Life hacks to deal with Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

These tips for managing PMS can help reduce symptoms with a few minor lifestyle changes. A couple fruits to get rid of bloating and mood swings? Worth a try!

• About one in three women experience the bloating, breast tenderness, insomnia, headaches and other symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in the five to seven days before their periods.
• Another three to eight percent experience a more severe version, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD. Given that women will have, on average, 451 menstrual cycles in their lifetimes, feeling lousy for four or five days before each cycle adds up to more than six years of misery.

• rich in calcium and vitamin D to help the absorption.
• No one is certain exactly why this combination works — it's possible that PMS actually stems from a lack of calcium — but it does help some women.
• A large study of about 3,000 women found that those who got about 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D from food were about a third less likely to have PMS than those who got considerably less.
• Skim milk is a great source of both nutrients, as is fortified orange juice.

• Several studies find that an extract from the fruit of chasteberry trees works fairly well at preventing PMS symptoms.
• In one study of 170 German women, 86 received the dried herbal extract and 84 got a placebo. Researchers tracked six PMS symptoms — irritability, mood swings, anger, headache, breast fullness and bloating — and found that symptoms improved by more than 50 percent in the majority of the women taking the herb compared to no improvement in those taking the placebo.
• Follow the dosage directions on the brand you purchase.

A study of 33 healthy women found that reducing the amount of fat in their diets from the typical 40 percent to 20 percent by following a vegetarian regimen reduced duration and intensity of pain, improved concentration, and reduced mood swings and bloating prior to menstruation.

• Overall, bloating incidence dropped from nearly three to 1.3 days, mood swings from 1.7 to 1.1 days, and concentration problems from nearly two days to less than one day.
• Why does this type of diet help? It could be that it flattens the hormone rollercoaster by lowering levels of estrogen in the blood.

• Various studies suggest that taking either 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 a day or 200 to 360 milligrams a day of magnesium (in divided doses taken three times a day beginning 15 days after your period starts) can also relieve PMS symptoms.

Check with your doctor before taking any of these supplements for the long term.