{"id":7146,"date":"2017-02-07T02:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.avawomen.com\/?p=7146\/"},"modified":"2019-10-24T05:50:47","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T12:50:47","slug":"why-every-woman-should-track-her-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.avawomen.com\/avaworld\/why-every-woman-should-track-her-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Repoductive Hormones Are the Key to Your Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally posted at HuffPo UK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Pop quiz: what phase of your menstrual cycle are you in right now? If you\u2019re not on your period, you probably have no idea. I\u2019m smack in the middle of my follicular phase. Let me tell you how I know, and why you should care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I said \u201cmenstrual cycle,\u201d the first thing you probably thought about was menstruation. If you\u2019ve ever had a period, you know that it can come with unpleasant side effects, like cramping, bloating, and a propensity to arrive at inopportune moments. But periods aren\u2019t the only part of the cycle that you should be paying attention to. The really interesting stuff happens when you aren\u2019t bleeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The next time someone calls you \u201chormonal\u201d during your period, you can tell them that they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about. The crappy feeling some of us get during menstruation is caused by low hormone levels, not an excess. In fact, it\u2019s the variety of cyclical hormonal changes throughout the month that impact the way we look, feel and even act (and this is just as true for men as it is for women).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Since I\u2019m in my follicular phase, I\u2019ve been eating whatever I want. In the luteal phase<\/a>, I notice that I\u2019m both hungrier and more sensitive to bloating, so I try to be a little more careful about what I eat. Caffeine also moves through my system more quickly during the follicular phase, so it would be a horrible time for a cleanse; I feel the effects of withdrawal sooner than I would during the luteal phase. I\u2019m also\u2014how should I put this?\u2014horny AF.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These findings are only the tip of the iceberg. Scientists are learning that estrogen and progesterone<\/a> have impacts far beyond fertility, playing an important role in protecting your bones, your heart, and your brain. Because of the profound connection between the menstrual cycle and a woman\u2019s overall health, in 2015 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists declared it a woman\u2019s \u201cfifth vital sign\u201d<\/a>\u2014as important to her health as her blood pressure or her breath.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Understanding my fifth vital sign is fascinating, but there\u2019s also a very practical benefit: when I\u2019m ready to have kids (don\u2019t get excited mom, I said when<\/em>), I\u2019ll know exactly when to try. There are only six days of the cycle when it\u2019s possible for a woman to conceive, and tracking your cycle can identify all of them. Timing intercourse around a woman\u2019s fertile window doubles a couple\u2019s chances of getting pregnant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If the cycle holds such valuable information, why do most of us ignore it? The biggest reason is the Pill\u2014when you\u2019re on hormonal birth control<\/a>, you have no cycle to track. Not to knock the Pill; for nearly 70 years now it has freed women from the constant fear of unplanned pregnancy. But that freedom has and still does cost many of us the chance to experience and understand our natural cycles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Technology is lifting the veil on the mysteries of \u201cthe period\u201d and I\u2019m excited to be at the forefront of a movement to empower women with simple, convenient tools for harnessing the power of cycle tracking to enhance health and well-being. The Ava\u00a0bracelet<\/a> uses wearable technology to more accurately and easily track a woman\u2019s cycle by measuring seven physiological parameters<\/a>\u00a0fed into an algorithm that measures the rise in hormones estradiol and progesterone. Ava\u00a0is focused on helping couples detect a woman\u2019s fertile window to increase the odds of getting pregnant. But we know this is only the tip of the iceberg for what our sensor bracelet can do to empower women through knowledge of their cycles, including pregnancy monitoring and even contraception someday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To be honest, I think it\u2019s shocking that something like this hasn\u2019t been done already. But the male-dominated tech industry isn\u2019t exactly on the cutting edge when it comes to the issues that affect women most. We can order dinner, request a ride, or count our steps with our phones, but it\u2019s still hard, messy and inconvenient to unveil the most basic information about women\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The good news is, this is beginning to change. Ava is one of a growing number of companies inventing better, smarter, easier ways to track a woman\u2019s cycle. I hope this trend continues, because every woman deserves to experience and understand her natural cycle. What you do with it\u2014get pregnant, live healthier, or simply satisfy your curiosity\u2014is entirely up to you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted at HuffPo UK Pop quiz: what phase of your menstrual cycle are you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[897],"tags":[5136,168,167],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Repoductive Hormones Are the Key to Your Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Estrogen and progesterone have impacts far beyond fertility, playing an important role in protecting your bones, your heart, and your brain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.avawomen.com\/avaworld\/why-every-woman-should-track-her-cycle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Repoductive Hormones Are the Key to Your Health\" \/>\n<meta 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