Your menstrual cycle isn’t just about your period, it’s a dynamic, hormone-driven rhythm that affects your mood, energy, fertility, metabolism, and more. By understanding each phase of your cycle and the hormonal shifts that drive it, you can gain valuable insights into your body and make more informed health and lifestyle decisions.
Let’s break down the menstrual cycle into its key phases, followed by the body changes that happen in each.
Day 1–13: The Follicular Phase
Hormonal Profile: Estrogen-dominant
What’s Happening:
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Day 1 marks the first day of your period AKA the start of your cycle.
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During this phase, your body prepares for ovulation by maturing follicles in the ovaries.
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Estrogen gradually rises, thickening the uterine lining in preparation for possible pregnancy.
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Energy: Increases as estrogen rises
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Libido: Naturally boosted by estrogen.
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Cervical Mucus: Starts increasing, becoming clearer and more elastic closer to ovulation.
- Magnesium: is the highest during mensuration and lowest during ovulation. These fluctuation can impact PMS symptoms and water retention.
Testing Tip:
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Day 3 is a common time for hormone testing like FSH and estradiol, used to assess ovarian reserve and hormonal baseline.
Day 14: Ovulation
Hormonal Profile: Surge in luteinizing hormone (LH), peak in estrogen
What’s Happening:
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A mature egg is released from the ovary
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Libido often rises due to high estrogen levels.
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Cervical Mucus: Cervical mucus becomes clear, stretchy, and abundant, often referred to as egg-white cervical mucus (EWCM), signalling peak fertility.
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Libido: Peaks due to high estrogen.
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Basal Body Temperature (BBT): Increases the day after ovulation
- Body temperature will rise slightly after ovulation (typically ≥0.5°C) due to increased progesterone.
Fertility Insight:
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This is your fertile window. EWCM helps sperm travel efficiently to the eggs.
Day 15–28: The Luteal Phase
Hormonal Profile: Progesterone-dominant
What’s Happening:
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After ovulation, the ruptured follicle becomes the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone.
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Progesterone supports early pregnancy if fertilization occurs.
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If not, hormone levels fall and the cycle restarts with menstruation.
- Cervical Mucus: Becomes sticky or cloudy as progesterone reduces mucus elasticity.
- Temperature: Remains elevated due to progesterone.
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Breathing: Progesterone increases depth and rate of respiration, possible causing a feeling of breathlessness or air hunger
- Energy: Tends to dip, especially right before your period due to falling estrogen and rising progesterone. At the start of your period, both estrogen and progesterone levels are at their lowest, which often leads to a noticeable drop in energy levels.
- Mood and PMS: Bloating, irritability, and breast tenderness may occur. Magnesium plays a role here, its levels fluctuate and can influence these symptoms.
Testing Tip:
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Day 21 can be done to evaluate estrogen-to-progesterone ratio to help identify estrogen dominance, which may cause symptoms like mood swings or bloating.
Tracking your cycle isn’t just useful for fertility, it’s a powerful tool for understanding your mood, energy, metabolism, and health. Whether you're trying to conceive, manage PMS symptoms, or simply understand your body better, tuning into your menstrual phases can help you work with your cycle instead of against it.
About the author:
Hi, I’m Abinaa, a fourth-year naturopathic medical student at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine with a deep-rooted passion for natural healing, inspired by my South Asian upbringing. Through this blog, I hope to share my journey, explore topics in holistic health and wellness, and offer simple, thoughtful insights that support a more balanced and mindful way of living.
