# Your Cycle Is More Predictable Than His Testosterone | Sarah Hill

An episode of [Live Well Be Well with Sarah Ann Macklin | Health, Lifestyle, Nutrition](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1508380100), 1 May 2026, 4:37.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/1033d1554/podcast/play/119209820/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-29%2F2390a9db-7264-b92d-a963-2e7d8ed2f50c.mp3

👉 Practical beats perfect.Here’s a free 5-recipe PDF I use to support energy and stress during busy weeks.https://sarahannmacklin.com/5_free_recipes 👉 If this resonates, you can join the thousands who readThe Compassionate Cure each week.https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/ Watch the FULL podcast here: https://youtu.be/tNoDNnpSkdA Do men get “period brain” too, or do hormones affect men and women in completely different ways? In this conversation, I explain why men’s primary sex hormone, testosterone, tends to be more dynamic and responsive to immediate environmental cues, while women’s primary sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are generally more cyclical and predictable across the menstrual cycle. This clip explores how testosterone follows a circadian rhythm (higher in the morning, lower in the evening) and can shift with real-life inputs like competition wins or losses, job stress, relationship context, being around an attractive person, and whether someone has children. We also talk about the common assumptions people make about women’s moods and cycles, including why blaming anger on a period often misses what’s actually happening hormonally, since hormone levels are at their lowest during menstruation. Sarah Hill in conversation with Sarah Ann Listen to the full episode here. Watch the full episode on YouTube here. *** This episode is sponsored by: NOWATCH: The compassionate health trackerConnecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/ Mojo: the app for expert-led courses in better sex.Learn from world-class sex therapists and relationship experts with courses tailored to your needs.15% off with code LiveWell15 at mymojo.com/livewellbewell *** The Great British Veg OutHow to support your gut, energy, and hormones by eating more — not less. 👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/the-great-british-veg-outReset Your HealthIf your body feels off after stress, travel, or burnout — this is where to start. 👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/reset-your-health-in-30-days *** Let’s be friends! 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin/📹 Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah 🐦 Twitter: https://x.com/SarahAnnMacklin 📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast💌 Newsletter: https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/

## Transcript

[0:02] This is a Beware moment, the most replayed moments from my
[0:05] latest conversation. It's a glimpse into the wider
[0:08] episode, which you can find LinkedIn the show notes below.
[0:12] Because sometimes one small moment is enough to reconnect to
[0:16] living well and being well. Do you think I do?
[0:24] Do you think men get period brain?
[0:26] No, so I think that men get like sex brain and weapon brain and
[0:30] win or loss brain. Like I think that you know, one
[0:34] of the the things about men is because you know, their primary
[0:38] sex hormone is testosterone and testosterone is dynamic in
[0:42] response to cues in the environment in ways that
[0:45] estrogen and progesterone do not, right.
[0:47] So estrogen and progesterone is progesterone in particular, like
[0:51] will increase and decrease in response to stress, for example,
[0:55] but in in very small amounts like the like the the big, you
[0:59] know, generation of both estrogen and progesterone are
[1:03] from the ovaries and it's just all about maturing the follicle,
[1:07] releasing an egg, having the corpus lithium releasing
[1:11] progesterone. And so that's very predictable
[1:14] and non reactive just in that, you know, if you are having a
[1:19] really good day, a really bad day, it's not like your estrogen
[1:22] and progesterone levels are going to be swinging wildly in
[1:24] response to that. Testosterone is dynamic and it
[1:28] responds to cues in the immediate environment in ways
[1:32] that estrogen and progesterone do not.
[1:34] And so men can experience wild swings in testosterone.
[1:37] I mean, one, it's got a circadian rhythm, so
[1:40] testosterone peaks in the morning and then decreases
[1:43] throughout the day and then is lowest in the evening.
[1:46] But it also, you know, men's testosterone production will
[1:49] increase again. And if they're around a
[1:51] beautiful woman, if they win a competition, if they lose a
[1:55] competition, it will decrease. If they're, you know, get laid
[1:59] off from their job or something, it will decrease.
[2:01] And women's hormones don't respond.
[2:03] You know, our primary sex hormones don't respond that way.
[2:05] Our testosterone responds that way too, right?
[2:08] So testosterone is really responsive.
[2:10] It's, it's like it listens to what's happening in the
[2:12] environment, like your, your brain and then it, it tells your
[2:16] endocrine system like more testosterone when things are
[2:18] going well and then less testosterone when things are
[2:21] going poorly. And so I think in some ways men,
[2:24] you know, they have to ride this roller coaster in a little bit
[2:26] of a different way. And, and theirs is more erratic
[2:29] in some ways than ours is because ours is cyclical.
[2:34] You know, it's like I, if you tell me like the the age of a
[2:38] woman and the first day of her last menstrual cycle, I can tell
[2:42] you with pretty good amount of certainty like what's happening
[2:46] with her primary sex hormones. And the same is not true for
[2:48] men. Tell me the time of day.
[2:51] And you have to give me all sorts of other information about
[2:53] like, all right, has he won or lost anything recently?
[2:55] Or are there any beautiful women in the room?
[2:57] Like, is he in a relationship? Does he have children?
[3:00] Because these are all things that influence testosterone
[3:02] levels. And so I think that all of us
[3:04] are dynamic and just in different ways.
[3:08] And so I think that one of the the best things that we can do
[3:10] for ourselves is just like really wrap our arms around that
[3:14] and begin to understand the different, the different
[3:17] biological influences that shape our experience of being the
[3:20] person that we are and the way that we show up in the world.
[3:23] That's that's fair. And that's totally fair.
[3:26] That's totally fair. And noise.
[3:27] No either. Yeah.
[3:28] And I think that there's, I think that there's some, you
[3:30] know, there's some version of the story about women's hormones
[3:35] and how they cycle that that puts too fine a point on it
[3:39] where, you know, where it's like, oh, you know, how can you
[3:41] be in a bad mood? You're like, right near
[3:43] ovulation. And it's like, well.
[3:45] How many times does a man said, oh, you and your period when
[3:47] you're angry? It infuriates.
[3:49] Me. Yeah, No, yeah, no, that
[3:50] infuriates me too. And what's so funny about that
[3:53] is like when we're on our periods, our hormones are at
[3:55] their absolute lowest across the cycle.
[3:58] And so, so then if there is a problem with us, we're on our
[4:03] period, it's because we're not hormonal enough, you know, so,
[4:07] so. Elated.
[4:09] Exactly. So it's like, I don't know,
[4:11] being, being hormonal, there's, there's a lot, there's a lot of
[4:13] benefits to it. Thank you for listening to the
[4:19] Speedwell moment if it resonated, the full conversation
[4:22] is LinkedIn, the show notes and I hope it gave you a small pause
[4:26] to take a moment for you and to reconnect to living well and
[4:30] being well. If you loved it, please do leave
[4:32] a review, follow the show or share this maybe with someone
[4:36] you love.

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