For Zambian and Indian women like myself, the foods our grandmothers set on the table weren’t simply comforting—they were strategic. A bowl of roasted sweet-potatoes tossed with ground-nuts, a ladle of turmeric-spiced dal, a plate of ifisashi gently thickened in peanut sauce: every spoonful was timed to a season of the female body. Those dishes carried lessons that didn’t reach medical textbooks yet travelled faithfully from mother to daughter.
Somewhere along the way we mislaid that language. Wellness came to us shrink-wrapped in calorie charts and social-media influencers, while the quiet intelligence of the menstrual cycle was drowned out by modern life’s demand for sameness. Hormone imbalance now shadows thousands of Zambian households. It begins with heavier periods or unexplained tiredness, then swells into painful cramps, stubborn weight gain, sudden sugar cravings and anxious nights. Because the problem is rarely named, it is rarely solved.
Signs first appear in the classroom. A Ministry of Education pilot study showed that 81 percent of school-girls miss school for their entire period because they lack pads and safe toilets; the same study calculated up to 36 learning days lost each year. Days away from lessons become dreams deferred before adulthood even begins.
At the other end of the age ladder, chronic illness is climbing. Latest figures from the International Diabetes Federation reveal about 750,000 Zambian adults now live with diabetes, giving our country the third-highest prevalence in Africa. Many of those adults are women juggling blood-sugar checks, full-time work and family meals. Hormones and glucose are not separate stories; they are biochemical dancing partners. When one slips out of step, the other soon follows.
I know this first hand. After more than thirty years of managing type 1 diabetes, I discovered, largely on my own, that the ten days before my period, known as the luteal phase, make my body naturally more insulin-resistant. My glucose numbers rise even when meals and exercise stay the same. This is because of progesterone. Most diabetes clinics never mention it, leaving women puzzled and quietly blaming themselves.
Yet Zambia has taken one brave step that the rest of the continent has not. Since 2015, a legal provision nicknamed “Mother’s Day” lets every woman take one paid day off work during her period without a medical note. It is a clear admission that physiology influences performance and that honouring it is not weakness but national good sense. The next leap is realising that a menstrual cycle is more than bleeding days: it is a four-part series: menstruation, follicular rise, ovulation and luteal descent, with each movement reshaping mood, digestion, memory and focus.
Think closely and realise the logic of your grandma’s recipes comes alive. During menstruation hormones are at their quietest; energy dips while the womb sheds. Warm, iron-rich meals – impwa stews, ginger-laced lentils, leafy greens—re-build blood and calm cramps. A hot-water bottle and an early night are not laziness; they are medicine.
As oestrogen climbs in the follicular phase, creativity sparks. Lighter plates like mung bean salads, light stir-fries, grilled tilapia, fermented maize, all feel right for planning the children’s birthday party, the next financial phase for your work project or trying a brisk afternoon walk. Ovulation brings peak oestrogen and confidence. It is the perfect window to pitch a project, go on a date night with your significant other, host a family meeting or run a marathon. The body is at its absolute prime. Hydrating foods such as okra in tomato, cucumber salads and kapenta brighten the body to match its sparkle.
Then progesterone rises, digestion slows and the luteal phase invites us to nest. Sweet-potatoes, dark chocolate and slow-cooking vegetable curries steady mood and blood sugar. Late-night screens need to be swapped for a warm bath. Those cravings and swings of energy are not character flaws; they are biology’s memo to slow down here.
Ignore this long enough and symptoms pile up: the restless sleep, dull skin, scattered focus and life is feeling like an uphill climb because you are going against biology. The answer is not another imported supplement at K300 a bottle. It is rhythm, respect and a return to habits that feel like home.
Hormone balance begins with simple awareness—jotting how energy, appetite and even confidence change week by week. It grows in kitchens that still remember how to match food with the season inside the body, not only the weather outside. And it thrives in conversations that refuse to whisper about periods. When we teach girls that a cycle is a continuum, we hand them a timetable for study, sport and self-care that no exam can take away.
Workplaces can help too. If a woman understands her cycles and is able to delegate tasks during her luteal phase, and executes during ovulation at her prime, productivity would rise because burnout would fall. The same logic can guide family chores because everyone respects this biological schedule. When women are supported before they hit the wall, everyone wins.
We are not seeking indulgence – only design that respects biology. Mother’s Day was a first, the next chapter is cultural fluency: restoring the ancestral logic of our plates, timing exercise to hormone ups and downs, as well as measuring strength by understanding cycles of push and pause. A nation that feeds and schedules its women in tune with their bodies draws energy no vitamin bottle can supply.
So get your pots out. Let turmeric meet peanuts, let ginger warm the lentils, let sweet-potato roast beside pumpkin leaves. These foods were never random; they were blueprints. Partner them with modern tools: cycle-tracking apps, glucose monitors, and most importantly, honest dialogue, and we will move from survival to strategy.
Because when women understand their rhythm, they spend fewer hours firefighting symptoms and more hours building businesses, classrooms and communities. Balance is not a luxury; it is a necessity: one well-timed meal, one well-timed restful night, one well-timed conversation at a time.

(Kaajal Vaghela is a wellness entrepreneur, sportswear designer, and diabetes health consultant with over three decades of lived experience managing Type 1 diabetes. As the chairperson of the Lusaka branch of the Diabetes Association of Zambia, she is a passionate advocate for breaking down myths and building awareness about diabetes. For more information, check out: www.kaajalvaghela.com and for any feedback: [email protected])