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? While Meta on several occasions has apologized and re-instated female reproductive health content that it says was mistakenly removed, it still stipulates an age restriction in its policy. Therefore, even if the updated policy was perfectly implemented, Meta would still be green lighting the practise of censoring crucial content from certain audiences. 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.

Seems to be something that works really well for most people. So it's interesting to hear the caution. By the way, it's miserable for me. I'm one of these people who's tried intermittent fasting and did it in this study and I hated it. It was bad for my mood, but interesting. It's the reverse of the average, which again is down to, I think one of the things we believe a lot here about this personalization, that's not one answer for, for everybody. Our bodies are so complicated. Hazel Wallace: There was a research paper done on athletes, female athletes taking part in the last Olympics, and they were asked if they could choose any day in their cycle. To perform, to do their final event, what day would it be or where in their cycle. And majority of athletes said just after their period, and that is that high estrogen phase where we have seen from the research that there tends to be higher muscle building, potential, better mood, higher motivation levels, and a small increase in performance. Gut issues are quite common, so thinking about potentially how you might need to adjust what you eat. And then I think at the end, we talked about intermittent fasting where you're quite cautious and it sounds like you're mainly cautious about people eating enough calories, enough food, so it can potentially work, but don't just assume that this is this wonder solution actually, it sounds like you, you're concerned there might even be some issues here.

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And I think it was Matthew Walker who said that this is like emotional first aid. So it's really important for how we feel in our emotional wellbeing. And if we get less of it, So if we've had a bad night's sleep, we tend to feel a bit more groggy, a bit more irritable, maybe a bit more emotional the next day, and we see that drop in that REM sleep in that lal phase. Jonathan Wolf: and this being the ZOE podcast, I have to ask you about the microbiome, but I think I know what you're gonna say. Do we have any understanding about whether the microbiome is actually fluctuating during this cycle as a result of all of these massive changes? Dr Hazel Wallace founded her platform The Food Medic, an educational blog and podcast about diet and health. Jonathan Wolf: I think no one here is ever gonna say you shouldn't eat like that. But you're saying we all know the reality of how we're balance life and balancing this, that actually. If there's a period when you would want to be closest to what many people listen to this, we'll think about as sort of probably their ZOE diet, like that week in particular can have the biggest impact and can it really affect how you feel? Jonathan Wolf: It's really interesting. I was just thinking about the phases of the moon as you talk about this. Cause I know there's always been this like sort of ancient link somehow to the moon cycle and presumably our ancestors couldn't have had any. Idea about what was going on with our hormones. But it's interesting you're describing something which is really not like just switching on and off, but something which is really phasing in and out in quite a complex like interplay here.

CNN asked Meta about the reports that it is continuing to remove, restrict, and shadow-ban female reproductive health content. CNN also asked Meta why all female reproductive health, including menstrual health, is classified as an 18+ issue. So if there are any researchers listening to this podcast, please do a trial on that because I think it would be absolutely fantastic to help support women during that phase and, and kind of find out how we can offset some of those gut symptoms. Hazel Wallace: Yeah, absolutely. It'll begin just before the period begins because the hormones have already dropped and you know, an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean style diet is good all cycle round, but maybe at that time you wanna load up on the leafy greens. You wanna get in more berries. You want to really make sure that you're supporting your health during that time. Fluctuating hormones. Due to the persistent idea that female hormonal cycles were a “nuisance” for controlled studies, female humans and animals were previously excluded from research in favor of male-only studies.The quality of our sleep. It's also quite interesting in that some studies have even looked at how our sleep architecture changes in that second phase. But if you find that exercise is the last thing that you wanna do, or that doing something high in intensity is something that would make you feel worse. Low intensity exercise in particular. Yoga, there's a lot of trials around yoga and the benefit in menstrual symptoms and also PMS, and that's likely because. The Female Factor is an all-encompassing book on women’s health from Dr Hazel Wallace; who is an NHS doctor, registered nutritionist and bestselling author. She started ‘The Food Medic’ blog in 2012, as a medical student, in a bid to bridge the gap between conventional medical advice and the latest thoughts and developments in nutrition and other areas of lifestyle. The blog has now extended to various other platforms and publications including social media, books, and a podcast. That’s why it’s so important to get to know our bodies, the conditions that can affect women and how to spot and manage them.

Jonathan Wolf: and then is it true that these cravings are towards particular sorts of food? I'm tending to think about things like fats and things like is that real?Health issues and also bone health issues. And this is because estrogen affects how our arteries dilate and expand. And so we get a sharp increase in blood pressure, which increases the risk of things like heart disease Hazel Wallace: Yeah, absolutely. And I think your experience is 100% universal, even for a lot of girls and women because when you have even a conversation around puberty, you learn more about the belief. Eating phase of the menstrual cycle, but it's a typical 28 day to 35 day cycle of hormones in fluctuation. And all of those hormones change how we feel across that month, not just those five days. The male body has always been the default body in clinical medicine, making the assumption that women are just smaller versions of men. This could not be more wrong. 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.