Calcium and PMS

[Guest guest]

Good Morning!

 

Calcium and PMS

 

It's a problem that affects ten to twenty percent of women, and many

of the people close to them: PMS.

 

Now, a natural way—calcium--which can reduce symptom severity has

been shown to also prevent the development of PMS in the first place.

But how you get the calcium is key.

 

While it's been talked about now for a couple of decades, many women

still don't know that calcium can indeed control PMS symptoms. And if

it's part of an aggressive regimen involving vitamins, medicines,

exercise, and relaxation, a woman can help make that time of the

month not so terrible after all.

 

Still, it's not hard to find women who sound like they are either

homicidal or .really, just suffering from PMS.

 

" I get moody and irritable. I want to kills somebody. My family stays

away from me, " says Megan…

 

" I get like crazy. I want to kills somebody. I get a nasty mood, "

concurs Stacey Selby.

" I don't feel like myself I get bloating tenderness, " Stacey says.

 

But in most, the symptoms can be controlled. Dr. Laura Corio, an OB-

GYN at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, says, " Symptoms such as

irritability, fatigue, depression mood swings, breast soreness, fluid

retention, a lot of it gets better with just taking vitamins,

exercising, stress reduction and dietary changes. "

 

And now new research in the Archives of Internal Medicine says if you

get in enough daily calcium, you can ward off the symptoms of PMS.

Women with the highest amount of calcium intake had 80 percent of the

risk of PMS compared to women with the lowest amount of calcium

intake. But according to the study the calcium can't come from

supplements. It has to come from your diet.

 

This is the first study to show that getting enough of this can

prevent the initial development of PMS.

 

And high intake of Vitamin D, which helps the absorption of calcium,

almost cut the risk of PMS in half. But Dr. Corio says, while no

question calcium is a winner, getting it all in the diet is

tough. " There are some people who can't take dairy. Broccoli's great

but you're going to have to eat a lot of broccoli to get 1200

milligrams of calcium. I would say if you can get 600 in your diet

and take one 600 a day it's not going to be anything bad. "

 

Still, calcium, dietary or not, should be a part of a regimen that

includes exercise, and perhaps magnesium, along with medicines, like

antidepressants and the birth control pill yasmin. " It has a built in

diuretic they don't get PMS they don't get bloated, they can have a

birth control pill so it's really a good thing, " instructs Dr. Corio.

 

Stacey says proper treatment got rid of her PMS symptoms.

" I didn't feel the bloating I didn't feel the headaches, nothing. " I

know I'm a nicer person, definitely!, " she laughs.

 

The study says that it takes the equivalent of four servings of skim

or low fat milk, fortified orange juice, or low fat dairy foods like

yogurt to get the 1200 mg. of calcium and the 400 international units

of Vitamin D in each day.

 

And of course, you'll be protecting your bones too.

 

For more information on this study, go to:

 

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/165/11/1246