Experimenting with Late Luteal Phase (aka the pms phase) Carbohydrates

As the blog post implies, this is a follow-up to the previous blog post. If you haven’t read that one, you might check that our first.

When I last posted, I had learned that I had pretty significant insulin resistance in the late luteal phase (aka the PMS phase) of my cycle. I had a plan to reduce my carbohydrate consumption in that window to minimize the need for insulin secretion, in the hopes that that would reset my pancreas’s response to carbohydrate consumption in the rest of my cycle. Spoiler alert: It’s helping! Read on!

small diet tweaks

Noticing that I was especially sensitive to liquid carbohydrates, I made several other tweaks across my entire cycle. First, whenever I went to the grocery store, I would pick up a bottle or two of kombucha. I usually go to the grocery store at least a couple times a week. This meant that on the majority of days, I was essentially consuming glorified juice. And my continuous glucose monitor noted fast blood sugar rises every time. While I will still get kombucha every so often when I am out with friends at a brewery since I generally don’t think alcohol, frequent grocery store kombucha just didn’t seem worth it.

The second change hit a little harder. I LOVE oat milk lattes. Something about the nuttiness of the milk with the espresso is just so darn good. When I am in insulin sensitive parts of my cycle, and especially if I drink it within a couple hours of working out, my body handles it pretty well. It creates a smaller spike than kombucha, but it still spikes. But when I am in the insulin resistant part of my cycle, it makes my blood sugar soar and stay elevated. With a myriad of other latte milk options, I decided that oat milk was no longer worth it, at least on a regular basis, and I’ve switched to whole milk when ordering out and hemp milk (surprisingly good!) when making them at home. While dairy, and especially full-fat dairy is often eschewed in health circles, it contains the most readily absorbable forms of calcium and vitamin A and is fortified with vitamin D, which most of us are lacking. Among other important minerals, it also contains zinc, a mineral most of us lack, due in part to lack of consumption and absorption and in part due to stress burning through our stores. And lastly, the fat in whole milk allows our bodies to actually absorb fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A and D. If you’re not sensitive to dairy, full-fat dairy is actually a great choice, despite being eschewed as unhealthy.

From these changes alone, I ovulated on day 16 of my cycle, giving me the first 30-day cycle I have ever had. My previous shortest cycle was 33 days, while I was blissfully floating on the MV World Odyssey last spring, with much lower stress levels.

Okay, back to my PMS plan.

going low carbohydrate

During the luteal phase of my menstrual cycle, my meals look a lot like this! Loads of veggies and healthy fats, plus an animal source of protein. This helps to minimize the effects of the insulin resistance I experience due to my polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

As noted in a previous blog post, I’ve experimented with a ketogenic diet, and it did not go well. So while I wanted to cut back on carbs when I lacked insulin sensitivity, I did not want to be in ketosis. I had previously been consuming about 200g of carbohydrates a day, in forms that included potatoes (white and sweet), beans, lentils, fruit, and the occasional rice in sushi. (I LOVE sushi!) While these are great sources of carbohydrates when you’re insulin sensitive, my data told me they were not serving me during the late luteal phase. So I cut them out.

I consumed large quantities of leafy greens and non-starchy vegetables. I still consumed full-fat milk, cottage cheese, and nuts/nut butters which contain some carbs as well. And I ate a square or two of 85% dark chocolate every day. I could write a whole post about the benefits of chocolate, but we’ll save that for another day.

With these sources of carbohydrates, I consumed about 80 - 100g of carbohydrates a day. Too high to be in ketosis, which I did not want to enter. But low enough, and spread out enough that my blood sugar, per my continuous glucose monitor, remained quite stable.

While I was optimistic that this would immediately eliminate the blood sugar crashes that prompted this experiment in the first place, it did not. At the start of my next cycle, when my insulin sensitivity returned, so too did the crashes.

But if you know me well, you know I am stubborn. And I often cling tightly to my opinions, and I was fairly certain that I was on the right track.

So in the late luteal phase of my next cycle, I again reduced my carbohydrates to about half of my prior consumption. And then I anxiously waited until insulin sensitivity returned.

banishing blood sugar crashes

And…. the crashes have gotten smaller! I no longer feel completely useless. I no longer have to curl up with the dogs and just wait it out.

Are all of my insulin sensitivity problems fixed?

Nope, definitely not.

I still see large blood sugar spikes when I consume even relatively small amounts of sugar, even when consumed after eating a balanced meal during the insulin-sensitive phase of my cycle.

I am still very sensitive to liquid carbohydrates.

But I am armed with data and a plan to keep moving in the direction of better blood sugar management and fewer debilitating blood sugar crashes.

Interestingly, I’ve also noticed some added benefits of the late luteal phase diet shifts, but I’ll save those for later posts.

If you’re curious about how I track where I am in my cycle, check out this post on basal body temperature tracking and check out the Natural Cycles App. It’s so helpful!!