HERE IT IS! A new, weekly series, containing TABOO TOPICS. You know, the ones I’m talking about. The articles we “secretly” read in the doctor’s waiting room. Have you done it? Held that magazine up high, so as not to draw attention to the fact that you are reading an article about that embarrassing topic! I do it!
So this week’s TABOO Topic: PMS.
Next week: Things That Make You Go OOOOOOOOOOO POOOOOO. Yes, you read that right!
PMS (Some Ways To Curb Its Intensity)
(please note: most of what you read below are direct quotes/paraphrases from the book: SUGAR SHOCK)
Ever feel like that week before your cycle, you turn into 2 different people? One minute you are hugging and laughing; the next you are screaming, which leads to uncontrollable crying spells. Feel crazy much?
“When it comes to loving sweets, we women take the cake. Simply put, many of us ladies do indeed have a troubling, tempestuous, and passionate relationship with sugary foods.” (ch 15, page 242)
Its true! That week before our cycle, we tend to crave those sweety-carb-rich-comfort-foods! However, as scrumptious as they are, indulging too much can contribute to many serious female problems including infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, polycystic ovary syndrome, and even fibromyalgia! It also aggravates our pre-menstrual symptoms and can make our actual cycle worse!
Serotonin is a potent brain chemical that regulates emotional states and influences when and how much we eat. As a result, lower availability of serotonin might be related to carbohydrate cravings during PMS. The serotonin levels are there, but it’s not as accessible to the brain as it normally would be, bringing on the blues and possibly the cravings.
Research shows that, as women, we try to improve our mood and relieve our anger, depression, fatigue, irritability, confusion, and/or memory lapses. Eating these foods eventually triggers the manufacture of serotonin, which has beneficial effects on our mood. Insulin, which is released when you eat carbohydrates, suppresses the circulating levels of most amino acids except that of trypotophan, the amino acid from which serotonin is made. About 20-30 minutes after we eat carbohydrates, the serotonin is made by the brain and starts its work at restoring good moods. The CORRECT types of carbohydrates can boost serotonin and take the edge off of PMS symptoms. (whole grains, sweet potatoes, fresh fruit, veggies, nuts, legumes, and herbs such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg) You do have a CHOICE to how you curb those cravings!
Ways To OUTSMART Your
Hormone-Related Cravings
Hormone-Related Cravings
- Understand your triggers.
- Know your weaker times to indulge and make behavioral changes to reduce the effects
- If you know you are about to menstruate, and you are craving chocolate-covered pretzels, make sure to eat a well-balanced meal before going to the movies.
- When you’re “hormonal” or PMSing, make every effort to make social plans that do not revolve around food. (Meet a friend to go mall-walking rather than your favorite restaurant).
- Don’t bring harmful foods into your home. You can’t binge on a quart of ice cream if it’s not in your freezer.
- When you have those cravings, find something else to replace it. Read a good book, exercise, drink a large cup of water; do something FUN!
- Pamper yourself – take a long bath, drink some hot tea, listen to uplifting and encouraging music.
- If sugar calls out to you, pinpoint what is setting you off. Before you eat something sweet, ask yourself what, why and how: “What do I really want and what’s bugging me? Why is that sweet so tempting and why am I consumed by it? How will eating this harm me?
- Before you succumb, run a movie in your mind of how giving in will affect you. Now flip the scenario around and ask yourself, ” If I don’t succumb to this temptation, what will happen? How will I benefit and feel? Dwell on the positive outcome.
- Embrace the SIX Ds: Delay, Distance, Distract, Decode, Decide, and Delight.
- DELAY! Drink a glass of water and then delay for 15 minutes. Then delay a half hour. Chances are, the craving will pass.
- DISTANCE! Make an escape! Shun your favorite bagel joints, candy stores, pizza parlors, supermarkets, or even drugstores when you’re in the throes of a craving.
- DISTRACT! Do something else! Take a hike, clean your house, read a book, etc. Throw yourself into a project. Time will fly, as will your sugar cravings.
- DECODE! Now it’s time to figure out what is going on. Decode your cravings. Determine why you’re so sugar obsessed right now.
- DECIDE! Decide to have respect. Respect the body that God has given you. Ignore your cravings. Watch them subside, and then give yourself nonfood treats.
- DELIGHT! Delight that you’ve said NO! Really relish your joy, relief, and excitement that you successfully took control over your destructive habit.
Just remember, to pray and ask God to help you. We are doing what our bodies are programmed to do. Have a little bit of sweets (but make wiser choices and choose smaller portions). It’s the EXCESS that leads to more intense PMS symptoms and heavier menstrual cycles. You will be doing YOURSELF a favor, and YOUR spouse and family!
Come back next week for:
Things That Make You Go POOOOOOO!
Thanks for visiting!