Blood sugar and PMS

I was on an emotional rollercoaster I didn't sign up for”

This is what a patient shared with me when she came in to get help with her PMS. She explained how she would cry at the drop of a hat, then been laughing 5 min later to then be flying off the handle at her partner. 

This is the reality for so many women when their time of the month comes around.

They’re deemed “crazy” by those closest to them because of the instability of their emotions and they themselves feel embarrassed and guilty. 

They don’t know why it's happening and start questioning their self-character. 

There can be many reasons why this is happening and the FIRST thing I look at is, how is their blood sugar. 

Blood sugar is kind of like the body’s energy train. This energy train affects your mood and how well your body responds to stress and even the types of foods you crave. If you feed it the wrong things or at the wrong times, it sends the train the wrong signal and instead of it being a smooth ride, it goes up and down, causing stress in your body. This is when things like mood swings, cravings for sweets or anxiety can show up. 

While your lady hormones can also be at play for this emotional rollercoaster, optimizing your blood sugar is key.

So how does one do that? 

Here are my top 3 recommendations to help optimize blood sugar

1.Eat more fat and protein

Healthy fats help keep blood sugar more stable. More stable blood sugar= more stable mood and energy. Having fat and protein Especially at the beginning of the day sets blood sugar off on a good foot.

Ditch the bagels, bread, oatmeal or pancakes for breakfast. Opt for eggs, protein powder, chia seeds, avocados or savoury options like chicken/fish/legumes.

2.Up fiber 

Fiber is another thing that can help keep blood sugar stable. The average woman needs a MINIMUM of 30g of fiber daily per day and most women get a third of that.

Make flaxseed, chia seeds, avocados, raspberries and artichokes your friend.

3.Get serious about sugar consumption 

Time to have a real look at your sugar consumption. In modern society, sugar is in A LOT of things- it’s in salad dressing, the orange juice that you think is “healthy”, it's in alcohol and it's even added to table salt smh. Sugar tastes good and the food industry exploits this feature, to the detriment of health. Start reading labels. Anything that has more than 10g per serving has got to go. Refined carbs like white rice,noodles/pasta, bread/roti/nann, bagels and pastries fall into this category too. These things break down into sugar and lead to energy crashes and mood swings.

Working on blood sugar can make a world of a difference when you're feeling moody month to month and can also help optimize your energy. 

Let me know in the comments the difference you've noticed when you've tried these out.