How sugar effects your hormones!

How does sugar effect your hormones?
 
Do you suffer from becoming a monster the 2 weeks before your period begins? 

Like clock work you seem to turn into a totally different person the 2nd half of your cycle. 

You become bloated, crave carbs, gain weight, and your emotions become unmanageable.  You feel like you want to leave your husband, crawl in a cave and hide.
 
You might have something doctors diagnose as PMDD. 
 
There are medications that can help manage your symptoms.
 
I am not against medications and I think they have have saved a lot of lives and help a lot of women.  I encourage you to talk to your doctor.  You might be able to alleviate some of your suffering by following a medication plan with your doctor.
 
That being said, if you want to feel your very best lifestyle changes might need to take place as well.
 
We all know that eating sugar is not good for us. You are probably aware of the effect refined sugar has on your weight.  Many women are not educated to understand how refined sugar interacts with hormones. There is a connection between mood swings and diet.
 
Insulin is a very important hormone.  Your body cannot convert sugar into energy without insulin.  The more sugar you eat; the more insulin you must produce to handle the foods.  When your insulin levels become high after eating a sugar or high carb treat, the hormone globulin lowers.  Globulin binds estrogen and testosterone in your body.  When globulin levels are low these two hormone levels increase. Testosterone turns into estrogen in your fatty tissue. 

What all this means is that your hormones become imbalanced.  Your ratio of estrogen and progesterone is out of whack and you don’t get the calming effects of progesterone.  This can produce mood swings, anxiety, insomnia and more unpleasant symptoms.  You might find you crave more and more carbs because they produce serotonin and you want to calm down!
 
This can be a never ending cycle causing you great misery. 
 
Cutting out all sugars is not the goal here. 

We want to keep our glycemic index low to keep your hormone cycles running smoothly. 
 
You should strive to have a whole foods diet.  If you are unsure what to eat on a whole foods diet, just google “Whole Foods Diet”.  There are tons of resources on online to help.
 
Keep your “fun sugars and carbs” minimal during this time of the month.  Focus on eating 3 full meals a day made of up your favorite protein, vegetables, and fruit. 

Try incorporating more low glycemic carbs such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, and legumes. 

If if comes in a box or package already cooked, just say no! 

If you are going to indulge in sweets make sure you do it after a full meal of protein and vegetables with plenty of healthy fats.
 
Slap some butter on your potatoes or rice! It will slow down the absorption of sugar. 
 
I know changing your diet is not easy but I promise it will be worth it.  Your emotions will thank you and you might even lose a few pounds. 
 
Contact me today if you need an accountably partner who has been through this process. I would love to help you on our journey to vibrant health.

Have you found anything that helps with your PMDD? Let me know in the comments below!