Today is International Women’s day, and March is Women’s history month. What better topic than the all-encompassing hormones!
While I was at uni, a remember being told by a male pathology lecturer that ‘period pain wasn’t normal’ and shouldn’t exist because it is a natural physiological event. At the time, struggling with hideous monthly period pain, I thought ‘What do you know?! You’re a MAN!'.
Fast forward a few years, I finish uni, I’m eating and moving better, and my period pain is low to non-existent. I realised that my pathology lecturer was right. Period pain- though it most definitely is a thing- is likely a sign of things not functioning the way they should be. He was right, even though he was, in fact, a man.
It’s a hard thing to nail down the cause of period pain because the underlying reasons and contributing factors for each woman can be so very different- even if the symptoms are the same. For me, it was gluten intolerance, stress and poor sugar control (both within my body and the sugar I was putting in my face).
Lara Briden, author of ‘The Period Repair Manual’, goes through a lot of different causes in detail. It’s worth the read.
Here’s a few things to consider to get you started:
Gut Health. Proper digestion and gut function are really important for elimination of toxins. Read this info on leaky gut as a good place to start.
Liver Health. Your liver detoxifies your system, and the waste is eliminated by your (healthily functioning) gut. Take stress off your liver by limiting sugars and alcohol. Support your liver function by eating artichokes and fennel, and drinking suuportive tea such as the Artemis Liver Detox tea, or the Healtheries Detox Tea from the supermarket (not an official ‘treatment’- ask us for more info in clinic). Drinking plenty of water is also essential. Surprise.
Food Intolerances. Gluten and/or dairy intolerance are common culprits for contributing to period pain and menopausal issues. One of the easiest ways to have a go at this is to remove gluten and/or dairy from your diet for about 4 weeks, then introduce it back in and see how you feel. An important note for this though, is that if you’re attempting dietary changes for anything hormonal, you really need to do it for 3-6 months to see if it will make an impact on your symptoms. Read this info on why you would try a gluten/dairy-free diet.
Manage your sugars. Keep refined sugars to a minimum, but also beware of overdoing natural sugars such as dates and maple syrup. Though it’s different for everyone, doing a sugar detox was what really kicked my hormones into better balance.
Manage your stress. Stress has a tendency to increase cortisol levels and disrupt hormonal pathways and stress management systems. Look into managing your stress through HRV (heart rate variability) training (ask us in-clinic about this), chiropractic care, mindfulness meditation, and exercise.
This is what helped to guide me on a break from sugar- worth a look!
It’s also worth speaking to your chiropractor and/or seeing a naturopath to get some guidance on hormone health and balance (whether that is for period or menopause). It’s worth exploring the possibilities.