Holistic Nutrition Bytes--San Francisco Nutrition Consultation » Womens Health

Natural Remedies for Cramp Relief

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:55:28 +0000

Period pain can range from pesky to debilitating. Many women take the Pill just to relieve menstrual cramping and heavy bleeding. While this treatment may be effective, the Pill can lead to long-term hormonal imbalance and estrogen dominance, which may predispose some to hormone related cancers, such as breast cancer. Estrogen dominance means that there is too much estrogen in relationship to progesterone, the two main female hormones. This can exacerbate cramping, PMS, and weight gain. Here are some natural remedies for cramp relief.

First off, address the underlying issue. Have your female hormone levels tested (easy do-at-home saliva test) to determine if you do have too much estrogen and/or not enough progesterone. This is easy to fix using bio-identical hormone therapies, usually made with wild yam. Avoid using over-the-counter progesterone creams, which can build up in fatty tissue and swing the pendulum too far the other way (which comes with a whole host of other unpleasant symptoms). Also, hypothyroidism can worsen cramping. Have your adrenal hormones checked (another easy saliva test) and corrected. Adrenal hormones govern the thyroid, and fixing the adrenals is the upstream way to fix the thyroid.

Clean up your diet. Cut out refined foods, especially white sugar and white flour products. Get mineral-rich leafy greens and eat them daily for the magnesium. Most people don’t get enough magnesium, and it is a natural muscle relaxer. Increase your vitamin B intake through a multi or B-rich foods like eggs, liver, meat, brown rice. Reduce caffeine–cut down on coffee especially. Avoid trans fats and up your essential fatty acid intake. Get more omega 3s via salmon, walnuts, or flaxseed oil.

Plants are medicine. Use them! Herbs that work are cramp bark, ginger, chamomile, peppermint, cinnamon bark, fennel. Drink ginger tea twice daily: grate ginger in a mug and pour hot water over it. Steep and drain; add honey if desired. It increases circulation, is a natural pain remedy, and is said to help dispel menstrual waste.

Make a cramp bark tincture. This, in my opinion, is the best way to take it so that it works. I have tried herbal combos of ginger, cinnamon bark, and cramp bark, in capsule form, and it didn’t work. At all. Not even a little. Tinctures pack a punch. Google how to make a tincture for more detail, but the basic formula is to add about a cup of herb to a mason jar and cover with vodka, seal, let sit for a couple months, then strain. Throw some cinnamon bark in if desired. Take 30-40 dropper fulls a couple times a day. Find all this at an herbal apothecary.

You can try a tea of any of the aforementioned herbs in any combination and drink liberally. Peppermint and fennel specifically are anti-spasmodic. Red raspberry is considered a good female toner to drink throughout the month, but I don’t find that it reduces acute pain very well. It can be quite preventative.

Take a tincture of chaste berry (vitex) twice a day for days 14-28 of your cycle. It takes a couple months to work, but it regulates your cycle by stimulating progesterone production. Avoid it if you are using hormonal birth control of any kind.

Try a liver cleanse! The liver metabolizes all hormones, so a clean liver can reduce PMS & other menstrual symptoms. Click on my workshops page to read about the regular liver cleanse workshops we conduct in the Bay Area. You don’t have to live here to participate.

The Breastfeeding Dilemma

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:01:45 +0000

I visited with a friend the other day who had a baby six months earlier. Naturally, the subject of breastfeeding came up, and she revealed that she had been unable to produce enough milk to breastfeed and was feeding a soy-based formula. I cringed a little bit, and she went on the explain that she felt judged for feeding soy-based formula, as it is largely frowned upon in most circles here in the Bay Area, where mothers are very pro-breastfeeding and natural child-rearing. She felt stuck because despite her efforts, she hadn’t been able to produce milk, so what to do? Her doctor of course recommended soy formula, something I believe few would question and that many mothers have fed in addition to breast milk or as a substitute altogether.

Breastfeeding is obviously the ideal for a new baby, at least until 6 months of age. Breast milk contains immune-building colostrum and probiotics that are both beneficial for immune system and gut; breast milk has the perfect combination of proteins, fats, vitamins, and carbohydrates; it also contains antibodies and enzymes. There is no more perfect food for developing baby, and nothing comes close to replicating this.

Soy-based formulas have been linked to myriad health problems, from early onset puberty (girls menstruating as young as 8), to thyroid disorders, digestive issues, asthma, and even ADHA. Soy formula is completely and 100 percent processed, meaning it has been heated and pasteurized, denaturing the proteins and adding carcinogens. Soy-based formulas also lack cholesterol which is essential for brain development.

I would strongly urge new mothers to carefully research the use of soy formula if unable to breastfeed. There are also problems with straight milk-based formulas, which can lead to allergies. So, what to do?

It is possible to create a homemade formula that resembles mother’s milk. I got the below recipe from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, a book I adore and frequently refer to. The base for her formula is raw milk, milk that has not been heated to high temperatures, killing all the beneficial enzymes needed for digestion and denaturing the proteins and healthful fats. If you freak out about feeding raw milk to babies, you can stick to organic whole milk, but let me just say that when purchased from small family farms (not large industrial feedlots), raw organic milk is safe, or your nose would tell you otherwise. The irony here is that it is much more difficult to detect when pasteurized milk has spoiled. Raw milk is much easier to digest (it has its enzymes intact) and poses little threat, provided it is produced under clean conditions and stored in sterilized containers.

This is not the place to get into a raw milk debate, so suffice it to say that organic whole milk will do. Find one that has not been homogenized. Fallon also recommends giving baby one egg yolk per day, beginning at 4 months. The fatty acids and other nutrients from the egg are essential for mental development.

Here is the recipe. ALWAYS feed baby with glass bottles, NEVER plastic, which can leach harmful chemicals into the milk. Visit www.westonaprice.org for more information on raw milk and raising baby holistically.

Milk-based formula
2 cups organic raw milk, or organic pasteurized, non-homogenized milk
1/4 cup whey (pref homemade)
4 tbsp lactose
1/4 tsp probiotics
2 tblsp good quality cream (not ultra pasteurized)
1/2 tsp cod liver oil
1 tsp unrefined sunflower oil
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp gelatin
1 7/8 cups filtered water
1/4 tsp vitamin C powder (pref acerola powder)

Add gelatin to water and heat gently til dissolved. Place all ingredients in blender and blend well. Transfer to clean glass container and mix well. To serve, pour 6-8 oz in very clean glass bottle, attach nipple and set in pan of simmering water. Heat until warm but not hot, shake well and feed. NEVER heat formula in microwave!

Seasonale – Better Birth Control?

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:16:34 +0000

As most of you know, I am not a big fan of hormonal birth control. No, I’m not trying to set women’s rights back 40 years; I am all for non-hormonal forms of birth control (condoms, IUD, other barrier methods). But women can have serious hormonal and other side effects from taking the pill or using the ring, the patch, or hormonal implants.

With Seasonale, you have the option of menstruating only 4 times a year. It offers the same synthetic estrogen and progesterone as the regular pill, but you take it straight through for 84 days instead of 21, so you only get a period once every 3 months.

directions: take 1 pill every day for 84 days.

Hormonal birth control works by essentially tricking the body into thinking it’s pregnant, so that the ovary lies dormant and never releases an egg. It keeps you hormonally locked into the luteal phase (second half) of the menstrual cycle so that the brain does not signal for an egg to be released (ovulation). The period you get on the pill is not a real ‘period’ at all: it’s actually just breakthrough bleeding, because the hormones that cause the uterine lining to build up for a real period have been suppressed.

So here’s the thing. There are plenty of pros (may prevent some reproductive cancers) and cons (can cause high blood pressure, high blood sugar, stroke, blood clots) to the pill. But at the end of the day, you’re taking synthetic hormones, and they effect every woman differently because we are all have biochemically different. The pill can contribute greatly to estrogen dominance, which is implicated in breast cancer, infertility, endometriosis, and menstrual irregularities. And there is still a lot of controversy surrounding the pill and breast cancer.

As far as Seasonale goes, it’s too early to tell what any consequences may surface. It has only been on the market a short time and was only tested for a year. Do you want to participate in the human experiment? You’re ingesting 23 percent more synthetic hormone, which can increase side effects and long-term adverse hormonal effects.

Using potent hormones non-stop also deprives a woman of the only naturally-occurring means of ridding her body of excess stored iron. Excess stored iron is a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. It can also be difficult to ensure that you are not pregnant without a monthly period, and even though the pill is 99 percent effective when taken as directed, there is a window for error.

The data from Seasonale clinical trials show that many women, especially in the first few cycles of use, had more unplanned bleeding and spotting between the expected menstrual periods than women taking a conventional 28-day cycle oral contraceptive. Worth it?

Birth control is a very personal issue. But do be aware that taking a 3-month dose of synthetic hormones can lead to long-term estrogen dominance, and that can put you at risk for infertility and even certain cancers. I would strongly discourage women with breast cancer in the immediate family (sibling, mother) to avoid hormonal birth control.

Here’s another thing. Why must we tinker with nature? Menstruation is the essence of the cyclical rhythm that connects women with their bodies and the reproductive cycle. People today are very disassociated with their bodies and their connection to nature and their own natural rhythms. We’re socialized to believe bodily functions are “dirty” or embarrassing. This pill is the perfect example: using a synthetic substance to suppress your body’s natural rhythm in order to avoid the “inconvenience” of a period. I believe the more we tune into ourselves, the healthier we are, both physically and mentally.

Food for thought.

The Infertility Myth

admin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:13:01 +0000

Trying unsuccessfully to conceive a baby is one of the most disheartening and frustrating situations a couple has to deal with. Aside from conflicting medical opinions and deciding on options, the stress associated with cost of treatments and testing can cause further complication.

Aw.

For women in the conventional medical system, most doctors will do blood tests to assess hormone levels and ultrasounds to look for fibroids, cysts, tumors, and to make sure the fallopian tubes are clear and not blocked by scarring or anything else. A woman may be prescribed synthetic hormones to raise progesterone or choose a number of fertility treatments including in vitro fertilization (IVF) where egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside of the womb and then implanted into womb. This is a pretty hard core treatment, often a last resort, and women usually have to do hormone injections so that they produce many eggs, which are then retrieved using a transvaginal technique involving an ultrasound-guided needle piercing the vaginal wall to reach the ovaries.

These treatments are costly, sometimes painful, and always stressful. And they don’t always work. The thing I find most troubling here is that conventional medicine always looks at the symptoms and the outcome: the woman can’t get pregnant, isn’t producing enough sex hormone, or can’t hold a pregnancy, so synthetic hormones or fertility drugs are the answer. But why not look at the REASON the woman is not producing hormones?

Fallopian tube scarring or other growths or obvious problems require specialized treatment. But I do want to address some issues for women who have hormonal imbalance, or just plain don’t know why they can’t conceive.

First off, taking fertility drugs certainly may do the trick, but watch out: you could end up with seven kids. Secondly, these and artificial progesterone are synthetic hormones that the body doesn’t recognize (i.e. they don’t fit properly into hormone receptors) and may not be able to process. They don’t work for everyone. In holistic medicine, we look at the whole person and make recommendations from there.

The first order of business is to address your stress level and test your adrenal hormones, many of which are precursors to your female hormones. So if your adrenals are exhausted, your cycle may not be regular, or you may not be producing enough progesterone (the pro-gestational hormone needed to get pregnant and carry a pregnancy to term). Once you have this information you can repair your adrenals using bioidentical hormones or herbs. The body recognizes bio-identical hormones because their structure is the exact same as the hormones your body produces.

You’ll want to test your female hormone levels – estrogen and progesterone – ideally for an entire month where you’ll submit a series of saliva samples – to see when you’re ovulating and read your hormone levels. Saliva testing is more accurate that blood testing to get an accurate hormone reading. For example, if you’re ovulating at day 5 instead of day 14, this could affect conception.

This is invaluable information to have about your cycle. If you’re not ovulating at all or ovulating too early or late, you can take certain amounts of bio-identical progesterone (often wild yam) at particular days in your cycle to boost progesterone levels and normalize progesterone. If you’re estrogen dominant (if you’ve had fibroids, endometriosis, heavy bleeding, or have been on the pill for years, chances are you are not producing enough progesterone in relation to estrogen), progesterone will balance your hormone levels and normalize your cycle.

You also want to assess your diet: are you getting quality protein and healthy fats, the precursor to hormones? Are you doing too much soy? This can really affect hormone levels. How is your digestion? If you’re not absorbing your food due to a damaged digestive tract, you won’t have the raw materials to make hormones and you won’t be able to utilize all the nutrients from your food. Test yourself for parasites, candida, or pathogens, and repair your digestion. Parasites can cause infertility because they affect hormone levels.

While I’ve really only touched the surface here, I want to illustrate that there are options. This is a very personal decision and a sensitive subject. Many, many women have had successes using fertility drugs and treatments. But for those who have not, there are alternative options that work with your body rather than further stress your reproductive system. Look at your overall health: the health of your adrenal glands, thyroid hormones, digestion, and your diet. Balance hormone levels naturally by working with the body. Take stock of your diet: eliminate refined foods, take a quality multi and a B complex, and get high quality hormone-free protein and good fats like coconut oil, olive oil, and flaxseed oil. Celiac (gluten allergy) disease is implicated in infertility. Eliminate coffee and reduce alcohol. Look at the health of your home. Mold and toxins can affect fertility. and finally, relax. Try some stress relief, acupuncture, or massage, and honor your body for the amazing ability it has to create life.

Women’s Health: Menopausal Maddness!

admin — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:47:54 +0000

“The change of life.” Sounds so promising, but for most women, menopause can be hellish.
Your heath and habits can contribute to how easy or hard your transition is. It’s not out of your control, ladies. Here is how to get your life back.

Menopause is usually defined as one year with no period. But during this transition, estrogens are dropping, and fluctuations occur, causing symptoms to surface: night sweats, hot flashes, fatigue, irritability. During menopause, the adrenals have to “take over” for the ovaries no longer producing hormones, so women with good adrenal health will not experience a lot of symptoms. 60 percent of estrogen is produced in adrenal glands, so there can be issues if the woman is adrenally exhausted. With those who do not have sufficient back-up adrenal reserves, the drop in estrogen can cause symptoms. Many hormonal problems will clear up with adrenal programs, so I always recommend women do an adrenal stress index spit test combined with female hormone testing, which can be assessed in one spit test. Then we design a program to repair the adrenal glands.

Women don’t need to take hormones unless they are experiencing symptoms. In the 70s, all women took synthetic hormones during the transition because they were supposedly good for the heart, brain, and bones, but this proved to be harmful, placing women at a higher risk for cancer. Many women still take synthetic hormones (known as HRT, or hormone replacement therapy), butthere are risks involved, so we recommend bio-identical hormones and/or herbs. Bio-identical hormones have an identical molecular structure to the hormones your body makes (unlike synthetic hormones); do not require conversion by the liver to usable forms; and do not create potentially dangerous metabolites.

I do not recommend progesterone creams, because if you use too much, it can build up in fatty tissues causing am excess over time (and more undesirable symptoms!) Using sublingual (under the tongue) bio-identical progesterone (usually wild yam) and the lowest possible dose of bio-identical estrogen will alleviate estrogen deficiency symptoms. Stop taking the hormones for 4-7 days a month to insure that no excess estrogen is delivered.

Most importantly, address your lifestyle. Eat a clean diet of whole foods, leafy greens, organic where possible to minimize toxins, and cut down on sugar and alcohol to support healthy blood sugar. Fluctuating blood sugar levels stress the adrenals and make symptoms worse. Get to bed by 11pm and try taking melatonin if you have trouble sleeping. A good adrenal repair program will help foster good sleep. Theanine and inositol are also great sleep aids. Get moderate exercise and take a multi, extra minerals, and fish oils. Stress relief is key here. Try some meditation or deep breathing.

Additionally, there are several herbs that you can take along with the bio-identical hormones to ease symptoms. Black Cohosh, Dong Quai, False Unicorn root, Red Clover, Licorice root, Tribulus, and Vitex are all good choices and you can often find them in a formula. These are phyto-estrogenic and phyto-progesterogenic herbs that can help boost hormone levels temporarily.

You can continue the program for up to a year, but no need to unless you are having symptoms. You can titrate down off the bio-identical hormones when your symptoms subside. Repairing the adrenals will help immensely. A good liver cleanse will help detoxify the body and the liver, which has to metabolize all hormones.

SO. Enjoy this transition in your life. No more periods! It’s a time of wisdom. A life-honoring ritual into a new phase.

Gardasil: Do you really want to be one less?

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:29:50 +0000

Maybe you’ve seen the ads: girls of various ages warning us about the dangers of HPV and cervical cancer, and telling us they want to be one less! One less woman who suffers from cervical cancer. Unfortunately, gardasil has been linked to many deaths, making the tag line “one less” eerily literal.

one less?

“Anaphylactic shock,” “foaming at mouth,” “grand mal convulsion,” “coma” and “now paralyzed” are a few of the startling descriptions included in a new federal report describing the complications from Merck & Co.’s Gardasil medication for sexually transmitted human papillomavirus – which has been proposed as mandatory for all schoolgirls.

The above was obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by Judicial Watch, a Washington group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.

As of 30 June 2008, there have been 9,749 reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System following Gardasil vaccination, and over 20 deaths. About a third of these deaths were the result of blood clots; the others were unknown.

Gardasil is designed to prevent infection with certain strains of human papillomavirus virus (HPV) that are implicated in cases of cervical cancer. HPV causes genital warts, but not all strains cause cervical cancer or warts. Some people’s immune systems suppress the virus, making them carriers, but they never have outbreaks of genital warts. Others may get warts that eventually clear after treatment. Still others may have abnormal pap smears as the virus spreads to the cervix, and these cases can turn into cervical cancer if not treated. After treatment, the body usually clears the virus, but some may experience repeated outbreaks. It depends on the strain and the woman’s immune system.

Approximately 20 million people worldwide, or 1 in 13 are infected with HPV, which is incredibly contagious, and like herpes, some are more susceptible than others. Some may come in contact with warts and may not contract the virus, while others can have sex with a person who does not currently have an outbreak but is a carrier of the virus and then contract the virus, which can manifest as warts in 10 days. Scary stuff. This is how the virus spreads – you may not know you have it, but your partner suddenly shows up with it. The body may also suppress it for many years before you experience an outbreak, so maybe your partner already had it, or you could have given it unknowingly to your partner.

Condoms are key here, folks, as is discussing your sexual history and getting regular pap smears. HPV is easily treated up front and the warts can be removed. If you have an abnormal pap, your doctor will likely recommend a colposcopy and then whatever treatment is appropriate. Keep your immune system strong to help your body fight the virus, and don’t smoke – smoking has been linked to cervical cancer and abnormal paps. Interestingly, the pill has been linked to an increase in abnormal cervical cells.

Cervical cancer is the fifth leading cause of death from cancer in women world-wide.

Gardasil is only effective in preventing HPV infections, not in treating those already infected by HPV, so the vaccine must be given before HPV infection occurs in order to be effective. Shockingly, it is recommended for grade-school girls, which in theory might make good sense, but is it worth the risk of death? What about socializing our children to be open and frank about their sexual history and to practice safe sex?

Women’s Health Monthly: The Bitter Pill

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:04:03 +0000

Ah, the pill. Liberation for women for almost 50 years now.

Hormonal birth control – including the pill, the patch, the ring, and depo provera – is the most popular form of birth control. On the surface, it seems perfect: conveniently pop, apply, insert, or inject whatever form you choose and then relax. Your chances of pregnancy are less than 1 percent (with some, you apply and forget. with the pill, daily and timely compliance is required).

But concerns about side effects have plagued hormonal birth control, mainly the pill, for the past 30 years. Recently, concerns about the patch and Depo Provera have surfaced, prompting warnings about stroke and blood clots. More studies have been done on the pill than any other medicine in history, according to FDA. And for good reason: there is still disagreement about whether hormonal birth control contributes to breast cancer, high blood pressure, blood clots, and stroke.

Do you struggle with irregular periods, heavy bleeding, cramping, or endometriosis? Your doctor or gyno will probably prescribe the pill to treat these conditions. But hormonal birth control does not address the underlying cause of the imbalance that is leading to the problem! Did you know that the foods you eat, your environment, your stress level, and your lifestyle can all affect your menstrual cycle? Too many pollutants, too many hormones and pesticides in your food, and too much stress can cause your body to have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. Too little progesterone can actually be the cause of difficult periods and female reproductive problems.

Recommended Reading: Natural Hormonal Balance for Women, by Uzzi Reiss

Although the pill does help lighten and regulate periods and allegedly protect against ovarian cancer, it is a powerful endocrine (hormonal system) disruptor. Because the pill is synthetic estrogen different from what your body produces, the liver is slow to metabolize it, and estrogens build up in your blood, causing estrogen dominance over time. Estrogen dominance has been blamed for PMS, infertility, bloating, fibrocystic breasts, endometriosis, cervical dysplasia, uterine fibroids, dysmennorhea (heavy periods with severe cramping), and even breast cancer. Once you stop taking the pill, it often takes years to correct these imbalances.

Hormonal birth control also has various side effects that may prove disruptive on a physiological or even a psychological level. The hormonal disruption may result in mood swings, lower libido, insufficient vaginal lubrication during intercourse, and possibly weight gain. They may increase the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attack, and this risk increases with age and lifestyle. (i.e. smoking).

Look, as a woman who is very concerned about reproductive rights in this country, I would never discourage a woman from taking the pill or using any type of hormonal birth control. I took the pill for nearly 10 years and it affected me so dramatically that it’s an important issue to me, and I want to report the facts, because I feel that every woman should be informed and make the best decisions for her body. Hormonal birth control does offer the safest protection from pregnancy, but it comes with a price.

Aside from the previous undesirable side effects, hormonal birth control can deplete the body of certain minerals such as zinc and magnesium, and vitamins such a B vitamins, crucial for mood and stress regulation and heart health. Hormonal birth control also creates increased inflammation in the body and can interfere with liver, pancreas, digestive system, ovaries, immune and vascular systems.

Believe me, I understand the lack of effective alternatives. I worked at Planned Parenthood many many years ago doing birth control, STD, and abortion counseling. Condoms are only something like 87 percent effective; the sponge is no good and nearly obsolete now; the diaphragm works pretty well but is somewhat high maintenance; and the IUD – well, not a bad choice really. Maybe worth looking into the copper IUD? Avoid the ones that release hormones! Then there’s the rhythm method if your cycles are regular, but of course that’s not fool proof.

Oh, and let’s not forget the male birth control pill that has been waiting in the wings for years now. Would you trust your partner with the responsibility of keeping you safe from pregnancy? In studies, many men balked at taking a pill that would cut their fertility and others couldn’t follow through with taking it daily. Something’s just not right with this picture.

Women’s Health Monthly: PMS

admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:17:45 +0000

*Some strategies for PMS*

I have done a lot of work both in school and with clients on balancing female hormones and treating PMS and menstrual problems. So common, for a number of reasons.

PMS is a cluster of symptoms usually resulting from a hormonal imbalance due to an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of progesterone, a condition known as estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is the cause of myriad disorders associated with the female reproductive system, from PMS, uterine fibroids and endometriosis to breast cancer.

Women are socialized to believe that PMS is part of “being a woman” or that it’s “all in your head,” but it’s a very real condition that can be debilitating and can affect womens’ lives and relationships.

The most common symptoms are bloating, irritability, fatigue, cramps, depression, hopelessness, headache, and breast tenderness, a result of dropping hormone levels and already low progesterone.
These symptoms usually surface about 7-10 days before bleeding starts – a long time to feel this kind of discomfort!

Low progesterone is very common – it can result from taking hormonal birth control, which shuts down the body’s progesterone production to prevent pregnancy, because progesterone is the gestational hormone needed for pregnancy. Some women have irregular cycles when coming off the pill for this reason. Also, xenoestrogens, artificial estrogens from the hormones in food and chemicals in the environment and food supply are contributors. And of course, the ubiquitous “stress,” which raises cortisol and causes progesterone levels to drop. Liver congestion is a big cause too because if the liver is overworked, it cannot metabolize hormones, causing estrogens to build up.

SO. What to do? Focus on an organic diet rich in plants and hormone-free meats. Vegetables should make up the base of the PMS diet and the bulk of your plate at every meal. Focus on leafy green vegetables, which are high in magnesium, often low or deficient in PMS sufferers. Eat cruciferous vegetables freely, as they are rich in hormone regulating indole 3 carbinole and help liver detox. Avoid soy, which can exacerbate estrogen dominance. Avoid wheat and refined carbs (baked goods, white flour), which break down quickly as sugar. Coffee and alcohol can make PMS worse, so watch intake. Include fresh fruits, drink plenty of water, and mineral-rich herbal teas are good choices. I like the female tonic teas on the market. They often contain oatstraw, red rasberry leaf, and nettles.

Here are some supplements to try.
*I always give clients a wild yam extract, which is a plant-based progesterone product. These are drops, which bypass the liver and are absorbed easily. It’s easy to overdo the progesterone creams, which build up in fatty tissue and can swing you too far the other way – high progesterone! The wild yam works so well.
*B vitamin complex
*Chasteberry, a wonderful herb for balancing female hormones
*Magnesium, which can ease cramping
*Anti-oxidants (A,C,E, zinc.)
*Try milk thistle or oregon grape root to keep your liver happy.

Get moving! Do some exercise and stress reduction. It can help to measure stress hormone levels (cortisol) and female hormone levels so you can get an accurate snapshot and design a targeted program with plant-based hormones.

See the womens health section of my recommended reading. There are some great books out there.

Go from this....

[caption id="attachment_377" align="alignnone" width="253" caption=".... to this."][/caption]