It's that time of the month again and you are feeling grumpy and miserable. Does the answer lie in what you eat?
Step 1: Understanding the relationship between Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and food
About 80% of women experience some features of PMS. Fortunately, only a minority (estimated at 10%) of women have severe enough PMS symptoms to impact their work, relationships or lifestyle in a significant way.
Proper diet, exercise and lifestyle changes can help symptoms before resorting to over-the-counter or prescription medications. Most women can control their PMS symptoms successfully so that they do not interfere with their leading healthy and productive lives.
Step 2: Adopting new healthy habits
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Make dietary changes (see Step 3).
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Exercise regularly. Exercise can help relieve some of the symptoms of PMS. Aerobic exercise for 30 minutes should be done three to five times a week. Swimming, walking and dancing are "low-impact" aerobic activities. They avoid the muscle and joint pounding of more "high-impact" exercises like jogging and skipping. Benefits include cardiovascular fitness, muscle tone, weight control or reduction, decrease in fluid retention and increase in self-esteem.
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Avoid smoking.
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Avoid alcohol, caffeine and refined sugars.
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Increase intake of complex carbohydrates, magnesium and zinc, vitamins A, E and B6.
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Do daily relaxation and breathing exercises to reduce stress.
If there is no relief of symptoms and PMS significantly interferes with functioning, medication may be necessary.
Step 3: Understanding the basic principles of a diet to reduce symptoms of PMS
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Never skip meals. To maintain your blood sugar levels, it is better to eat small amounts more often.
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When you are premenstrual, your calorie requirements increase by 500 calories a day.
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Eat two snacks per day in addition to your usual three meals.
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Eat protein at both lunch and supper.
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Reduce fat and sugar consumption.
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Drink eight glasses of water a day.
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Make sure you eat at least three portions of fruit and vegetables (preferably green leafy ones) every day.
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Avoid eating large amounts of refined sugar (sweets, cakes and biscuits).
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Rather stick to dried or fresh fruit.
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Keep salt consumption to a minimum as salt makes your body water-retentive.
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Make sure you eat a diet rich in magnesium, zinc and chromium, essential fatty acids and vitamins B, C and E. Eat fish at least twice during this time.
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Increase your intake of complex carbohydrates (for example, pasta and rice).
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Avoid caffeine, which is found in coffee, tea, cola drinks and chocolate.
Dr Ingrid van Heerden (DietDoc)
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Dr Ingrid van Heerden is a registered dietician and holds a doctoral degree in Nutrition and Biochemistry. She believes that "we are what we eat" and offers free nutrition and weight loss advice via her DietDoc service on Health24.com.