6 Reasons why your period could be late
Today's episode is going to be about 6 reasons why your period can be late.
The first explanation could be skipping meals. Now this one can be pretty common especially in our current culture. So let me know if this sounds familiar, let's say you are late for work and you don't really have time to have breakfast. So instead, you just grab a coffee on the way. Or if you're trying to lose a couple of pounds you skip breakfast to cut calories or you start fasting. Now fasting has its appropriate time place and it can even be beneficial for some. But for most people that are having issues with their hormones having hormone imbalances, PMS, gut issues, and things like that. Fasting doesn't help you at all. It actually does the opposite because what happens when you skip meals is that you end up with a roller coaster of blood sugar levels. So what ends up happening is that overnight your blood sugar levels will start to go down naturally. But if they're too low for too long, your pancreas will tell your body "hey we need some blood sugar back in, we're running out of fuel" Your body uses sugar aka glucose as fuel. So then your body will end up sending out more glucose to be able to keep your body stable. Then when you do have lunch your glucose levels will skyrocket because you're adding in the glucose you got from your meal. Plus the glucose that was already in your system. This then makes it a lot harder for your body to be able to process all that glucose. It could lead to a backlog so to speak of glucose. Your body prefers homeostasis so the more stable your blood sugar levels are the more stable your hormones will be in the end.
The second reason why your period can be late is Constipation. Your body has its own built-in detox center, in your digestive system. Specifically, your liver. So whenever you have an increase in hormones, like when you're ovulating. From preovulation to your luteal phase where you have an increase in hormones. It's the job of your digestive system to get rid of any excess and used up hormones. If you're not getting rid of those excess hormones regularly then you can end up with estrogen dominance. Which I think is probably the most common type of hormonal imbalance. What ends up happening is after your hormones have run their course, your body gets rid of them through waste. But if they sit there too long your body will actually reabsorb those hormones and push them right through your system again. Which ends up causing an excess of estrogen. That's why a good general rule of thumb is to have at least one bowel movement a day. If you're not, try to incorporate more liver-supporting foods like dandelion tea, fiber, or chia seeds. Things that will promote an eliminatory process to happen on a daily basis.
The third reason why your period can be late is due to stress. Stress is one of the ones that I suffer from the most. Whenever I am highly stressed or highly anxious I can immediately see it in my cycle. It also takes a long time to correct just because it takes a while for your body to be able to process the excess cortisol in your system. So the reason why stress has become so disruptive to our hormone system is that stress is very inflammatory. Cortisol, the stress hormone can cause widespread inflammation throughout the body. But the areas that it affects the most is your digestive system, specifically your gut microbiome. Now, this is super important because your gut microbiome is the one that is responsible for your immune system, mood, and how well you absorb nutrients from food. Which is a preview of one of the other reasons your period can be late, which is nutrient deficiencies. But some of the reasons why you can get nutrient deficiency is because if your gut microbiome and small intestine are too inflamed, then it will be a lot harder for your body to be to absorb those nutrients from your food. So it won't matter if you're eating the healthiest foods, if you're having all the veggies, doing keto, only eating organic, it won't matter if your body is unable to fully absorb those nutrients into your body. Stress will also naturally lower your progesterone levels. That is because when in times of high stress if your body isn't able to pump out the cortisol and adrenaline that it needs. For instance, if you're chronically stressed, it will actually steal from the precursor to progesterone. Which long term could lead to estrogen dominance because your progesterone levels are too low to balance estrogen. Stress can also delay your ovulation. That's why the Fertility Awareness method is so beneficial, you'll be able to see exactly when you ovulated and if it was delayed. The reason this happened is that your body is very intuitive. From an evolutionary standpoint, let's say you are in a hunter-gatherer society and there is an imminent threat. Either there is a drought, natural disaster, or someone is chasing you. It's not safe and that stressed will tell your body that something's going on. It's not a good time to potentially get pregnant. So your body will delay ovulation until it's safe again. Your body doesn't understand that the increase of adrenaline and cortisol isn't coming from an imminent threat. It's probably just stress from work, you're anxious or you're just highly sensitive at the time. Your body doesn't know the difference. All it knows is that it's not safe, therefore, turn everything off. Which is smart, just not very helpful right now. Going back to the high blood sugar levels. If you have either chronic stress or high blood sugar levels especially if you have both, there is an increase in weight gain. Now the issue with that is the more fat cells that your body has the more likely those fat cells are to produce estrogen. So the more fat cells you have the higher your estrogen levels will be. That's why you are more likely to have estrogen dominance if you are overweight. This is another reason why it's a really good idea to minimize your stress levels as much as possible. Like taking up meditation, which is what I personally do. Not only did it help me reduce my stress, but it has also helped me with my anxiety. That's because you are in this heightened state of arousal which your body will interpret as stress. You are still releasing a lot of adrenaline and cortisol. Your body will think you are in danger because it doesn't know the difference.
One of the best ways to reduce stress is through your diet. That's because your body can flush out cortisol. So having a good fiber-rich diet, make sure you have at least one bowel movement a day, and including some herbal supplements. Some herbs I would recommend are Dandelion root. It helps support your digestive system and your liver. Not only that but it has a grounding nature to it because the taste of it is so bold and earthy. Ashwagandha has also been getting a lot of media attention lately, it is also really good. Things like Passionflower or Lavender are also really good at helping to shift your body from fight or flight mode back into rest and digest.
Something that not a lot of people recommend that does wonders for your stress levels is orgasms. Orgasming will naturally flush out most of the cortisol in your body. It releases the hormone oxytocin which helps flush everything back out. Not only that but it also increases circulation to your pelvic area which will provide nutrient-rich blood to your ovaries and uterus. Helping in the production of progesterone. Basically, it's a win-win lol.
The fourth reason why your period can be late is due to nutrient deficiencies. Now I touched on this a little bit ago when it came to stress, but nutrient deficiencies are another one of those big causes of hormone imbalance. What is so important about what you eat is that your body uses those nutrients to make most of your hormones. Specifically your master hormones like estrogen, progesterone, melatonin, and testosterone. So if you're getting most of your nutrients say from fast food or junk food. Your body won't be able to get the right amount of nutrients it needs to produce those hormones. That's why having a more varied diet is so important. So things like magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B, are all nutrients that your body needs that are essentially the building block to your hormones. If you don't have enough of these building blocks your body isn't able to produce the right amount of hormones. This is especially the case if you are chronically stressed. Now, something I forgot to touch on is that stress along with the myriad of other issues it brings on us will get rid of your magnesium storage. Magnesium is one of the most essential nutrients that your body needs. Cortisol will dump it out and if you're not having a varied diet where you can get that magnesium back, it could lead to a hormonal imbalance. It can lead to a variety of different issues like PMS, irregular cycles, and PCOS. That's why you need to tackle hormone imbalance and any other hormone-related issues from a variety of different standpoints. That's why I always recommend having a multivitamin, magnesium, iron, Omega 3, and B vitamins. Especially if you're having any hormonal issues. Just to make sure you're covered.
It's also a good idea to cycle sync your diet. so I'll do another episode on this since it a little bit more in-depth than I can go in right now. But the general idea is that your body needs different nutrients depending on what time of your cycle it is. For instance, what you need in your follicular phase when your hormone levels are still low is gonna be very different than what your body needs post ovulation. That's when there is a lot of estrogen in your system and you need more fiber and more nutrients to be able to get rid of any of the excess hormones.
Alright, so the fifth reason why your period can be late is too much sugar. We already touched on skipping meals which are the blood sugar level spikes that we were talking about before. But this one, also incorporates how inflammatory sugar can be. So sugar can inflame your small intestine, your gut microbiome, and not only that but it can actually interfere with the type of bacteria that's in your gut. You want good bacteria in there that will help you digest the foods, absorb nutrients, and keep your gut-brain connection working optimally. The gut-brain connection is how good your gut microbiome interacts with your serotonin levels, mood, and energy levels. So if you have too much bad bacteria which could be a result of too much sugar. It could lead to being addicted to sugar, which hello that's my issue lol. But also leads to mood issues like anxiety, stress, and fatigue because of just the type of bacteria in your gut.
That's why it's always good to limit the kind of sugar you're having. Try to go for more natural sugars. But overall try to minimize your sugar, especially if you are currently having hormonal issues. It will help stabilize your blood sugar levels which will ultimately help re-balance your hormones. As well as shift the bad bacteria in your gut to the good bacteria. It's also good to add in pro and prebiotics. Prebiotics are things that good bacteria eat. So think of leafy greens, chia seed, good protein, and complex carbs. A wide variety of different healthy foods will help feed the good bacteria. When it comes to probiotics I recommend instead of getting the capsules, I would first go the nutrition route. So having more fermented foods like yogurt, kombucha, kimchi, and miso. These all have a wide variety of good bacteria.
The final reason why your period can be late is an underlying hormonal imbalance. Now if you are doing some of the other things that we've talked about so far, like too much stress, being constipated, not having a good diet, having too much sugar, or skipping meals. These can ultimately lead to an underlying hormonal imbalance. Too much estrogen in your system and not enough progesterone to balance it back out can result in painful periods or missed periods. There's a wide variety of issues when it comes to hormonal imbalance and that's why the best course of action is to take a holistic approach to healing your hormones. Things like your diet, having a wide variety of nutrients, reducing the stress, making sure you're not constipated, not skipping any meals, keeping your blood sugar levels stable. All of these things will help maintain your hormone balanced.
I do think nowadays it is harder to stay balanced just because of how much stuff your body has to process that we aren't even aware of. All of the toxins either from our deodorants, lotions, pesticides, or perfumes. We're not even aware of what our body is having to go through. I think that's why our bodies are now so sensitive. Don't get me wrong, it's not like if you go one week where it's like your birthday or a celebration that your hormones will get out of whack. Which I mean they can, but there's usually is a good leeway. Most of these issues come up after repeated abuse of your body. That's when it starts to breakdown. One reason I love periods and I don't think people talk about this enough is that it is basically a report card for your hormones. Any issues with your hormone levels you will see in your period because it changes colors, consistency, and timing. It's honestly the first indication that something is wrong. That's why we need to better understand our bodies and be able to work with them. It's a good way to biohacking your body. Now, I hate saying the word biohacking because I feel like it's not quite right. It's how your body is supposed to function. But I can't think of a more equivalent word than letting your body function at an optimal level. A quote that I heard recently that I absolutely love is that men's hormones are like the sun, they come up they come down. Same hormones different day. Now when it comes to women's hormones, we're like the moon. We go through different phases either full moon, waxing moon, Crescent moon, and waning moon. You can't expect that same kind of moon to come up every day. That would be weird and terrifying, that means something is really wrong. So we shouldn't expect the same energy from us day in and day out. Instead of forcing that same type of energy, learning exactly what kind of energy we should be bringing to the table at that time. Being able to better communicate with our body is how we're able to keep our hormones healthy and happy.
If you’re ready to start your healing journey, then I invite you to check out my Hormone Alignment Program. It’s a 3-month program to get your hormones balanced and learn how to keep them that way!
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