How Cycle Syncing Can Help You Manage Your Blood Sugar
The step-by-step daily and menstrual phase-specific protocol that helped me regulate my blood sugar in just 3 months.
The blood sugar conversation is too often lost on young women and we’re rarely given the tools to understand what to look for, with even fewer natural solutions. It took having gestational diabetes (twice!) for me to dive deeper into my blood sugar and create a new awareness throughout my cycle.
In this blog series on why blood sugar matters for women, I’ve shared my personal struggle with insulin resistance and how I turned to a continuous glucose monitor to learn more about my body’s rhythm.
Now, it’s time to put what we’ve learned into practice with a realistic protocol for stabilizing blood sugar with your cycle in mind.
Short on time? Here are the key takeaways:
Daily Protocol
Spice it up. Add turmeric, black pepper, and ceylon cinnamon to your diet.
Ordered eating and carb pairings. Eat fiber (veggies) first, then fat and protein, and finish with carbohydrates.
No naked carbs. Avoid consuming carbohydrates on their own. Instead pair with protein or fat.
Identify acute stress. The first step in reducing stress is to become more aware of it. Start paying attention to the early warning signs (heartbeat, tunnel vision, racing thoughts, etc.) and identify specific situations that are likely to produce stress.
Address acute stress. With simple tools like the 90-second rule, lengthening the exhale, and giving energy a place to go, you can neutralize acute stressors and help prevent a prolonged glucose spike.
High-Hormone Protocol
Modify macros. To accommodate the metabolic shift toward energy sourcing from fatty acids, decreasing insulin sensitivity, and catabolism, exchange carbs for more protein and fat in the luteal phase.
Limit grazing. Lengthening the time between meals to 3-4 hours gave my glucose levels a chance to ‘reset’ and led to more stability overall.
Pre-load with apple cider vinegar or fiber. Drink either 1 tbsp of ACV or 1 tsp of psyllium husk in 8 oz of water 20 min before meals and at bedtime.
Post-meal walks and movement. A short walk or practice in the 30–60-minute window after a meal goes a long way. Proven in practice, low-intensity movement within an hour of eating can stabilize spikes, promote healthy digestion, alleviate post-meal fatigue, and reduce bloating.
Exercise intensity and timing. Begin gradually decreasing exercise intensity after ovulation and stick to low-intensity during the last 5-7 days of your cycle. Try to work out closer to midday or early afternoon to reduce the cumulative effect of cortisol in the morning
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The guidance included in this post is intended for active women participating in some form of regular resistance training and exercise.
Information in this post and on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. The information is a result of practice experience and research by the author. This information is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Do not use the information on this web site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always speak with your physician or another healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem.
A Nonmedical Approach With Phasic Interventions
After refusing to believe that medication was the only option for preventing an inevitable decline of my metabolic health, I was determined to find a nonmedical protocol that could prevent or at least delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Based on data from my CGM and a journal tracking both cyclical and daily fluctuations in my symptoms, the following protocol helped me reduce my HbA1c from a prediabetic 5.8 to a high-normal 5.5 in just 3 months.
Daily Protocol
Spice It Up
In addition to boasting anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric has been shown to reduce blood glucose levels and mitigate other symptoms of insulin resistance like hyperglycemia, cognitive decline, and neuropathy. (1)
Many turmeric supplements include black pepper which plays a supporting role in the absorption of turmeric by way of the compound piperine. Piperine significantly increases the bioavailability of turmeric, helping you get more from this spice.
High in antioxidants, ceylon cinnamon reduces oxidative stress and inflammation to protect cells and improve function. (2) It has also been shown to support the movement of glucose into cells, imitating the effects of insulin. (3)
The effects of the spices above build over time. In the last three months, I’ve added a daily supplement that includes all three to my evening routine.
Ordered Eating and Carb Pairings
Thanks to an eye-opening interview with Jessie Inchauspé on Max Lugavere’s Genius Life podcast, I discovered how simply changing the order in which I eat food at meals can reduce the effect on blood glucose. Her recommendation is to consume food in the following order:
fiber (veggies)
protein and fat
Finish with carbs.
Jessie’s guidance also influenced a major change in the way I prepare our family’s evening meals. I’m sure you can relate to the late afternoon stretch between 4 and 6 where you (and your family) are hungry, but you know dinner is right around the corner.
For us, this generally meant snacking on carbs while cooking to tide me over while dolling out similar snacks to satisfy the masses. I’m still working on a way to bridge the gap for my kiddos, but I’ve since learned how these naked carbs were wreaking havoc on my metabolism and contributing to insulin resistance.
When I eat carbohydrates without a protein or fat pairing, my blood glucose levels readily exceed the 200 mark, particularly in the luteal phase.
The solution? No naked carbs and no pre-meal snacking. It’s not popular advice, but it’s now a tenet of my metabolic and hormone health.
Identify Acute Stress
I am a yoga teacher. I am trained in therapeutic movement for traumatic brain injury and have a decade of studentship in meditation and using movement as medicine. And somehow, I still missed this red flag in my early attempts to identify the potential causes of my erratic blood glucose—stress!
It wasn’t until wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that I started to see the correlation between periods of acute stress and non-food glucose spikes. I shared the story in a previous blog of my high glucose alarm going off during particularly challenging episodes with my toddler siblings—throwing punches over legos, meltdowns about improperly peeled bananas, and other behaviors signature to newly developing brains.
Our nervous systems respond to stress by releasing cortisol to bring survival systems online. As a result, blood glucose levels rise to make energy available for addressing an immediate threat with physical activity e.g. fighting or fleeing.
With modern stressors, physical activity isn’t typically necessary and as a result blood glucose stays elevated without an energy demand to counter the spike.
Reducing stress is easier said than done. We generally aren’t aware of stress building until we’re in a full-blown fight-or-flight response. It follows that the first step in reducing stress is to become more aware of it.
Start paying attention to the early warning signs (heartbeat, tunnel vision, racing thoughts, etc.) and identify specific situations that are likely to produce stress.
Address Acute Stress
When you are able to identify stress as it is happening, you can then arm yourself with tools to release energy and calm the nervous system. Here are a few that have been working for me:
The 90-second rule. When a stressful emotion is triggered by something external, the body undergoes a 90-second chemical process in response. After the initial 90 seconds, it requires conscious thought to stay in the emotion.
When possible, allow 90-seconds for a stressful emotion to be metabolized so you can make a conscious choice about your response.Energy release. When stressed, your body is energized for movement. In the absence of movement, the energy has nowhere to go.
Give elevated energy an exit strategy through movement, sound, or muscle activation. Squat in place, scream into a pillow, let out a lion’s breath, go for a walk, squeeze your fists, do some jumping jacks. (My kids love this one because when mom spontaneously starts jumping up and down, it’s hard to keep a straight face!)Expand your exhale. When you inhale, your heart rate increases. When you exhale it slows down. Lengthening exhales relative inhales can activate the parasympathetic nervous system and help calm you down.
Inhale deeply through the nose for a count of 4, exhale deeply through the mouth for a count of 8. For a stress-relieving bonus, let out “OM” as you do.
Additional High-Hormone Protocol
In the high-hormone luteal phase, insulin sensitivity declines and carbohydrate metabolism is less effective. This can lead to mood swings, low energy, and PMS—bloating, breakouts, headaches, low mood, etc.
During my 3-month CGM experiment, I was able to see this cyclical pattern of insulin resistance and implemented the additional routines below to reduce glucose spikes and improve fasting levels.
High levels of estrogen during the ovulatory phase proved to be problematic for my blood sugar, so I typically implement the following when I notice my telltale ovulation markers—egg white cervical mucus and a jump in fasting AM blood glucose.
Modify Macros
During the luteal phase, my carbohydrate tolerance goes down significantly as evidenced by skyrocketing blood glucose values with even the most innocent foods. I’ve been practicing a modified macronutrient distribution for the high-hormone luteal phase for a while and this one was something of a no-brainer.
While macronutrient needs will be widely variable, I like to keep calories from carbohydrates to < 40% in the second half of my cycle and now with diagnosed insulin resistance, I often keep this closer to 20-30%.
To accommodate the metabolic shift toward energy sourcing from fatty acids, decreasing insulin sensitivity, and catabolism, exchange carbs for more protein and fat in the luteal phase. (11)
Limit Grazing
This might be another unpopular opinion if you’re like me and you love to snack, but during the luteal phase, I had better blood sugar values when I allowed more space between meals.
This was perhaps the hardest part for me because I reach for sustenance every two hours. This was a necessary habit during pregnancy and was reinforced while breastfeeding. I have snacks in every bag, every car, and bring my own on vacation.
During high-hormone days, my blood glucose was regularly over 140 at the 2-hour mark after meals and often stayed above 100 for up to 4 hours. When I continued habitual grazing, this led to postprandial values well above the 140 threshold. To address this issue, I switched to fewer meals spread further apart, making sure to increase calories at each meal to support a faster luteal metabolism.
Lengthening the time between meals to 3-4 hours gave my glucose levels a chance to ‘reset’ and led to more stability overall.
Pre-Drink Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) contains acetic acid which slows the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine and in effect slows the breakdown of carbohydrates. The same amount of glucose is released into the blood, but it happens gradually and spreads a potential spike over a longer period of time. The net effect is more stable blood sugar. (5)
ACV is not the most pleasant of protocols, but it is quickly growing on me because the results are immediate and measurable. Plus, drinking a full glass of water never hurts.
Dilute 1-2 tbsp of ACV in 8 oz of water. Drink through a glass or metal straw 15-20 minutes before meals and before going to bed.
Pre-Load Fiber
Similar to ACV, a bolus of fiber, like psyllium husk, preceding meals can effectively slow the rate of digestion and improve both post-meal and fasting blood sugar levels. (6) Also similar to ACV, drinking psyllium husk is not the most enjoyable routine. For this reason, I prefer to alternate between the two for meal and bedtime protocols.
Mix 1 tsp of psyllium husk powder in 8 oz of water and drink immediately. May be used 15-20 minutes before meals and before going to bed.
Post-Meal Walks and Movement
As I mentioned in a previous post, a little movement in the 30–60-minute window after a meal goes a long way. Proven in practice, low-intensity movement within an hour of eating can:
Stabilize post-prandial blood glucose spikes
Promote healthy digestion and alleviate post-meal fatigue
Reduce bloating and improve circulation during luteal phase
A simple walk outside will do the trick, but if you’re in the winter season with decreasing daylight and colder temperatures, you might love this 15-minute at-home movement session to help reduce post-meal glucose spikes and keep your hormones happy in the luteal phase.
Exercise Intensity and Timing
Finally, a note on exercise and a return to my wheelhouse. During moderate to high-intensity workouts that put you above 50% of your max heart rate, there is an immediate demand for physical energy that your body registers as a stress signal. Cortisol is released and initiates a cascade of physiological changes to make more energy available—heart rate and respiration increase and more glucose enters the blood by breaking down tissues. (7)
This state of alarm allows you to work hard and produce the stimulus necessary for desired adaptations like strength, power, and speed. In a well-resourced system, this response is temporary and produces a net positive effect.
I saw this reflected on my CGM during follicular phase workouts where I would see a very sharp glucose spike during exercise, sometimes over 200, followed by an equally sharp decline to normal when my workout was over. I also found that on the days when I engaged in high-intensity sessions, my average glucose levels were lower.
Conversely, in the late luteal phase, my baseline levels were higher to start with and even with moderate intensity and adequate rest, I saw a significant glucose spike. The biggest difference though, was how long it took my blood sugar to return to normal. It often stayed elevated for several hours after sessions that exceeded the low-intensity threshold.
This doesn’t mean you have to ditch challenging workouts for two weeks out of every month. Instead, begin gradually decreasing exercise intensity after ovulation and stick to low-intensity during the last 5-7 days of your cycle.
A note on timing: cortisol is naturally higher in the morning and in the late luteal phase, it’s likely that your fasting blood sugar is too. In the last week of your cycle, try to work out closer to midday or early afternoon if possible to reduce the cumulative stress response.
An Entry Point to Feeling Better
The blood sugar conversation is too often lost on young women and we’re rarely given the tools to understand what to look for, with even fewer natural solutions. It took having gestational diabetes (twice!) for me to dive deeper into my blood sugar and create a new awareness throughout my cycle.
I hope my personal journey and the research I’ve shared with you helps you wherever you are on your journey. Maybe you incorporate a few of these tips or even try a continuous glucose monitor to see where your levels are at and how they fluctuate with that natural rise and fall of your hormones.
The protocol above has a low cost of entry and the potential to improve mood, cognitive function, hormone balance, and energy levels. Why not give it a try? I would love to hear your story too.
For more ways to use exercise to improve PMS, check out Movement Medicine for PMS Support on YouTube.
Zhang, D. W., Fu, M., Gao, S. H., & Liu, J. L. (2013). Curcumin and diabetes: a systematic review. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2013, 636053. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/636053
Roussel, A. M., Hininger, I., Benaraba, R., Ziegenfuss, T. N., & Anderson, R. A. (2009). Antioxidant effects of a cinnamon extract in people with impaired fasting glucose that are overweight or obese. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 28(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2009.10719756
Jarvill-Taylor, K. J., Anderson, R. A., & Graves, D. J. (2001). A hydroxychalcone derived from cinnamon functions as a mimetic for insulin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 20(4), 327–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2001.10719053
Geiker, N. R., Ritz, C., Pedersen, S. D., Larsen, T. M., Hill, J. O., & Astrup, A. (2016). A weight-loss program adapted to the menstrual cycle increases weight loss in healthy, overweight, premenopausal women: a 6-mo randomized controlled trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 104(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.126565
Cheng, L. J., Jiang, Y., Wu, V. X., & Wang, W. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis: Vinegar consumption on glycaemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Journal of advanced nursing, 76(2), 459–474. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14255
Bajorek, S. A., & Morello, C. M. (2010). Effects of dietary fiber and low glycemic index diet on glucose control in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The Annals of pharmacotherapy, 44(11), 1786–1792. https://doi.org/10.1345/aph.1P347
Hill, E. E., Zack, E., Battaglini, C., Viru, M., Viru, A., & Hackney, A. C. (2008). Exercise and circulating cortisol levels: the intensity threshold effect. Journal of endocrinological investigation, 31(7), 587–591. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345606
