Go to Part One
More tips for permanent relief…..
Don’t freak out when you read this one:
4. Stop eating ANYTHING with sugar in it.
I know that sounds harsh, but sugar is really, really, really, really hard on your body. Because it contains no nutrition at all, it forces your body to use up its vitamins and minerals just to stay in balance. Well, so what? So, you NEED those nutrients to make your insides work properly. And when they don’t, guess what? Yup. Pain and trouble. PMS, cramps, headaches, nausea…do I need to continue?
Sugar means white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, organic sugar, turbinado sugar, cane sugar, sucralose, cane juice crystals, and pretty much any kind of syrup. The scary part is that sugar is in lots of places you wouldn’t expect, like soups, lunch meats, and condiments (ketchup especially).
In her book, Food and Healing, Annemarie Colbin, PhD, points out that the two foods that cause the most trouble for your reproductive system are refined sugar and milk products that have been pasteurized and homogenized—milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc.
I would add caffeine to that. You can decide for yourself, but if you have more problems with IBS during your period, try avoiding coffee, chocolate, and caffeinated drinks of any kind (lots of soft drinks have caffeine in them.) If you’re craving chocolate, it might be because you need to take some magnesium.
When you want something sweet, try some cooked squash with cinnamon on it. Have some applesauce or a peeled apple. Or a banana. Once you kick sugar, you’ll find organic carrots are surprisingly sweet. So are oats, if you’re okay with grains. Use cinnamon to make it sweeter. Stevia is another option, since it’s a sweet-tasting herb rather than a form of sugar…
Elaine Gottschall who wrote about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in her book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, recommends honey as a sweetener. However, if you have trouble with candida yeast, sweets are the food of yeast and make it worse, so that includes honey.
Definitely avoid artificial sweeteners. One client told us 90% of her IBS symptoms went away after she cut out the artificial sweeteners.
And make sure you’re eating enough protein. When your body is craving protein, you may mistake this for sweet-craving. Dr. Joel Robertson associates menstrual changes and some depression with low levels of norepinephrine which is increased by eating protein, not sweets.
5. Get checked for candida.
Dr. James LaValle, author of Cracking the Metabolic Code, says that an overgrowth of candida yeast is one of the most common causes of menstrual problems and IBS—bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, anxiety, depression, food reactions and other symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
We all have candida yeast in our bodies, but it can grow out of control from taking a lot of antibiotics, some antacids, and birth control pills, or from eating a high-carb, sugary diet—another reason to avoid sugar—or from exposure to heavy metals like mercury (did you recently have your metal fillings changed to composite?) or from stress. Or all of the above.
How to calm it down? Do everything you can to boost your immune system. Learn to manage your stress. Eat a high nutrient diet. Avoid sweets, alcohol, any fermented foods, mushrooms, and refined carbohydrates as if they were the Plague. Consider antifungals such as olive leaf, cat’s claw, and grapefruit seed extract. (I found they put me to sleep, so I took them at night, before bed.) You can also use the techniques you’ll learn in The No IBS Program to calm down candida in addition to your IBS symptoms. And you can learn how to tap for quick pain relief by watching our free video.
Well, there you have it. Taking the steps in this post and in Part One will help your bowel and your reproductive system to be healthier so you won’t have to suffer at period time. It worked for me!