a.. If necessary, change your food choices Drop the junk food, especially foods rich in saturated fats and sugars. Focus mostly on whole foods like fruits, veggies, nice lean protein, and whole grains. Replace refined, processed foods with high-quality carbohydrates-kidney beans, black beans, oatmeal, and nuts. Buy bags of pre-washed baby spinach, cook lightly, and top with olive oil, lemon, and capers. I promise you that eating well makes a tremendous difference in your PMS.
b.. Exercise, every day Women who keep moving have a lot less PMS than couch potatoes. Try this for the next 60 days: brisk walking outside, 20 minutes a day. Start with that, and do more if you choose. Work these walks into your commute by getting off the bus earlier, parking your car at the far end of the lot, or getting up 20 minutes early to walk outside. But do it every day.
c.. Reduce stress in whatever way works for you. Stress is central to many disorders, and surveys of women with PMS indicate that symptoms worsen during stressful times. My prescription for you: a hot relaxing bath once a day with no interruptions; a massage twice a week; a regular yoga class, where you'll focus on stretching and breathing and nothing else for an hour. Reducing stress is essential, and I consider it a badge of honor that I send more women to health spas each year than to the hospital.
d.. Try evening primrose oil, an essential fatty acid that increases your body's levels of prostaglandins, a chemical involved in both kinds of PMS symptoms. Take 1000-1300 mg of evening primrose oil three times daily with food (to increase absorption). Or you can take two capsules with breakfast and one with dinner if that's easier.
Copyright © 2006 David Edelberg, M.D.
# posted by madthumbs @ 2:18 PM
