Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Each month thousands of women suffer from PMS symptoms. It is possible to try to treat it with the help of some chemical remedies or to use some natural medicine recipes and formulas. Most specialists advise those women, who experience pms symptoms, keep to a diet and organize their eating habits in a more healthy way.

These advices will certainly help to deal with moodiness, migraines and irritation but it can be not enough to fight a pms problem. Actually, why do pms symptoms appear? Scientists say that PMS is mostly caused by lack of necessary vitamins and minerals in the body.

So it is a great idea to reduce eating salty and sugary food and drinking less beverages with caffeine, but it isn’t enough because it won’t give you useful substances your organism need. Here you’ll read about the food which will help you to fight PMS if you include it in your diet.

Eat fish, especially sardines, salmon, tuna, herring. These fishes are highly rich in omega 3-s, the fatty acids that help to reduce menstrual cramping. Your body also needs calcium and sardines can provide you with it much better than even milk. The problem with calcium is not only in ordinary lack of it – you should also remember that the organism cannot absorb calcium without the help of vitamin D –and these fishes contain really a great amount of this vitamin. According to statistics eating food which contains lots of vitamin D can reduce risk of PMS up to 40 percent.

As it was already mentioned, enough amount of vitamin D in the organism will help your body to cope with calcium that is extremely important itself. Fish is not the only food containing calcium – to get it in a sufficient amount you need to eat dairy products. Calcium affects the balance of estrogen in the body and helps to avoid depression and anxiety during your period. Drink a lot of milk or yogurt, eat cheese and you’ll notice a positive effect right away. If you don’t like dairy products, such things as broccoli or kale can replace them.

Together with calcium and vitamin D our body also needs vitamin B6 and magnesium. B6 is very well-known thing to reduce different PMS symptoms. It is needed to regulate the body’s estrogen level which is very important because too much estrogen causes mood swings and inability to focus. You can get vitamin B6 simply by eating bananas, garbanzo beans, spinach, potatoes (with skin on), chicken and turkey.

Women who experience PMS symptoms usually have a low level of magnesium. Magnesium helps to struggle with water retention and bloating and helps to regulate our brain mood regulator – serotonin. Add more beans to your diet, try pumpkin and sunflower seeds and peanuts and you see how magnesium can improve health especially during your period.

Certainly during the PMS period your body feels not very well and you often want lots of salty or very sweet food just to entertain yourself. You don’t want to deal with this useful uninteresting food. But after you try it you’ll understand that your body doesn’t ask for junk food any more and you feel much better in general.

PMS can be relieved by some natural remedies, as they are most attuned to the women’s nature since the dawn of history. Nevertheless, some of them are not thoroughly studied and might have side effects. Below is a short list of the natural remedies:

1. Chaste Tree Berry

The berry of chaste tree (also known as Vitex agnus-castus) has been one of the popular herbs helping fight PMS for a long time in Europe. The British Medical Journal published the results of a study involving two hundred women having PMS. They found out that chaste tree berry can considerably reduce premenstrual syndrome as soon as over 3 menstrual cycles. Those women who took chaste tree showed big improvements in depression, breast tenderness and headaches.

However, the chaste tree berry might have some side effects, the most common of which are headache, nausea, menstrual disorders and itching. Pregnant or nursing women shouldn’t take it, and its safety in children and people having liver or kidney diseases has not been established. Chaste tree berry may also theoretically affect the pituitary gland.

2. Calcium
There has been a study carried out to discover that women with PMS have low level of calcium and its supplementation can help reduce the symptoms severity. The research was looking at a thousand women with PMS and two thousand women without. The results showed that women, taking the greatest amount of calcium from natural sources experienced the least PMS symptoms. It also proved that taking calcium carbonate in the amount of 300 mg 4 times per day can considerably reduce pain, depression, bloating, mood changes and food cravings.

3. Magnesium
Magnesium is the mineral that can be found both in supplements and in natural food, which shows great preliminary results regarding relieving PMS. The study, examining the impact of magnesium in thirty women having PMS, revealed that 360 mg of magnesium taken 3 times per day, from 15th day to the start of the menstrual period, can considerably improve mood swings during PMS. One more study showed that 200 mg of magnesium used for 2 menstrual cycles can significantly lower the abdominal bloating, weight gain and breast tenderness.

Diarrhea and upset stomach might come as side effects of excess magnesium, as well as low blood pressure, nausea, slowed heart rate, confusion, coma, and even death. Magnesium shouldn’t be taken by people having kidney or heart disease without permission of their doctor. Magnesium can only be taken under medical supervision if together with antibiotics, diabetic medications, digoxin, blood pressure medications, tiludronate and levothyroxine, as it can interact with them.

4. Acupuncture
Acupuncture, alongside with breathing exercises, is recommended by Chinese practitioners as a good way to ease liver stagnation, although there is no scientific evidence behind it. Traditional Chinese medicine considers liver as the part of a body which is particularly affected by stress or frustration. Such PMS symptoms as bloating, cramping and breast tenderness may be the result of liver energy (“qi”) stagnation, resulted from spicy and fatty foods or alcohol.

5. Relaxation
Yoga, aromatherapy, breathing exercises and meditation are natural methods to get rid of stress and gain relaxation. Most women are more attuned to their needs weeks before menstruation, which can be used at a profit by spending your time to relax, meeting all your needs.

6. Evening Primrose Oil
This is natural plant oil, containing gamma-linolenic acid, which is considered to be an omega-six essential fatty acid. It is engaged into metabolism of prostaglandins (the hormone-like substances) regulating inflammation and pain in the human body.
However, the 2 most well-designed out of 7 studies on this remedy for premenstrual syndrome didn’t show any effects.

7. Exercise
Regular exercise like swimming, cycling, brisk walking or jogging will most likely ease PMS symptoms. The study revealed the impact of not the intensity but frequency of exercise on a relieved PMS symptoms.

8. Diet
Some suggestions related to diet might be helpful for PMS as well. Reducing caffeine, alcohol, fatty foods, red meat, salt and sugar intake will relieve depression, bloating, dizziness and breast tenderness. Eat more fish, beans, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables (especially broccoli) as they are rich in potassium and vital vitamins. Try to eat not much portions, but frequently in order to stabilize blood sugar.

9. Many more
There are quite a few other natural remedies, which can help PMS, like Reflexology, Chiropractic, Vitamin E, Ginkgo, Royal jelly, Wild yam, Uva ursi, Progesterone cream and Dandelion.