What Is The Luteal Phase and Why Is Everyone on TikTok Talking About It

Maria Korneeva

According to TikTok, being in the luteal phase of your menstrual cycle changes everything. It makes you more depressed and anxious, it makes you crave carbs and rest, and it leaves you sensitive to everything around you. A barrage of posts are now referencing the luteal phase and other phases of the menstrual cycle, bringing to prominence symptoms or experiences many may not have noticed before, or may not have been able to name. Those same posts offer “remedies” to ease symptoms associated with a specific phase, or offer instructions on how you should eat, exercise, and act in accordance with where you are in your cycle. It’s part of a trend called “cycle syncing,” which entails changing your habits in accordance with your menstrual cycle.

While some might find this focus on the menstrual cycle helpful, allowing them to name symptoms they might not have understood before, others are just confused — and some may be wondering, ‘what is the luteal phase?’ Why is everyone suddenly talking about the luteal phase? Is it actually that big of a deal? Do I have to tailor my life around my cycle? And, would taking these social media tips actually help, or is it just another example of TikTok pseudoscience? We asked Dr. Staci Tanouye, MD, FACOG, a board-certified OBGYN, to break it down for us.

What is the luteal phase?

Let’s start from the beginning – what is the luteal phase? The luteal phase is the fourth phase of your menstrual cycle and usually occurs from about day 15 to day 28. The luteal phase begins right after ovulation and ends when your period begins. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “the main purpose of the luteal phase is to prepare your uterus for a possible pregnancy.” As Dr. Tanouye explains, the luteal phase is dominated by progesterone, a hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg to implant and grow.

The other phases of your menstrual cycle are menstruation, the follicular phase, and ovulation.

How does the luteal phase affect us?

According to what we see on TikTok, it seems like the luteal phase is a pretty big deal emotionally. Many posts make this phase out to be somewhat miserable, featuring moodiness, bloating, hunger, and basically just feeling bad (many people experience PMS symptoms during this time). To ease those symptoms, some creators claim that you need to eat specific foods to “balance” your hormones, to adjust your workouts at the gym, and even to communicate to your partner that you might be meaner than normal. But does being in the luteal phase really change everything from what kinds of workouts we should be doing to what kinds of foods we should eat?

Not exactly. Some people may experience symptoms during their luteal phase that might make resting more or eating a certain way feel good, while others won’t have symptoms at all. “I think there are some people who tolerate progesterone just fine and don’t have a whole lot of side effects [of the luteal phase],” Dr. Tanouye says. “There [are] some people who are very sensitive to progesterone in general and those would be the people who get significant PMS-like symptoms. They’re feeling fatigued, not sleeping well, bloating, having breast tenderness, getting some cravings.”

For people who are sensitive to progesterone, the luteal phase can be tough – especially the second half of the luteal phase when symptoms can peak. And that may be the experience of some of the creators on TikTok who share their experiences with the luteal phase. “And I think that’s the conundrum of social media,” Tanouye says. “It's great that we talk about some of these processes and are normalizing them,” she continues, noting that this should also include “realizing that the normal range also includes people who don't have that experience and who don't have significant symptoms, and that's very normal, too.”

So, not that everyone who menstruates needs to start hyper-focusing on their luteal phase. If you’ve been functioning just fine during that part of your cycle, there’s no need to do anything different. But, if you have been experiencing symptoms you suspect may be related to your cycle, there’s now more awareness about a reason. The best way to figure out if you’re affected by progesterone and may experience a more difficult luteal phase is to track your cycle and note the symptoms you experience and when they occur. “Knowing our bodies and understanding what our normal is … is being able to recognize those patterns,” Tanouye says.

Should you exercise differently during the luteal phase?

The TikTok girlies are convinced that we should change the way we exercise during the different phases of our menstrual cycle. During the luteal phase, they say, low-impact exercises like walking and swimming are best. But Dr. Tanouye says one size doesn’t fit all. It’s too simplistic to say that we should only do high-intensity exercises during one part of the menstrual cycle. “That’s a little too specific,” Tanouye says. “It’s the same thing about listening to our body and tracking how we feel.”

Should you eat differently during the luteal phase?

Another tip from TikTok: you should apparently change how you eat during the luteal phase, focusing on foods that are high in starch, magnesium, and potassium to ease the symptoms of that part of the cycle. But if you generally have a well-rounded diet, Dr. Tanouye says tailoring your food intake to the portion of your cycle you’re in is unnecessary. If after some careful observation you find that you’re consistently experiencing bloating during the luteal phase, cutting down on foods that contribute to bloating (like salt and sodas) may be helpful.

Is seed cycling real?

Seed cycling refers to the practice of eating different kinds of seeds at different times of the month to ostensibly balance hormones, something that certain TikTokers claim is essentially a life hack to support your needs during different parts of your menstrual cycle. But is it real?

“Complete pseudoscience,” Dr. Tanouye says. “It’s complete theoretical phytoestrogen stuff that is just not possible. It’s pseudoscience.”

Many online claim that seed cycling is some type of revolutionary natural cure for all kinds of symptoms. This, Dr. Tanouye says, could be because eating whole grains and seeds is just overall healthy, and eating healthy foods can make us feel good. “I think it's very natural that people are going to feel good when they start incorporating these things that we know are good for our bodies,” she says. “But the idea that this seed has more estrogenic properties than this one, and that we should be changing that up in these huge volumes at different parts of our cycle is really quite bizarre.”

So, noted – skip the seed cycling.

Are we over-identifying with our menstrual cycles?

Amid the online rise of cycle syncing, it’s worth wondering whether all this hyper-specific focus on our menstrual cycle is actually healthy. Some people who had never even heard of the luteal phase are now wondering if they need to change up their whole diet based on it, while others who have been seeking answers to why they feel so crappy during a certain part of the month are rejoicing in feeling like they have a semblance of control.

That’s why, Dr. Tanouye says, it’s complicated. “Obviously, we don’t necessarily want to blame everything we do and feel on our luteal phase,” Dr. Tanouye says. “But I think it’s knowing our bodies and knowing and understanding what our normal is [that’s beneficial].”

What’s not helpful, Dr. Tanouye says, is the generalization that everyone can and should do or eat specific things based on their cycle — none of this is a one-size-fits-all solution. And what’s particularly alarming, she says, is influencers giving what could be considered medical advice.

“People have to really be on high alert of what information they're consuming and how it's going to affect them. So, yes to sharing experiences, yes to being supportive in that environment. But once people start crossing the line over giving [medical] advice [about] that specific experience, or saying, ‘This is normal for everyone and everyone should do this,’ I think that's where we get into trouble.”

It can even contribute to a certain kind of FOMO, Dr. Tanouye says, in which we might see a creator talking about something like cycle syncing, and feel like something is wrong with us if we don’t identify with their experience, or participate in the health trend they’re talking about. That’s where critical thinking comes into play.

“I think social media does a lot of that around health. Sometimes it's unintentional, and sometimes it's intentional,” she says. “That's where the audience has to really critically think about what is actually beneficial for them.”

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue