Time of the month

PMT symptoms usually occur during the second half of the cycle

Symptoms ranging from anxiety and depression to fluid retention and food cravings generally last several days, and end when your period begins. From a holistic point of view, there are several complex biochemical processes which can throw your normal hormonal pattern out of balance. Diet and lifestyle are very influential here. Holistic therapists believe that things like sugar, fat, salt and complex carbohydrates influence hormones and other potent chemical mediators.

• Excess sugar intake has been linked with fluid retention. This is because sugar triggers insulin secretion and suppresses a substance called ketoacid, which helps the kidneys clear excess sodium and water. Without ketoacid, sodium and water build up, causing weight gain, breast congestion and tenderness, abdominal bloating, and puffy face and fingers.
• High fat intake can also influence water retention. In one study several years ago a group of women suffering from PMT were put on a diet composed of 40% fat. They then switched to a diet with only 20% fat. When PMT symptoms of the two periods were compared there were significant decreases in weight gain, bloating, and breast tenderness with the lower fat diet.
• While studies into salt intake have been inconclusive, some have found a relationship between caffeine and PMT. The results of one study published in the American Journal of Public Health in 1990 are particularly striking. Women who drank one cup of coffee per day increased their risk of developing PMT by 30% - the risk jumped to 700% in women who drank eight to ten cups per day.