It is a hormonal imbalance during the second part of the cycle. It affects 70% of women to varying degrees between puberty and menopause. This syndrome is often related to a poor diet.
It has been known for a long time that diet influences menstruation by influencing the production of estrogen. There is also evidence that carbohydrates play a key role in premenstrual syndrome (PMS). If, during this period, you suffer :
- of anxiety, mood swings, irritability and tension: eat more foods rich in vitamin E, B vitamins (especially vitamin B6) and magnesium.
- of constipation: increase your fiber intake.
- of swelling: swollen and painful breasts, swollen ankles, fingers, and abdomen: cut out salt for three days before your symptoms usually start. Breast tenderness may reflect a need for more essential fatty acids.
- sugar cravings, weariness, palpitations, weakness and headaches, depression, crying spells, mental confusion and insomnia,
- Or if you have acne before your period: increase your zinc intake.
Eat more foods rich in vitamins A, C, E, B vitamins (especially vitamin B6), iron, chromium, zinc and magnesium. Remember that vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc stimulate the use of linoleic acid; on the other hand, alcohol and saturated fats can hinder its metabolism. Young women should therefore opt for monounsaturated fats - olive oil, for example - which are the best investment in this case.
It also appears that increased calcium intake reduces all of these symptoms. Reduce your intake of refined carbohydrates and animal fats. Foods that are low in protein and high in tryptophan can help. Alcohol tends to aggravate PMS as well as other stimulants such as tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, coca-cola. Some women have food sensitivities that make their symptoms worse. It is then important to identify your "guilty" foods.
Judith Wurtman noted that the women most severely affected by PMS were also those who consumed the most carbohydrate-rich foods: sweets, buns, pasta, potato salad. This marked need for carbohydrates, however, only occurred during the premenstrual period. She found, for example, that after drinking two cups of corn flakes drizzled with low-protein artificial milk, women who felt depressed, aggressive, hostile, tired or irritable regained their good mood within an hour.
Wurtman surmises that carbohydrates stimulate the production of serotonin, a mood-boosting neurotransmitter. Therefore, women should not inhibit the carbohydrate cravings they experience in the period leading up to their period. "This uncontrollable need for sugar is not the cause of PMS, but a remedy, which they feel the need to self-administer in a completely natural way.
Don't eat just any carbohydrate: to gently relieve PMS, British doctors have come up with a diet specifically designed to treat PMS-related ailments. The diet consists of small portions of starchy foods (bread, potatoes, pasta, oats or rice) every three hours, then less than an hour before bedtime and after getting up. It appears that this diet helps to maintain a satisfactory blood glucose level during the day. Too long intervals between carbohydrate ingestion cause drops and rises in blood sugar levels, resulting in the release of adrenaline and underutilization of progesterone.
The craving for sugar and other carbohydrates, which is very common among women with PMS, is thought to be a natural way to raise blood sugar levels and bring progesterone levels back to normal, thereby reducing symptoms.
- NATURAL PROTOCOL FOR THE TREATMENT OF PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME
Yam Cream (well dosed at 16% disogenin minimum): 1/4 teaspoon as a skin application on the forearms, from the 14th day until the period.
HOMEOPATHY * :
- Folliculunum 9 CH: 1 dose on the 7th, 14th and 21st day of the cycle for 6 months.