Here’s where I think it makes things interesting, because it takes about 100 days for the egg released during ovulation to mature – that’s roughly three months. So, it makes sense that we saw the biggest improvements around that time. This is a huge reason why all my protocols with clients are for a minimum of three months to truly allow the intervention to work and solidify in the body.

Let’s talk about period pain, or the fancy name for it – primary dysmenorrhea. Basically it’s caused by changes in prostaglandin levels, which lead to muscle contractions and, you guessed it, pain. These levels tend to spike when you regularly indulge on highly inflammatory foods like gluten, refined sugar, and those sneaky seed oils. To add insult to injury, low progesterone levels can also ramp up the pain – so if you’re overly stressed, or not ovulating effectively, you can bet your period pain is going to be more prominent.

Now, here’s where zinc comes into play. The researchers believe that zinc works its magic by regulating prostaglandin enzymes, boosting antioxidant enzymes, and dialling down inflammation. And guess what? Previous studies have shown similar improvements with zinc sulfate, which just goes to show that we’re onto something big here.