Tag Archives: menstrual cramps

Women I meet ask me all the time my secret to surviving the looming time of the month called PMS, or as I like to say, vegan b&%$# syndrome. Yesterday when yet again another friend was struggling, it gave me enough fuel to put pen to paper. PMS used to be the bane of my existence. Cramping, bloating, and then of course the lovely mood swings that turn any peace loving vegan into a raging  b&!%$ and then pass leaving you wondering what is wrong with you. Your boyfriend, your family, your friends, and even your work colleagues around this time wonder why you seem to be creating drama from things that would normally not bother you at all. Trust me, I’ve been there, and unless you want to be that girl who turns into Medusa every month, you might want to take control of your hormones!

The good news is, it is possible to take control of your body. Diet has a HUGE affect on how horrible your symptoms are. When I was 100% raw all the time (I’m not now), I had absolutely no PMS. It was this incredible new world. I was completely astounded that IT could just go away like that. However, when a woman’s body is going through her cycle the body goes into a cleansing mode, so I noticed that when raw and eating no unprocessed foods, my body had no junk to cleanse and my hormones remained even kilter. Beyond diet though, there is much that can be done to keep you from experiencing the horrible symptoms, and avoid vegan b&%$# syndrome altogether. -XoXo Raw Girl

1. Don Quai. For any woman seeking to control her hormones, this root is KEY. Don Quai helps to maintain healthy estrogen levels and promotes emotional balance.  This Chinese herb has been used for thousands of years in China, Japan, and Korea and is mostly used to cure female reproductive issues. Besides giving a vegan B%$@ a run for her money, don quai can treat painful menstruation, infrequent periods, PMS, and menopausal symptoms. When I discovered don quai my life changed, every woman should know about this herb and keep it stocked in her medicine cabinet. I like to take it in pill form and also I found a donquai tea that is the bomb.com, that I take as well. Check it out via this link: http://astore.amazon.com/ragiinatowo-20/detail/B0016BA93A

2. Blackstrap Molasses. If you’ve never heard of blackstrap molasses…it’s basically the byproduct of turning cane sugar into table sugar. When white sugar is made it is stripped of it’s nutrients, and the nutrients are left in this brown syrupy concoction that happens to be full of vitamins including manganese, copper, selenium, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium,  and B6 which ease menstrual cramping almost instantly. I learned this while staying with my friend who is a homeopath. She brought me a cup of tea with molasses. After one cup f tea with molasses I was strong enough to get up and make myself another cup and within twenty minutes the pain had completely dissipated. I never take any over the counter meds, so this is a quick remedy I love. Blackstrap goes into the bloodstream and works fast. Its an acquired taste, but for the benefits, its worth keeping in your home. Make sure to get the kind that is “organic” and “unsulphered.”

3. Arnica. If you’ve got the vegan b$%#* syndrome with a bad dose of cramping, you may feel like you need pain killers. Rather than running to grab some aspirin or tylenol, try arnica. Arnica is an all natural plant based medicine that comes in pill form and you can find it in various strength levels. If the basic homeopathic does you no justice, try the 3x version which is for muscle trauma.

4. Fem Premenstrual by Metagenics. So I’m not into mentioning products unless I use them and they work. My homeopath put me onto this blend which contains vitamins, and an herbal extract blend of various roots including don quai. This stuff works WONDERS. Apparently if you take it long enough, you’ll stop seeing symptoms altogether. I’ve noticed a marked difference since I began taking it. If you are in NYC you can find it at Wilners Chemists on Park Avenue. If you are elsewhere here’s a link: http://astore.amazon.com/ragiinatowo-20/detail/B004GLEUH8.

5. Cut your soy & tofu intake. I generally stay away from processed soy as much as possible. Back in the day before I was more on the raw side, I used to eat a ridiculous amount of tofu and soy. As soon as I cut them out of my diet, it was like a weight had lifted, and some of my hormonal raging calmed down. Check your diet and if you still consume large amounts of soy, give it try one month cutting it out of your diet and seeing what happens to your cycle. To take control of your body you have to experiment and learn what works for you.

6. Young Living Essential Oil: Dragontime.  Young living essential oils are incredible. I got so into them I became a distributor not too long ago, so that I can buy my oils at a discount. The blends are incredibly pure. This particular blend appropriately named Dragontime because it is meant to be a remedy for PMS, has worked miracles for me. All you need is a couple drops of the oil and you can rub it directly on your tummy where cramping pains reside, and  I kid you not, within minutes the pain will dissipate. I was bugged out the first time I tried it, because I was supposed to be up working and felt horrible. A couple of drops of oil and a little rub, and I was able to stay on my feet and get everything I needed to get done for the day.

7. Practice Yoga. Besides the fact that its good for you in general, yoga cleanses, reinvigorates, and balances out the systems of the body. Incorporating regular practice, will no doubt help you take the edge off. It’s really hard to be a vegan b%$#@ after you’ve said namaste.