Changing hormone levels are a normal part of a woman's body, especially across the menstrual cycle. In an article for Daily Bangladesh, fitness nutritionist Raisa Mehjabin explains that the changes are not confined to the reproductive system: some women notice them in appetite, cravings, mood, sleep and daily energy.

Mid-cycle, she writes, a rise in oestrogen to a certain level is linked to a sudden surge of luteinising hormone (LH), which usually triggers ovulation. Progesterone rises in the second half of the cycle, and if there is no pregnancy hormone levels fall again.

Experience of exercise also varies. Some women feel more tired or uncomfortable at certain points, while many notice no change. Setting the same exercise or diet rules for everyone at each phase is therefore not scientifically sound, she says; paying attention to one's own symptoms, energy and sleep matters more.

A 28-day cycle is often held up as the norm, but not every cycle is 28 days long; length varies with the person and age, and even from time to time in the same person. Noting regular changes in appetite, sleep, mood or exercise capacity helps a woman understand her own pattern.

But severe or prolonged pain, abnormal bleeding, long-term irregular periods or problems that disrupt daily life should not be dismissed as normal hormonal change, the writer says; they call for a doctor's advice.

Source: Daily Bangladesh