Mood Swings During Your Period
Why They Happen. How to Feel Better
As a woman, you might get the sudden flux of sadness or anger early in the morning, without really knowing why. Throughout the day, your patience might be wearing thinner than usual. Minor inconveniences can bring you to the edge of bursting in tears and you simply feel slack and unmotivated. Then, the next day, there is a red stain in your undies and it all makes sense. Many women go through Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) a few days before they are menstruating, in the form of mood swings or an overall dull feeling.
It’s all in the hormones. Progesterone is dominantly involved, as is estrogen, testosterone, and the so-called “cuddle hormone” oxytocin.
Progesterone, for example, has a calming effect on the body. During the menstrual cycle, it is produced before the monthly bleeding in order to thicken the walls of the uterus or to help build the ovum. As a consequence, a few days before the actual bleeding, when the old mucosa of the uterus is excreted, the production stops and the calming effect holds off, thus possibly causing higher stress levels. A cycle starts on the first day of bleeding and ends on the last day before bleeding. In general, between the 22nd and the 28th day of a woman’s cycle, the hormone levels reach a low point. Because the body has done so much complex, hormonal work preparing for a pregnancy, the stopping causes fluctuating and oftentimes decreasing hormone levels. Similarly, the dip in estrogen, the happiness hormone, also adds to the sudden sadness one experiences. Testosterone, the energy hormone, makes you feel weaker and flabbier. Finally, the lack of oxytocin may lead to feeling distant and separated from others.
The symptoms of course vary from female to female. Some might not even notice it at all whereas others fall into a serious phase. While an unbalanced hormone system certainly can result in severe sicknesses that require professional treatment and supplements, this behavior is completely normal in most cases. It does not mean that there is something wrong with your body. Hormones have a huge impact on our mood, immune system, and other body functions. Sometimes, there is really not much to do about it.
Although there may not be a lot to do much about these mood swings, there are a few activities that can lessen the emotional rollercoaster. First off, physical exercise allows the human body to produce testosterone, thus leaving you energized and stronger afterward. The right diet also affects hormone levels, as the body can synthesize estrogen through nutrients we consume. Dried fruit, sesame, linseed, chickpeas, beans or wheat bran contain phytoestrogens with a similar chemical structure as the endogenous estrogens that bind with estrogen receptors and, by that, improve the hormone levels. Although this has been advised many times before, naturally spending more time outside can also balance out hormonal deficits. The hypothalamus in the brain controls the disbursement of the hormones and with more oxygen, it can simply work better.
Bottom line is: you cannot be fully in charge of what your hormones get up to all the time but it is natural and definitely not something to stress out about. As long as you take proper care of your body, the mood swings will lessen in intensity!
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