What’s Going On?

Check out the graph above to see what happens during each phase.

Menstruation: Low Estrogen and progesterone levels signal the body to start shedding the built-up blood and uterine lining

Follicular: Estrogen, FSH, and LH all increase during follicular and peak at ovulation.

Ovulation: Your body naturally ovulates.

The corpus luteum (the follicle where the egg came from) tells your body to start producing progesterone to make the womb a nice, welcoming place for a baby to implant.

Luteal: During the luteal phase, estrogen falls to a moderate level and progesterone rises, causing the uterine lining to build up.

  Estrogen and progesterone fall sharply before menstruation.

If you would like to optimize hormone health through life style choices, movement, and nutrition, check out our guide.

Have you ever wondered why you think or feel differently during your cycle? Throughout your cycle, progesterone, estrogen, and luteinizing hormones (LH) all surge and fall, impacting your moods, appetite, and energy.[1] 

In women, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) stimulates the growth of ovarian follicles in the ovary before the release of an egg (ovulation). It also signals the body to increase oestradiol production.[2] Your reproductive hormones change your body’s internal chemistry, which can and will affect how you think and feel. 

In men, the Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) acts on the Sertoli cells of the testes to stimulate sperm production (spermatogenesis).[3] So, adult males are hormonally consistent from day to day. During puberty, guys can have mood swings, but they don’t fluctuate cyclically like a women’s does during her cycle.

Women Are Not Small Men,

Ted Talk by Stacy Sims

What’s Going On with Hormonal Contraception?

You

can

say

NO!

If the doctor recommends hormonal contraception, you can say no! There are natural options that may work for you. You have the information and the tools to say that hormonal contraception isn’t what’s best for your body and that you want something good for your natural cycle

Be Empowered: Taking Charge of Your Hormonal Health

  1. Optimize Your Hormone Health: Learn more about what nutrition, movement, and lifestyle choices you can make to optimize your hormonal health.

  2. Learn More About the Effects of Contraceptives

  3.  Talk to a trusted women’s healthy physician or specialist. Debilitating pain and nausea during menstruation are not normal or healthy and there are natural ways to improve these conditions.

Check out the Sources:

[1] “Hormones.” You and Your Hormones, https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/. Accessed 27 February 2025.

[2] “Follicle Stimulating Hormone.” You and Your Hormones, https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/follicle-stimulating-hormone/. Accessed 27 February 2025.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Moriarty, Cassondra. “Does birth control trick your body into thinking it’s pregnant… or in menopause?” Natural Womanhood, 16 July 2021, https://naturalwomanhood.org/birth-control-contraception-tricks-your-body-into-thinking-its-pregnant/. Accessed 4 March 2025. 

[5] Mengelkoch, Summer, et al. “Hormonal contraceptive use is associated with differences in women’s inflammatory and psychological reactivity to an acute social stressor.” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, vol. 115, January 2024, pp. 747-757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.10.033. Accessed 20 February 2025.

[6] “Depression.” Natural Womanhood, updated 26 April 2024. https://naturalwomanhood.org/topic/depression/. Accessed 20 February 2025.

[7] Moriarty, Cassondra. “Does birth control trick your body into thinking it’s pregnant… or in menopause?” Natural Womanhood, 16 July 2021, https://naturalwomanhood.org/birth-control-contraception-tricks-your-body-into-thinking-its-pregnant/. Accessed 4 March 2025.