fbpx

Category: PMS

PMS · December 1, 2019

Foods To Reduce Pre-Menstrual Bloating

Tender boobs, swollen fingers and face, a bloated tummy: these are all symptoms of pre-menstrual bloating.

.

Can you relate to any of these?

.

Pre-menstrual bloating can be caused by a number of things:

  • Already low progesterone dropping even further in the run up to the next period
  • Eating too many salty foods
  • Not drinking enough water
  • Not eating enough fibrous foods
  • Chronic constipation (we should be ideally pooping everyday!)

.

Adding in different fruits, vegetables and nuts & seeds can help reduce all the types of pre-menstrual bloating to a more manageable level.

.

Increase Water Intake

šŸš° Drinking more water can help (add a squeeze of lemon or lime to boost its effectiveness), as can eating fruits & veg with a high water content, like cucumbers, celery and cantaloupe.

.

Increase Daily Fibre Intake

šŸ„¬ Increasing your daily fibre intake can do wonders.

The current UK recommendation is about 30g of fibre a day for adults. Fibrous vegetables and fruit such as leafy greens, beetroot, pears and artichokes are a lovely way to get more fibre in.

.

Increase Potassium Intake

šŸŒ° Potassium is a mineral that when depleted, is associated with sodium retention and bloating.

An easy way to add more potassium is to eat more bananas!

These powerhouses have around 422mg of potassium in a medium sized banana, which is about 12% of the UK daily recommended intake!

.

How do you deal with bloating before your period? Tell me in the comments below šŸ‘‡šŸ½

Leā€™Nise Brothers is a registered nutritionist, mBANT, womenā€™s health, hormone and menstrual cycle coach, founder of Eat Love Move and host of the Period Story Podcast.
Ā 

Leā€™Nise works primarily with women who feel like theyā€™re being ruled by their sugar cravings, mood swings and hormonal acne & bloating. 

They want to get to grips with heavy, missing, irregular & painful periods, fibroids, PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, post-natal depletion and perimenopause.  

Her mission is for women to understand and embrace their hormones & menstrual cycle! 

Comment
View the post
PMS · November 29, 2019

Foods To Support Pre-Menstrual Mood Swings

How many of these things have happened recently? Started crying at something really sentimental on TV? Gotten really irrationally irritated about something then felt fine a few minutes later? Felt fine one minute, then really angry / sad / annoyed / upset the next? šŸ¤Ŗ

.

Pre-menstrual mood swings can be a sign for many of us that our periods are on their way. Or perhaps the moodiness of the previous few days makes more sense when your period arrives. Can anyone relate to that? šŸ˜³

.

Food can help stabilise mood and adding the foods Iā€™ve listed below consistently can help shift pre-menstrual mood swings.

.

Support Serotonin Production

šŸ³ Adding foods that are high in the amino acid tryptophan can help the body make more serotonin, our happy hormone. Eggs, oily fish such as wild salmon, nuts & seeds are all high in tryptophan. Eating these foods often and alongside carbohydrates such as rice, fruits & veg and oats can help make the conversion from tryptophan to serotonin more effective.

.

Support Gut Health

šŸ„•Research shows that 90% of the bodyā€™s serotonin is produced in the gut, so supporting a healthy gut is another great way to support moods. Increasing fermented foods such as kombucha, kimchi, miso and kefir can help, as can adding soluble fibres such as bananas, garlic, onions, Jerusalem artichoke and chicory root.

.

Support Blood Sugar Balance

šŸ½ Managing your blood sugar levels by eating meals with lots of vegetables, high quality protein, good quality fats and lots of fibre can help keep mood stable.

.

How do you deal with mood swings before your period? Tell me in the comments below!

.

Leā€™Nise Brothers is a registered nutritionist, mBANT, womenā€™s health, hormone and menstrual cycle coach, founder of Eat Love Move and host of the Period Story Podcast.
 

Leā€™Nise works primarily with women who feel like theyā€™re being ruled by their sugar cravings, mood swings and hormonal acne & bloating. 

They want to get to grips with heavy, missing, irregular & painful periods, fibroids, PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, post-natal depletion and perimenopause.  

Her mission is for women to understand and embrace their hormones & menstrual cycle! 

Comment
View the post
Menstrual Health · August 2, 2018

Hormones 101: Progesterone

 

In the last post, I talked about estrogen, one of our two major female sex hormones.

 

Today, I’d like to have a closer look at progesterone, estrogen’s counterpart.

 

How much do you know about this essential female sex hormone?Ā 

 

Thereā€™s often lots of discussion about estrogen, but not enough similar discussion about its partner hormone, progesterone.

 

Although progesterone is most closely associated with pregnancy and preparation for pregnancy, it is also important for a healthy menstrual cycle.

 

So what’s the deal with progesterone?Ā 

 

The majority of progesterone isĀ produced by the corpus luteum, a little structure that comes from the follicle of the egg that was released. This helps prepare the body for pregnancy if the eggs gets fertilised.

 

We also produce progesteroneĀ in very small amounts inĀ the ovaries & the adrenal glands.Ā In pregnancy, the placenta also produces progesterone.

 

If you think back toĀ the four phases of the menstrual cycle, Ā yourĀ progesteroneĀ levels donā€™t stay the same throughout.Ā 

 

Theyā€™re generally at their highest point a few days afterĀ ovulation, theĀ halfway point of our menstrual cycle.Ā YourĀ progesteroneĀ levels drop Ā if you don’t fertilise an egg and are at the lowest point on the first day of ourĀ periods.

 

If the woman doesnā€™t get pregnant that cycle, the corpus luteum disintegrates, progesterone drops, and this is the signal for a womanā€™s period to start. Ā 

 

If a women does get pregnant, then progesterone will help the blood vessels on the lining of the womb grow and stimulate glands that will nourish the embryo with nutrients.

 

It also prepares the womb for the fertilised egg to implant and helps maintain the pregnancy, rising all the way until birth.

 

So what else does progesterone do for us?Ā 

 

Its other major function is toĀ helpĀ regulateĀ the menstrual cycle, so you want it to be balanced with estrogen.

 

When you have too little or much, you can experience PMSĀ symptoms such as mood swings, insomnia, bloating, blood sugar imbalance, anxiety, acne and cramps. Ā Check out my post on the 5 Types of PMS to learn more.

 

Do you notice the ups and downs of progesterone across your cycle?Ā 

 

Have you noticed it dropping as you approach perimenopause and menopause?

 

If you have questions about progesterone Ā and feel like you donā€™t know whatā€™s going on with your progesterone levels, get in touch for a free 30 minute hormone & menstrual health review.

 


Leā€™Nise Brothers is aĀ nutritional therapist, womenā€™s health coachĀ and founder of Eat Love Move.

 

Leā€™Nise worksĀ primarily with women who feel like theyā€™re being ruled by their sugar cravings, moodĀ swings andĀ hormonal acne & bloating.Ā 
Ā 

They want to get to grips withĀ heavy, missing, irregularĀ & painful periods, fibroids, PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, post-natal depletion and perimenopause. Ā 
Ā 

HerĀ mission is for women to understand and embrace their hormones & menstrual cycle!Ā 

Comment
View the post
Ask A Nutritionist · July 26, 2017

How To Manage PMS

 

train in west london

Do you dread the week before your period? How much do you dread it?

 

I used to count down the days, waiting for the familiar aches in my back, bloated belly and throughly grumpy mood.

 

I used to think all women suffered this way and that PMS was just a part of life that I had to accept.

 

I’m now here to assure you that it doesn’t need to be this way. You don’t need to suffer through your periods or the week before your period.

 

Here what I did:

1. Cycle monitoring: Ā I started to monitor my cycle by using a menstrual cycle tracking app to better understand my cycle and what symptoms I was experiencing at certain points in my cycle.

 

2. More anti-inflammatory foods: I increased the anti-inflammatory foods in my diet: fresh turmeric, fresh ginger, citrus fruit, wild salmon and at least 2L of waterĀ per day.

 

3. More vegetables, a bit more fruit: I gave myself the goal of eating at least 10 servings of vegetables and fruit a day – 7 portions of vegetables and 3 portions of fruit.

 

4. Sleep, sleep, sleep: I tried to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night. The more sleep you get, the better your body responds to insulin and the better your energy levels.

 

5. Less sugar, less alcohol: Excess sugar and alcohol create inflammation in the body (NB: inflammation is when your immune system over responds and remains switched on, usually due to an external stimulus) and inflammation drives many PMS symptoms.

 

6. Get moving:Ā Light exercise, such as yoga, stretching, pilates and walking will reduce cortisol, the stress hormone and produce endorphins, one of the feel good hormones. Keeping cortisol at bay is really important because it can be a driver of inflammation. I tried to take at 8,000 – 10,000 steps a day in active walking and latent movement (you’d be surprised how much running you do when you’re chasing a three year old around the house!).

 

7. Support the liver:Ā The liver is your body’s tool for detoxifying – it’s very important for women because your body uses the liver to break down oestrogen to a less potent form so it can be excreted in your daily bowel movement. I added lots of green, leafy vegetables, broccoli and cauliflower to my diet as these have compounds that support the liver’s detoxification process.

 

8. Poop everyday: Adding in fruit, veg and lots of water made sure I was able to have a bowel movement every morning, which is really important because this is the way the body gets rid of excess estrogen after it gets metabolised by the liver. Too much oestrogen can be a driver of PMS symptoms.

 

Have you tried any of these tips to manage your PMS? What’s worked for you?

 

Do you have PMS? Get in touch for to book a free, no commitment 20 minute health coaching call to find out more about how you can improve your menstrual health & wellbeing.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

Comment
View the post