Foods to help balance your hormones and improve PMS

Add key ingredients to your plate during the month to help your symptoms, says Lucy Gornall

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It's not uncommon for women to experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - emotional and physical symptoms that can take place in the second half of your monthly menstrual cycle.

And according to the National Association For Premenstrual Syndromes as many as 30% of women can experience moderate to severe PMS with symptoms including mood swings, fatigue and food cravings to bloating, headaches and sore breasts.

Giulietta Durante of hormonesinharmony.co.uk is a menstrual cycle nutritionist. She says one of the main reasons for PMS is an imbalance in the hormones oestrogen and progesterone.

"Too much oestrogen in relation to progesterone can make us anxious, irritable and wired," she explains. "The stress hormone cortisol can throw hormones out of whack too. PMS can also be caused by high testosterone or an imbalance in thyroid hormones."

There are, however, certain foods you eat can help to reduce PMS.

CARROTS

A carrot a day could be the secret to happier hormones.

"Carrots help process, break down and get rid of used oestrogen," says Giulietta. "We produce oestrogen throughout our cycle. Once it's used up it needs to leave the body properly. Otherwise it piles up and gets recirculated into the system."

This can result in PMS.