The Food Medic - E7 Ask Dr Hazel: Nutrition and Exercise to support PMS

Episode Date: August 15, 2022

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Ask Dr Hazel. In these 5 minute episodes we answer questions submitted by you. This week Dr Hazel is answering the question : are any foods or types of exercise that can help with PMS?FIND OUT MORE IN THE FEMALE FACTOR BOOK *OUT NOW*Thank you to everyone who has sent in questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast - on any topic related to health, fitness, nutrition, or mindset - please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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World Elite MasterCard, the card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another mini episode of Ask Dr. Hazel in these short five minute episodes I answer questions submitted by you. Hi Dr. Hazel, I really struggle with PMS and wondered if there were any foods or types of exercise that could help with the symptoms. Thank you. Hello, thank you for your question. I'm sure this is going to apply to lots of women listening, so I'm really glad that you sent this in. So nearly all women, approximately 80 to 90% of women, which is huge, experience premenstrual symptoms and there are over 150 of them. That

includes things like bloating, breast tenderness, headache, acne, constipation, mood changes, the list is endless. Now for most women these symptoms are relatively mild and they don't disrupt day-to-day activities like work or family life. However if you are getting really severe symptoms in the days coming up to your period and it's stopping you doing the things that you enjoy doing day-to-day, please do see your doctor. The best thing to do is write down your symptoms ideally for at least two full menstrual cycles in a row and then bring them along to your GP to review. But to answer your question in terms of what exercise and nutrition can help with PMS they

certainly do play a role. Sleep and stress also are important and also stopping smoking if you do smoke and reducing your alcohol intake can also be effective. When it comes to exercise, regardless of the type, regular exercise has been shown to be an effective way of relieving symptoms of both physical and psychological premenstrual symptoms. And this doesn't need to be intense. It can be something more relaxing, perhaps like yoga. In terms of nutrition, there are a few things here and I go into much more detail in my book The Female Factor but these are some of the things that I want you to keep in mind. I would reduce your salt if bloating is a symptom for you and also caffeine as this is a stimulant which impacts our sleep, our mood and our gut function all of which can be impacted

in that part of our cycle anyway. You might have been told to cut out sugar but actually there's no clear link between the type or total amount of carbohydrate intake and the risk of PMS but women do report increased cravings during this part of their cycle so in the premenstrual period. So that said opting for complex carbohydrates and what I mean by that is whole grains and legumes fruits and vegetables over foods that are high in sugar such as sweets and chocolate and things like that might not be a bad idea because it may help control these carbohydrate cravings and support your energy and mood during this time. Women with higher intakes of calcium and vitamin D have also

been shown to have a lower risk of developing PMS so that's really important and also those who consume high amounts of plant-based iron so things like fortified cereals beans and pulses and soy products are all sources of non-heme iron or plant-based iron a few small studies have also found that consuming soya isoflavones so we find that in our diet from soy-based foods but A few small studies have also found that consuming soya isoflavones, so we find that in our diet from soy-based foods, but we can also find them in supplements, may also improve PMS symptoms. And also magnesium supplementation has been shown to improve certain PMS symptoms, and that's mostly fluid retention. Like I said, I go into much more

detail in the book, The Female F Factor so if you want to read more definitely check it out it's available now but I do want to emphasize that if you are suffering please do see your doctor and don't suffer in silence and finally if you do have a question that you want to submit to the podcast please send your audio recorded question to lindsay at thefoodmedic.co.uk for your chance to be featured I hope that answers your question I'll see you again next time