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PMS Depression: It Can Be Alleviated with Better Nutrition

The term premenstrual syndrome has been attributed to many things in medicine, but from a natural healing standpoint it is understood basically as the symptoms of a toxic and imbalanced body chemistry, and often times a sign of low calcium, iron and potassium.

The reason this causes depression and withdrawal is that when a women goes through menstruation, it is a time used by the body as an escape door for the expulsion of toxins and waste. If a woman is already so low in calcium, iron and potassium, the loss of blood will then cause further depletion of these elements in the menstrual flow and thus cause ill feelings and depression.

In natural healing, the approach to alleviation of the symptoms would be to clean up the body by eating a high fiber, low fat diet. It would also concentrate on high calcium, iron and potassium-rich foods (i.e. fruits, vegetables, grains, rice, low-fat dairy products, meat, fowl and fish).

The withdrawal the body feels is a result of further loss of calcium, iron and potassium, and also the release of toxins from the bloodstream into the menstrual flow.

As one slowly cleans up the body chemistry and gets it in balance, these symptoms will gradually pass away slowly, sometimes quickly. Clean the body up and re-balance the minerals and vitamins, and the depression and withdrawal will normalize. It is only natural for the body to react as it does to the degree of a person's health.

Water retention is also a natural part of this process. Taking a diuretic directly opposes the body's normal functioning. It needs to retain extra water to help the flow and process of ovulation. Excess water retention will only be commensurate with the degree of imbalance and toxins that exist in most cases. Reducing water retention may be nice for the appearance, but it opposes the natural process that demands a lot of water and puts even more stress on this functioning.

Depending on the severity of this cramping, it would probably be best to stick with a couple of aspirin type products, drink lots of water, eat a lighter diet with regular meals to avoid low blood sugar (which will exacerbate this situation to madness)- this is important for the sake of one's husband, boyfriend, or even dog, cat or bird! Combining PMS with a low blood sugar is just plain hellish.

Much of this toxicity stems from the intestines, so adding some fiber laxative (one tablespoon in the morning and night) to the diet may help in the long run to clean out the intestinal tract and thus prevent it from polluting the bloodstream. Note: fiber laxatives should be taken for only two to four weeks at a time, and then discontinued for a few weeks, and then used again maybe twice more for two to four weeks. After that, try it only once or twice a year so as not to become dependent. The best colon cleanser of all would be Psyllium Husk, of which the best and most potent brand is from a company named Sonne's whose Psyllium comes from Europe and is much stronger then the North American varieties.

So, as in most cases, natural healing would say, "clean up the body and re-balance its deficiencies, and if that doesn't work in a few months to a few years, then start to consider other means-medical specialists, drugs, hormones, or whatever." The list is endless, costly and generally useless except for temporary relief of the symptoms in the short term.

The science of natural healing says that it is probably the body that is unbalanced and toxic, and to some extent, it can be cleaned up and re-balanced with something as simple as the foods one eats. So, if you haven't given up hope, this may be a long-term plan for you, one with which you won't have to worry about the side effects which can ranger from cancer to whatever you can and cannot think of.