Let’s face it PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) is no fun! Trying to carry on with life when you are feeling fatigued, dealing with painful cramps, coping with mood swings, fluid retention and a whole host of other symptoms can really make that time of month quite challenging, to say the least.
Unfortunately, what should be a rather painless natural process is travail for a majority of Australian women. In Australia, 90 percent of women experience at least one symptom most months and about 50 percent of women get several symptoms each month. (Monash)
Is it really natural to have to suffer from PMS symptoms every month? The answer to that question is a resounding “Noâ€!  But, as it turns out, there are many factors in our modern lifestyle and diet that impact women’s menstrual cycles. By understanding the primary causes contributing to PMS and making some important changes, you will be able to not only reduce your discomfort but also actually experience a pain-free menstrual cycle.
The Culprits Behind PMS
 Your body is always giving you symptoms when it is out of balance. One of the major symptoms that contributes to PMS is chronic inflammation. Inflammation can make menstrual cycle symptoms seem much more significant and more severe. Prostaglandin, a hormone-like chemical produced by the body, initiates contractions.  When you are in balance, these contractions are responsible for shedding your uterine lining during menstruation. However, if your body is inflamed, you produce higher levels of prostaglandins causing more severe menstrual cramps or diarrhea and possibly nausea.
The liver plays a major role
The liver plays a major role in maintaining balanced hormones and reducing inflammation. However, the more toxic and overloaded your liver is, the more likely you are to experience PMS-related issues. Why is this? Since your liver is the major cleansing and detoxification organ of your body, it is also responsible for breaking down and clearing out excess hormones. If your liver is sluggish, fatty or inflamed, its ability to break down oestrogen is reduced. Oestrogen starts to build up in the body and leads to oestrogen dominance. When there is an excess of oestrogen, you will experience inflammation, low mood, anxiety, anger, fluid retention, sore breasts, poor quality sleep, food cravings, and painful or heavy menstrual bleeding.
It goes without saying that modern life puts stress on the liver’s ability to detoxify the body of chemicals and toxins that you are exposed to from car fumes, pesticides and herbicides, cleaning products, processed foods, sugar and artificial sweeteners, personal care products, alcohol and plastics, etc. Supporting the liver to manage this constant barrage of toxins is essential to regain hormonal balance and eliminating PMS.
And then there is the role of nutrition in PMS. The standard Western diet high in refined carbohydrates and processed foods is deficient in important nutrients, amino acids and dietary fibre needed for balanced sex hormones Deficiencies in B vitamins (especially B6), vitamin E, magnesium and calcium will intensify PMS symptoms. This correlates with a study investigating causes of PMS that found that a lower intake of fibres, magnesium, vitamin B6, and to higher intake of fat, proteins, sodium, and caffeine and a lower intake of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B6 are major contributors to PMS. (Bianco 2014) The more processed food, sugar-laden drinks and sweets were a regular part of the diet devoid of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, healthy oils and clean water, the greater the severity of PMS.
In order for the body to function optimally, it must be well nourished. A diet devoid of vital nutrients will guarantee hormonal imbalances. The most important nutrients to reduce PMS, inflammation, and support optimal hormone production, as well as the overall well-being, include B-complex vitamins (especially B6), calcium, magnesium, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Omega-3 essential fatty acid, iron and fibre.
Chlorella – A Perfect Food for Reducing PMS
It is evident that for most women, PMS is a symptom that the body is severely out of balance, i.e., inflamed, oestrogen excess, malnourished and toxic. PMS is not really a cruel fate that women are destined to suffer from but rather a cry for help from the body. The commitment to make the necessary dietary and lifestyle changes will profoundly impact your menstrual cycle and overall well-being.
The good news is that there is one superfood food found in Nature that addresses so many of the needs for a pain-free menstrual cycle. This superfood is called chlorella, a one-cell freshwater algae that have an amazing nutritional profile as well as the ability to profoundly detox the body.
Chlorella is naturally rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre and contains all the essential nutrients needed to sustain life and help restore hormonal balance. It is a rich source of vitamins, C, E, and vitamin K, and contains all the B-complex vitamins (including B6 and B12), zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, iodine and omega-3 essential fatty acid.
Chlorella also has high concentrations of prebiotic fibre which help to restore a healthy gut, which is also necessary for resolving PMS by reducing excess oestrogen.
Chlorella is especially important for women who are following a vegan or vegetarian diet. Its comprehensive nutrient profile, especially B12, iron, omega-3 and all the essential amino acids, provides these essential nutrients for hormonal balance.
Chlorella also contains up to 70 percent of bio-available protein and all the essential amino acids, necessary for the production of hormones, enzymes, tissue repair, etc. It is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D which is required to reduce PMS symptoms. In addition, it has more beta-carotene than carrots and more than five times more blood-purifying chlorophyll than wheatgrass. The iron content of chlorella is particularly impressive for women because it can provide up to 40 per cent of the daily requirements.
Chlorella is an effective anti-inflammatory food. (Melo,2019) A study investigating the potential benefits of chlorella on PMS found that “Chlorella supplementation could decrease the severity of pain and systemic symptoms and improve serum levels of prostaglandins, inflammatory and oxidative markers in women with primary dysmenorrhea. The severity and duration of dysmenorrheal pain were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group. Systemic symptoms of dysmenorrhea (fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, lack of energy) decreased in the chlorella group.†(Haidari 2018)
Chlorella – Liver Detoxification for Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Chlorella has another unique feature called Chlorella Growth Factor CGF, which is a nutrient complex only found in the nucleus of chlorella. It is very rich in nucleic acids (RNA and DNA), giving chlorella the remarkable ability to heal and rejuvenate the body. It also repairs damaged cells and tissues while stimulating the growth of new and healthy cells. (Louis, Natural News)
Glutathione, found in Chlorella Growth Factor, is the body’s master antioxidant and the liver’s main detoxifying agent. It has many important functions in the body including optimising liver function, metabolising toxins, breaking down free radicals, and supporting immune function. Glutathione helps the liver to safely eliminate all forms of toxins. Furthermore, it has the ability to bind to heavy metals, solvents and pesticides and then convert them into a form that can be excreted in urine or bile.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals or mixtures of chemicals that interfere with the way the body’s hormones work.
Some EDCs act like “hormone mimics” and trick our body into thinking that they are hormones, while other EDCs block natural hormones from doing their job. Other EDCs can increase or decrease the levels of hormones in our blood by affecting how they are made, broken down, or stored in our body. Finally, other EDCs can change how sensitive your body is to different hormones.
EDCs seriously disrupt hormone functioning.  They have been found to have many adverse health effects including exacerbating PMS. One of chlorella’s most significant health benefits is that removes the many kinds of EDCs in our bodies such as bisphenol-A, pesticides, herbicides (such as glyphosate) and even heavy metals like cadmium, lead, and mercury. More importantly, it not only safely absorbs them from the body but also prevents them from re-circulating.
Liver detoxification is essential for safely removing the many hundreds, if not thousands, of hormone-disrupting chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis. By taking chlorella daily, we can safely and effectively detoxify these harmful chemicals and other toxins from our body. In addition, Chlorella has been shown to support the detoxification of oestrogen by the liver. This is essential to insure balanced hormone levels, reduce the risk from exposure to excess oestrogen as well as the necessary steps for eliminating PMS.
PMS Can Be Healed Naturally
Premenstrual Syndrome is not an affliction that women must endure. It is not a flaw in the body, nor is it a medical condition that must require medical intervention with a prescription of birth control pills or other medications. PMS is your body’s message that it needs help. PMS is primarily the result of stress, nutritional deficiencies, chronic inflammation, toxic exposure and impaired liver detoxification.
Chlorella truly deserves it reputation as a superfood, especially for PMS. Chlorella has the essential nutritional profile to profoundly nourish the body and support optimal hormone production. It also can powerfully and safely reduce inflammation, the cause if painful cramps and other PMS symptoms. Chlorella Growth Factor is the unique component of chlorella that restores healthy liver function as well as detoxifies the liver of the many chemical exposures and endocrine disrupting chemicals that are so debilitating to menstrual cycles. By including chlorella as a daily part of your diet, along with healthy food choices, exercise, meditation and time in nature, your body and hormones can once again return to its true expression of harmony and health.
Choices
Get the Very Best Chlorella for Hormone Health
As Chlorella grows in popularity, the question inevitably arises about how to choose the very best chlorella product. Chlorella is a freshwater alga that has evolved for billions of years with an abundance of clean water, fresh air and sunshine. Obviously, by providing these conditions, the chlorella will maintain its powerful healing properties.
Many companies are now growing chlorella indoors or in some form of the artificial environment and sunlight. The most potent chlorella is ideally grown in an environment where it can thrive and is a recognised organic food.
One exceptional company maintains the purity and integrity of the growing conditions, as well as the processing and packing of its chlorella. BioGenesis is organically grown in the pristine Great Barrier Reef region of Australia. Biogenesis is 100 percent Australian-owned and operated. In fact, it is the only ‘Australian Made, Australian Grown’ licensed producer of organic Chlorella. From its farm in tropical Queensland, right through to packing and distribution, Biogenesis oversees all, as products are grown and processed in Australia to the highest quality standard. Unlike many other chlorella growing techniques, Biogenesis grows its chlorella outdoors in specially designed spring water ponds, abundant sunlight and pristine air quality. BioGenesis has developed an innovative advanced energy efficient hydrodynamic growth system that replicates a natural river flow. When harvested, they apply an advanced biodynamic technology to gently crack the hard outer cell wall making the nutrients fully available.
This award-winning, environmentally sustainable Biogenesis chlorella farm insures the most nutrient-dense organic algae product available anywhere in the world. Chlorella’s unique ability to support a healthy digestive system as well as enhance your immunity makes it a perfect superfood to include in your daily program.
Sherrill Sellman, ND is a Naturopathic Doctor, best-selling author, women’s health expert, contributor to health magazines worldwide, lecturer and host of two weekly podcasts. She can be found at www.drsherrillsellman.com and @sherrillsellman.
References
https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/units/womenshealth/_archive/pms-pmdd
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25020055/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30205315/
https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/6780500
https://www.naturalnews.com/041511_chlorella_liver_detoxification_superfoods.html
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