Helpful foods for PMT
Nutrition
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual tension (PMT) is a recurrent condition for many women. Symptoms can start up to 7 to 14 days before menstruation and include headache, back ache, bloating, breast pain, low energy, irritability, and depression amongst other things. These symptoms can be severe and debilitating for some women, but fortunately a natural approach to menstrual health can help to reduce or eliminate symptoms and their root causes. A healthy period is free of both physical and emotional symptoms. It is possible!
An important part of a healthy hormone system is a healthy liver. A sluggish liver is linked to PMT and irregular hormone production. Including nourishing and detoxifying green, leafy vegetables in your diet and reducing dairy, sugar, and alcohol can help to keep your liver function optimal. In addition, caffeine impacts liver function and is also directly linked to worsening PMT symptoms. Try reducing your coffee and tea consumption or eliminating them entirely from your diet.
Increased stress can worsen PMT, so including relaxation and stress management techniques is your life is recommended. This all sounds logical, but can be incredibly hard to do given our modern lifestyles. In over sixteen years of clinical practice, we’ve observed that it is what and how we eat that can make the most consistent and powerful difference to our cycles. Sometimes, all that is needed is a simple plan and someone to walk alongside you while you implement it.
A few key nutrients can help to ease PMT including magnesium, vitamin B6, and zinc. In particular, magnesium can help to reduce cramping while B6 and zinc help to regulate hormones, especially if you are using or have used the birth control pill. These nutrients are found in nuts, seeds, with particular ones being of more use than others for PMT (e.g. almonds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds); oats and quinoa.
Getting your bowels moving regularly is also important for detoxification of excess hormones like estrogen. Improved diet and stress management can help to improve PMT for many women - remember, a healthy period is a symptom-free period!
