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PMS or pre menstrual syndrome is a temporary syndrome detected in reproductive women just days before they get their menses. The specific cause of PMS is yet to be unidentified but the most relevant being researched is the changes in hormones especially at the brain level. Serotonin, which is a common neurotransmitter that functions in order to calm and relax the mind avoiding all fluctuations in moods, is found to be decreased because of which women observe changes in their social, cultural and psychological behaviour.
It has been observed that three out of every four women between 20 to 40 experience this syndrome. The symptoms are varied and these begin just days before you are expecting your menses and fade away by the second or third day of the menstruation. You may experience headache, irritation, confusion, anger towards self as well as others, anxiety, tension, mood swings, you may also find it difficult to concentrate even after continuing efforts and you might land up forgetting certain things! Other physiological symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, breast tenderness and hot flashes are among the other common ones. The most significant symptom you might fail to observe is your cravings for food! It could range from sweets like chocolates to spicy and sodium-rich foods. Though these cravings may satiate you for a while they may also be responsible for triggering the rest of the symptoms! Modern-day lifestyle habits that involve irregular meal timings, skipping meals, dependence on ready-to-eat fast foods or refined products, partial or complete avoidance of whole grains, fruits and vegetables and physical inactivity are prominent causes of not just PMS but another well-known syndrome diagnosed in females, known as PCOS or poly cystic ovarian syndrome.
This is a condition involving an imbalance in the female sex hormones resulting in irregular menstrual cycle, formation of cysts in the ovaries and in worst cases, infertility. These days PCOS is observed in girls even in their teens. One common health condition associated with PCOS is weight gain and obesity. Some other symptoms include: increased hair growth, thinning of the hair and severe acne.
For both conditions the key is in managing your diet and leading a healthy lifestyle to help keep your weight under control. This will further help in developing an equilibrium at the hormonal level, allowing the major symptoms and consequences to recede. Following are a few dietary guidelines and lifestyle corrections specifically to tackle symptoms of PMS as these have been found to increase and re-occur repeatedly every month if not taken care of. * Avoidance of sweets, especially chocolates, during this span of time because of the caffeine content found in most of them which leads to restlessness and may aggravate the condition. * Excess of salt causes fluid retention, since it is hygroscopic in nature and thus would result in bloating and abdominal discomfort. Therefore, reduction in the overall intake of salt would make a lot of difference. * Increased cravings may force you to indulge into all tasty fried delicacies which are made from refined flour and products. These are absorbed in our body way too fast, thereby decreasing the time food stays in your stomach, making you feel hungry all over again! * Next most important thing to avoid is skipping of meals as these would reduce your blood sugar levels leading to a lot of headaches and fatigue. * Consumption of magnesium-rich foods such as brown rice, whole grains, beans, cashews and lentils will help in regulating serotonin which will further help relax your mind and soothe your mood. * Foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids i.e poly and mono unsaturated fatty acids help in reducing abdominal bloating. Vegetarians could opt for small portions of walnuts, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds during in-between meals and sea foods like tuna and salmon should be preferred by non-vegetarians. * Consuming a lot of fluids in the form of coconut water, lime water, watermelon juice or soups made up of cucumber, tomatoes and bottle gourd or pumpkin will help detoxify the body’s toxins. * Vitamin B plays an important role in keeping irritability, crankiness and depression at bay. Therefore consume a lot of citrus fruits like oranges, sweet limes. * Foods rich in potassium, especially apples and oranges, often help in balancing your moods swings. Hence, they should be incorporated in the diet. * Consumption of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin E rich foods like milk for calcium, eggs, carrots and yellow-orange fruits for vitamin A and almonds, avocados for vitamin E, all of which help in increasing the production of serotonin. * Enrich your diet with wholesome, natural and healthy food items like oats or bran flakes, millets like ragi, jowar, bajra, dals/pulses, and vegetables which are high in fibre and low in glycemic index will help maintain the blood-sugar levels. Last but not the least, maintaining blood sugar levels is the key to combat food cravings and hence other symptoms. Therefore, have small meals after every 2-3 hours, regular exercise, sleep well and do yoga, power yoga, calisthenics, brisk walks etc and occasionally get a overall body-relaxing massage. All these will reduce stress levels and make you feel fresh and energetic and vibrant with boosted immunity. — The writer is one of the leading holistic health gurus and has a health portal www.mickeymehtahbf.com
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With
7-hour sleep,
positive moods can better your game
London: If you hate your job because it requires complex work with
other people or data, you may now discard the negative thoughts as
researchers have found that complex jobs help people retain their
memory and thinking skills even after retirement. The study found that
people who held jobs with higher levels of data complexity and people,
such as management and teaching, had better scores on memory and
thinking tests. "These results suggest that stimulating work
environments may help people retain their thinking skills even after
they retire," said Alan Gow, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh,
Scotland. The tests looked at memory, processing speed and general
thinking ability. Researchers also gathered information about the jobs
participants held. The jobs were assigned scores for the complexity of
work with people and data. Jobs that score highly for the complexity
of work with people are: lawyer, social worker, surgeon. Examples of
jobs that score highly for the complexity of work with data are:
architect, civil engineer, graphic designer or musician. The study
appeared in the journal Neurology.—
IANS