Recently I read"Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver. In it one of the characters noted that her menstrual cycle and the moon were related. I did some Internet research and found an interesting article in Wikipedia, from which this is excerpted.
Menstruation and the moon
Traditional sources agree that the menstrual cycle is linked to the cycle of the moon.[citation needed] These sources generally indicate that women menstruate at the time of the new moon, and ovulate at the full moon. Although scientific evidence for this has been weak, the problem may be that most women today live in urban environments where the moon is no longer a significant contributor to nocturnal light. The fact that women who work on night shifts, where they are exposed to strong light at night, often experience menstrual irregularities, is just one example of how rhythms of light and darkness do influence hormonal physiology, including the menstrual cycle.[22]
The word"menstruation" is etymologically related to moon. The terms"menstruation" and"menses" come from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and to the roots of the English words month and moon — reflecting the fact that the moon also takes close to 28 days to revolve around the Earth (actually 27.32 days). The synodical lunar month, the period between two new moons (or full moons), is 29.53 days long.
A 1975 book by Louise Lacey documented the experience of herself and 27 of her friends, who found that when they removed all artificial night lighting their menstrual cycles began to occur in rhythm with the lunar cycle. She dubbed the technique Lunaception.[23] Later studies in both humans[24] and animals[25] have found that artificial light at night does influence the menstrual cycle in humans and the estrus cycle in mice (cycles are more regular in the absence of artificial light at night), though none have duplicated the synchronization of women's menstrual cycles with the lunar cycle. One author has suggested that sensitivity of women's cycles to nightlighting is caused by nutritional deficiencies of certain vitamins and minerals.[26]
Some have suggested that the fact that other animals' menstrual cycles appear to be greatly different from lunar cycles is evidence that the average length of humans' cycle is most likely a coincidence.[27][28]
Note that the cycle reconnected itself to the lunar cycle with the removal of artifical night light. It's another way of saying what I've been saying all along: melatonin, which does not reach its normal levels in the presence of light, is crucial for normal functioning menstrual cycles.
Take a look around. Are you pulling the shades completely? Have you removed night lights? Taken the clock radio away from your nightstand? Avoided excessive computer and television in the evening hours?
Mother Nature has funny, yet insistent ways of reminding us that when we drift too far from her wisdom…things just don't work the way they should.
