6 Natural Ways to Rescue You from Period Pain

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

It’s that time of the month. Just this sentence alone is enough to set a dismal cast over the coming days, not to mention the downright unpleasant side effects (aka period cramps) you know are along for the ride.

Typically, the solution is to pop an ibuprofen, grab a pint of something sweet, and veg out until the pain subsides.

But what if there was another, all-natural way to drastically lessen period cramps? Luckily, there are several research-backed tweaks you can make both before and during your period to render this week a bit more benign.

1. Eat Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Even though all you want to focus on at the moment is curling up with a pint of Haagen-Dazs, know that the more nourishing the foods you eat, the better you’ll feel.

You may have already noticed a difference in your periods since going Paleo, but during your cycle, there are still a few tweaks you can make to further ease your symptoms.

The first is to focus on anti-inflammatory foods. While eating Paleo is an amazing path to less inflammation, paying particular attention to getting more omega-3 fatty acids will help to kick any remaining inflammation (aka pain) to the curb.

In fact, studies have shown omega-3 in the form of fish oil to be more effective against period cramps than ibuprofen, Salmon, eggs and olive oil will help reduce inflammation, saving you from painful period cramps.

Focus on consuming more wild-caught salmon, cage-free eggs, and olive or coconut oils as your fat sources, rather than an excess of poultry and nut butters, which can contain high amounts of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.

You can also opt for a quality fish oil supplement if you’re having trouble consuming enough omega-3 from food sources.

2. Up Your Intake of Minerals and Antioxidants

Upping your intake of mineral-rich fruits and veggies, such as berries, dark leafy greens, sea vegetables, squash, cherries, and bananas, will not only help to lower inflammation further, but also contain nutrients that help to ease pains and spasms.

Specifically, the magnesium found in foods like pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate helps to reduce water retention while also aiding in soothing muscle cramps. 

In addition, focusing on foods that contain zinc, such as oysters, crab, and lobster, can reduce or even eliminate cramps altogether.

Research has shown this is due to zinc’s ability reduce the production of prostaglandins – hormones believed to be the cause of cramping. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect on the uterus, further reducing the chances of developing period cramps.

3. Yoga and Light Exercise

We know: the last thing you want to do when you’re bloated and experiencing cramps is squeeze into yoga pants and push through a vinyasa. However, doing so just might ease some of the pain.

Due to increased circulation and endorphin release, exercise can act as a form of natural morphine to reduce cramping while also helping to get rid of some of the water retention women experience during their cycle.

Keep in mind that exercise during this time should be something light, such as yoga, light aerobics or other gentle movements like Tai-Chi.

If you opt for yoga, however, be sure to avoid inversions, even if you practice them regularly. Instead, choose beneficial poses like Camel pose, Cat-Cow pose, and Cobra pose. (Hint: You can even do some yoga in bed if that’s all you’re up for!).

4. Avoid Processed Food and Caffeine

Remember how we read that prostaglandins are the hormones believed to be the cause of cramping? It turns out they, along with inflammation, are exacerbated by sugar. Once inflammation is increased, stress hormones rise as well, which then leads to more inflammation – a vicious cycle to be avoided even when you’re not on your cycle.

So while you feel that diving into the candy jar might make you feel better in the moment, remember that doing this will only make symptoms worse in the long run. Avoid all processed foods with added sugar, wheat and dairy – your cramps will thank you by easing up.

Aside from sugar, another possible trigger for cramps is too much caffeine. Research is conflicted on this, but some scientists suggest that it contributes to cramps by constricting blood vessels and increasing muscle tension.

5. Get Hot

Heating pads and hot baths can be your best friend during your cycle. The warmth increases circulation and opens the blood vessels, which in turn eases the muscle contractions that cause cramps. It also turns out that the longer you apply heat, the more pain reduction you’ll experience, according to research.

6. Herbs

There are a wide variety of herbal preparations you can take that act as antispasmodics, helping to reduce the severity of cramps. Note that many of these remedies are meant to be taken as a preventative before your menstrual cycle begins. Aim for one to two days before the start of your period for the best results.

Raspberry Leaf Tea

Raspberry leaf has been used for centuries by midwives to help tone the uterus after childbirth. Interestingly, raspberry leaf can also help to relax the muscles in your uterus, making it a fantastic option for reducing cramps.

Ginger

Ginger is a potent anti-inflammatory herb whose effects are backed by a lengthy amount of promising research regarding menstrual cramps.

A 2012 study involving 120 women using either a placebo or ginger root powder showed that the women taking ginger root powder two days before their menstrual period began, and continuing through the first three days of their period, had the shortest duration of pain as compared to the placebo group.

Fennel

This licorice-tasting herb contains a compound called anethole, which has been shown to have anti-spasmodic effects. Studies show fennel extract to be as effective as some forms of pain medication.

Yarrow

Yarrow is another potent anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic herb, containing compounds that help relax blood vessels.  It can be taken as a tea with a little honey (as it can be bitter) or can be used in essential oil form.

The Bottom Line

It’s important to remember during this time to listen to your body. As the menstrual cycle is a time of release and shedding, you might find yourself craving comfort foods such as stews and heavier meals. Listen to these cravings, but just be sure to create them with whole, nourishing foods. Also, be sure to get plenty of rest.

Implementing these techniques will let you take the first step toward leaving period cramps in the past and gaining back an additional week each month.

Still looking for natural ways to rescue you from period pain? Watch this video – Painful Periods – How to Stop Period Menstrual Cramps | Dysmenorrhea Causes,Treatments, Medication

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

Dietary Fat and Your Brain – What You Need to Know

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Your brain needs dietary fat thrive. Here’s why it’s so important – and what happens when it doesn’t get enough.

Did you know there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate? That’s right – you don’t need carbs at all! However, there are definitely essential fats (technically, essential fatty acids) that are just as important to your health as getting enough water. Yet many people go “low-fat” or think that fat will make them fat.

Your brain needs dietary fat – not only to survive, but to thrive! Your mitochondria (think of these as your cell’s energy factories) need fat to keep everything in your body and brain going.

In fact, ketogenic diets remove all carbohydrates and subsist solely on protein and fat – which are technically the only two macronutrients needed to sustain life. But you don’t need to go to those extreme lengths to understand the absolute necessity of dietary fat for your brain.

How Dietary Fat Keeps Us Healthy

Your brain runs off of glucose – but it can also run off of ketone bodies, which are created during periods of low carbohydrate consumption. In fact, some argue that our brains run better off of ketone bodies.

While I’ll leave that for researchers in the field of neurology to debate, there’s no doubt that dietary fat is essential for your brain. In fact, our Paleo ancestors likely consumed a low carb diet, eating meat as their main source of protein and fat.

As we’ve changed into a sedentary lifestyle that subsists on grains, our brains may have suffered as a result. Obesity is also at an all-time high, as 70% of the US is now overweight. We also have alarming rates of diabetes and dementia.

What is the commonality among all three health issues? They are largely a result of moving from a high-fat, brain friendly diet, into a low-fat, brain unfriendly diet.

In fact, scientists have found that a high-fat ketogenic diet can provide help improve symptoms of a broad range of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s. A keto diet can help improve symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

One scientific trial was actually able to reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms for the first time in history. These ground-breaking results weren’t induced by drugs, but instead by embracing a Paleo lifestyle, with plenty of sleep, exercise and lots of dietary fat, while avoiding grains and inflammatory foods.

The high fat ketogenic diet was originally designed for those suffering from seizures and/or epilepsy. Why is this important? Because too much excitement in the brain causes seizures, and one way is by having too much glutamate.

At high enough levels, glutamate can become aspartate, which is excitatory and neurotoxic. At lower levels, glutamate can become GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter for humans. A high fat diet can cure seizures simply by preventing glutamate in the brain from becoming neurotoxic.

So by favoring a higher-fat diet, one may be helping glutamate become GABA instead of aspartate. This may also explain the increased rates of ADD we see in kids today, as too many carbs and not enough fat leaves children too excited to sit still.

Quite simply: if you don’t eat any fat, your brain can’t function well. If the only energy you give your brain and body is carbohydrate (for our purposes, think “glucose”) your brain won’t get much GABA, and it will be overrun with aspartate. This may also be why we see improvements in those with bipolar disorder when they stick to a more healthful diet.

In fact, a correlation appears between bipolar disorder and disordered eating, leading us into the “chicken or the egg” problem, of what exactly diet is doing to our brains.

What Happens Without Fat?

Quite simply – nothing good! Things go haywire when one does not consume fat. In fact, if you don’t get enough dietary fat, these symptoms are likely to occur:

• Dry, scaly skin
• Damaged or lackluster hair
• Brittle fingernails
• Night blindness
• Confusion and disorientation
• Depression
• Extreme mental fatigue
• Metabolic syndrome

These symptoms and diseases have increased over time. Why? Because in addition to eating less fat, we are sleeping less than ever, stressed like never before, exercising less and indulging in more sugar and processed foods.

Of these changing aspects of American life, the “less fat, more sugar” issue may be having the biggest negative impact on our brains (although no doubt the effect of all these factors is cumulative).

Fat provides the basic framework for our cells, and is necessary for our survival. Think of a car: without the right kind of gasoline, things start to go wrong. Your brain is the car in this scenario – and you don’t want to be fueling your brain incorrectly!

How to Get More Fat in Your Diet?

To get your brain on the fast track to health, check out our  21-Day Paleo Meal Plan which makes sure you get all the best fats on a daily basis.

For a balanced diet, remember to eat a wide variety of healthy fats, as well as good sources of protein, and include a moderate amount of carbohydrates. The Ultimate Paleo Diet Shopping List is an excellent place to start to find ideas of good fats to consume.

Whatever you do, though, do not go low fat! It will not work for you in the long term (especially in the cognition department) and in fact, low-fat diets lost out to high-fat diets in the category of weight loss, as well.

It is also important to remove sugar, processed foods and grains, as none of these pro-inflammatory foods are helpful for your brain, either. Get plenty of sleep, keep stress low and avoid harmful habits to keep your brain in tip-top shape.

Watch this video – Dietary Fat and Your Brain – Brain Foods for Brain Health – Boost Brain Health with Good Eats

Bottom Line: There is quite literally no good reason to omit fat in your diet, as it’s such a vital element for cognition, our cells and a myriad of other functions. And remember: there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate, but there are essential fats!

Written by Casey Thaler

Author Bio:

Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS is an NASM® certified personal trainer and NASM® certified fitness nutrition specialist. He writes for Paleo Magazine®, The Paleo Diet® and Greatist®. He is also an advisor for Kettle and Fire and runs his own nutrition and fitness consulting company, Eat Clean, Train Clean®.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

Diet and Mental Health – What You Need to Know

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Your mind and body are closely connected. Here’s how good nutrition can impact your mental health.

Mental health problems, like anxiety and depression, might seem invisible, but they’re connected to real symptoms, disorders, and diseases.

Here’s what you need to know when it comes to how your diet interacts with your mental health.

How Mental Health Is Rooted in the Body

Many mental disorders are tied to problems in the thyroid, gut, adrenal glands or hormones, to name a few.

Trauma, abuse, and emotional stress can produce reactions within the body that become physical disease. Even when mental health problems originate from an emotional or stress-based source, you can’t use positive thinking alone to ward them off.

We can address the underlying physical conditions of mental health disorders through dietary changes, lifestyle support, and sometimes with professional therapy or medication.

In the same way that sports injuries might need physical therapy and other treatments, mental health conditions often require multifaceted approaches, too.

Learn how physical conditions and nutrition impact mental and neurological health, so you can separate the facts from fiction and treat it accordingly.

Physical Problems That Impact Mental Health

The subject of mental health as a physical disorder is relatively new and undergoing much new research. However, there are two physical concerns closely tied to mental wellness: inflammation and gut health.

Inflammation

Inflammation can quickly get out of control when triggered by a chronic issue. Unchecked inflammation often targets the gut, endocrine organs, and the brain itself, triggering mental health issues.

Inflammation can stem from poor dietary choices, food allergies or sensitivities, genetics, childhood trauma and beyond. There’s really no limit as to what can cause inflammation.

To properly address inflammation, it’s important to remove dietary, lifestyle, and environmental triggers.

Poor Gut Health

The gut influences how the brain works, and is closely tied to disorders like depression and anxiety.  The gut has an intricate barrier system, designed to let digested nutrients into the bloodstream and keep out toxins. When this barrier system malfunctions, toxic particles can enter the bloodstream and lead to inflammation, chronic conditions, food reactions, and more.

The brain-gut axis is a direct line in your body’s nervous system. This channel connects leaky gut and other intestinal or digestive issues with neurotransmitter imbalances. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for providing stability and acting as an antidepressant, is mostly made in the gut.

In fact, the microbiomes of people with psychological disorders look different than those of healthy people – further evidence that mental health disorders are truly physical.

The gut can also control the brain, to some degree, by sending signals and messages through the nerves. This creates mood problems when the gut is inflamed or imbalanced.

Since the gut is responsible for digestion and absorption of nutrients, vitamin deficiencies can also occur. This can manifest in an inability to properly digest, absorb, or utilize nutrients.

6 Ways to Eat for Mental Wellness

Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach, customizing your diet and lifestyle to suit your own needs is an essential first step. Avoid known allergens and sensitivities as well as environmental exposures that can lead to toxicity, inflammation, and gut problems.

Beyond that, try these research-backed ways to help your brain and nervous system to function at their best.

1. Skip the Sugar

Sugar provides a dopamine hit that temporarily eases feelings of angst, sadness, anxiety and depression.

This is not a permanent fix, however. Over time chronic overstimulation from dopamine hits will lead the brain to synthesize less and less. This leaves you more dependent on sugar to feel well. Sugar is also one of the driving factors of inflammation, which worsens mental well-being.

To quit sugar for mental health, avoid all forms of sweeteners, including honey, coconut sugar, and even stevia. This is important because even just the taste of sweetness can be enough to initiate that dopamine buzz. You want to allow the brain to receive dopamine boosts from factors other than sugar.

2. Eat Plenty of Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory superfoods, which is partially why they support a healthy and balanced brain. EPA and DHA, two forms of omega-3s, also regulate dopamine and serotonin, leading to a stabilized brain that can better cope with stress and anxiety.

Eat fatty fish like salmon three times per week for several months to reduce anxiety and improve mental health. Chia seeds are also a great source of omega-3s.

3. Get Enough Protein

The amino acid tryptophan, found in protein-rich foods like turkey, chicken, liver, and beef, can be converted to serotonin in the gut. When eaten regularly, protein can ultimately have a stabilizing, relaxing, and anti-anxiety impact on the brain. Dietary sources like eggs and protein can also boost dopamine.

4. Load Up On Antioxidants

Fight inflammation from the inside with antioxidants, like those found in blueberries. Antioxidants can help combat internal sources of oxidation and damage. You can find them in abundance in citrus fruits, bell peppers, and, of course, blueberries.

Blueberries are also a good source of flavonoids, which can help provide anxiety relief.

5. Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol can worsen depression and disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut microbiome. It can also play a role in leaky gut, leading to malabsorption of crucial nutrients.

Alcohol consumption changes the way the brain and nervous system function, and interferes with the brain’s basic ability to communicate.

When you’re battling mental health challenges, avoid stimulants like sugar and alcohol that mess with neurotransmitter function. This will give your body the chance to re-balance the nervous system communication and synthesis of neurotransmitters.

6. Take Prebiotics and Probiotics

Protecting gut health is vital when it comes to mental health. Probiotic foods and supplements can help to maintain a healthy gut, reverse the damage of leaky gut, and can even help protect the brain.

When supplementing, opt for a broad-spectrum probiotic free from fillers.

It’s also essential to eat prebiotic foods, which nourish the existing good gut bacteria. These include foods like artichokes, bananas, asparagus, and apples.

Fermented foods also help to supply good bacteria to the gut, reducing inflammation and disease-causing bacteria in the intestines.

Watch this video – Diet and Mental Health – The surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health | Julia Rucklidge | TEDxChristchurch

Written by Aimee McNew

Author Bio:

Aimee McNew is a Certified Nutritionist who specializes in women’s health, thyroid problems, infertility, and digestive wellness. She ate her way back to health using a Paleo diet, lost 80 pounds, and had a healthy baby after numerous miscarriages. She focuses on simple nutrition practices that promote long-lasting results.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook