Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) includes physical and emotional changes that vary from slightly noticeable to crazy intense. It occurs ten days before your period and then disappears during or shortly after your bleeding. PMS affects up to 75 per cent of women, although only 20 per cent to 40 per cent have difficulties as a result. Sadly, most women grow up believing that having PMS is a normal part of being female. Still, PMS is common but NOT normal.
This article will find the causes and solutions for PMS so you can feel good every day of the month!
What is PMS?
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a collection of pretty shitty emotional and physical symptoms; none are normal, but unfortunately, they are pretty common. PMS differs from one woman to the next, but most women with periods have premenstrual symptoms ranging from mild to severe and for some women with severe symptoms, PMS is linked to reduced quality of life.
The most common emotional symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Feeling irritable and/or depressed
The most common physical symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Breast tenderness
- Bloating/retaining fluid
- Food cravings and/or increased appetite
- Acne
- Headaches
- Brain fog
- Low back pain
- Cramps
- Sleep disturbance
What causes PMS?
It is essential to understand that your hormones are not the problem and that hormonal changes happen during the month, which is part of being a woman. But the problem is when these changes are out of balance. PMS is one of the consequences of estrogen dominance, a state of either absolute excess of oestrogens in your body or a relative excess in comparison to progesterone.
In other words; a high estrogen-to-progesterone ratio. Estrogen dominance can arise from many different reasons, some of them are: Using hormonal birth control, exposure to oestrogens (compounds that mimic estrogen found in fragrances, plastics, parabens and pesticides), insulin resistance, stress and nutrient deficiencies.
Hormonal imbalances are almost always caused by one or more of the following:
1. Blood sugar imbalances
About a week before your bleeding, it is normal to be hungrier than usual. This happens due to a drop in estrogen and serotonin; These hormones are natural appetite suppressants. However, this is not an excuse to eat more inflammatory and sugary foods because these foods will lead to blood sugar imbalances, making you feel moody and crash your energy levels during the day, worsening PMS symptoms.
Estrogen and serotonin play crucial roles in appetite regulation, mood, and overall well-being. Consuming excessive inflammatory and sugary foods can disrupt blood sugar levels, potentially leading to mood swings, energy crashes, and an increase in PMS symptoms.
Focus on a well-balanced diet rich in whole foods, emphasizing complex carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. Such a dietary approach can help stabilize blood sugar levels, mitigate hormonal fluctuations, and alleviate PMS symptoms.
2. Inflammation
Inflammation plays a key role in the development of PMS by disrupting hormonal communication within the body. Prostaglandins, hormone-like substances responsible for regulating inflammation, have been identified as potential triggers for PMS symptoms. When their levels become elevated, they can contribute to an array of symptoms associated with PMS. This includes but is not limited to menstrual cramps, bloating, and mood disturbances.
Adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, which includes a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, may help mitigate the impact of prostaglandins and alleviate the severity of PMS symptoms.
3. Stress
The more stress you have, both emotional and physical, the greater the impact on PMS symptoms. Stress acts as a disruptor of hormonal balance and can lead to long-term impairments in ovulation. Women who reported feeling stressed two weeks before menstruation were two to four times more likely to report moderate to severe symptoms than women who did not feel stressed. If you feel crushed by stress, that alone will put you at higher risk for menstrual dysfunction and PMS.
Incorporating practices that address emotional well-being, such as mindfulness and emotional support, alongside measures to manage physical stress, like regular exercise and good sleep, becomes crucial for maintaining hormonal health and minimizing the impact of stress on PMS symptoms.
4. Having an unhealthy weight
Both being underweight and overweight can affect hormonal balance, increasing susceptibility to PMS symptoms. It’s crucial to recognize that maintaining a healthy body mass plays a key role in preventing the development of PMS. Striving for a balanced and healthy body mass becomes essential in maintaining hormonal health and minimizing the likelihood of experiencing severe PMS symptoms.
Adopting lifestyle practices that promote a well-balanced diet, regular exercise, and overall well-being can contribute significantly to maintaining an optimal body mass and mitigating the impact of weight extremes on hormonal function.
5. Digestive issues
Digestive issues and hormonal imbalances share a bidirectional relationship; imbalances in hormones can lead to digestive problems, while digestive issues can contribute to hormonal disruptions. Excess hormones in the system alter the body’s hormone production dynamics, creating a feedback loop.
Elimination of excess hormones primarily occurs through bowel movements. That is why maintaining healthy and regular bowel habits is crucial for efficiently removing hormones from the body. Adopting a fibre-rich diet, staying adequately hydrated, and incorporating probiotics can contribute to optimal digestive function and aid in eliminating excess hormones to ensure that you are pooping every single day!
6. Smocking
If you smoke, you are twice as likely to have severe PMS symptoms compared to non-smokers. Cigarette smoking, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, may increase a woman’s likelihood of developing moderate to severe PMS.
Recognizing the role of smoking as a potential exacerbating factor for PMS emphasizes the importance of adopting smoking cessation strategies for both overall health and mitigating the impact on menstrual well-being.
What can you do?
To effectively reduce PMS symptoms, it’s essential first to identify and address the root cause of your specific symptoms. This personalized approach involves understanding the unique factors contributing to your PMS experience.
Below, you can find some helpfull tips!
1. Reduce inflammation
Sugar, dairy, corn, vegetable oils, and gluten are the most inflammatory foods, so eliminating these foods will reduce inflammation and PMS symptoms a LOT! Then, adding anti-inflammatory foods like mackerel, sardines, salmon, nuts, and seeds will help keep blood sugar levels stable. A diet low in processed foods and high in wholesome foods is the way to reduce PMS. That doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself forever of the foods you love and live on a diet, a big NO to that.
2. Stress management
You can do many things to reduce stress, such as spending more time in nature and with the people you love, which will boost your mood and immune system and, as a result, reduce stress. Exercise and meditation are great options to help you relax, especially before and during your period when your energy will be lowered, and training hard may not be ideal.
Whatever works for you, do it often because your health depends on it. Last but not least, sleep is crucial for stress management, recovery, and overall health. Regular sleeping will reduce PMS symptoms and help you feel better during the day.
My favourite yoga channel on YouTube is EkhartYoga, and for meditation, I love https://www.headspace.com/
3. Eat enough food
Eating enough to meet your needs is as important as eating a healthy diet. An inadequate calorie and carbohydrate intake might be the most common contributor to a dysfunctional menstrual cycle. Suppose you follow a low carbohydrate diet such as ketogenic, carnivore or paleo. In that case, I strongly recommend you start carb cycling and introduce complex carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, or rice six days before your period. Avoid fasting during these days as well. As women, we need to use these tools differently than men; we cannot fast or reduce our carbohydrate intake at any time of the month.
4. Supplements
Remember that supplements are not a magical solution but a helpful addition to a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Also, when it comes to supplements, quality matters a lot! Read what you buy and avoid artificial fillers, gluten, soy and sugar.
- Magnesium: helps reduce bloating, breast tenderness and headaches. Also, it can help you relax and reduce anxiety. Magnesium glycinate is my favorite!
- Vitamin B6: Reduces inflammation, helps in detoxification and is a natural diuretic. I prefer to take it along with a B complex supplement. B vitamins will also help reduce stress.
- Zinc: Is a strong anti-inflammatory. Aim for 20–25 mg a day along with copper.
- Omegas-3 with vitamin D: Omegas are anti-inflammatory and will help reduce menstrual cramps. Both will add to hormonal balance. Take them during the day with fat for better absorption.
Resources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/premenstrual-syndrome-pms-a-to-z http://medcraveonline.com/AOWMC/AOWMC-06-00140.php https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955559/ https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/prior-stress-could-worsen-premenstrual-symptoms-nih-study-finds https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15962720/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9588440/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279053/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081099/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22261128/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6087749/
Originally published at http://solsnutritionstories.com.
