Menstruation Natural Remedies - Natures Way to Painless Periods

I have always found it interesting that women have such diverse reactions to their periods. When I was a teenager, I started my period very late, around seventeen, and by that time had already shared in the agony with friends of mine who started much earlier than I did. Menstruation natural remedies were not considered at that time, and it was pretty much over the counter medicines that were being used for help for painful periods.

About 2 years ago I began to get uncomfortable periods. Cramping, bloating, back aches, headaches and some months I would feel like a heavy bar was sitting across my forehead and heavy bricks were sitting on my eye lids. Some months I would be fine and didn't even experience PMS, while other months I would experience the above symptoms and although I was able to still carry on with my normal tasks, I was finding it extremely stressful wondering if it was going to be a painful month or not. Thus, I began my quest to find out why I was pain free some months and not others, how to get the discomfort under control, and what menstruation natural remedies work when it was a painful month.

It is very important to understand that no one remedy is going to work for everyone. The reasons behind bad cramping and bloating has a lot to do with each individual woman's body and what she puts her body through. I strongly suggest you try each of these menstruation natural remedies and others you find for at least 2 months to see their advantages. If there is no change then move on to another remedy. If you are over weight, do not get regular exercise, and have a poor diet, then it is a good idea to rectify this first, as a poor diet and extra weight have a lot to do with how a woman's body handles her menstrual cycle and how her menstrual cycle affects her body. It is also important to note that discomfort to a degree does come along with menstruation so don't expect to find a complete cure all.

After much research and tried remedies by myself and a group of 20 friends of mine, these were the ones that came out being the most effective. A plus point to these remedies is that they also offer other healthy advantages to the body.

1. Magnesium

Magnesium is a muscle relaxant and is one of the vitamins we should have regularly in our diet. However studies show that most Americans have low magnesium levels. Magnesium is also helpful for stress relief. So how does it effect menstrual cramping?

• Because cramps are caused by excessively strong contractions of the uterus Magnesium helps these muscles to relax, reducing cramping. 
• Magnesium can also help relieve PMS symptoms such as headaches and back aches.
• Menstrual fatigue is another symptom that Magnesium can combat.
• Magnesium also helps combat PMS symptoms such as constipation, water retention, breast tenderness, bloating, mood swings, depression, anxiety and irritability.
  

The best dietary sources of Magnesium are:

-whole grains

-almonds, peanuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds

-spinach, kale, and swiss chard

-beans such as black beans, pinto beans, chick peas

-sea vegetables such as kelp

-herbs such as basil, Cilantro, dill, parsley

-bananas

-halibut

If you do not already, introduce some or all of these foods into your diet and see if this becomes one of your natural remedies for menstruation ease.

2.  Ginger

Pound a piece of ginger releasing some juice then boil it in a cup of water for 2 minutes. Add a small bit of honey.  Take this concoction three times a day after meals throughout the time you are menstruating.

3. Ayurveda Approach - Aloe Vera

This approach requires you to take a mixture everyday one week before your period. Continue taking throughout your menstruation time if necessary.

1 tablespoon pure Aloe Vera gel with a pinch of black pepper.

4. Heat (hot baths, heating pad, jacuzzi) is a good for mild pain or discomfort.

5. Lower Back Pressure.

Pressure to areas on the lower back can give surprisingly good results. Have someone apply pressure to points on your lower back while you lay down and relax. Acupressure is a more professional route. 15 out of 20 friends found this approach very helpful but does take time out of a busy schedule and costs more than trying the above remedies.

6. Exercise

Go figure that exercise has come first in the running for natural remedies for menstruation, offering help with painful periods. Exercise releases endorphins into the blood stream which can help reduce pain and discomfort due to menstruation. Regular exercise has a huge effect on many women when it comes to reducing painful periods. Exercising regularly can substantially decrease painful periods.

7. Stay away from high salty foods and extra added salt on foods 72 hours prior to Menstruation.

8. Heighten your fiber consumption 72 hours prior to starting your period. This will give your bowels extra help to keep moving and will help avoid constipation.

I am not overweight nor have I ever been however my intake of fruits and vegetables was not regular and exercise was not in my vocabulary at all. Introduction of regular exercise, the consumption of fruits and vegetables and magnesium in my diet were the menstruation natural remedies that helped me the most. I now have mild discomfort the first day of my period but no more after that. Give each of these remedies a try and remember to use them for at least 2 months in order to properly evaluate their success with help for painful periods.

Related Links

Help For Menorrhagia

Reasons and cures for heavy menses bleeding

The Diet Solution

For weight loss and obtaining a healthy eating regime

Help For Menorrhagia

Menorrhagia is heavy menstrual bleeding. Often times throughout a woman's life she will experience a heavy flow as compared to what she considers her normal flow, but this does not necessarily mean she is experiencing Menorrhagia. Often times stress, anxiety, and emotional turmoil are the cause for an unusual heavy flow that does not continue on a monthly basis. Women finding themselves in need of help for Menorrhagia will find they need to change their tampon or pad more often than every one to two hours and have a period that lasts more than seven days. Menorrhagia is when a woman looses about 5 1/2 tablespoons or more of blood during her menstrual cycle, over come with tiredness, fatigue or shortness of breath (symptoms of anemia), and the menstrual flow has blood clots.

So what are the causes of Menorrhagia? For some cases there is no specific cause but for some women causes of heavy bleeding could be:

• Hormonal imbalance
  
• Dysfunction of the ovaries
• Polyps
• Uterine fibroids
• Adenomyosis
• Pregnancy complications
• Inherited bleeding disorders
• Intrauterine device (IUD)
• Cancer
  

It is very important that women with excessive heavy bleeding, as described above visit their doctor in order to gain treatment for Menorrhagia and also to get treatment for the cause if there is one.

The treatment you receive will depend on the following information:

• Your overall health and medical history
• The cause and severity of the condition
• Your tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies
• The likelihood that your periods will become less heavy before long
• Your future childbearing plans
  
• Effects of the condition on your lifestyle
• Your opinion or personal preference

Nowadays there are many successful treatments for those needing help for Menorrhagia.

•  Iron Supplements
• Birth control pill / oral contraceptive
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): These are ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, etc
• Oral progesterone which is taken 10 days of each cycle and can help correct hormonal .coimbalance, which then reduces Menorrhagia.
• The hormonal IUD (Mirena) - intrauterine device that releases a type of progestin called Levonorgestrel, which makes the uterine lining thin and decreases menstrual blood flow and cramping.
• If a woman has menorrhagia from taking hormone medication, your doctor may be able to treat the condition by amending or halting your medication.

MayoClinic. com lists the following as surgical procedures toward help for menorrhagia, when drug treatments do not work.

• Dilation and curettage (D and C).
  In this procedure, your doctor opens (dilates) your cervix and then scrapes or suctions tissue from the lining of your uterus to reduce menstrual bleeding. Although this procedure is common and often treats menorrhagia successfully, you may need additional D and C procedures if menorrhagia recurs.
• Operative hysteroscopy.
  This procedure uses a tiny tube with a light (hysteroscope) to view your uterine cavity and can aid in the surgical removal of a polyp that may be causing excessive menstrual bleeding.
• Endometrial ablation.
  Using a variety of techniques, your doctor permanently destroys the entire lining of your uterus (endometrium). After endometrial ablation, most women have little or no menstrual flow. Endometrial ablation reduces your ability to become pregnant.
• Endometrial resection.
  This surgical procedure uses an electrosurgical wire loop to remove the lining of the uterus. Both endometrial ablation and endometrial resection benefit women who have very heavy menstrual bleeding. Like endometrial ablation, this procedure reduces your ability to become pregnant.
• Hysterectomy.
  Surgical removal of the uterus and cervix is a permanent procedure that causes sterility and cessation of menstrual periods. Hysterectomy is performed under anesthesia and requires hospitalization. Additional removal of the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) may cause premature menopause in younger women.
  

With the exception of a hysterectomy, these procedures are usually done on an outpatient basis.

On the lighter side of things if you are woman who has heavy bleeding but do not meet the signs of menorrhagia there are things you can do to help your situation on your own.

• Include iron rich foods in your diet such as leafy greens or take iron supplements.
• Get regular exercise. Include Yoga Asanas specifically aimed at helping hormonal imbalance.
  

If your menses is heavy and unusually long lasting but thin, not clotty, your menorrhagia might be caused by a vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K plays an important role in maintaining healthy blood clotting function, and heavy or long lasting but thin periods can be caused by poor blood clotting.

Always consult a doctor before increasing your consumption of vitamin K if you have;

• a personal or family history of blood clots, stroke, pulmonary embolism, or similar conditions, or
• if you are on any blood thinning medications.

It is easy to overdose on vitamin K if using supplements. Do not take vitamin K supplements except in cases of severe deficiency. Rather, get Vitamin K into your diet by consuming foods such as Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Kale, Collard Greens, and Brussels Sprouts have the highest amount of vitamin K, on the lower scale is foods like, Broccoli, Spring Onions, raw parsley and Asparagus. Healthy acidophilus bacteria, which is found in yogurt, kefir, and similar dairy products containing live cultures, actually make the body produce vitamin K.

There are also vitamins and medicines that can kill off vitamin K.

• A high intake of Vitamin E and calcium in supplement form.
• Antibiotics which kill off healthy intestinal bacteria known as acidophilus, which in turn reduces the production of vitamin K. To avoid this, whenever you are taking an antibiotic take Probiotic Acidophilus tablets. These are also safe for children to take when they are on antibiotics. Follow the instructions on the bottle.
  

Help for menorrhagia is widely available and has high success rates but the treatment will depend on several pieces of information obtained by your doctor so it is very important that if you meet the criteria for menorrhagia you see your doctor in order to get the problem under control and rule out any underlying factors that could be the cause. If you are woman who has heavy bleeding but no clots and you don't soak a tampon or pad every 1-2 hours, then it is possible that you can use other methods in which to treat your heavy flow, such as a more iron and vitamin K rich diet and regular exercise.

Related Links

Natural Remedies for Painful Periods

Healthy Weight Loss Sexy Weight Loss

Weight loss, fitness, health, and eating right is on everyone's to do list for the new year. An activity exciting for both men and women - consider regular sex as an effective approach to weight loss and fitness, as well as a couple of extra perks toward healthy skin, hair and immune system.

The Perks

1. Recent research shows that exercise in short bursts over the course of the day can be as effective as a continuous 30 to 40 minutes. This means that a person could do a 20 minute sexercise workout and then do another form of exercise later in the day.

2. Sex isn't usually boring and reaching the point of arousement and orgasm is good for cardiovascular health. This is because your heart rate goes up even if your not having wild, breathless, massively active sex.

3. Endorphins and prostaglandins are produced during sex and these are great for shiny healthy skin and hair and also help to reduce pain levels, relieve stress, boost your immunity system and lower bad cholesterol level. Relieving stress, boosting the immune system, and a diet low in cholesterol is all part of a healthy lifestyle and healthy weight loss.

4. Many doctors believe that a healthy sex life slows the ageing process and promotes a longer, healthier life.

Getting Started

1.Get a physical if you have not had one for a while.

2. Shoot for half hour rolls in the hay, 3-5 times a week. Your goal is to make it burn while keeping your heart rate up for a prolonged amount of time. This is how you will get the toning effects to your stomach, back, buttocks, legs and arms.

3. Variety is the spice of sex life.Just like the treadmill or keeping to the same routine at the gym can get boring, so can keeping the same routine or positions in your sexercise workouts. Sit together with your partner and find new positions to try or props to use. Some positions require a person to be quite fit and limber and these positions are great for you and your partner to put on the back burner for when you both become more fit - to give you something exciting to aim for.

4. Diet Sensible. Consume a well rounded menu of fruits, veggies, grains and proteins is the requirement for healthy weight loss and fitness. Limit your carbohydrate intake, cut out sugary foods, and curtail your alcohol consumption to a couple of times per week.

5. Moderate Exercise OUTSIDE the Bedroom. Sexercise can only do but so much so it is recommended that you partake in moderate exercise in another form, especially if you are looking to lose weight and or tone up. Exercise in general releases endorphins, so whatever other form of exercise you choose can also work toward a good form of foreplay, building you and your partner up for a great workout of sexercise.

Sexy Weight Loss Positions

There are a few positions that will have the most impact on healthy weight loss and fitness. However, you do not have to limit yourself to only these. Do some research on different positions available, try them out, and see which ones benefit the areas of your body you are working on. This research is fun exciting, and add curiosity and spice to the diet.

- Missionary Position
- Woman on Top
- Sixty Nine

According to the author Monika K. Heaner, The Seven Minute Sex Secret, each of the above positions burns up to 25.2 KJ per minute.

Facts You May Not Know

A research conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that men, who exercise vigorously for 30 minutes a day, were half as likely to have erectile problems as inactive men.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin studied 35 women, ages 18-34. On two separate occasions, the women first watched a short travel film followed by an abbreviated X-rated film while cycling. Researchers calculated their sexual response and discovered that the woman's vaginal responses were 169 percent greater after exercising.

So get yourself a physical if you haven't had one for a while. Start your sexercise at 15-20 minute sessions at least 3 times a week, along with your regular exercise routine or another form of exercise, to compliment your sex workouts and speed up healthy weight loss. Be sure to keep variety, excitement and fun in the routines, and be sure to select more difficult positions with your partner that you can look forward to in a few weeks when you become more fit and tone. Whether you are working toward weight loss or a more healthy lifestyle, consider eating yourself sexy by following a diet and nutrition program that is key to maintaining fitness and health, and will eliminate future dieting for weight loss.  So speed up your weight loss, tone your body, improve your sex life, slow down the ageing process, lower cholesterol, and strengthen your immune system by use of love making as a form of exercise.

Diet and Weight Loss - Are You Gaining From Sleep Loss?

Weight loss and sleep have a relation to one another and believe it or not the impact sleep loss has on your weight loss success is massive.

Within a weeks time many people will be, if they aren't already, trying to get rid of the extra pounds they put on over the holidays. They may also find themselves desperate to catch up on sleep due to the demanding parties, gatherings, social events, and fundraisers we find ourselves involved in over the holiday season.

It is important that you try and catch up on missed sleep, especially if you are also trying to lose the extra weight the holidays brought. Why you ask?

If your looking to lose weight, a little or a lot, or your fighting the battle of the bulge, consider that sleep loss could be the missing link to your success, or, could be holding you back from losing the amount of weight you should or could be losing. Here is why.

1. Feeling tired makes a person lazy. They are less likely to cook a meal and more likely to order take out or fast food, or go for whatever is in the fridge. It is also less likely that you will take the time to put together a healthy meal if you do cook. For many people, when they are tired, they are more likely to gobble down chocolate, cookies and other junk foods. Blood sugar highs and lows then make you more tired, irritable and cranky then you were prior to eating the sweets.

2.Lets look at the scientific knowledge of this. Links have been found by researchers that show two hormones that influence a persons eating behavior. One of the hormones is Ghrelin, which is responsible for the feeling of hunger. The other is Leptin, which tells the brain when it is time to stop eating.

When a person is lacking the required sleep, Gherlin levels increase and Leptin levels decrease, giving the result of an increased desire for food and not feeling full. If you are trying to stay on the wagon with a healthy diet, or following a weight loss plan, then this hormonal disaster is one you don't want! Feeling hungry and having cravings at the same time is a horrible feeling particularly when you are fighting to lose weight or stay on a path to healthy eating.

3. It is through your circadian rhythms and the amount of sunlight outside that the body adjusts itself. These rhythms and light tell your body when to physically recover and mentally recover. Physical recovery is between the hours of 10pm and 2am. Mental recovery is between 2am and 6am. These timings are approximate. So if you are going to bed later than 10pm you are missing out on important physical recovery time. The same for mental recovery. The result? Aches and pains that don't seem to improve. Bad backs and aching joints is the most common of these complaints.

Nutritionist and founder of The Diet Solution, Isabel De Los Rios has put this research to the test and says her clients with back and joint aches showed immense improvement when they slept by 10pm and received the full dose of physical recovery circadian rhythm. She has also witnessed her own clients, friends and colleagues become consistently sharper when they were well rested and received the required mental and physical recovery rhythms.

Pretty much everyone in society today will tell you that as much as they would love to get the required 8 hours of sleep the body and mind need, it simply isn't possible with the demands of life, kids, and career have on the average person. So here are some tips on how you can get a good night's sleep, especially if you are REALLY not able to get 8 hours, it is essential that the hours you are able to get are solid sleeping hours.

Ways To Improve Your Sleep.

• Instead of watching TV before bed try reading a book or magazine.Consider a book that will take you away from this world and hurl you into another. This will help you forget the days events and help prevent you stressing about tomorrow Fiction is ideal to read because it stimulates the imagination and prepares the body to dream. I have personally tried this and it has made a huge difference. I was an avid TV watcher before bed.  Now, I only watch TV til a certain time, at which point the TV goes off, or I go into a different room and read until it's bed time.

• Choose your caffeine time carefully. Even an afternoon coffee or tea can have a racing effect on your brain and can disturb your ability to get a good nights sleep. Once you catch up on lost sleep, or start getting a good nights rest, you will find you do not need the afternoon caffeine fix in the evening is a huge mistake. This includes beverages such as alcohol and soda pop.
  

• Stay away from nightly sugar intake. If you are on the weight loss road you should be avoiding sugar anyway, but if your not dieting make sure you avoid sugar in the evenings. This includes soda pop and alcohol. Sugar at night causes blood sugar lows, which causes a person to wake in the middle of the night, which usually leads to a midnight snack.
  

• Do not do office work, or study at least 2 hours before bed. Working and studying before bed will have your mind racing, increase stress levels, and for many people causes the munchies.

Sleep loss, not getting the required amount of sleep or missing circadian rhythm recovery timings will stand in the way of your diet for weight loss being less effective and you may not be losing the weight you could be losing. Get to bed by 10pm with a good book, stay away from heavy reading before bedtime and follow the few rules for getting a good nights sleep. This small effort toward weight loss could increase the pounds you drop and make your weight loss road a shorter one.

You can find a nutrition program that offers healthy delicious meals and secrets to a permanent healthy lifestyle eliminating future need for weight loss at the The Diet Solution .