Bottom Line/HEALTH: Dr. Holly, I have a question from mothers out there everywhere who have teenage daughters who get kinda moody at certain times of the month. Is there anything that the mothers can do, that the daughters could do, to help balance those hormonal shifts that are occurring?

Holly Lucille, ND, RN: Sure. We’re talking around this lovely, engaging time called puberty. Lots of changes.

Bottom Line: PMS. I don’t even necessarily mean the 12 or 13 year old; I mean the later teens, when their hormones are still adjusting, but they’ve got this spike that turns into like psycho woman out of nowhere.

Dr. Lucille: Right. Okay, so there are a couple different things. It’s really important to stay well-nourished. There have been some studies that a decrease in calcium and/or potassium and magnesium can actually exacerbate PMS. So perhaps a good solid food-based multivitamin is really a good option.

Also, as long as they’re through puberty, there’s a botanical medicine – botanical meaning plant – called Vitex or chaste tree, which actually increases progesterone naturally in your brain. And that second part of the period, right before you’re going to menstruate, where those symptoms of moodiness and irritability rear their ugly heads, that’s where progesterone needs to be more dominant.

In our society, we’ve talked about this so much, that it’s kind of an estrogenic society. And if estrogen starts to creep in and that dance between progesterone and estrogen is thrown off, that’s when PMS symptoms increase. Also, good food, good fiber, and stay well-hydrated. Think about your nourishment and try chaste tree berry.

Bottom Line: Spell it for me?

Dr. Lucille: Vitex, so V-i-t-e-x is the botanical name, and chaste tree is what you would look for.

Bottom Line: Got it, okay. One other question. Something that I’ve noticed in our carbohydrate-driven culture is that the more simple carbohydrates and sugars eaten, the worse that it is. So should they also watch that?

Dr. Lucille: Decrease your refined carbohydrates, that’s a wonderful point. That’s a wonderful addition, absolutely 100%.

Bottom Line: Great. Thanks, Dr. Holly Lucille.

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