FitSugar

Tame Your Hormones Naturally

Heather Dale — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:20:25 PST

If you ever suffer from cramps, bloating, insomnia, breast tenderness, headaches, acne, or food cravings, your hormones may be in flux and need to be balanced. Hormones are crucial to our well-being since they impact our bodies at the cellular level and, if stabilized, many of the above symptoms can be alleviated.

According to The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels, the toxins in processed foods, nonorganic produce, prescription medicine, and the environment can throw our hormones out of whack, wreaking havoc on our systems. In her book Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones For a Hot and Healthy Body!, Jillian talks about the important role our hormones play in our endocrine system and how we can rebalance them through diet, sleep, and exercise.

Reducing stress, drinking lots of water to flush out toxins, and getting your circadian rhythms on track are all steps in the right direction toward getting your hormones balanced out, but to learn about the easiest and most effective change you can make right now, just keep reading.

You Asked: Why Do I Get Back Pain During My Period?

FitSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:00:00 PDT

Dear Fit,
During my period, I get very uncomfortable lower-back pain, like a dull ache. I used to think this was just me, but I recently spoke to another female friend who says she gets the same pain. I'm sure it has something to do with everything going on down there, since it often comes with cramps, but why exactly does this happen? Any tips for treating it?
- Oh My Aching Back

Period pain is no fun, but you're correct in thinking that your lower-back affliction is not uncommon. To understand the causes and get some tips,

Lower-back pain during your period is caused by the same conditions that cause cramps; front or back, both symptoms fall under the heading of primary dysmenorrhea, which is really just a fancy name for cramps.

Dysmenorrhea is caused by an excess of prostaglandins during your cycle. These chemicals, produced in the uterine lining, cause your uterine muscles to contract so that you can shed your lining each month, and that's what leads to cramps. Those same contractions are also causing your back pain, since they can radiate pain from the abdomen to the back and even the thighs.

Chances are, if you've always had similar menstrual symptoms, it's nothing to worry about. But see a doctor if you're incapacitated for more than a few days a month or if you've noticed a sudden change in your symptoms. Meanwhile, you can ease the back pain with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, or with a warm bath, a heating pad, or even through exercise.

Source

Another Reason to Exercise: Ease Menstrual Cramps

FitSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:30:00 PDT

Cramps during that time of the month can be debilitating - so much so that the last thing you want to do is hit the gym.

One thing you should know is that exercise can actually help relieve those painful cramps. Here's WebMD's explanation:

Exercise relieves cramps because it helps release beta-endorphins, which are internal opioids -- your own “human morphine,” according to Gustavo Rossi, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. “It produces analgesia [pain relief] and helps to burn the prostaglandins -- chemicals released during menstruation that cause muscle contractions -- much faster.”

Human morphine? Too bad they can't bottle that. Should you hit the weights or the treadmill? The best form of exercise for PMS relief is aerobic exercise or anything that gets your blood flowing and heart pumping.

Source

5 Things: Dealing With Cramps

FitSugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:30:00 PST

When Aunt Ruby comes for her monthly visit don't let your menstrual cramps get you down or cramp your style. Here are five ways to deal with the pain and general malaise of cramps.

Apply heat to your belly or back to increase blood flow and ease the pain. Using a heating pad is much easier than drawing a hot bath.
Get your fill of foods rich in Omega-3s. They can help block the production of prostaglandins, which are responsible for large muscle contractions like the ones made by your uterus that cause you pain.
Do a little gentle exercise like walking. If you don't feel like moving too much, do some relaxing yoga poses that open your hips and stretch out your lower back and abs.
If your pain is really bad, take some Ibuprofen instead of Acetaminophen. It's more effective at soothing menstrual cramps.
Into alternative medicine? Chinese herbs may help better than conventional pain relievers.

Source

Menstrual Cramps? Try Chinese Herbs

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:30:00 PDT

It is being reported that a new study suggests that Chinese herbs might be more effective in relieving menstrual cramps than drugs, acupuncture or heat compression. Not only did the research find that the herbs helped to relieve pain, but it was also found that they reduced the recurrence of the condition over three months.

The herbs said to work were Chinese angelica root (danggui), Szechuan lovage root (chuanxiong), red peony root (chishao), white peony root (baishao), Chinese motherwort (yimucao), fennel fruit (huixiang), nut-grass rhizome (xiangfu), liquorice root (gancao), and cinnamon bark (rougui). Interested? You can buy Chinese herbs online from HolisticChineseHerbs.com. I suggest meeting with an acupuncturist that has also studied Chinese herbs.

Source

Cramps Got You Down?

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:20:11 PST

When you've got tummy cramps or lower back pain from your monthly visitor, sometimes taking a pain reliever doesn't really do the job.

Applying heat to your belly or back can do wonders. I always like taking a hot shower or bath.

But if you don't feel like getting all wet and going through the long ordeal of drawing a bath, lie on the couch with your favorite romantic comedy, some chocolate, and a vibrating heating pad under your back or low belly.

You can use it with just the heat, just the vibes, or both together. It really helps relieve the tightness and pain or menstrual cramps. It's quite the deal for under $30.

How to Deal With PMS Symptoms and Still Work Out

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:56:25 PDT

From pimples to bloating, cramps to spontaneously bursting into tears, PMS and period symptoms not only have the ability to ruin your day, but they can also put a damper on working out. Since exercise actually alleviates many of these uncomfortable feelings, here are some of the best ways to handle common PMS symptoms while working out.

Bloating: Swelling in your lower abdomen doesn't always inspire you to sport a fitted tank or leggings. Forget impressing anyone and go for comfort by wearing loose-fitting pants that have wide waistbands and these tanks that hide a pooch.
Cramps: When your uterus contracts, you can feel mild to debilitating cramps. If you aren't bound to your bed in the fetal position, get moving. Doing some cardio that gets your heart pumping such as jogging, brisk walking, riding your bike, or swimming releases pain-relieving beta-endorphins to alleviate your discomfort, and it also helps to decrease those cramp-inducing muscle contractions. If the pain is really bad, try these yoga poses for relieving menstrual cramps.

Keep reading to learn how to work out when dealing with other period symptoms.

Adventures in Ingredients: Banana Flower

Camilla Salem — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:58:00 PST

After my last experience with Indian bitter melon, I was a little nervous to experiment with my next ingredient. Just like the last time, I scoured the shelves of Berkeley Bowl, looking for something intriguing but not too intimidating. I settled on a purple, prehistoric-looking ingredient known as a banana flower.

The banana flower is also known as a banana blossom or heart, but frankly, I didn't even know banana trees had flowers. My preliminary research told me that it's an ingredient commonly used in Vietnamese and Thai cooking. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and it happens to be a great source of vitamins A and C. Banana flower also happens to be a common ingredient in Ayurvedic cooking, and it's believed to help heal menstrual pain (major bonus!).

As the outer leaves, or bracts, are pulled back, a row of long, black buds reveal themselves. I almost screamed after peeling back the first bract, because the buds were completely bizarre and off-putting. But the fact that those buds actually turn into bananas put me at ease. Once I pulled off enough bracts, I was left with a tender white heart, ready to be sliced up. To find out what I did with this strange ingredient, keep reading.

PMS - Why Do My Boobs Hurt?

FitSugar — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:38:51 PST

PMS is a party and a half, isn't it ladies? We break out, have crazy mood swings, crave sweet and salty treats, become exhausted, get major menstrual cramps, have headaches and backaches, and one of my personal favorites - bloating. Some women experience sore breasts too, but why is that?

A week or so before Aunt Flo arrives, your body begins producing oodles of estrogen and progesterone. Those hormones are what cause all these fun symptoms. During this time, your body retains water, which is what causes you to become bloated. Rings, shoes, or pants may feel tight because your body swells with this extra water, which also makes your breasts swell. All that fluid forces your breast tissue to expand, which stretches the nerves that cause that painful and achy feeling.

Soon after you get your period, the soreness should disappear. If the pain is really bad, you can take an OTC pain reliever such as ibuprofen. Wearing a more supportive bra, like a sports bra, will prevent your breasts from moving too much, which can also reduce tenderness. Cutting down on salty foods can offer relief since eating excessive amounts of salt will make you retain even more water.

Menstrual Cramps: Painful For the Body and the Brain

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:47:44 PDT

Oh, great. Not only are menstrual cramps uncomfortably painful, they also cause actual changes in the brain. According to new research, period cramps cause structural changes in areas of the brain associated with pain and emotion.

The study followed 32 women with an average of 10 years of painful cramping associated with their periods and 32 who did not. Researchers found no difference in total brain matter between the two groups but many regional differences in gray matter were detected, particularly in areas responsible for pain processing, higher-level sensory processing, and emotional regulation.

Additionally, researchers observed abnormal decreases in the portions of the brain responsible for pain transmission and higher sensory processing in the group experiencing painful cramping even when the women were experiencing a pain-free portion of their cycle. Meaning: menstrual cramping may be similar to other chronic pain conditions and over time, repeated painful cramping could make the brain more sensitive to pain, effectively making the cramping worse.