What’s cranky and crampy and irritable all over? Unfortunately, the answer to this riddle isn’t a fun one, and we’ve all been there before… It’s a case of mean, nasty PMS. The idea for this blog post recently came to me when I was having a week where I just could not get out of my time-of-the-month cranky spell. I was feeling out of control of my emotions and super hormonal. Crying over my latte that came with soy milk instead of almond milk was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and I decided to take matters into my own hands and research some tools to turn to when the going gets hormonal. So, with a quick email to our resident health expert and holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque of Be Well by Kelly, I felt immediately more in control of my emotions and ready to try these natural PMS remedies. After trying all five of the below suggestions, I’m happy to report that my moodiness had tempered and I felt like myself again (and feeling empowered to make a positive shift was probably partly to thank!).

Without further ado, here are five simple and effective natural remedies to help cure your next hormonal meltdown…

How to balance your hormones naturally

1. Try Rhodiola.
Never heard of rhodiola before? Well, this powerful adaptogen could kinda change your life. This is Chinese herb calms stress in the body and gives you energy, all at the same time. If you’re dealing with a lot of stress or over-producing cortisol (the “stress hormone” made by your adrenals), your body will actually start “steal” pregnenolone (the precursor to make sex hormones) to make more cortisol, depleting your natural production of sex hormones and creating an imbalance in the body. Rhodiola calms stress and helps balance the hormones in your endocrine system naturally. Kelly recommends trying Gaia’s rhodiola that comes in easy-to-take capsules.

2. Bump up your B vitamins.
Adding a vitamin to your morning dose is easy and so worth it if it means lessening the effect of PMS. And a simple B vitamin can be all you need! Since B vitamins are synthesized by our gut bacteria, they actually help us metabolize glucose, which can in turn help insure that we don’t have excess insulin in our bloodstream (which makes us irritable). Kelly recommends buying B-Complex Plus from Pure Encapsulations.

3. Watch the sugar.
We can’t say this enough: Steer clear of sugar when mood is swinging like a pendulum. Eating sugar can result in mood highs and lows even when we’re not PMSing… And when we’re PMSing, sugar can really disrupt the healthy insulin levels in our body. When we eat sugar, it spikes our insulin levels which effect how much estrogen or testosterone we produce. To keep your hormones balanced, Kelly recommends trying to be as balanced as possible by eating her Fab4 at every meal (protein, fiber, healthy fats, greens). That way, you are not producing too much hormone-misbalancing insulin.

4. Put maca powder in your smoothie.
One of the easiest ways to get a little hormone balancing going in the beginning of the day is adding a scoop of maca powder to your morning smoothie. Kelly explains that maca helps to balance the hormones circulating in your body by giving the pituitary gland and hypothalamus a soft reset. Maca nourishes those master glands that control all other hormonal glands, so when balanced they can help bring balance to the adrenal, thyroid, pancreas and ovarian glands as well. So, basically, it helps your body become more in-tune to what hormones to release and when. Pretty amazing, right? Maca is also a great energy-booster, so if PMS makes you feel sluggish, this smoothie additive is definitely for you. Try this organic maca powder for an easy boost.

5. Exercise!
Sweating and stretching—it might feel like the last thing you want to do when you’re having debilitating cramps, but if you can get yourself to a workout class or yoga studio, Kelly promises that will thank yourself afterward. Working out not only releases our body’s “happy chemical,” endorphins, but it also releases dopamine and serotonin in our brains, both of which stave off moodiness and make us feel calm and satisfied. Plus, who doesn’t feel better after sweating it all out?

I hope that these tips help the next time you’re having a where is my mind moment during that time of the month! They definitely did the job for me.

Do you have any natural PMS remedies or cures? What tricks have you found that help stabilize your mood or hormones?

Leave your two cents in the comments below—we’d love to see what works for you! And another thanks to our girl Kelly for contributing these tips.

xx
Allison
Team LC

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  • Leah Kauffman

    Thanks for sharing this. I have PMS real bad.

  • I already do 3 and 5 consistently but I am definitely going to try 1 and 2! Thanks for these tips.

  • Jessica

    Homemade ginger tea has helped me a lot lately!

  • Mary Colleen

    Beside diet changes eliminating beauty products with artificial fragrances and sticking to products with natural fragrances helped me tons. I hardly get cramps anymore.

  • Samantha Lee

    Argh, I had one of those days a couple weeks ago (first day of my period) and had to stay home from work. I’m interested in trying maca as I keep seeing it pop up everywhere.
    http://www.wonderlandsam.com

  • Kari Guastella

    Sounds like good tips in general!
    Kari
    http://sweetteasweetie.com/

  • Živilė Dap

    For me personally, drinking water constantly throughout the day (every day, not just PMS or during Menstruation), and eating more whole foods help so much! I used to have very bad cramps, and cravings, and now I pretty much feel almost the same as on other days 🙂

    Jill
    Jill D Blog

  • Yerin Kim (Yerin Jeong)

    For me, exercise definitely helps and also I find that massages help as well.

  • Janelle Lien

    I just go to the gym for a lot longer, and I make sure I stay hydrated and well nourished.

    Janelle Lien

    jelly_janelley_lien

    • Jillian Mathews

      I do that too.

  • Jenna & Cortney

    These are great tips!! We’ve been curious about all the maca powder praise lately..definitely think we’ll use it for our smoothies!! We always just indulge in a little more dark chocolate when our womanhood rears her nasty head. 😉

    xoxo

    http://www.awhimsywonderland.com

  • Thank you so much for these great tips! I’ve never really heard of maca powder, until very recently, so it’s definitely great to see you introducing it! 🙂 <3

    XO, Elizabeth
    http://clothestoyouuu.com/

  • Oh love these tips. I usually just eat chocolate but these sound much healthier, will have to give them a go!

    Rachael xx.

    theteacozykitchen.blogspot.co.uk

  • I have never heard of Rhodiola so that’s something I’ll definitely be looking into! ♥

    Amy // snippetsofamy.co.uk

  • Exercising always helps with my PMS! Loving these other tips, definitely will be looking into rhodiola!

    http://www.insearchofsheila.com

  • Brit

    All of these are great, but what about for cramps? I’d love to hear some natural remedies for cramps because after getting off hormonal birth control mine are killer and I hate popping anti-inflamatory meds every few hours

    • Meggz

      Try using natracare 100% organic tampons and pads. Everytime i use them my cramps begin to go away and once I go back to regular tampons my cramps come back right away. I am wondering if chemicals in regular tampons is a major cause of cramps.

  • Meggggz

    Use 100% organic tampons. Cramping will be extremely reduced