Seeking Health

Let’s start with wisdom by way of biology. In the earlier half of your cycle, your hormonal activity is designed to maximize your chances of being pregnant. Hormones flow abundantly, and testosterone is at a relative high. As a result, many women feel more energized, attractive, and aroused during this time.

I like to think of this as a “hormonal buffer”, which allows you to tolerate things that bother you, in favor of the deeply ingrained biological imperative to make babies.

In other words, if the paelolithic equivalent of dirty socks on the floor caused your cavewoman ancestor to have a meltdown while she was ovulating, you may not be here reading this today.

Then we come to the second half of the cycle. This is where all the problems happen because this is where there is a possibility that a sperm and egg have combined. It becomes biologically important for the female to become protective and wary of unwanted circumstances.

The hormonal buffer is no longer running high. Things that you don’t like become painfully obvious, and you react – sometimes in a way that you regret.

Here’s the important part: The things that bother you just before your period are probably the same things that you were tolerating during the rest of your cycle. You need to address them, so that you don’t reach that monthly breaking point. That’s the the first step in solving PMS naturally.

Remember, feelings are feedback. So don't dismiss your PMS emotions.

But there are other things you can do that will influence your biochemistry around your cycle.

#1 Exercise has been shown to improve mood in general, and PMS in particular. Types of exercise that have been studied include aerobic exercise (like walking or running), and yoga.

# 2 Vitex agnus-castus (aka Vitex or Chaste Tree) is a herb with a long history of use for female hormone problems. Research shows that it helps reduce PMS irritability, anger, bloating, headache and breast tenderness. It does this by interacting gently with opioid receptors – the part of our nervous system that reduces pain, and also regulates the menstrual cycle.

# 3 Magnesium and B6 are also helpful. Placebo controlled studies have shown that each of these nutrients reduced cravings, depression, anxiety and physical discomfort in PMS. They can be used separately or together.

One of the ways that both magnesium and B6 work is that they break down hormones that cause PMS symptoms. And remember that here in NZ our soil is pretty low in magnesium, so you may not be getting enough from your diet.

#4 Anti-inflammatory, mood-supportive diet: This is the most important in terms of the affect it has on your biochemistry.

A low fat, plant based diet has the helpful effect of reducing the amount of estrogen in the blood, sometimes to a striking degree. For many women, diets that avoid animal products and keep vegetable oils to a bare minimum cause a marked reduction in menstrual pain, presumably because of the diet’s effect on hormones.

There are several reasons why this diet affects hormones. First of all, meat and dairy contain estrogen and so add to your natural estrogen production. Also reducing the amount of fat in the food you eat reduces the amount of estrogen in your blood. This appears to be true for all fats—animal fats and vegetable oils.

Second, plant products contain fiber (roughage), which tends to carry estrogens out of the body. Here is how it works: The liver filters estrogens out of the blood and sends them down a small tube, called the bile duct, into the digestive tract. There, fiber from grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits soaks up the estrogens like a sponge. If plant foods are a major part of your diet, you’ll have plenty of fiber. But the amount of fiber in your diet is reduced when you have yogurt, chicken breast, eggs, or other animal products, because fiber comes only from plants. Without adequate fiber, the estrogens in your digestive tract end up being reabsorbed back into the bloodstream.

Certain foods that are common in vegetarian diets have special effects. Soy products, for example, contain phytoestrogens, which are very weak plant estrogens that reduce your natural estrogens’ ability to attach to your cells. The result is less estrogen stimulation of cells.

In addition to individual reports that low-fat, vegetarian diets can cause dramatic reductions in menstrual pain, vegetarians statistically also have fewer ovulatory disturbances. Some researchers have found that excess estrogen plays a role in PMS symptoms, too, and that shifting the balance of the diet away from fatty foods and toward high-fiber plant foods is helpful.

Remember, symptoms are signals. What do you think your PMS is telling you?

If it's time to look at what signals your symptoms are sending you, consider booking a Healthy Directions Strategy Session with me to discuss what changes you could make in your nutrition, exercise, mindset and lifestyle to prevent, reverse and heal from PMS, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol or digestive issues.