Written by Dr Sandra Miranda, ND

PMS can be dramatic but no matter what you’ve been told, you don’t have to just live with it. In fact, PMS is one of the easiest health concerns to treat naturally! I am not kidding!

PMS (premenstrual syndrome) doesn’t have to be only moodiness, but it can be any symptom that you experience before your menstrual cycle such as headaches, bloating, cravings, breast tenderness, depression, joint pain, etc. Your solution starts with providing a foundation of nutrition that enables your body to balance its hormones as it is intended to do. We now have the science to know how to do this naturally.  Good nutrition, dietary supplements and if needed some progesterone cream can foster a balance at key times throughout the month.

The 3 most common hormonal imbalances to cause PMS are as follows: low progesterone, elevated estrogen or elevated insulin.  So your treatment will depend on your specific hormonal imbalance.  For example, if your progesterone is low you may be prescribed vitamins, herbs or a cream to replenish the deficiency.  If your estrogen is elevated, you may benefit from a detox and eating more liver foods (such as greens, artichoke, beets, carrots, water & lemon, etc).  If your insulin is elevated, you may be recommended to eat lower glycemic index foods.

The first step is to test all your hormones. But this test needs to be done on day 19, 20, 21 of your cycle – during your luteal phase!  Otherwise, it will not give us the information that we need.

So don’t let PMS disrupt your quality of life by having to make abrupt changes in your schedule every month. It is possible to change your monthly experience without having to take harmful synthetic hormones like the birth control pill or a hormonal IUD which are only going to make your hormonal imbalance even worse in the long run.

Get help from a Naturopathic Doctor who is trained in Functional Medicine.  He or she will test your hormones first and then give you the treatment that is right for your specific situation.  If you don’t have an ND, call us at 905-239-3900– we are happy to help!