This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure here.
Wondering why you have a period? Why do we have to go through this every month, is there even a point to having a period? Is it necessary? In this post, we’ll cover the 7 period benefits THAT MAKE IT ALL WORTH IT and why it IS beneficial to have a regular and natural menstrual cycle.
Having a period each month can be inconvenient at the least – and If you are the one in ten women who experience extremely painful periods – well I’m sure you wish you could hit the “skip” button.
Your period happens due to the fluctuations of hormones that happen during your menstrual cycle. Your period signals the start of a new cycle and is the result of the build-up of the uterine lining throughout your previous cycle. The menstrual cycle is usually between 24-36 days long with ovulation occurring roughly 2 weeks out from your period.
Due to the growth of a dominant follicle estrogen rises, triggering luteinizing hormone, which then initiates ovulation. Once you ovulate the follicle that contained the egg turns into something called the corpus luteum – which literally means yellow body and is yellow in colour – cool. Once ovulation has occurred you move into the second phase of your cycle which we call the luteal phase. Here the corpus luteum makes progesterone to help nourish and stabilize the uterine lining – which was built up in the previous phase (follicular phase) -along with estrogen.
These hormones will continue to be pumped out during the corpus luteum’s lifetime which is around 12-16 days – this is why we say ovulation is around 2 weeks out from your period. If the egg you ovulated does not get fertilized the corpus luteum will degrade and the hormone production stops. This sudden drop of progesterone and estrogen initiates the shedding of the uterine lining and thus your period.
So now we understand why we get our period, but is it really necessary? The answer is YES it is! With a regular natural cycle, you will experience the fluctuation in hormone levels that have been natural to us for time and it comes with benefits we need in order to thrive.
When you get a “period” on the hormonal birth control pill, it isn’t actually a true period. What you are experiencing is a withdrawal bleed from the withdrawal of the hormones once you end that cycle pack. Certain hormonal contraceptives can stop the natural cyclic nature of our hormones and replace them with synthetic ones. This can unfortunately lead to various symptoms along with short and long-term health risks. To have a true period you must be able to ovulate. These hormonal birth control methods are relatively new in the grand scheme of things. We’ve only been using them since the 1960s. Before this women and menstruators were flowing in their body’s natural states, cyclically.
In this post, you will learn the benefits of having a regular natural menstrual cycle.
7 Benefits of a Regular and Natural Period
1. Regular Periods Reduce the Risk of Reproductive Health Issues
A regular menstrual cycle indicates that the body is producing and regulating hormones correctly. Hormonal imbalances can lead to various reproductive health issues such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and worsened endometriosis, along with other health problems like thyroid-related issues.
When the menstrual cycle is regular and symptoms are none to minimal, it ensures that hormones such as estrogen and progesterone are being produced in the correct amounts, at the right time, along with getting disposed of properly. This rhythm has a protective effect on the body reducing the risk of hormonal imbalances that can cause reproductive health issues.
A regular menstrual cycle helps to ensure that the uterine lining is being shed correctly. A buildup of the uterine lining caused by overexposure to estrogen, like during long cycles, can lead to abnormal bleeding, spotting, or more extreme conditions such as endometriosis, endometrial hyperplasia, and uterine fibroids. A regular period ensures that the uterine lining is shed regularly, reducing the risk of a buildup of tissue.
2. Regular Menstrual Cycles Improve Bone Health
When a woman experiences stable menstrual cycles and ovulates regularly, estrogen and progesterone are balanced. This hormonal balance is crucial for bone growth and limiting bone loss. Now that’s period benefits for the long run!
Estrogen plays a key role in promoting bone growth and preventing bone breakdown, also known as resorption. Progesterone, on the other hand, contributes to the slow yet steady growth of new bone by stimulating the cells responsible for bone formation, known as osteoblasts.
Women tend to reach their peak bone mass around their thirties. After this, the body’s ability to build new bones diminishes. As women enter perimenopause, their estrogen and progesterone levels start to fluctuate, disrupting the hormonal balance. This hormonal imbalance creates a less efficient system for maintaining bone mass and strength and makes it more challenging to grow new bone. This can cause bones to become more porous and weak leading to the development of osteopenia or even osteoporosis.
Hormonal birth control can also disrupt this process, as it can disrupt your body’s natural hormone production. The longer you are on hormonal contraception the more at risk you are. The depo-provera contraception injection currently has the highest risk increase for bone mineral loss and osteopenia.
Roughly 1 in 5 women over the age of 50 will be diagnosed with osteoporosis. My theory is that these numbers may increase due to many women being on certain hormonal contraception during peak bone development years. What do you think?
3. Regular Menstrual Cycles Boost Progesterone and Metabolism
Progesterone is a superstar when it comes to balancing out our body and mind. It’s mainly made in the luteal phase – remember that is the second part of the menstrual cycle, occurring after ovulation.
Progesterone helps balance estrogen’s effects and can help reduce inflammation, regulate sleep, provide mood-enhancing and anti-depressant effects, support bone health, and can help boost metabolism.
It plays an important role in regulating metabolism and fat utilization by reducing the levels of thyroid-binding globulin in the body. This helps to maintain healthy levels of free thyroid hormones, which are essential for a healthy metabolism. Low levels of progesterone can lead to weight gain by decreasing metabolism while maintaining healthy levels can help prevent weight gain and promote a healthy metabolism.
Progesterone has also been shown to affect the body’s thermogenic response, which is the amount of heat that is produced during the digestion and processing of food. This helps to increase the number of calories that the body burns, which can contribute to the overall metabolic rate. Ever wonder why you’re so hungry leading up to your period? You may need 100-300 calories more than compared to the follicular phase. Eat up, you’re body needs it!
4. Regular Menstrual Cycles Could Improve Mental Health
Progesterone is back at it by providing mood-enhancing and anti-depressant effects.
Progesterone activates the receptor sites for the neurotransmitter Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) in the brain, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. GABA is essential for maintaining a stable and calm mood, promoting a sense of well-being, and supporting healthy sleep patterns.
When progesterone levels are low, GABA function can be compromised, leading to symptoms such as anxiety, worry, insomnia, and depression, which are commonly experienced as PMS symptoms a week leading up to your period. Estrogen-dominant-like symptoms are a common cause of PMS due to low progesterone levels.
It is well-known that better sleep can lead to improved mood. Sleep is so important for hormone balance.
A quick tip: Women tend to need more sleep than men, hitting at least 7 hours, and optimally 8 or 9 hours per night. Here’s to getting all the beauty rest you can get!
5. Having a Natural Period Can Lead to More Satisfaction In the Bedroom
It’s no secret that birth control prevents pregnancy. But one accidental way it accomplishes this is by crushing your natural libido! You may have experienced this but never put two-and-two together that it may be your contraception. You may not be as interested as you once were, or when the mood strikes you need a whole bottle of lube!
Testosterone is the leading hormonal source of male and female sexual desire. In women, testosterone
levels start rising a few days before ovulation to increase sexual desire during your most fertile time, as well as a slight rise before your period -If you track your cycle you’ll know what I’m talking about!
When taking hormonal contraception, like the pill, this increases something called sex-hormone binding globulin – due to the synthetic hormones. This binds to testosterone decreasing it (this is also why some people get relief from certain types of acne when taking the combo pill). This decrease in testosterone can impact sexual desire and arousal, along with the decrease in natural estrogen fluctuations leading up to ovulation can impact natural vaginal lubrication and cause discomfort.
By having a regular and natural menstrual cycle, you will experience the natural flow of your hormones like estrogen and testosterone as they peak before ovulation naturally increasing libido.
Did you know that hormonal birth control can even affect the partners we choose?!
6. Having a Regular Symptom-free Period Can Indicate Good Health and Wellbeing
If you chart your menstrual cycle, you may start to notice patterns and symptoms at specific periods within your cycle. This can give us important information about our health and well-being. Our menstrual cycle is considered to be our fifth vital sign – just like heart rate and blood pressure are.
The length of your menstrual cycle, how regular your cycle is, the length of your luteal phase or menstrual phase and the symptoms you have before and during your period can all give you clues into how your body is functioning.
Stress both mental and physical can affect the cycle by shifting or skipping ovulation. other health issues can show up in your cycle as well like blood sugar dysregulation, thyroid issues, and other reproductive issues.
If you are having a regular and mainly symptom-free period, this generally indicates that your hormones are functioning properly and your body is in balance.
7. Having a Regular Period Could Improve Your Self-Care Game (Cycle Syncing)
Day by day you may notice a shift in energy, sociability, and even how you feel about yourself. Lots of us put so much pressure on ourselves to give the same energy each day, but this is not how we naturally flow and you may be surprised to know it may be linked to your menstrual cycle.
Men function on a 24-hour rhythm, but If you have female physiology, you have an infradian rhythm running on your specific menstrual cycle – approximately 28 days. This influences different systems in your body, including the reproductive, immune, and stress response systems, as well as your brain, metabolism, and microbiome. Understanding your infradian rhythm can help you look and feel your best by choosing a lifestyle that supports it.
By charting your menstrual cycle, you will better understand how your body flows through it. You will pick up different symptoms, and energies and find certain things that are easier for you at different points in your cycle. This can help you give grace to your body and not be so hard on yourself mentally because you have a better understanding that this is what your body needs during these times in your cycle.
This is not to mean you tip-toe around your cycle but instead live in rhythm with it, by nourishing your body, taking more rest if you need it, saying NO to certain things, and living out the different energies you feel during your cycle.
Cycle-syncing is all the talk right now. It is the practice of aligning your daily activities, including work-flow, diet, and exercise, with the different phases of your menstrual cycle -Menstrual, Follicular, Ovulatory, and Luteal.
For example, around ovulation testosterone peaks along with estrogen. You may feel an increase in energy and have more extroverted tendencies and more sexual desire. The increase in estrogen can give you a natural glow and create more symmetry in your features. This is a great time to crush it at the gym, network, and host events as confidence is booming!
Fertility awareness methods make it so easy to track your period and cycle to understand what phase you are in! Read more about these methods in the Simple Guide to the 7 Fertility Awareness Methods
Conclusion
Experiencing a natural and regular period, although sometimes frustrating, can bring along with it so many natural benefits, that most of us were unaware of. From bone health to mental health and even physical changes that make a woman’s physiology so special and unique.
Remember, certain types of hormonal contraception will, unfortunately, interrupt these natural hormonal fluctuations along with the benefits.
I highly recommend charting your cycle on paper or using an app. This will open up a whole new world and understanding of your body. Plus you can take advantage of living in rhythm with your cycle.
This Post was all about The 7 Period Benefits that make it all WORTH IT (The Benefits of Experiencing a Natural and Regular Menstrual Cycle).
References
- Prior, J. C. (2005). Perimenopause: the complex endocrinology of the menopausal transition. Endocrine Reviews, 26(3), 397-428.
- Sowers, M., Randolph Jr, J., Jannausch, M., Lasley, B., Jackson, E., & McConnell, D. (2006). Levels of sex steroid and bone markers in premenopausal and perimenopausal women: a reevaluation. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 91(2), 544-549.
- National Cancer Institute. (2022). Menstrual periods and cancer risk. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/menstrual-periods-fact-sheet
- Kelsey, T. W., & Cameron, I. T. (2014). Endocrine aspects of ovarian aging in women. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 382(1), 178-185.
- Kotsopoulos, J., & Narod, S. A. (2012). Ovarian cancer risk factors and screening. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 55(1), 3-23.
- Park, H. J., Kim, J. W., Kim, Y. T., & Kim, S. W. (2018). Reproductive factors and epithelial ovarian cancer risk by histologic type: a multiethnic case-control study. Cancer Causes & Control, 29(1), 75-87.
- Baker, F. C., & Driver, H. S. (2004). Circadian rhythms, sleep, and the menstrual cycle. Sleep Medicine, 5(3), 247-257.
- Freeman, E. W. (2004). Associations of depression with the transition to menopause. Menopause, 11(5), 534-542.
