How To Naturally Combat PMS
Irritability, anxiety, sadness, bloating, headaches, brain fog, food cravings, acne, and more…why do I experience PMS each month and how can I avoid it?
Premenstrual syndrome is common - but it’s not inevitable. PMS refers to any of the above mentioned symptoms that occur during the ten days before your period and then disappear during, or shortly after, you start bleeding.
PMS is mostly caused by fluctuating hormone levels estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is our main reproductive hormone. It boosts serotonin levels, gives us energy, builds muscles, and improves insulin sensitivity - it’s the hormone that peaks right before ovulation, and that’s when it should be at its highest. But, too much estrogen during the luteal phase can be overstimulating which results in breast pain, fluid retention, irritability, and headaches, i.e. all the period symptoms we don’t want.
This is where progesterone needs to come in. Ideally, progesterone is the dominant hormone in the luteal phase (the two weeks right before your period) which should help to reduce inflammation and calm our moods by enhancing the neurotransmitter, GABA. Unfortunately, many women either don’t produce enough progesterone, or the progesterone that they do produce drops way too quickly, which gives way for estrogen to dominate. Common symptoms of low progesterone are low sex drive, migraine headaches, menstrual cramps, and irregular periods.
So, as you can see, PMS can be relieved if progesterone and estrogen are balanced correctly the days leading up to your menstrual period. How do we make this happen naturally? First we need to focus on these three things…
Reduce inflammation: inflammatory cytokines put you at a greater risk for experiencing PMS because chronic inflammation distorts hormonal communication. If you’re body is stressed, cortisol levels increase, which in turn, decreases estrogen and progesterone levels.
Enhance progesterone levels: getting progesterone up to the right levels in the luteal phase is key to managing PMS. If progesterone is up, estrogen is down, which leads to calmer feelings, less stress, and maybe even lighter periods.
Stabilize estrogen: again, PMS symptoms mainly arise from high estrogen and low progesterone. Estrogen is great, but we mainly want it during the follicular and ovulatory phases of the cycle. Too much estrogen during the luteal phase causes cramps, headaches, breast tenderness, and more.
Then, we can address each of these concerns through herbs, supplements, and lifestyle changes.
Reducing inflammation:
Reduce inflammatory foods: you hear this so often but most of the time you still don’t know what this means. Everyone has different inflammatory foods that just don’t work well with their body. A common inflammatory food is dairy. Others can be gluten, oils, sugar, or foods high in histamine. This doesn’t mean avoid all of these altogether, but see what you’re body thrives on and what it doesn’t. If you experience severe PMS, try taking out dairy and notice whether your symptoms improve.
Eat antioxidant-rich foods: antioxidants fight off free radicals in the body which cause major inflammation. Vitamins C & E are great antioxidant nutrients, but also consuming more berries, vegetable, nuts, and seeds may be beneficial, too.
Magnesium & Vitamin B6: both of these nutrients help with the formation of progesterone and they also have powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
Increasing Progesterone:
Manage stress: as always, stress impacts everything. Chronic stress increases cortisol and adrenaline secretion at the expense of many hormones, including progesterone. It’s important to find a stress management practice that works for you, whether it be meditation, walks, family time, deep breathing, or reading.
Include healthy fats in your diet: dietary fats are super important! Our hormones are made using fats and proteins that we consume. A low fat diet decreases that body’s production of estrogen and progesterone, which can ultimately lead to PMS as well as infertility. Click here to read more about healthy fats, which include avocados, salmon, olive oil, nuts and seeds, etc.
Use herbs: Vitex agnus castus is one of the most popular herbs for PMS reduction. It has been shown to reduce prolactin secretion while increasing progesterone levels.
Lowering Estrogen:
Boost liver detox: Our liver is a critical organ that is responsible for detoxification of toxins from our body. Sometimes, if we have a heavy “body burden,” our liver isn’t able to work properly and excess estrogens get caught up in our body rather than being excreted through urine and feces. Herbs are another common way to improve liver function, as are proper nutrition habits and regular exercise.
Improve your gut health: As mentioned above, estrogen gets cleared out through urine and feces. A lot of patients I see suffer from constipation, which prevents proper clearing of estrogen from the body. If you’re not having full, well-formed bowel movements at least once per day, talk to your doctor!
Reduce exposure to environmental estrogens: Xenoestrogens and estrogen disrupting chemicals are common environmental contributors to estrogen dominance. To reduce exposure to these toxins, use glass or stainless steel containers instead of plastic, switch to low-toxic cleaning products, buy organic produce whenever possible, and always drink filtered water.
If you experience PMS symptoms monthly, it would be great to talk to your naturopathic doctor to see how they can help you. Remember, periods are definitely annoying but they don’t have to be painful, too!