Episode 51-Many women struggle with monthly cramps, cravings, irritability, and other symptoms. In this podcast, Julie kicks off a series on women's health with some easy tips for how to help PMS symptoms improve. Try these tips if you want to feel better naturally and you've ruled out more serious issues such as PCOS or endometriosis.

First, let's talk about hormones and estrogen.
What are hormones and what does estrogen do?
The simplest way to discuss hormones would be to liken them to a sort of telephone system that keeps your body up to date with information.  They help your body do things. These chemicals are made in specific organs in your body, which are then sent all over your body to tell your body what to do.

Estrogen is a female sex hormone, and the majority of it is created in your ovaries. Some of it is also produced by fat cells and extra fat can affect estrogen levels in your body.

Estrogen controls important processes in the body such as the menstrual cycle. Estrogen plays a role in many body processes besides the obvious ones such as puberty and pregnancy, too. For example, it can also influence your weight, cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and specific other body tissues. It can also protect you from some health issues, such as bone loss.
Estrogen’s Job Changes During Your Life
One of the most interesting things about estrogen, is how much it’s job changes through your life. When you are young and beginning to become and adult, a period of time called puberty, estrogen send signals to cause different parts of your body mature. As you reach complete adulthood, estrogen also activates the growth of adult characteristics. Estrogen also keeps your body from continuing to ovulate when you become pregnant.
How to Help PMS: Recognize the Signs of Hormonal Imbalance
Although unpleasant, the body provides you with signs that help you to be able to find answers for various conditions. Hormonal imbalances are no exception, so some of the basic symptoms could be tenderness in your breasts, changes in your menstrual cycle, or weight gain around your midsection and thighs. Other symptoms can include sudden decreases in your sex drive, mood swings, depression, difficult periods, problems in the gallbladder, and endometriosis. If you have been experiencing and of these symptoms, see your doctor to be sure you don't have underlying serious conditions that need medical attention.

To learn about important factors that contribute to hormone imbalance, listen to the podcast!
Tips for Improving PMS Symptoms
Before I share some easy tips, I want to say that these tips are for women who have already ruled out serious health conditions.  You will find that the best ways of how to help PMS symptoms are also the best ways to help many other health issues.
Foods that Help
As you might imagine, a healthy balanced diet plays a significant role in managing PMS symptoms. Some hormones in the body are made of protein chains. But androgens such as testosterone and estrogen are made of lipids, which means they are made from cholesterol. That’s why athletes who over train and have very little body fat often don’t menstruate and also have hormone imbalances. It’s important to maintain a healthy weight with an appropriate amount of body fat. That means a balanced diet of whole foods. Cutting the sugar and the junky snacks can do a lot for PMS.

These foods can be especially helpful:

* cruciferous veggies,
* berries/fruit,
* nuts,
* seeds
* soy and other dried beans are high in phytoestrogens but be careful.
* probiotics