Diet Supplements and PMS

A week before your period starts, make sure that your diet isn't too heavy in salts, alcohol and caffeine - this will keep water retention and bloating down. Also make sure you eat plenty of foods containing iron and vitamins. Certain foods seem to help alleviate the symptoms. Monitor closely and you could work out what's best for you:

Evening Primrose Oil, Starflower Oil and Blackcurrant Oil

Evening primrose oil, starflower oil and blackcurrant oil all contain gamolenic acid (GLA). You should be able to get any of them from most high-street pharmacies or health food shops. Starflower oil is more expensive than evening primrose oil, but has a higher concentration of gamolenic acid. GLA has been shown in a couple of studies to help with breast pain (or mastalgia if you want to give it a fancy medical name). For some women it can help with PMS. One of the advantages of it is that it has virtually no side effects.

However, despite anecdotal evidence that GLA works with other symptoms of PMS, no other study has proven that they are better than the placebo effect. On saying that, the studies carried out on the effects of GLA on the symptoms of PMS are small, and potentially, GLA can have a small beneficial effect, although, no study large enough, or good enough has been carried out to definitively show this. The reason it is believed to work is that it is a rich source of long-chain fatty acids, which are the precursors of prostoglandins. As PMS is associated with low plasma levels of prostoglandins, the theory is that if you increase what it is made of, more of the required stuff will be made. It's certainly doing something for some of us, as this Researcher tells us:

Ten minutes after taking evening primrose oil capsules I suddenly feel like sighing and everything is all right. It's magic. I suggest all sufferers give it a go.

Chocolate

Chocolate, a marvellous substance which deserves to be in a food group all of its own, can be a fantastic cure-all for everything from being dumped to exam stress - it also has it's enthusiastic supporters at times when PMS and period pain are rearing their ugly heads. Accompanied by caffeine and a good book there's no better comfort.

Some believe that you should give into the cravings leading up to your period. After all, if you're craving it, your body probably needs it. This feeling may be all in the mind, but denying yourself something you want doesn't help for those few days. Others say, avoid chocolate completely, as it only makes things worse.

But what is the magic ingredient in chocolate that your body needs? It contains iron and magnesium. Iron helps with tiredness and irritability and magnesium is said to regulate mood. Chocolate also contains milk, and consequently, calcium. Back in the 1930s it had already been noted that levels of calcium in the blood were significantly lower in the week preceding menstruation. Also, the symptoms of hypocalcaemia (low blood calcium) are remarkably similar to PMS. Large studies in the early 1990s were carried out to see if it did, indeed, have any effect, and to date, calcium is the only supplement which has been shown to have any positive effect on the symptoms of PMS².

The Vitamin B6

The vitamin B6 has reportedly changed the lives of a number of h2g2 Researchers with regard to dealing with PMS:

Amazingly enough, a bloke told me about it first. I've been spreading the word ever since and swear it has saved a friends' marriage.

In high enough doses, vitamin B6 can suppress the actions of a steroid hormone called aldosterone. This results in a diuretic effect, making you wee and should consequently prevent bloating. In addition, as PMS is associated with an increase in blood oestrogen levels and low blood progesterone, high doses of vitamin B6 decrease blood oestrogen and increase blood levels of progesterone, providing symptomatic relief³.

You should start taking the recommended daily dose 5 to 7 days before your period begins (or as soon as you start getting symptoms) and can continue on until the end of your period, but then you must stop until your next period. B6 should not be taken continuously and there are a few poor souls, approximately 1 in 10,000, who are allergic to taking B6, so if you notice any big spots on your skin soon after taking it, please stop and consult your doctor. , brazil nuts and bananas contain significant levels of B6 if you would prefer to take the vitamin in a natural form, rather than as a supplement.

Carbohydrates

It has been suggested that you should eat carbohydrates every few hours in the week before and during your period. The theory goes that complex carbs help the body dispose of excess progesterone, which is the hormonal culprit of PMS. Carbohydrates may well be another food that you crave in the run up to your period. Pasta and any other foods which are high in carbohydrates also increase the levels of serotonin in the brain resulting in a calming effect.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C can also help. Take 1000mg a day instead of the recommended 500mg. It can't hurt you - excess Vit C is flushed out of the system automatically. Or you can boost your intake of foods containing high doses of vitamin C such as pineapple and strawberries.

Alcohol

Curling up with a bar of Dairy Milk and a bottle of red wine certainly makes you feel better. We've explored the benefits of chocolate already, but what about alcohol? In actual fact, alcohol acts in a very similar fashion to benzodiazapines and barbiturates, by potentiating the effects of a inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain called GABA. Increased action of this transmitter in the brain has a calming and relaxing effect, as anyone who has downed a shot of vodka during a very stressful lunchtime will testify.

Magnesium

Magnesium is actually good for paranoia and all sorts of fears as it is involved in the activation of the neurotransmitter serotonin; which helps regulate mood. Natural magnesium occurs in all the foods you 'should' eat - green veggies, fruit, wholewheat stuff, nuts a

Water and Fluids

Drink plenty of water to get rid of that bloated feeling. Your body will retain water, if your intake is short of what your body needs. If you drink loads, your body will flush through and you won't feel bloated.

Why not drink replacement plasma? It's recommended for other types of fluid loss. You could buy a bottle of isotonic sports drink, but making your own is much cheaper. Mix 5 teaspoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt with 1 litre of water. It tastes grim, but it doesn't taste too bad mixed with orange juice and that way you can replace fluid and give yourself a valuable hit of vitamin C, too.

nd seeds. There is also a fair amount of magnesium in comfort foods such as bananas, chocolate and peanut butter.

Iron

Not to put too fine a point on it, you lose some blood during your period, which can contribute to making you anaemic. The symptoms of anaemia are tiredness, weakness and, in severe cases, breathlessness and dizziness. It can make you more prone to picking up infections, and it may also explain that feeling of not quite being with it: