise, [00:27:00] right?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: It's like, yeah, 100%. It's like why we take our sauerkraut every day or our, probiotics every day. It's not that we've got. a painful stomach and that our digestion isn't working well. It's that we need to keep taking care of it, keep cleansing, keep detoxing these estrogens and maintaining our health.
And yeah, we have a lot of women who high performing woman, their training, they've got busy lifestyles. We find when these women start seed cycling, they'll maybe notice different types of results like an increase in muscle strength or these things that this extra estrogen is going to help out with, for example, is like instead of it being about a pain point or a symptom.
I can sleep better at night because I'm getting more of these essential fatty acids, for example, or I'm more satiated throughout the day because I feel [00:28:00] fuller for longer from these seeds. So everyone gets different results, but the point is that you are maintaining your menstrual health. You're maintaining your reproductive health, the same way that we maintain our skin, maintain our gut health, maintain heart health.
So Yeah, it's a lifestyle thing. It's not necessarily like, of course, the benefits of not getting the cramps, PMS, mood swings is amazing. But I would love all of us to get to a point where it's like we are seed cycling to maintain our reproductive and our menstrual health. Not just to kind of stop these symptoms from occurring.
So that's gold so that we could, we could all be at that point would be amazing.
Sheree: Yeah, yeah, I totally hear that and that's why I said, like, this is why I'm giving it a go and trying it on because I want to be functioning optimally, it's moving away from this idea that we have to be broken to want to be like this narrative that we think.
That we're even broken to begin with to want to do [00:29:00] something about our health like let's move away from changing Because we're in pain and let's drive towards changing because we're we're wanting pleasure. We desire Something deeper we desire to be you know, we want to make an impact We want to be the best mom We can be the best sister the best daughter the best person for ourselves in the way we show up for our training like whatever that goal is Knowing that nourishing your body and putting the key nutrients into your body and having a healthy, reproductive system, we often forget that our fifth vital sign is a female is our monthly report card of your period.
And so how can we listen to our body? How can we utilize a practice like this? To make sure that our future and our health and you know where the babies are on the card now where you're Coming off having babies or you're going into menopause, you know that you have and this is where I find the things most empowering a tool your disposal To keep you in that space or to help you achieve those things.
That's why, I pop a B vitamin every morning is [00:30:00] because I know that it's supporting me. I take my electrolytes because I feel better. I've got no brain fog. My body needs the hydration. And it's, it's moving to this place of, we always say on this, this podcast, like empowered health is your superpower.
So again, it's moving away from this pain and driving into that, that pleasure state. But one thing I am curious of that you've mentioned a number of times, and can you, Dive into the science of this even a little bit more and a conversation I have with a lot of women. I know Chris is the same as this estrogen conversation and It's been demonized a lot of the time we can be leaning into estrogen dominance What a lot of women don't realize is that they're actually estrogen deficient Well, they've got really low levels and we can be doing all these things like taking dim or you know taking things to try and clear it out and we can be doing more harm than good when There are things out there like this beautiful blend that can bring our hormones into balance really naturally.
Yes
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, absolutely And it's [00:31:00] so there is a question around the like the science of what else it can do like what else? Yeah, in
Sheree: terms of estrogen balancing and clearance and you mentioned there is It is. And so I'm like, for people who are new to this world and talking about receptors, can you kind of dive into some of the key nutrients in the seeds and how they work with this estrogen balancing tool?
Sorry, I should have with the question.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: No, no, no. Yeah, absolutely. So estrogen is such an amazing hormone when we have the right amounts of it and it's working well for us, we can get an increase in muscle gain and increase in bone density and strength. We've got this energy like. It's such an amazing hormone but we can say it's, it can be the same when it's not working well, and estrogen, yeah, we basically want it to be regulated for your particular body.
Everyone is different and that's the beauty of seed cycling is that the key nutrients, which lignans, so, especially in flaxseed, you've [00:32:00] probably heard this before, flaxseed has really high, they're the highest in lignans. So lignins as I said before, they are going to the nutrients is going to plug into the receptor on the surface of a cell.
So we have cells. floating all around our body that are going to be producing or blocking estrogen. It's not just our ovaries you can have them in your gut, like they're floating around the body. So this nutrient, the lignin, will plug into the receptor and basically check if you have too much or too little estrogen and block or stimulate the estrogen.
Which is such, this is one of the most powerful parts of seed cycling in relation to hormones. hormone balance. So it's, it's going to be amazing for that. And then the other nutrient that I mentioned before, beta sitosterol from pumpkin seed. So this is all in the follicular phase. You've got your pumpkin and your flax seed ground so that you can access the nutrients.
And yeah, both of [00:33:00] them are going to regulate levels of estrogen and detox levels of estrogen, because as we know when you, produce hormones. You need to flush them out of the system so that you don't recycle them and create inflammation and toxicity that way. So yeah, I think, and once again, things like DIMM and there's an insilitol.
No, I can't remember which one it is. Yeah. So there's lots of. amazing nutrients out there. But what I always recommend people to do is work with a practitioner, especially when it comes to herbals. I'm not a huge fan. And this is only my personal experience. I'm quite sensitive and I can't just grab ashwagandha off the shelf and take it.
It's too much for me. My, my adrenals adrenals, you hear it in adrenal cocktails all the time, but it actually overstimulates my body. So. This is, [00:34:00] seed cycling is such a simple, beautiful food is medicine tool that will respond really well and fluctuate and adapt to the people that are taking it. But in terms of herbs and other supplements, I'd always recommend working with a practitioner like either of you to be able to get a proper read on your own body and what it can tolerate and then you're going to get the best results because it's tailored to you as opposed to like, I wonder if this works, I wonder if this works.
So yeah, I don't know if that answered your question, but. Yeah.
Christa: So your product you already put together. Tell us a little bit about your product specifically. Is it already blended? And is it already, like it has a scoop, it has an easy way to get the dosing.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, so we have I wanted to make sure that whatever I put out in the world isn't going to cause an impact on the environment, first and foremost.
Huge impact on hormones nutrients [00:35:00] the things that we need but also low impact on the environment. So we have all certified organic ingredients and we ground them pre ground They've been tested for stability for up to four months in refrigeration once it's opened and that's for potency. You can still take them past that point and get some of the results.
But in general like when we produce the product, we refrigerate everything to kind of slow down that oxidization process. But yeah, it's pre ground. We put them, it's pre dosed into 14 doses per pack. So that's based on a, an average. 28 day cycle and I know that we don't all ovulate on day 14. I ovulate on day 18.
But we have the single packs when you've got a subscription, which we always recommend because it's just easier to remember and it's monthly and you can change it based on your cycle changing as well. We have the single packs that you can add if you feel like you need to kind of boost. [00:36:00] the luteal phase.
But yeah, we have them in compostable packs. That's the environmental part, compostable packs that will biodegrade in your home compost. We did used to have spears, but we're looking into that again because I think that would be nice to include. Sorry, to include in the first kit. And you've got a little wooden, looks like a donut, little clip that you kind of fold down.
I should have brought the product up with me to show you, but you fold it down and you put a little wooden clip on the top and you store them in, in the fridge. And yeah, we, we, we loved putting this together and making it super eco friendly, super easy. The design of each of the packs is I wanted to create.
like a stylish way to learn about your cycle, so instead of it being like Follicular phase, it's like full and lute and like a nice clean half circle for each one and different colors. So you're kind of color [00:37:00] coordinated. It's like, I know I'm in my follicular phase with purple. I know I'm in my luteal phase with orange and it all connects up in the app as well, all the different colors.
So yeah, I just wanted to make the educational piece of it because it is a new protocol. I wanted to make that really easy with the color coordination and the styling of the packs. But I also wanted to make sure that we use certified organic ingredients, pre ground so it's super easy and in those home compostable packs with a little wooden clip on the top as well.
Sheree: And it does make it really fun, right? Like part of this is really generating body literacy for people who aren't aware that, if they're even ovulating or this idea that, yeah, cycle has to be 28 days long. No, it doesn't. Am I ovulating at day 14? Am I ovulating at day 18? Even understanding the difference between your luteal phase.
A lot of women don't even have that education because we're not given that [00:38:00] through the schooling system a lot of the time. Or if we do, it's taught in biology, but not in like, this should be related to your body. And so, it does offer another layer of empowerment. And I, I also want to mention, like, this product is available worldwide, which I think is phenomenal that you do.
We're shipping from New Zealand, but
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah, and we're actually we're wanting to set up a location because I go between Portugal and New Zealand. We want to set up a location in Europe and so we can access more of Europe. We send a lot to the US and Canada. Canada is quite a popular one. So yeah, I wanted to make this accessible to everyone.
So yeah, and there's free shipping. So it's kind of like a no brainer if you're thinking about it, wherever you are in the world. I just sent something to Berlin the other day. So wherever you are, we can support your cycle.
Christa: That's amazing. Where can people find you to buy this, to follow you?
Are you on Instagram? Do you kind of put out education around this on Instagram? where's the best spot for people to find [00:39:00] you?
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: If you want to get more kind of personal, Instagram is great. I've got a little Rochelle's inner cycle where I get a little bit more, even more personal. There's education on Instagram.
It's seed cycle blend is the name of the handle. And our website is where you can get the product. You can get subscriptions. So the way that we set it up, as I mentioned before, You can get a one month supply or a three month supply and you can choose to get that as a one off purchase if you're just kind of wanting to test it out, see what the texture's like.
But then we also recommend the subscription which we find is the most beneficial for people to get results. So that just gets delivered to your address, even if you move location, it can move with you. So. Subscriptions are really good for that because it helps with that consistency factor.
So seedcycleblend. com is the website and seedcycleblend, the Instagram handle. You can find me there for some [00:40:00] more education and personal fun stuff as well.
Sheree: Beautiful. Well, we'll make sure those are popped in the show notes as well, so that everyone can go give it a go that wants to try this on.
Every single woman, I love this is available to people from all ages and stages of life. And so, thank you so much, Rochelle, for being here, for sharing your magic in the world and for creating a product that is so supportive. And I'm excited to personally see where it takes me as well.
Rochelle Vranjes Marreiros: Yeah.
Amazing. Thank you so much for having me. It's always nice to speak with, your communities and more people who may or may not know about Z Cycling. So thank you so much for having me.
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