How to Soothe PMS

You may think that PMS symptoms subside with age. Unfortunately, cramps, headaches, and other premenstrual pain can get worse into your mid-30s and 40s.  While many of us have accepted these symptoms as “normal,” they’re anything but normal. Your symptoms could also be the result of something more serious.  It’s not healthy to be in pain every month or to experience mood swings, fatigue, irritability, or even acne regularly.

There are reasons you might experience hormone imbalance in your 30s and beyond, and it has nothing to do with PMS.  What a lot of people do not know is that chronic stress, nutrient deficiencies, and environmental toxins all contribute to hormone imbalance. That's where we can really help.  With the muscle testing that we do we can identify those toxins, figure out what nutrients your body is missing and design a nutrition program just for you. One of the main toxins we find in women suffering from hormonal issues is plastic.

It’s great that the government recognizes BPA as a toxin that not only interferes with women’s hormones and fertility but also causes cancer among other health issues.  But BPA is not the only toxin in plastic and I don’t know how long it will take for the government to recognize it.  So we want to stay away from plastic whenever possible.  No plastic forks, spoons, straws.  If you love straws then you can buy stainless steel straws off Amazon.  No plastic water bottles.  I use a glass one called a flaska that I absolutely love.  You can use stainless steel water bottles too.  Do your best to avoid ziplock bags, saran wrap, tupperware.  To store leftovers, I use pyrex, glass containers with rubber tops and I just don’t let the food touch the rubber.  But if you buy a bag of frozen peas it is what it is, nothing you can do about it.  I always suggest to my patients to just do the best they can.  They will not be able to get rid of plastic 100%.  

The hormone disruptors in plastics even influence the way genes express themselves in people with reproductive disease and obesity to make it more likely that people pass the disorders onto their children. The study of how the cellular environment changes gene expression is called epigenetics.  I think it’s fascinating and for this reason we want the cellular environment to be as healthy as possible from all heavy chemicals, heavy metals and junk food so that the cell can create optimal gene expression for your health.  For more info on gene expression and epigenetics watch my video. 

Besides plastic other toxins that have been studied that cause hormone imbalance and can lead to PCOS and other issues are:

1. Pesticides - so eat as organic as possible

2. Phthalates (THAL-ates) are chemicals in plastic that make it soft and flexible. You can also find them in: Cosmetics and personal care products, from perfume, nail polish, and hair spray to soap, shampoo, and skin moisturizers.  To learn more about phthalates and how healthy your personal care products are go to ewg.org for more information.  The website is from the Environmental Working Group and it rates all personal care products and cleaning products on a scale 0-10, 0 being healthiest for you and 10 being the worst for you, meaning it’s researched to cause cancer.  It’s a great website with thousands of products rated so you can choose the healthiest ones and I love the research they use to determine the score they give each product.  

3. Phytoestrogens: a compound in plants that acts like estrogen in the body and if we eat too many then the hormones get imbalanced because the body thinks it has too much estrogen.  Foods that contain phytoestrogens include: soy and soy products, flax seeds, grapes, carrots, lentils, licorice, bourbon, olive oil, and oats.

4. Another big hormone disruptor we eat all the time is meat that contains hormones.  When animals are poorly farmed they are given hormones to grow and mature faster so they can reach the butcher faster and the farmer can have a higher turn around rate.  I think over the years farmers use more and more hormones with their animals is the reason why girls are hitting puberty faster.  It’s also a main cause of moodiness.  I think all women know what it feels like to be extra hormonal.  The last thing we want are extra hormones from the meat we eat so if you eat meat then do your best to eat quality meat without added hormones.

One particularly significant natural method of treating hormones is inositol, a type of sugar found in fruits, beans, grains and nuts.  The foods with the highest levels of inositol are cantaloupe and oranges.  Inositol influences the insulin response and several hormones, not just sex hormones but also several hormones associated with mood and cognition.  Multiple studies have shown that supplementation with inositol may not only improve insulin resistance but also decrease male hormones in the bloodstream, lower blood pressure and lower triglycerides which makes it really helpful for patients with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome). At your next visit you may want to get muscle tested for inositol.

Also inositol seems to promote ovulation, which, in turn, may support fertility. There was a study done where women who weren’t getting their period and then started supplementing with inositol, 86% got their period back whereas the control group who was taking a placebo only 6% got their period back. 

Another supplement that helps is vitamin D.  Between 67%–85% of women with polycystic ovary syndrome are thought to be deficient in vitamin D.  Adding vitamin D to a daily routine I have observed it to improve insulin sensitivity, increase weight loss success, slow the formation of ovarian cysts, regulate periods, minimize inflammation, reduce oxidative stress, lower cholesterol, lower high triglycerides and reduce male hormones in the bloodstream. 

Another thing people don't realize is that women of all ages are starting to experience the symptoms of estrogen dominance or estrogen deficiency—way before perimenopause or menopause begin.  Luckily, supplementing with the right nutrients can help.  That means fewer symptoms from PMS like headaches, cramping, and mood swings.  I love using red raspberry leaf to not only help with PMS but it's also great for perimenopause, menoapuse, infertility and ammenorhea too!  You can drink it as a tea or take it as a tincture.   The leaves of raspberry plant are believed to cure infertility in both men and women.  I also use red raspberry leaf tea to help regulate menstrual cycles when the cycle is too long or too short and it’s great while pregnant too because it helps tone the uterus, decrease nausea, and ease labor pains.  I also use it afterwards for breast feeding mothers because it helps increase milk production.

No matter what age you are I see time and again how hormone balance also means better health long-term.  It truly is that important.  For more info listen to our podcasts on Fertility Help and PCOS.

The Need to Stay Away from Herbicides and Pesticides

Eating organic gets easier as the grocery aisles are full of options.  We know it’s important to eat healthy and eating organic is part of a healthy lifestyle.  We also know it’s more expensive but we are investing in our health.  Other than herbicides and pesticides being harmful chemicals that are sprayed on crops most people don’t know more than that.  Let me explain the real dangers of not eating organic.  

Starting in the 1990s America’s farms started using glyphosate (the active ingredient in the heavily-used herbicide, Roundup) on grains just before maturity in order to facilitate an easier harvest. The reason is simple: when dried (or "desiccated") with glyphosate, the grains become uniformly ready for harvest at the same time. Further, drying delivers more control and a picture-perfect harvest.  Glyphosate is used as a desiccant on wheat, beans, peanuts, coconut, soy, and sugarcane. And while using glyphosate as a drying agent is incredibly enticing operationally and economically, it comes at an unjustifiable cost.

The cost includes depleting our soils of nutrients that we need and causing so much damage to the body I don’t even know where to begin.  I guess let's start with the gut. Glyphosate, which Monsanto patented as an antimicrobial in 2010, has been shown to damage our beneficial gut bacteria more than our pathogenic bacteria leading to a whole host of imbalances in our microbiome. Dysbiosis is the name given to an imbalance in our in the gut flora also known as microbiome.  Dysbiosis is a precursor to countless chronic issues, many of which go far beyond digestion. And it doesn't stop with the microbes for glyphosate can cause leaky gut. Leaky gut is a condition in which the tight junctions (cellular seals) in our gut lining become damaged, allowing toxins and other foreign particles to seep into the bloodstream, which in turn can ignite a cascade of chronic inflammation. Glyphosate has been shown to damage the gut lining.

But that's just the start. Glyphosate has been flagged by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "probable carcinogen" with other research indicating that Roundup is a carcinogen, as well as a cause of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Further, studies also show that glyphosate consumption can damage sperm , cross the placenta to a fetus , and lead to preterm birth.

These studies are even more alarming when paired with recent laboratory findings of high levels of glyphosate in a wide range of foods including cereal like Cheerios, breads, and hummus. Unfortunately I promise you that toxic glyphosate food is sitting in your kitchen right now.  To figure out exactly what foods contain glyphosate go to this website: https://detoxproject.org/the-poison-in-our-daily-bread-glyphosate-contamination-widespread-in-essential-foods/.

So, why spray our food with such a harmful chemical?

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tasked with reviewing toxicological research and determining safe levels of chemical exposure. While other government agencies (including the USDA, FDA, and state regulators) do play a part in helping to enforce and monitor safe levels of pesticide use, Americans depend on the EPA at the front end to keep the population safe from harmful chemicals.

However, the EPA is under immense pressure from agricultural chemical companies to approve their products, regardless of what scientific analyses unveil. In the case of many potentially harmful herbicides and pesticides, the EPA has repeatedly approved them despite worrisome evidence of harm to human, animal or pollinator health. Often, their evaluations are based on research provided by the manufacturers, who stand to financially benefit from regulatory approval. When evaluating the carcinogenicity of glyphosate, the EPA even relied upon purportedly independent studies that were ghostwritten by Monsanto scientists . Despite the substantial evidence of large-scale, multi-system harm to the body from glyphosate, the EPA concluded in 2020 that glyphosate poses no risk to human health.

What can we do?

While many suffering from chronic inflammatory, digestive, and neurological symptoms find relief through eating a gluten-free diet, research has shown us repeatedly that glyphosate and other toxic chemicals cannot be ignored as agents of chronic health problems. We are here to help you detox.  Detox foot baths, the right supplements and ozone saunas can all play a part on helping your body detox glyphosate poison. 

The other good news is that consumer pressure is an enormous motivator for change. Due to increased awareness of glyphosate over the last few years, some grain buyers, including General Mills, are providing contracts to farmers for glyphosate-free grains. Kellogg's also notably announced their intention to phase out the use of glyphosate as a desiccant by 2025. Furthermore, as recently as last month, both the US Supreme Court and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dealt significant blows to the future of glyphosate. SCOTUS rejected Bayer's appeal to dismiss the legal claims of thousands who assert that exposure to glyphosate caused their cancer. And less than a week prior, the Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to redo their human health and endangered species risk assessments, finding their previous assessments insufficient.

We can continue to vote with our dollar by supporting USDA certified organic and/or glyphosate-residue free products, local organic farms, and organizations like Farmer's Footprint working hard to bring soils (and the food grown in it) back to a place of health. We can also sign this petition to help ban the use of glyphosate for pre-harvest desiccation of crops, a move which would dramatically reduce our dietary exposure to this damaging chemical.

Sign Petition https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-regulate-monsanto-pesticides-they-are-literally-killing-us