Why Women Need to Stop Normalizing Period Pain | Seed Cycling Explained with Kaya Purohit and Yasmin

Do you hear a lot of stories around women coming off of birth control and the struggles that they go through?

Yeah, but the, the crazy thing is, is that we think it's normal. They're suffering, but they're suffering silently. Maybe in our circles we talk about these things, but a lot of women aren't sharing the pain that they're going through or the cramps because they think it's completely normal. So how many of us are silently suffering every month, not even knowing the type of life you can live with normal periods, normal hormones? The biggest thing that Kea and I wanna do is put that content out there to be like, you don't have to live like this. You don't have to suffer. Let's talk about these things.

All right, welcome back to Rooted in Wellness. Today is a very special episode because I get to do this with 2 of my friends. I'll call them even my soul family in Los Angeles. Kaya and Yasmin, welcome to Rooted in Wellness.

We're so happy to be here. Thank you for having us. Thank you. In this gorgeous location. Stunning.

I know, looking at nature and treetops, it's like a perfect vibe, especially for, for us. So I'm going to try to keep this professional and not get too like into your real life.

Yeah, we're down for whatever. Yeah, we'll go anywhere.

Yeah, it's so cool. I can just have coffee with people and just, you know, do this, which is special. Um, part of the reason I have this podcast is because of your husband nudging me to just do it. So shout out to Drew and your brother.

Yes.

Right. So, uh, I just feel like we're coming full circle because when I thought about guests, you are the two that I wanted to come on.

Oh my gosh. Yes.

Your story, the authenticity, your drive, your professionalism, your backgrounds, just all aligned. So, I just wanna tell you how much I care about you.

We're so grateful for your support and love everything you're doing. Thank

you. All right, to kick things off, we always ask experts in these chairs to tell us what are the first few things that help you feel more rooted throughout the day? The intention of the podcast is to help people feel rooted and really feel grounded in who they are and how they live life. And what I believe is like, This inner capacity or wisdom that we all have to heal. So maybe tell us one or two things that you both love every single day to help you feel rooted again.

Yeah,

well, especially as new moms.

Oh my gosh. I was gonna say, well, I'm in an interesting place in my life. I have a 7-month-old at home. So we were, Kay and I were talking about this, like pre-babies, our lives looked very different when it came to wellness and the things we talked about and the things we did. So we're just kind of discovering like, how do we get rooted in what's important to us in this new life with running a business, having a young child at home? And that's something I'm actually thinking about Quite a bit as I'm coming back to the world. And I would say one thing that I'm trying to be more mindful of is just, you know, breathwork has always been something I've wanted to work on and just taking the time to, you know, break out, whether it's 15 minutes throughout the day, just to be a little bit more centered, you know, step outside on the balcony, just do some deep breathwork, which I know you're a big proponent of. Mm-hmm. But it truly makes such a difference and it's easy. So if you have a call or a baby, like you can take 10 minutes, you know, to just drop into peace. peace, serenity, no texting, no phone calls. So I think that's something I'm trying to be a little bit more mindful of.

Um, on a daily basis. Leave it to a baby to attract you back to everything that you know your body needs to be doing.

It's true.

Seriously. Well,

what about you?

Since walking into your beautiful home here, I think the answer that comes to me is community and people. And honestly, Mona, you have always felt like somebody I'm around, I'm like instantly grounded.

Yeah, true.

And I think that that matters so much, especially when you're A mom, you don't have a ton of time. It's like, okay, I wanna be selective about the people that I'm around because I don't have a ton of time. So to me it's like, who can I be around? Through osmosis, I'm feeling their vibes. My husband is like a huge, he's just full of laughter and humor and all of that. So, um, just picking up the phone, calling my siblings, like anytime I can be connected to somebody, that is what makes me feel rooted.

So good.

Yeah.

I wonder if there's like this inner wisdom that we have as women to go back to practices that all of our ancestors would've practiced. Totally. Right? Like, They were practicing breathwork together. They were gathering in community all the time. And before we started recording, we were talking about just like access to those things and being closer to family and reasons why we would never move or any of those things. So they're super powerful. And honestly, I asked that question because 99.9% of the people answer modalities that are free.

Yeah, I was gonna say it's all free. Exactly.

We have to bang the flies in here. I know. Get outta here. Get outta the way. All right, so on the flip side, you know, we've gone through our own journeys in many different ways, and I really despise the expression falling off the wagon when I get that from my clients, because we have to accept we're living in times that are different than our ancestors ever lived in.

Yeah.

And so we just go through these cycles of feeling uprooted. When my health was at its worst, I was extremely uprooted from the things that I knew would support my body. So do you notice when you drift and when you feel uprooted? And this is obviously— you guys have such young babies, The no sleep thing is so relevant to this conversation. But outside of that, do you notice when you drift? What are the things that cause you to feel uprooted?

Oh my gosh. Oh, that is such a good question. And I'm like, I really have to think about this for a second. But I think for me, especially now raising kids, my daughter's almost 5, my son is almost 2. So like tantrums are a thing, right? And I was reading this book and it was saying children do not respond well from a place that is not joyful. Mm-hmm. And I was like, that is so true for adults too. Like how can I expect my children to listen to me if I'm coming from a place of fear or trying to be authoritarian.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and so I feel that anytime I'm not, it's not always possible, but anytime I'm not coming from a place of joy or I did not prioritize joy that day, I feel not rooted.

Mm-hmm.

So it's like, what can I do to tap back into my joy? Not only for me, but for my children, because not only will they respond better, but I will just feel better throughout the day. So, That is my theme of the year, is joyful.

So powerful. I feel like having children again is the reflection of the things that we need to do, but biologically, and even what science is proving, right? Like, a lot of this conversation used to be woo-woo.

Yeah.

But we can now understand the power of frequency and vibration.

Yeah.

And when our body experiences joy and awe and wonder, you're putting your body into a healing state.

Yes, exactly right. Yeah. I mean, even think about If you're out, and especially women, we tend to be more empathetic creatures. Mm-hmm. If you're in a room and there's somebody who's an energy vampire, right? Or they're sucking the energy or their mood, like we feed off of that. And I always try to be, think about that a little bit too. Like I have to be responsible for the energy that I bring.

Mm-hmm.

To a situation. Um, but what you're saying is so true. I, oxytocin, right? Like women, we thrive off of that. So the science is catching up, or it caught up a long time ago. Yeah. But it's like circling back in a way.

You got it.

Yeah.

I think you can order oxytocin now as a spray. Really?

Wait,

Mona, sign me up.

I know.

No, I'm serious. Yeah. Does it work? A company? I don't know.

We should try it.

I just had a conversation with somebody who him and his wife were ordering it.

Interesting.

Oh my gosh. We should have thought of that.

I was going to say a new product launch coming soon from Bia made for women.

Ladies, yeah, you need this. So true.

Yeah.

What about you?

Oh gosh, this is so timely. And I feel like we again, we're talking about this. This morning, but I would say I have had. I have not been moving my body as much as I typically have, and I am definitely feeling the repercussions of it from a mental health perspective. Right? It's like you're running a business, you're at home with a baby, we're adjusting, and I dropped off the wagon in terms of movement and body, and I just forgot about myself. And thankfully, I have a husband and an amazing sister-in-law who remind me of the free. Basic things to do that change your life, and as simple as it sounds, booking a workout class, getting out for an hour, and it's not even like a crazy class. It's like what's approachable for me in my life right now. Let me take a barre class. Let me go for a 30-minute walk. I come back thinking like I can take over the world. I can start ten more businesses, have a million more babies, and life is good, and do podcasts all day every day. It's like the best drug is movement, and I need that reminder sometimes too. And I try to remind my mom, right? Like everyone around me just. The power of movement is just so magical.

I think we all need it, especially like as practitioners too, right? We can prescribe it all the time, but, and everyone knows, I felt the feeling of life is so hard. How can I do this? To, oh my God, life is so beautiful, I can do anything. It's just, yeah, it's so good.

It adds capacity to what you can deal with. I was reading a book, I forgot what it was. It's like when you rest or take care of yourself, it adds capacity to the hardships of life. And everyone goes through difficulties in life, personally, professionally. So it's like an easy drug of movement that you can take. can have capacity to deal with the hard stuff.

Yeah, get up and move. I love it. Simple reminders. Simple. But again, the power in the basics. We have to go back to the power in the basics. Yes. Okay, before we get into all the good stuff, we start with some rapid-fire questions.

Okay.

A lot of people gulp. Don't worry. I know.

I'm like, uh, I'm like, rapid-fire?

Yeah, rapid-fire or slow-firing brains?

We'll see how rapid we are.

I'm with you, you guys. All right. We'll go deeper into everything, but let's just start with this first one. True or false? Period pain is just part of being a woman.

I'm gonna say false.

Thank you. Which is the one thing in most women's medicine cabinets that is quietly wrecking their hormones?

Oh, that's a good question.

Should we say it on the count of 3? No, you go for it. Fragrance.

Skincare.

Anything with

fragrance.

Parabens.

Yes.

Phthalates, all the things, right? All right. What's the most surprising thing a woman has told you that happened to her body after seed cycling?

Oh, so many. Oh gosh,

you guys have so many great testimonials.

So many good ones. Yeah. I mean,

what's the best one?

Women being able to get pregnant is just my favorite. It will always be my favorite. Yeah. I've been seed cycling for a year and I started ovulating again. Yeah. Holy crap. Like to be able to help a woman get pregnant. Oh my gosh. Like, yeah, that's amazing.

Yeah. Or even like getting off SSRIs. Like we were saying, someone who found us, you know, when we launched a few years ago through you, Mona, and she's still an OG customer and just said like, I got off all my medication and I feel wonderful. And you're like, the power of food. If we could only learn this as teenagers, what would our life look like? You know? So it's just amazing what, again, going back to basics, foundational things can do for your life.

We've also gotten texts from husbands. Right.

Yes.

Yeah.

My wife no longer hates me in her luteal phase. Yeah. We are not fighting anymore. Like her mood is more balanced. And I know that sounds very cliché, but it's actually impacting families. So,

no girl, I wanted to divorce my husband during my luteal phase. I loved him. Yeah. He was the love of my life the day before, and then it's like a switch. We'll get more into that.

Hormones are wild.

They really are.

Wild. All right. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well does conventional medicine actually support women's hormone health? I'm walking you right into this.

Oh my gosh. On a scale of 1 to 10, and 10 being like amazing, truly supportive, truly supportive. And it's the women's health specifically, or? I will say living in Southern California, I have seen some pretty amazing MDs who are very progressive. So I feel I'm in a bubble.

You are.

Um, and however, if I go into maybe the rest of the country, it's probably what, 2, like a 2?

That's a great answer, right? Like we're so privileged to live in a place where there's so much progressive thinking and people know about integrative healthcare and functional medicine and stuff like that. It's still very unknown to so many.

Yeah, very unknown. Yeah.

All right. Seed cycling or hormone testing. If a woman could only do one first, which would you tell her to start with and why?

That's a really good question. Seed cycling, because it's easy.

You got it.

It's very low lift.

Yeah.

And testing can be expensive if you wanna do something like a Dutch test, which you have to do, do through a, a specific practitioner. Or your doctor might say, hey, we're gonna test your hormones, but we'll just do it on a random day. And it's like, okay, everything looks good, or everything looks Looks awful, but it's like, wait, did they even do the test on the day they were supposed to? Did they follow your hormones through the month? Um, anything where you can just add something to your life that's full of nutrients is going to be way easier.

Way easier. Yeah, it's so much— so supportive for so many other things.

Totally.

We're gonna hover on the Dutch test just for a second. So the Dutch test is a urine test, which is probably the most accurate test that you can do to check in on women's hormones and men's. Um, but can I just say, it's the most impossible test to do. I just sent mine in today.

Okay.

But as somebody who has never had a regular cycle, um, and then if you're busy or traveling or on the go or with kids or timing it all, it's like, it seems virtually impossible.

It's very overwhelming.

And the first time that I sent it in, there was an issue with it, so I had to, like, re-pee on a stick and time it again. And then, of course, the results are completely different, right? So—

And even interpreting the results, if you don't have the right person, you're like, what is this? And you feel even more overwhelmed. overwhelmed, like, what's going on with my body? What is— what is all this? Yeah.

Anyways, we'll talk more about that one. Last one: what would you change if girls were taught about seed cycling before they were ever offered birth control?

Oh my gosh, what a pipe dream. I like—

the world would be such a different place. I'm answering.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it would be. I mean, in an ideal world— and I know we'll probably talk about hormonal birth control at some point, and that's a huge part of Yasmin's story— in an I know that doctors do not have the time. They are not paid to have the time.

Yeah.

Insurance companies are involved. It's a— it's a beast of a situation. In an ideal world, a young girl would come in with an advocate, her— hopefully her mother or, you know, caregiver, and the doctor would come down— come and say, hey, here's a pamphlet. You're probably not gonna read it about hormonal birth control, but let me give you a little bit of a rundown of the possibilities and the possible side effects. And hey, if this doesn't work, there are other options. However, what we could do is in conjunction with this, mm-hmm, you can make lifestyle changes. Yeah. Or let's try the lifestyle changes first. Now I should preface this, I'm talking about when it's used not for not getting pregnant. That's a different story. Yeah. You know, and there are other things like fertility awareness method. I'm talking about in situations of p— PCOS, potentially endometriosis, you know, some of these things where it's like, hey, you feel like crap, let's just cover it up with this. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe part of that would be try seed cycling, try blood sugar balancing, try working out. Oh, you have now PCOS is PMOS. Let's look into your sleep. Let's look into all of this stuff.

It's funny, you know, it's sad. I have a feeling that every woman listening has had a different entry point into understanding their physiology and their hormones that probably had a very rough entry.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Shout out to the girls who, who didn't, but you guys are unicorns. Man, like, I don't think I really know any woman who just had these effortless cycles, who went into puberty where things were consistent and regular without any symptoms on the side, or who didn't have a story around a doctor or practitioner who steered them into a direction that wasn't actually supportive. So it's a powerful conversation today. You know, we're going to touch on a certain demographic, but I really want this to appeal to a lot of different demographics. Like, we all have, you know, we have kids.

Yeah.

Eventually, we're going to talk about their fertility. So, daughters, wherever you're at right now, this conversation is for you.

So important if you have daughters.

Oh my gosh. I'm already thinking about it. I'm just like, good Lord. So, growing up, I remember the conversation really being around managing symptoms, right? Whether it was headaches, PMS, uh, period pain, low back pain, acne, just figuring out how to manage your symptoms. Right? And from the get-go, I was somebody who never had a regular cycle.

Okay.

My cycle was always 3 months apart. And so when I got older, doctors of course wanted to put me on a birth control pill to regulate my cycle. And then flash forward, I got to my 40s, and, um, a gynecologist looked at me and she's like, oh, 3 months, that was just your regular. That was just regular for you. It was completely normal. You didn't have to do that to yourself. So we can't go back in time.

Yeah.

When we think about our periods, it's a messenger from our body. It's communication from this incredible system within us. So when you guys were doing your research and really understanding the variety of stages of periods for so many women, how do you describe our periods and what they're trying to tell us? Does that make sense?

100%. Yeah.

Well, one thing that always blew my mind, I'm like, why was I not educated about this? It's a 5th vital sign, and it's essentially a report card. Imagine every every month you get a report card on your health of how you're doing. Like, what a gift. But that's not something we ever learn. Like, you know, let's say now we have more awareness, but I have tough weeks of stress. There was one time I didn't even get my period and you're like, okay, this is a recalibration of like, I need to get back to rooted. What do I need to, I need to get back to the basics. So if you can look at it as a report card, and if, you know, what's unfortunate is that we also don't even learn how to review the report card. We think, Certain pain and PMS symptoms are normal, which I did for majority of my life. I didn't even think you could have like I didn't even think you could have a painless period. I didn't even know that was possible. I didn't know anyone in my circle who had quote unquote pain-free periods. So I think there's just a lack of education, and it's so mind-blowing because it's so important for a woman's body. Like this should be something we learn when we're younger, and it could help us in fertility, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause. Post-menopause, like, it affects the rest of our life. And we know with women's hormones how complicated it is, unlike men's hormones, you know? There's so much that we go through all the time. So that would be—

Maybe let's hover for a second. For our listeners, let's just shout out some of the symptoms that we all feel or that we've heard about. You know, my best friend has the most painful migraines when she's on her cycle, debilitating, and nothing's ever worked to fix it, and she still has to show up and go to work, right? For me, I mentioned, like, Moodiness, just insane moodiness and sadness that came up. What other symptoms did you experience?

That was mine, same as yours. Moodiness, sadness, just feeling like, what am I doing with my life? Who am I? Existential crisis.

Yeah.

I think migraines is one that you mentioned.

Yeah.

Moodiness, really bad cramps. We have women who take like 8 Advils a day. Breast tenderness.

Breast tenderness, acne, back pain. Um, bloatedness.

And, and to that I will say, because our hormones are fluctuating throughout the month, some sort of change is inevitable, right? Like you cannot expect to feel 100% the way that you would when you're ovulating in your luteal phase.

Right.

However, when anything becomes debilitating, yeah. Or when it gets in the way of your life. Mm-hmm. So for example, oh, on day 14 I would've gone to that party, but on day 21 I'm not going to that party. Yeah. Okay. That is a red flag. Mm-hmm. Right. That is like something is going on. It should not. stop you from living your life. And that's when we say deeper investigation needs to happen.

When we think about the lens too of what's happening in the world today, I feel like rates of anxiety, sadness, depression, suicide are higher than they've ever been in history, right? And yet I really don't think that the conversation has shifted around understanding teenagers who go through puberty and understanding their cycle and these ranges of emotions that they could be feeling. Yeah. And to not be understood, and to have to show up for life every single day, despite that, I really just don't think that has ever— still, to this day, with all the awareness that's coming out around women's health, and hormones, and stuff like that, it's not making front-page news.

Oh, God.

Women still have to show up, and do whatever they have to do to function in today's world, despite the suffering that's happening under the hood.

Right.

You mentioned the 5th vital sign. So, when we think about this, when we think about our temperature, our pulse, heart rate, our blood pressure. Dive a little bit more deeper into that. What does that mean? I know who's, who's gonna take this.

So, you know, it's actually, it's interesting. Basically, how should I, how should I start this? Okay, so the period as the 5th vital sign. There are so many women that I know, I'll speak from my personal experience, who have no idea when their period is coming. Like, they don't know when it's coming, they don't know when it's going. It could be a year, it could be 2 months. If something is for the most part— Natalie Crawford is really good about saying this— you should know within like 1 or 2 days roughly when, when your period is coming. If you have really bad cramps, if you have all these other symptoms like in PMOS, you might have cystic acne, you might have heavy bleeding, like you're just really, really like you're changing your tampon, your pad often, that is a sign that it's not just about your gynecological health. Mm-hmm. Something deeper is going on in your body. It might be your metabolic health. It could be your thyroid. thyroid. It could be all these other things. So essentially it's saying, hey, there's a signal here that something is off in the body, just the way like if you have really high blood pressure, something is off here that could impact your health in the future. For example, women who have PMOS, they have a significantly higher rate of developing things like heart disease in the future or certain cancers, right? So it's like if you had high blood pressure, you would not ignore that. But so many women are taught Hey, bad periods are just a fact of life. Like, oh, PCOS, everybody has that.

Yeah,

it's all good. No, don't ignore this because down the line you're 50, 60, that could turn into something else.

You got it. When did the shift happen from PCOS to PMOS?

That just happened like a month ago.

Yeah, right? Yeah, this is really new.

It's really new and it's so exciting to me, although there's some controversy around it because some people are saying, is this to account for the fact that we want everybody to be on GLP-1s? Like, You know, I try to look at the bright side and say we don't really ever get updates in women's health, so this feels exciting to me. Um, and I think it's to account— at least I'm going to take it at face value— that the experts who changed it to PMOS said we did this because it's a more accurate representation of what women are actually going through, right? Because if you go to the doctor and you're like, I'm having all these symptoms of PCOS, and they say there's no cysts on your ovaries, you're good, that's not the full picture. So with PMOS, it's saying, hey, there could be something metabolic here that we need to look into, and that will So we'll think about, okay, what impacts metabolic health? Exercise, sleep. Like, it's kind of wild with PMOS. I think like 25% of women with PMOS have some form of sleep apnea. Oh

my gosh. Yeah. So they're not resting or recovering.

They're not resting or recovering. And you know, when you think about sleep apnea, you think older, overweight man. Yeah, right. No, this could be thin women who are young. Even teenagers could have some sleep disorder. So, you know, So I hope that this change will allow for more, hey, what else can we look into? What other testing can we do? What other treatment can we offer?

Oh, yeah.

That's the hope. Yeah.

Fascinating. As you're speaking, I'm having a flashback to when my health was at its worst and my heart palpitations were at its worst. I met with a doctor who said that my PCOS was so bad that I was going to have a hard time having kids if I could have kids. Her words, right? Just terrible as a practitioner.

Yeah.

But when I think back to everything that I was trying to try to dissipate my heart palpitations, when I focused on my metabolic health and kind of took out refined starches and stuff like that, I remember my cycle came back, which was fascinating.

Yeah.

I noticed my heart palpitations dissipated a little bit. And I call that out just to think of what you're saying, the connection to our ovarian health and our— how we are— Our cyclical health as women, right? And how that's connected to everything. And yet we're still treating the body as this, like, symptom-based approach for women's health when it's so much more, so much more than that.

So much more.

One of the reasons that you guys were on the top of my list to come on this podcast first is obviously the reimagination of ancient wisdom. And I'll never forget meeting with you guys and you sharing with me and with Drew as well, Why don't we know about seed cycling? And, you know, doing our research, and I remember doing my research and understanding like this has been practiced for centuries, right? And, um, I remember working with a client years and years ago, but she gave up really quickly because of the challenge of finding the seeds, mixing the seeds, taking them at the right time. But you took all of that stress away from women. So tell us a little bit around, let's start with how seed cycling works. Let's

go

there.

Okay, so seed cycling is, it's kind of wild, and it was a huge part of Yasmin's journey, which is why we are here today. So I remember when I was getting my master's in nutrition, we had a visiting clinician come and talk to us about women's health and PMS. And she said, there is a practice that I recommend, and when women follow it for 3 to 6 months and they're having cycle challenges, if they're consistent, I see a 90% success rate. And I'm, you know, I'm South Asian. So many women have period issues, so many women have PCOS, and you know where I come from. And I was like, I need to know what this is because if you're telling me 90% success rate, this is a tool that's going in my toolbox for life. And she said, it's called seed cycling. And so there's a lot of controversy around cycle syncing. That's like a huge topic right now. And cycle syncing is basically that you change your lifestyle depending on what phase of your cycle you're in. It— that's hard to do, right? Like, you can't change your exercise 4 times a month and what you're eating and what you're doing and how you're showing up in the world. I mean, if you can, go for it, but that's just not realistic. Seed cycling is a very low-lift way to do cycle syncing, which is amazing. It's basically this: for the first half of your cycle, so day 1 through 14— first day is your period— you eat 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds and 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds. And then for the second half, which is 15 through 28, you eat ground sesame and ground sunflower seeds. And this is a way to help the different hormones that are rising depending on where you are in your cycle— follicular estrogen support and then luteal progesterone support. And so we often see that when people have too much estrogen in relationship to progesterone, that's caused— called estrogen dominance now.

Yeah.

Um, that's when you start to see some of those really gnarly symptoms come up that most most women unfortunately are experiencing these days. So this is a way for those hormones to be supported through the nutrients in the seeds, but also to have a good relationship with each other. And I mean, the stories we hear, like, I would love for Yasmin to share her story with seed cycling, 'cause it's pretty powerful.

That's actually what's next. Yeah, 'cause next question.

I mean, it's crazy because, you know, like your professor was saying, 90% of people, and I remember my functional medicine doctor told me about seed cycling 2 years ago. I mean, 2 years from when Kaya was learning about it. And I kind of glossed over her. I was like, dude, you're telling me to eat seeds. There's no way. You know, I obviously was not in this world. I was like, what is she talking about? And what seeds do I have to buy? When do I eat pumpkin? When do I eat sesame? I kind of just glossed over it and was like, there's no way this can actually help you. So I suffered for 2 more years thinking, oh, I have cramps, this is normal. It would take me out for a week. It was very, very bad. And it is bad, just to add a caveat. I was on birth control as a teenager for, you know, over a decade because I had horrible periods. And back then, that was what the doctor told me to do, was go on birth control. So I didn't have a cycle. for God knows how long until I got off in my late 20s. And that's when my hormones were— came back with a vengeance. The cramps were like I was when I was 13, but times 10. The acne was horrible. I mean, I was a different person, and I didn't even know post-birth control syndrome was even a thing that people went through. Mm-hmm. So, you know, I went, saw a functional medicine doctor, and she recommended seed cycling. Didn't do it until Kaya. I was complaining in a car ride going to San Diego. I remember it very vividly. And she mentioned her professor, and I was like, you know, it's COVID, I'm stuck at home, what do I have to lose? It's just seeds. Let me try it. It's like easy to do. And so I did it. I got it, I got it wrong for like the first 2 months, but as I kind of got into the groove the first month, I was like, wait, barely any cramps, breast tenderness that used to hurt when I would even accidentally touch myself, completely gone. Acne, which was the worst part, 'cause I wouldn't even wanna go see people and go socialize. Like what Kaela was saying, that's a problem at some point. If you can't go out in the normal world and have fun and be with your friends and do normal life things, that was significantly different by month 3. And I went online to buy it because I was like, this is way too complicated to do. I see why people drop off. Like, it's very tough. Nothing was available online. And then we both were like, how did we not learn about this? Like, it's just food. If I was on it at the age of 13, imagine what would have been so different for me. You know, I wouldn't have to be struggling and going through all this. So it was life-changing to the point I, we never thought we'd start a seed cycling company, but it's more so how do we create more awareness, awareness that there's rituals and food and the basics that can change your life than instantly going on birth control. Because unfortunately, that's still so common when you have bad periods.

I'm so happy you shared your story because I think the reflections, the more that we can give back to our community to really understand the power of what nature already gives us to heal.

Yeah.

After so many of us have, as women who have gone down these paths trying everything, and then, you know, you mentioned for your skin, the creams and the steroid creams and the injections. So much money on Right?

Yes.

Or the drugs or whatever it is, or, you know, these red dangling pills that we think are going to support us, or the birth control when we didn't even have to be on birth control, which is like really tragic. Right. And if it's preventing you from living a certain quality of life, and it just, it makes me emotional to think about how many years did we suffer growing up. And now we're going through this other phase, which we'll get into the perimenopause and menopause as well. But so many seasons of suffering that were unnecessary.

And what gets me really sad, because I hear women say this today, And I thought the same way when I was on birth control. Like I didn't really get a period and I actually thought that was a great thing. I'm like, oh, I don't have to deal with my period every month. Not knowing how important it is. It's like, you know, like you said, the 5th vital sign, a report card. Like I was disconnected from my life for so many years and it was just a bandaid until I had to figure all that out in my early 30s.

Mm-hmm.

So I get very sad when I didn't have a period for so long. Like what a gift to have a period.

Absolutely. Yeah. Um, and it's funny too, the reflection of, Growing up, did anyone ever tell you to look at your blood?

No one.

Period blood. To look at it, touch it, get familiar with it. Yeah. To see if there's clots or not, to look at the color. And I never had that connection. It wasn't until after kids. Yeah. I heard someone talking about it, and I just thought, oh my God, years and years that have gone by where I could have felt so, so much more deeply connected to my physiology instead of— I'm not gonna lie— like grossed out. Yeah. Or thinking that this was something that I needed to like dismiss about myself. Yeah. Or hide my tampons, or I'm bleeding, don't let anyone see. Mm-hmm. Right? Or being in a relationship with someone and no, you know, just backing off that way. It's just— yeah, it's really sad.

I know.

Oh my gosh, so true.

So true. Over the years, BIA has grown exponentially, and I know it's through success, the power of word, through female testimonials and men who've gone out there and just shared. I'm curious, have you noticed, has there been more feedback from women of color who might be more symptomatic than non- That's

such an interesting question.

I'm so curious. Yeah.

You know, I do get to hear from a lot of women who are Indian just because of the community that I'm a part of and because it's like very common for Indian women to have things like PCOS and it's very common for Black women to have PCOS. So I would say I do get to hear it probably just because of the community that I am a part of. But

yeah,

really, I feel everybody has been impacted.

Exactly. Yeah. I think when I'm thinking about the symptoms that have come up, the women that I've worked with, Obviously, my community and being half South Asian, a South Asian woman. And there's 2 of my clients who were— they were Black but Caribbean, who were able to have children after seed cycling.

Amazing. I mean, I just have goosebumps.

Right?

Honestly, it probably helped me have a child after everything that I've gone through.

That's such a good point.

Yeah.

So let's talk about these cycles then that women are going through. You know, we're kind of joking, which is not funny at all. We go through these seasons of trying to get pregnant and understanding our physiology then, and then being pregnant and going going through all of those hormonal changes. And then me now, on the other hand, ahead of you guys going through perimenopause as well. Can you share now, I guess, the insights that you're seeing with Bia seed cycling and perimenopause?

Yeah, absolutely. We always say honestly that I think seed cycling was invented to help women, women with just standard PMS in their reproductive years. However, we personally see that it helps women in perimenopause the most. And I think the reason is because this is when your cycles start to get wonky, right? Like all of a sudden you're like, I had a regular cycle my whole life and then I, Hit 42, and now all of a sudden, I— my period is heavier, or it's lighter, or it's every 32 days, or it's every 14 days, right? All of these changes happen. Also, changes in libido. We hear so many women—

Yes, we hear this a lot.

We get a lot of text messages like, my libido is back. Yeah. And I thought it was gone. I thought, like, you know, I was never gonna sleep with my husband again, or whatever it is. And now all of a sudden, I feel like the way that I felt when I was in my 20s, which is so nice for— to— for us to get to hear that. Um, I think because those changes in your cycle can be so hard at that stage as you gear up for menopause, seed cycling has actually given women a regular cycle back.

Yeah.

And to me, I'm like, that's great, because the more years you can have a regular cycle, we know the longer you can delay menopause, the better it is for your health. So, um, it's It's been a game changer for women in perimenopause.

Yeah.

So let's just own that in. Seed cycling can help across all hormonal landscapes for women.

Yeah.

Let's just call it that. We see it all. Yeah.

To get your libido back. So this is what gets me pissed off right now. I'm noticing a lot of my clients, they're going to their doctors saying that they've lost their sex drive. They're concerned about aging. They're really curious about HRT. And honestly, it's like giving out candy. Here's a testosterone prescription for you, testosterone pellet therapy for you, testosterone cream for you. And I'm just like, well, wait a second. Putting a woman on testosterone can be a game changer for some women, and it can work for some women. I've shared the story before. She's going to kill me for sharing this so often. I'm working with someone. Her testosterone through pellet therapy was at 1,100. Wow. Most men that I work with, in a good range, are at, like, 500.

Wow.

She was at 1,100. And the practitioner who was prescribing this for her was saying that it was part of prevention, moving through menopause, to keep her vitality, to keep her active. She's not gonna have any regrets. And I literally had to coach her on what to say, and also write out a letter for her to take to this practitioner, because I guess she had white lab coat syndrome. Doctor knows best, right? So, how can I talk back to him? This is what he really, really believes. And it's just sideways, because really, Yeah.

And

listening to you guys speak, it feels, like, so nostalgic to think— just imagine back in the day, whatever, you know, culture you come from, when women would gather and just understand and connect on symptoms. And maybe through pheromones, we're cycling a little closer together, and so there was more synergy for them to have more compassion for each other and support each other that way, the way that they needed it. And then growing into adulthood, Yeah, at the ashram, obviously, Ayurveda was everywhere. Seeds were used at the ashram. Cold-pressed seed oils were used predominantly in Ayurvedic healing, right? And we've villainized them or demonized them, and yet they really understood the impact of using seeds within our physiology, right? Yeah. And just curious, like, what have you guys thought about why this wisdom drifted off? Like, where did it go? Why didn't we hear about it?

So

is this part of women's health being dismissed?

Yeah, I think that there is. Like, we were talking about these pendulums, right? That they, they're constantly swinging. And I do think that, for example, with HRT, it's really amazing that we're, we're kind of going back and saying that the Women's Health Initiative was wrong and it did a disservice to all these women who could have positively used HRT. So it's like now the pendulum swung this way, and I think that there is especially with, uh, things like Ozempic and Wegovy. It's like, hey, we demonized medicine for so long, let's like use it when we need it. And okay, there are situations that call for that, but then it's like something like as simple as seeds are being demonized.

Yeah.

Right? So it's like, that's not gonna work, we need a pill to solve this. Um, so I feel like there's just cycles.

Yeah.

But I do think that our product finds the right person, and I always kind of count on

Yeah. And we, you know, we believe in the power of seed cycling. Obviously it changed my life and Kaya used it postpartum quite a bit too and changed her life. And we did a clinical study, so we didn't have to do it. But, you know, we have a lot of people who still question seeds like me. I questioned it. So I totally understand people's hesitations. Like, how can these seeds help my hormones? Like, that sounds too good to be true and like magic when it truly can. But yeah, we did a clinical study, which was incredible. Um, which I, I don't know if Kaya want, you wanna share a little bit more?

To that point too. It kind of frustrates me because it's like we're talking about seeds. Yeah, food.

Seeds.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

You can't be mad.

Yeah, I know.

I'm like, how can you be mad that I'm telling somebody to do this? I'm literally telling them to add nutrition.

Yeah.

To add fiber, to add protein, minerals, vitamins.

They look at us like we're crazy.

Right. And so when there is so much criticism on lifestyle medicine, it is very frustrating because you're basically taking away that person's power.

Yeah.

To be able to help heal themselves. And I will never dismiss conventional medicine. It has its place.

100%.

If I broke my arm right now, I'm not going to the naturopath, right? Like, yeah. So I just think that there needs to be, we need to meet in the middle and say, hey, it can be this and it can be this too. Mm-hmm.

Right. It's probably, it's multifactorial, right? I think we just drifted so far from prioritizing women, understanding women, looking at the roots of what women actually need to thrive. That caused this. And then we live in a world where we're still— even us, like the peptides, and like it's a dangling carrot that looks so sweet to try. But again, are you shifting the physiology of your body to do what it knows how to do, right?

Yeah, truly.

A lot of us were put on birth control for the wrong reasons. Gosh, having that conversation with my daughter India when she's older and what the solutions are going to be then. I hope there's a male

Yeah.

Just saying. What does it do to the body when you force your, your body to work against itself and trick it to have a cycle that's unlike what your physiology is meant to have?

Yeah, well, you know, going back to what Yasmin said, she didn't get that information for, what was it, 15 years?

Yeah.

And so what I've heard a doctor explain really well is that that when you don't get information from your body like that for 15 years and then you come off, not only can you be met with all these side effects, right? Like, we know that the hormonal birth control, I should say, can impact your gut. It can drive leaky gut. There's actually research now looking at, does it drive autoimmune? Does it drive things like Crohn's disease? Does it impact our bone health? So not only can you get all of these gnarly side effects, but then it's like you missed out on that whole period of time of learning about your body and potentially some sort of— Yeah. Issue that you could be experiencing that you could have been working on that whole time. And so we know that it can be like depleting of nutrients, right? B vitamins, um, zinc and selenium and magnesium and all of these things that you need. There are some women— talking about unicorns— that come off, they get pregnant, yeah, it's all good. Yeah, like, that's amazing. There are a lot of women who come off and they are met with really bad symptoms the way that Yasmin was, or they have trouble getting pregnant. And so often, like, unfortunately, a lot of young women don't think about whether or not they can get pregnant until they want to.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And I will say, it isn't so important to know if you can get pregnant, even if you never want to get pregnant. Like, you need to know, am I ovulating, right? Like, talking about the estrogen and progesterone relationship, if you are not ovulating, you are not making progesterone. And what does estrogen need to be balanced? It needs progesterone. So then you're getting all of these symptoms that we're talking about, the really bad cramps and the heavy periods and the breast tenderness and the acne and the PCOS. And so I think, like, I've heard it before. I've heard a woman say, like, I just hate hormones. I don't want them in my body. Yeah. A lot of people say that. A lot of people say that they don't realize how important these things are, right? Like, how important estrogen is for our bodies. Um, and there's so many, like, you know, I think about my daughter too, and that conversation that I'm gonna have with her. And how lucky are our daughters that we're gonna walk that path with them? I had to walk that path alone. Mom, I love you, but, like, she was not helping me through any of that. that stuff. And now we have things like, hey, can I teach my daughter to learn her body so well that she knows when she can get pregnant and not get pregnant? I have been practicing fertility awareness methods since I've been sexually active, and I have only gotten pregnant when I wanted to. So I know that it works. Um, you don't, you know, there are options and I just want women to know, especially if you have a daughter, there are so many things that you can do before going on the pill. And if you have to go on the pill, like just Okay,

even after becoming a nutritionist, like a registered nutritionist in Canada, learning the little portion that we did around hormones, I was still so out of tune with my body and understanding what that phase could be. I think so many women just— we have no idea. God bless my mom too, she was great. There was no hormone talk there whatsoever. Yeah. My dad handed me a book called The Hormone Solution. a newspaper article in the Toronto Star on birth control. Hey, you should read this.

Oh, interesting. That's—

I think more as a fear of a South Asian dad, like, do not get pregnant.

Right, right.

But still not understanding. Again, it's like fear-induced, right? And I think it's really scary for people to go through this and just not have that understanding. We spend so many years trying to not get pregnant until all of a sudden we want to get pregnant so badly. Coming off of birth control, hearing your story, Yasmin, was like, it was the most challenging thing. Holy moly.

It's so tough.

Craig and I just moved to Los Angeles, and I was like so excited around like new beginnings and sunshine and everything. My hair got so greasy. You literally would've thought that I put coconut oil like into my roots. My skin was breaking out like crazy. It looked like my skin was just wet, like my sebum glands were just on overdrive.

Yeah,

my cycle was, um, a hot mess. I was getting clots and everything. It took me a couple months. I actually went to an Ayurvedic practitioner at that time where we went through like a full kind of supportive detox protocol together that was very gentle and nourishing and soothing and focusing on good quality fats and good carbohydrates from the earth, which I was terrified from, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Until I finally healed. Do you hear a lot of stories around women coming off of birth control and the struggles that they go through?

Yeah, but, but the, the crazy thing is, is that we think it's normal. So they're suffering, but they're suffering silently. So, you know, women, we don't get around in it. I mean, maybe in our circles we talk about these things, but a lot of women aren't sharing the pain that they're going through or the cramps because they think it's completely normal. So how many of us are silently suffering every month, not even knowing the type of life you can live with normal periods, normal hormones? It's like, you know, the biggest thing that Kea and I wanna do is just share that. just like put that content out there to be like, you don't have to live like this, you don't have to suffer. Let's talk about these things. And, you know, seed cycle at home, don't even buy our product, just like get to the basics. So—

Oh, that's so true. Yeah,

yeah.

And

we're living at a time where stress is like this new epidemic.

Yeah,

I share this all the time to, to drive it in, but whenever I'm speaking to a group of people, I'll ask how many people here suffer from chronic daily stress. Every hand obviously goes up. And then I ask on a scale of 1 to 10, how many people suffer from like a 10 or a 7 or a Every single hand goes up, and then everyone looks at each other and there's laughter, like, haha, you too. Like, we all suffer from stress, and it's heartbreaking, right?

And so

I'm going to say this again. Ask yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, what's the level of stress that you feel every single day? Next, I want you to ask yourself, if I were to step into your body, would I feel that same number, or would I feel a 10 or above, feeling like I was plugged into an electrical socket? Because you've become so accustomed to living with that level of stress.

Such a good question.

And working with people, I'm often met with tears when I ask that question, especially women, like, oh my God, I just, I haven't realized how long I've been living with this debilitating stress, and yet I still have to show up for life every single day.

Mm-hmm.

And then we pull back, okay, think of your symptoms and everything that you're suffering from. If we start with stress, would the other symptoms, could the other symptoms improve if we take care of that? Stress has such— gosh, it goes hand in hand with hormonal health, right? And if functioning hormones, right, or— I hate the word optimizing, because it's like returning to, like, a really healthy cycle— is a sign of our vitality and our life force within, what is the impact of living with consistent chronic stress every single day on cycling?

Yeah, well, I mean, one of the biggest ones is amenorrhea. Your periods—

Amenorrhea. You got it.

Um, it's

basically just frightening, by the way, when you don't get a cycle and it just doesn't come.

Oh my gosh. Yeah,

I went through months of being prescribed progesterone to induce my cycle. I'm just trying to trick my body over and over, and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. It was terrifying.

Yeah,

it's so terrifying. And also, there's women who— they will— there's this joke now on, um, TikTok and Instagram, these reels that women are making, that it's like when your period doesn't come and you're stuck in like luteal phase hell, and you imagine these women who who their, their period is not coming and they're just feeling like stress, anxiety, all the negative things that you feel when you're in your, when you're in your luteal phase. But it's basically your body saying, we are not safe to get pregnant. Yeah. So we are shutting this system down. It does not matter right now.

Yeah.

We need to focus on other things. And so we also know the relationship between stress and progesterone, right?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

When you're super stressed out, your body's like, we're focusing on that. We're not focusing on progesterone, which is our calming hormone. Right? Yeah.

Yeah.

So, uh, that's probably the one of the worst things that you see is just a period that disappears. Um, but then you also see the things like the clotting, the heavy periods, the— all of the other symptoms of PMS. And you were talking earlier about, you know, we were talking about this blood sugar component. Yeah. It's actually really interesting. I've been reading a book by Dr. Caterina Dalton, I think is her name, and she coined PMS. She was the person to coin the term PMS. She's a British physician, and her— it's kind of revolutionary work. It's quite controversial in some ways, but basically what she was saying is PMS and PMDD are real.

Mm-hmm.

And they can make a woman behave differently than she normally would, to the point where she might even commit a violent crime. And so she would, like, testify in court about all of this. And a big, big part of what she said is, When you can also eat to beat stress. So this is where the conversation is going. She was saying when you have really these really low lows in blood sugar, right?

Yeah, I believe this.

You essentially are spiking your adrenaline.

Mm-hmm.

And your progesterone cannot bind to its receptors.

Mm-hmm.

And so what she recommended, and obviously we know there's different ways to handle this now, was that women eat starch every 3 hours. And so when you kind of prevent that drop, then your progesterone starts to build. And often she would give women progesterone too to manage these PMDD symptoms. So we know, like, just not only physical stress but, like, physiological, right? Like, oh, I haven't eaten anything, like, I'm freaking out, um, I'm gonna kill somebody, right? Like, so those things are all, all real, and we need to address all of them.

Absolutely. And look, we're coming off— I think we're, we're out of it— but this era of marathon fasting Yeah. Right? Women were taught that it's a, you know, a precursor for longevity and great for fat loss. And now I'm working with a lot of women who are in perimenopause, who they've just— their metabolism is shot. They do not feel hunger anymore. They can go hours or days without eating, which is not a good sign, right? Like, in Ayurveda, digestion is the source of life. And even when I'm looking at their fasting insulin scores, They're not great. And you'd think that they would be optimized in somebody who is a seasoned faster. But if you think about the stress, the physiological stress that they had endured for so long, I'm happy that there's a bit of a wake-up call to understand that fasting, especially long-term fasts, aren't for everyone, and they should be done at certain times when it feels supportive.

Totally.

Not when it's inducing more stress.

The best time is if you practice that, if that's something that's interesting to you, In your follicular phase, and then in your luteal phase is not the time to be doing that.

Do not do it. Yeah, don't hurt anybody.

We've all done it.

It's horrible. Oh, it's so horrible. Yeah, yeah. I did a 3-day water fast with a community of people in my luteal phase. I was just like, what was

I

doing? That was the worst decision. But I was with the community. Yeah, we're all in it together. I was just like, I wanted to hurt myself. It was really bad.

Oh my gosh.

Have you ever thought about how, you know, I always think if I could go back to the cardiologist who wanted to do my heart surgeries, just have a conversation with them. Have you ever thought about going back to the doctor who was like, do you need to do a seed cycling?

You know, I guess I have a little bit of grace because like he's doing the best that he knows what to do. You know, he's not educated. Like, what is it like in med school? They learn like what, 30 minutes of nutrition? So, you know, it's not ideal, but I think I think the way I like to reframe it is like, I just wish people would ask more questions. I didn't ask questions. So he was doing the job the best that he could, but I could have been better. Or like Kaela was saying when we started this interview, having a caretaker or your mother or your father or someone asking the right questions. So it's like, how can we empower you? Because people are gonna say crazy— Yeah. Shit, excuse me. Or like you go on the internet, like there's always some reel or some influencer saying something about this will stop your cramps, take this for this. So, you know, if you can learn the ability to ask, ask questions, be curious about what people are saying, see what works for your body, you know. And I guess it's just a path that I had to go on to hopefully help thousands of women not suffer and go on birth control. Like, we're like the seed dealers. We, you know, literally, like, women share stories all the time. We'll go and get our nails done, go to the coffee shop. Like, everyone tells us about what they're going through. And, you know, it's such a gift to be able to have a product that we care about that is just food that can be so game-changing. But yeah, hopefully, you know, things are changing a little bit, and there's a little bit more awareness on birth control. So if we can be a tide in that movement, like, what a gift that we can, you know, have these kinds of conversations and hopefully change people's lives.

Yeah. And I think that these conversations are so important because women never had them publicly before.

Yeah.

And I think the inspiration is, or maybe the message I'll say, is if any part of your gut is telling you that this doesn't feel right, or is this right? I believe you. You're a doctor. You went to school for this. But it doesn't feel right, it's okay to find another practitioner.

Yeah, I didn't know that back then. I love that. Like, yes, that's such a good point, Mona, because so many people don't know that. I didn't know that for years. But if something doesn't feel right, like, get a second opinion, go to another doctor. It's— I love that you brought that up because that would have saved just so much time and effort on my end and suffering.

I'm in the perimenopause phase of like just writing a letter. Let me just write a letter. If I were to have a conversation with that cardiologist again, yeah, here's what I would say to just get it out of my system. All right, let's go back to, uh, we talked about estrogen dominance, something that's also becoming very prevalent for women, and the symptoms suck, right? Weight gain, acne breakout, uh, pants and jeans that just won't fit anymore. And, um, it's directly related to the way that our body functions, but nobody's addressing the root cause of why your body isn't metabolizing estrogen properly.

Mm-hmm.

And estrogen disruptors are everywhere.

Yeah.

When I was in cosmetics, I had to spray J'adore perfume into every room that I spoke in 5 days a week, inhaling it in every day. And that's no wonder I stopped getting my cycle, right? Sure. The phthalates that were in that.

Yeah.

And if you're wearing perfume, please just don't spray it on your skin, all right? Or find natural alternatives.

Yeah.

So that's a big source. When we think about the cleaners that we're using, the clothing that we're wearing, all the things around Lululemon right now and the lawsuits around plastics and everything going into our blood. If you had to walk into every woman's house listening, or any man who wants to support their, their, their partner, what's the first thing that you would have them change?

Gosh, I could name 5, but— I

know, right? Where's the list?

You know, I will say one that people don't often think of, um, your underwear.

Your underwear.

Yeah.

Yeah. And it's, it's, it's affordable to make that Like, there's some amazing companies out there, like Pact, and, you know, that they make it so that you're not having to spend like $300 on like clean underwear. But that's something that you're putting near and on your reproductive organs every single day. I don't think they make these anymore, but if your daughter or you are using scented tampons or pads, please—

I can't believe that's not illegal.

I know.

Like,

anything that is going on your reproductive organs, like, we need to be very careful. People using scented douche— like, you don't need soap to clean your vagina, in case anybody was wondering. Like, water is sufficient.

You shouldn't be putting soap up in there anyway.

Yeah, you shouldn't be putting soap up in there. Um, and I— then the next thing I think would be, like, all of the skincare. You know, there's so many women who have thyroid issues right now, and I truly believe part of it is because all of, like, the makeup and everything we're put— it's, like, all right here, right? So no wonder. And thyroid is very sensitive to toxins, so we have to be careful about that. I, I try not to make it so that it feels feels so daunting.

Yeah.

But like the biggest one is like just get fragrance out of your home. You can't control it everywhere else, but you don't need it in your home. You don't need it to feel clean in your home. You can just use natural stuff. Like there's better options out there. The underwear is a big thing, and then your cleaning products are also— there are so many amazing companies now that are available like even at Target. Branch Basics is awesome. Like, so there are really nice affordable options right Now, a big one would be to try to filter your water if you can. That is like huge because if you if they look at water, like they even find things like hormonal birth control remnants in water. So it can feel very scary in the world of toxins, but like it doesn't have to happen overnight, right? I've created a home where I feel that there are not tox like a huge amount of toxins in there. That was not. a 2-day process. That took, you know, maybe a year of me slowly taking things out. But it is very important, especially if you have young girls in the home.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Don't underestimate the power of doing an audit of your home.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you wanna change your current hormonal landscape or your future hormonal landscape. Yeah. Let's even call it preventative medicine.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Right. 100%. For the, the kids that live in your house, for boys and for girls.

Yeah.

Um, it's so frustrating when you have little kids and, you know, they start seeing their friends with like the Disney characters, or, you know, you take them into a store and they want the, I don't know, the, the Disney underwear or socks. Yeah. Do you know how hard it was? I felt it was so hard to find no plastic underwear and socks for my kids.

Oh my gosh.

My kids are older than yours, obviously. Yeah. Or it was like insanely expensive to buy those things. Yeah. Right. And you think about what goes into your blood system. Start there. It's just like the entry level. And if anyone's feeling overwhelmed by the thought of doing an audit of your kitchen and your personal care products and stuff like that, once you do it, it's done.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, the brands that you can support, put them onto your Amazon list if you need it. Like, it's just— it's done. It takes a bit of a heavy lift, but then it's so easy after that.

And with a company like— shout out to them— but like with a company like Branch Basics, for example, It's a big solution. It lasts a long time.

Yeah.

It's actually like cheaper than going and buying, you know, regular cleaning products. And you can use that solution for every laundry and this and that. Like you can, it's so clean. I think she said you can even use it on your baby. So,

you

know, initially, like you said, it can feel daunting, but then eventually it just becomes second nature.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Shout out to Branch Basics. I had their solution. It's lasted us a full year of living here. It's wild.

Yeah.

Yeah,

it's so good. All right, um, for women who are listening to this conversation, they're on your website right now, they're ready to order. How do they start seed cycling? You've got 2 phases that are here. You've got a magnesium as well. Walk us through the 3 products.

Yeah, again, you can do it at home, right? You can do this at home if you feel like you're inspired and you want to grind the seeds and all of that. Like, it's too hard, but it is hard. It is hard even for a You know, for, for me it's hard and I feel like I cook a lot and everything. So we made it very easy and it's just, you don't even have to think about your phases or anything like that. You just take one scoop of phase 1, which will be right here in the red for the first 14 days of your cycle, and then one scoop of phase 2 for the next 14 days of your cycle. And we tell everybody just switch every 2 weeks just to keep it simple. And we found that a lot of people, even if they don't have like a typical 28-day cycle, a lot of women will report back and be like, actually my cycle got more regular toward 28 days. Mm-hmm. Just to to the 2-week rotation. So we try to make it as easy as possible. And we also have so many recipes. Like, we have more recipes than I think anybody in the entire world.

We certainly do.

To make it— we want women to feel like, oh, this can be included in so many different things because variety is important. So you could put it in your smoothie or your oatmeal, or you could be like Yasmin and just take it by the spoonful. Um, you can— yeah, there's so many different ways to take it, but you just follow that. That's it. It's so easy, and that was the goal. We wanted to make it very easy, very accessible. We didn't want people to feel like their kitchen was a mess trying to grind seeds and remember when to take them and when to switch them. And we also have an amazing customer support team. So if people have questions, if they're like, "I don't have a cycle. When do I start?" Or my cycle's irregular, we're happy to guide people through all of that.

Yeah.

Instagram is Bia or Bia Wellness?

Bia Wellness.

Bia Wellness.

Yes.

You will save every single post because of the recipe that's shared. They're so good. Uh, and I prescribe refrigerating them.

Yes. Yeah, because seeds and nuts also too can go rancid. The oils in them can go rancid. So when you get a chance, just refrigerate them or even your seeds at home, like not just our seeds, uh, refrigerate your seeds at home too. Um, and we sometimes like, I'll, I have my freezer is stashed. It's like chia seeds galore. Um, but yeah, as soon as you get them, pop them in the fridge.

Yeah.

And if you do have a little one at home, sprinkles here and there are actually very supportive for them too.

Totally.

Yeah. I make my smoothies, I add a little sprinkle here and there for my, for my daughter all the time. Um, because again, it's food. Yeah, it's food.

So you can't go wrong.

You don't— they don't have a cycle, so they don't need to like switch and have— but if you're like, hey, I want my kid to have a little extra fiber, a little extra, you know, protein, something to help make this blood, uh, this smoothie not like spike their blood sugar, these seeds are a perfect thing to add.

And let's call it maybe, uh, if there is an objection around missing a day or life is really abundant, what do you say to them?

I was literally going to say it's so easy to even miss a day or two. Like, that's the story of my life. But the biggest thing is just consistency over time. You do not have to be perfect for this to work. Like, in our lives, there's days where it could be busy and we're like, we forgot to seed cycle, but we've just seen through customers and our own experience, just being as consistent as you can over the long term. is the biggest win. So, it's not an issue. Again, it's food. Like, we get emails like, I missed a day, and it's like, it's food. You're totally good, and you'll still see an impact, so.

And like, for people who either wanna take a break from supplementation, or who don't wanna go to supplementation, like, trust in nature first. When we talk about food as medicine, this is it. This is actually it.

Yeah, the practical use of

food as medicine. Yeah, absolutely. I remember, well, first of all, I didn't know that postpartum could last years after having children. I'm so— do not tell me.

I knew perimenopause could be 10 years. Is that true? I mean, great, that's good to know.

But when you guys sent me my Via to try, it was a game changer for me.

Yeah.

And with India, my postpartum was a little bit worse. I was taking my placenta after Elijah. I didn't do that with India.

Sure.

But I started sea cycling and it was a game changer for me and my mood. And I didn't have like I don't know if you're a mom, if you've ever felt this. You have dark thoughts sometimes that come out of nowhere. You're like, oh my God, how did I just think about what if my baby falls off of a balcony or something, right? It's crazy what happens up in here.

Yeah.

But I remember those thoughts going away and my energy improving and my body feeling more grounded. And then when I kind of did more research and understood this kind of aspect to it. Seeds help ground you. They literally help you feel more rooted, right? Yeah. Um, and so I really just wanted to call that out too. Maybe you've worked with an Eastern practitioner, and this is again with traditional Chinese medicine as well, like foods that come from nature that really help support grounding you, taking you out of— from a busy or destructive or sad mind back into your body again where wisdom is. So next, what was the inspiration to launch a

magnesium So every expert we talk to says that magnesium is the number one supplement that they recommend because it's involved in over 600 processes in the body. Um, one of the biggest things it helps with, which we were talking about earlier, is stress and sleep.

Yeah.

And we all know sleep is hard to come by. So anything that can support women to get better sleep, to put them into parasympathetic, to help with that relaxation response. But it's not just that. It also helps with gut health, with brain health, with period cramps. Like, it's like a miracle.

I agree.

You know, I always say my favorite mineral is magnesium, and that's why we made magnesium.

Literally, Kayla was like, we need to make a magnesium.

Yeah, so it was, it was definitely like we knew after seed cycling magnesium was always going to be our second product. And we're so, you know, happy to— you know, we get a lot of information from women about like how they're finally sleeping better or how they just feel more relaxed. And we wanted to make one that felt like it could replace your nightly wine. Like, that was the thing a lot of women use wine to wind down at night. What is that doing to your hormones? What is that doing to your body? So we said, let's make a fun drink and it'll have a lot of benefits. It'll help women sleep. So that's where the magnesium came from.

What I've noticed, um, with some people, it takes a little bit of a learning curve to rebuild your magnesium within your body and then to understand like, oh, I didn't need the glass of wine to unwind.

Yeah.

Or my thoughts weren't racing that night when I went to bed and oh my God, I slept an extra Yeah. I felt more restored, or my recovery was better, which is so key.

Yeah.

And I love that you brought up the connection also to the gut. We're really missing the mark in talking about hormones so much, right? Which is great. We're having a moment, but we're not merging hormones with gut optimization, right? And that's a discussion that needs to be had. And I'm taking that full circle to your site and your social. I think it was just so genius for you to really hone in on the food as medicine thing. Like, the variety of recipes— you have hundreds of recipes. Yeah,

maybe like 1,000.

Yeah, and things that look really beautiful and things that are easy to make. So I send my clients to your page to find recipes. Oh, amazing.

I love that.

Because I trust— I know that they're easy, I know they're rooted in wisdom, and obviously your expertise as well. Well, so I think it's really special.

Oh, thanks for saying that.

Now, menopause.

Oh, something else we have to look forward to.

Something else. I know, I know. My mom says she sneezed through menopause.

My mom too.

My mom—

I don't know, I think they just don't remember. Yeah, exactly. That doesn't make any sense. She's like, I never went through menopause. I'm like, really?

I think people just didn't talk about it.

Yeah, that's funny. All Our mom said that.

But it's really exciting to think about the impact of seed cycling beyond, right? Yeah. And I'm sure for you guys, one, you're going to start getting the testimonials now with the awareness around cycling as well, and seed cycling becoming more relevant, right, in education. Um, you're going to start getting more stories around optimization through menopause as well.

Yes,

totally.

Which is going to be key.

Yeah, yeah. We've started to see for sure a lot of women who are in menopause or post-menopause who are using our seeds and experiencing You know, speaking about gut health, right? Because that is one of the things, you lose estrogen. Estrogen and the gut have this relationship too. So what women say is, all of a sudden I'm having all these gut issues in perimenopause or in menopause. And so a lot of women have said that in menopause that the seeds have been so helpful for like regular digestion and bloating and quite a bit of hot flashes.

Yeah.

We get emails all the time when we have moms like having their daughters and then their granddaughters on it. Yeah. We get emails like this. This changed my life. I had my daughter on it, and then it changed the daughter's life, then her daughter's now on it. So it's really cool to see that ripple effect.

Yeah. And I love it even more because it's not thinking about supplementing for the rest of your life. You're thinking about using food first for the rest of your life, which is really, really cool. I love that. All right, what would you guys say from your experience, obviously through your testimonials, what are the most high-leverage practices if somebody listening is inspired by you? that they could do to start feeling more present to their hormonal health, what would they be?

I would say the number one thing, and it's completely free, is just start tracking your cycle. So many of us don't even know how long your cycle is, when you get it, is it regular? It's like the easiest thing you can do just starting today is just to have that awareness.

That's a good one.

Yeah.

I swear I didn't do that until I was trying to get pregnant. Same, same. I didn't even understand that.

Or a little bit before for me, but yeah, no one teaches you.

But it's amazing when you learn to do it, right? Like all this information that you get about your body, it's kind of spectacular. And then you're like, oh, that's why around this time of my cycle I feel more outgoing and I feel like I want to, you know, be with my husband or I wanna go on dates or I wanna do this. And this part of my cycle, I just feel like I wanna take it easier. You know, when you get all that information about yourself, it kind of feels, makes you feel less crazy.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah.

Even the full permission to do nothing.

Yes.

Yeah. Give yourself full permission. It's true. Today's not the day.

Yeah.

Right? If you need to, and when we compare ourselves to other women, which is like, I would say the greatest fault of women, we compare ourselves to others, to just know that your physiology is completely different. So if you need a day or a few days, then take it and get the support that you need, right? To make it through that, I think is really, really important.

Yeah.

I never gave myself permission ever. So I love that you said that. I would just like pack my scheduled meetings or podcasts and be like, why can I not rally? What's going on with me? But knowing when I am in my cycle, like, I can adjust a little bit.

Yeah. I think the takeaway from that is for really all of us to stop normalizing our suffering.

Yes.

I really pray that my daughter can just be, like, so open about everything and understanding her physiology and how unique it is and how different it is and the challenges that she may or may not have and asking for help. help to get through that earlier, right?

Yeah.

Is that part of the inspiration behind Bia? What do you— what's the goal? What's the— oh, tell me about how you daydream, because I'm sure it's big.

I mean, making women feel less alone, like, is such a big part of what we do. And we also want to make it fun, because the conversation around hormones can feel so serious and daunting and overwhelming. And there's a— we don't need to fill that gap. That gap has been filled. We want to make it approachable, fun. We want to get younger women to start talking about this stuff and get them to feel excited about it. So, I mean, I think that there's like so much wellness fatigue these days. Yeah. And it really all comes back to the basics. Food is medicine, exercise, uh, sleep. I, I know it sounds so simple, but if it was so simple, then everybody would be doing it. Yeah.

It also sounds so healthy.

So to me it's like, okay, the reason people are not doing it is because it doesn't feel fun and exciting and playful. Yeah. make it feel that way for them so that they feel more enticed to actually like pay attention to their bodies and do the basic things that can make them feel better. So we always say like education and fun, that's the goal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Throughline through content, our products, we're like, how do we make this approachable and fun? Because I even will check out if something seems super complicated and it's just, you know, there's a lot of fearmongering online when it comes to hormones and supplements and we get it. Like we're consumers as well. So it's like, how can we create something that's fun, clean, like incredible products. Like we really stand by our products. You know, it took 2 years to make this magnesium, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. You think it's so easy? No. If you want to create a clean product, which I know you know, you are fighting against manufacturers for the most basic aspects to not be included. So we're very proud of everything that, you know, we, we make, and we hope that it's just like fun and exciting and, you know, just create more awareness for women everywhere, and especially younger women.

Yeah, I think in a world where the supplement industry is becoming the new pharma industry—

Yeah.

And the Wild West, like, now more than ever we've got to go back to food first.

Yeah.

Which is why I think you're having so much success.

Oh, thank you.

And I do want to shout out though just how quickly you guys have grown and your community. You have a massive community. Um, I mean, I'll keep showering you with love, but I think it's because you've brought women together, like women together to finally share stories around their pain and their suffering and their symptoms, to your point about community. Um, and I hope that continues to rise. Can you please shout out also your podcast, so Behind Your Empire? Because it takes two powerful women to also sit at the table of a growing brand in our world like today. Um, you've got a lot of really powerful women that come up on your, on your show, and I want to highlight that because we don't hear a lot of those stories.

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, we're so passionate about just getting stories out. It's like when we learn something, we want it out there. So the podcast and doing content is just part of our DNA. You know, you were just saying, and we're so grateful for you showering us with just so many compliments. I'm like, we could be here all night. I know who to call when the days are tough. But, you know, Kay and I actually, it just came to my memory, like we started our Instagram and started doing content a year before we even had a product. We knew we wanted to do seed cycling, but we didn't know, will this land with people? Will it be a little too complicated of a product? But we were more so like passionate about the education and the content. So that's something we've been doubling down on for just so long before we even came up with anything. So, you know, it's, it's really just a fun aspect of building community. And even with the podcast, sharing stories of like, what I love is just having women see what's possible in their life. Like that lights me up professionally in their life. And so much of the way I look at wellness is like, how do I feel good to kill it in my life and be happy and be a business owner and be an incredible mom and friend and sister-in-law. Like, I want to live great and it's possible. So how can I share this with people about what you can do? And, you know, you're doing the work too, Mona, of helping people and putting this out there. And it's not as complicated as we can make it be. We can make it seem so. It's like going back to the basics if you can.

So true. I know. It's like I've repeated those words so often in this podcast, but I know we all need to hear it. Even as a practitioner, I need to be reminded of that. And my community also knows that when I'm behind a product and a brand, I am behind the product and the brand.

Oh, you're so sweet.

Um, and I'm, I'm promised that I'm gonna make it stay that way. Um, because the world is getting really, really loud. Yeah. And I think it's important to really, through word of mouth and connection and education like this for people to understand where to go, who the practitioners are, kind of like the source of healing, the ancient wisdom, and how to merge that into our world today. And this is a really great kind of question to wrap it up, but like, can you imagine what would we— imagine what we would be capable of if we didn't have to think about our hormonal health?

I know. Oh my God.

I'm like, oh my God.

Would we be like men?

I know.

I literally was thinking about Drew, my husband. I'm like, he lives the life. Oh my God.

How funny you say that. I say if I could ever spend a day in somebody's brain, it would be my husband's. Yeah. 1,000 tabs open and running, but fully functioning.

Yeah. Like, yeah. Morning and every day, like functioning. Same morning, wake up. Same. You know, there's no variability, which I mean is a blessing to have as a woman. You know, you have someone who's a little bit more stable, especially for sure as we're, I'm in the postpartum journey of like hormones all over the place. I'm like, I'm glad you didn't go through that. Through pregnancy also, this would be a mess. So

yes, more of a highlight of why we need men.

We need men. Yes.

Um, but I think more the, the reflection of that is to just honor our seasons and yeah, 100% in that. And the reality is we live in a world that is pretty detrimental to women's hormonal health. Yeah. And it's just the reality. And we can focus on the doom and the gloom. And I know, I think we mentioned every symptom that people are suffering with today. It's not to get angry at it. It's not about doom and gloom at all, but just to witness, all right, this is our reality right now. This is the season of life that we are all in, which is really, really different. What can I do to help my body feel more nourished, right?

Yeah.

I think that's one concept in Ayurveda that I love the most. It's not necessarily about constant balance all the time. It's about honoring the fluctuations and where you're at, and then trying always to come back to your homeostasis, whatever that means for your body in the season that you're in. Yeah. It's always gonna be ever-changing. Right.

Totally.

And yet we live in a world where we're still striving for perfection and figuring it out and getting the right protocol. And

yeah,

the right protocol is always gonna be changing too. So, right.

And also comparing yourself to others. Like you brought that up. It's so easy to be like, well, why am I not feeling good? And look at her, she's like killing it. It's like just to, you know, really understand your body and know everyone is unique on their journey and what works for them. And, you know, to just be in tune with yourself.

And women are kind of, you know, women are the canary in the coal mine, I say.

Mm-hmm.

And I think like we know that we need we need a little more sleep than men. Yeah. We know that we have these fluctuations. We have to take care of ourselves. So if anything, let this be an excuse for women who are listening that like you actually need to take a little bit more care of yourself. Mm-hmm. Especially in a world where we're kind of fighting against all these toxins, all these things that are potentially damaging our bodies. Like we're prescribing it. You have to take care of yourself.

Eat love like you love yourself. Sleep like you love yourself. Oh yeah. Have conversations like you're in love with yourself. Yeah. Yes. That's so true.

Mm-hmm.

All right. How can people connect with you? You've got a lot of resources. We mentioned Be a Wellness on Instagram. How else?

That's the best way. Our Instagram is very active. We have like half a million people there who are doing all of this with us. Um, yeah, anything @beeyawellness, B-E-E-Y-A Wellness. And our website is a great place. We answer every single email.

Every email. So feel free to email us anytime. We take that very seriously. Yeah,

so we're there for you. Yes. Um, I can't wait to do this with you again one day. I adore you and I'm so proud of you and I love your product. To close things off, let's talk about what is your favorite ancient healing practice or traditional healing practice that you think women could really come back to today?

Oh my gosh, that's such a good question. I have to think about this first.

Yeah, I'm like, what really makes you feel good?

Well, I will say this. You know, you spent time in an ashram. I grew up in a family that was very religious, and I just didn't know it. It was part of my dad's practice. And I grew up with this, and I didn't really quite understand it until there's actually science behind it. But prayer, just, just good old-fashioned prayer. Mm-hmm. Um, there actually is some science around that. It can change your body when you pray. It can change the way you think about a situation. So I think that's I end the day the way that my father starts his day and ends his day every single day, which is in gratitude for all the people in my life. And I think about what was I, what was the thing that I was most grateful for today? And I end the day sending love to anybody who needs it. Or if there's somebody who I know specifically, I think about that person and I try to energetically send them love. Mm-hmm. Because I think that's actually real. Like, I think I can send people things and I think they can send me things too. So I would say prayer is the big one for me.

In many ways, it's like the Maharishi effect, right? Like people just focusing on, on one concept of peace or love or gratitude at the same time. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all did that every day?

Amazing.

Amazing.

Yeah.

I wish I grew up in that. I wish I was South Asian. I had to marry one.

You, you were.

To get the spiritual aspect. My mom was very spiritual.

Come to an ashram.

Yeah. Oh my God. What a gift to grow up in an ashram.

And yeah, it was.

I mean, you're— every time I'm around you, Mona, you're so calm. And yeah, she's actually like this, guys, behind the scenes too.

Oh my gosh. Don't think it's just for the podcast.

Um, I mean, that was such a beautiful answer, Kaya. Mine is not as beautiful as her.

Well, you said breathwork to start, so you kind of laid the foundation.

Yeah, and I think, I mean, you guys are both nutritionists and do this so well. Food has been a struggle for me in terms of having real food. Like, I'm not eating poorly, but I think, you know, anytime that I'm just eating real food, I feel fantastic. We talked about in this podcast, like, blood sugar spikes and dips. Like, that was a story of my life. Life for so long, or undereating and my cortisol spiking and getting heart palpitations because it's blood sugar induced. So, I've had just an interesting journey with food. And I think, you know, going back to the basics, which Bia reminds me all the time, like it's just seeds and going to your local farmer's market, you know, as much as I can down the street from us. But just trying to get real food and cook at home as much as you can. And this is probably more top of mind because we just had a baby and it's been challenging. And I'm like, I miss home-cooked meals and, you know, just feeling good. And we started again, and I just feel significantly better. So you guys know this and preach it all the time. So—

It's true, though. I think now more than ever, I really hope the future brings looking at our farmers like doctors, like the equivalent of a medical doctor, right? Because they provide us with life-sustaining sustenance, right? And we don't. They're at the bottom of the barrel. Suffering, unfortunately. So go love on a farmer. I think that that's so key. And let's take a second to call out Dr. Deanna Minich.

Oh, she's the best.

I know who you are.

She's amazing. But hearing you speak and mentioning food, yeah, if we have that love affair with understanding the colors and what the colors of different plant-based foods from the earth do for our physiology, and, you know, yeah. Oh, just Dr. Deanna Minich.

She's inspiring. She's amazing.

And also there's so much content these days that's demonizing food.

Yeah.

And I, and I— oh gosh, it drives me bonkers. Like, if somebody's telling you, like, don't eat nightshades or kale or— yeah, oxalates, and this is going to give you this, and like, just run away, please. Like, I mean, look, there are situations in which people do need to go on elimination diets, and that's very real, but that is not the majority of people. So if somebody's telling you, like, you need to cut out this food group is like from nature, please like sit with yourself and stop and think like, does that actually sound right? Um, yeah, so I love like Deanna Minick and, uh, Dr. William Li and all these people who celebrate food and their powers and the medicine that they contain.

Like medicine for longevity.

Yeah.

Uh, what are you most excited about in the future? Growing babies, maybe having more babies. I'm just kidding. Coming back to life.

Oh my gosh. Gosh, you know, yeah, I'm excited for, you know, the next generation because I think that they have so much more information than we do. And I'm so excited to see what they do with it and how my daughter and your daughter and our sons, they all navigate that hormonal changes that happen because we did not have the tools. And I'm excited to be an advocate for those people and for, for, for older people too. They have a lot more information now. So I think like there are a lot of downsides to social media, but there are so many upsides. Yeah. Like people who feel lost and they feel that they're not being heard or seen are finding answers through people like you, through people like us. So I think all this information, abundant information is a very exciting time. I'm, I personally am very excited to be alive at this current moment. I think it's like a transformational experience.

Good reflection, especially over this time, what everyone's going through right now. Great reflection. Yeah. Thank you for that.

I love it. And I think, you know, Kea and I have been so behind the scenes building this business for so long, and we've been helping people through our content. And it's been, we sometimes we live in a bubble of like, oh, people know this information. We forget how lucky we are that we don't deal with painful periods. And we, we, you know, come out with content. But I think we've also realized that we wanna get this message out there even more. So what do we need to do? And I think we're just reimagining like, how can we impact the next generation of women, which Kea, you know, has talked about, whether it's just through more content, more products. So yeah, we're just, it's exciting to kind of be back in the swing of things and like make an impact because I really missed that when, you know, I was busy just being a postpartum, I mean, not just, but just being a mom and, you know, so it's nice to just be back in community and connecting with our customers and having conversations like this. So thank you, Mona, for having us come here. It was, you know, long overdue for us.

Overdue, but in perfect timing. Yes. Love you guys. Thank you so much.

Love you so much.