Our menstrual cycle is our 5th vital sign. We get a report card at the end of each month showing us exactly how our hormones are doing. And the color of your period is one of the easiest signs to interpret.

All of our signs and symptoms are messages from our body, it’s how our body communicates with us. We just have to be aware and present enough to hear the message and seek out the answer.

Light pink

Light pink bleeding is a sign of low estrogen. Estrogen is a growth hormone and if it’s too low, you don’t build up a thick uterine lining and so your period is very light. Low estrogen could be a low production of estrogen, or it could be that other hormones are too high, causing a relative deficiency. In either case, estrogen is really important for bone health and for a healthy libido so we want to get you balanced as soon as possible.

Cranberry Red

This is what we want to see - cranberry red with small clots, less than the size of a quarter. Estrogen and progesterone are nicely balanced if this is your color.

Purple/Blue

Seeing dark purple blue blood with clots is a sign of high estrogen levels. Estrogen is a growth hormone so too much estrogen means you build up a super thick lining each month that shows up dark and full of clots. You’re probably also prone to PMS.

Brown

Seeing brown blood at the very beginning or at the end of your period is a sign of low progesterone. If progesterone is too low your body might not fully shed your uterine lining the way it’s supposed to. This means you hold on to a little bit of tissue, which oxidizes during the month, and shows up as brown spotting or bleeding at your next cycle. If this is your color, you’re probably also having long cycles and possibly not ovulating regularly.

Missing

The last color that is just as important is a missing period. If you’re not having a period at all, that definitely says something about your hormones. It could be low estrogen, low progesterone, it could be low body fat, you do need a certain amount of fat to maintain a healthy menstrual cycle, or it could be something else like PCOS.