Nov. 09

If you’re like most women out there, you’re more familiar with menstrual cramps than you’d care to admit. Whatever your cycle, it either gives fair warning or may sneak up on you, sometimes with a knock-out punch to your uterus. But don’t give up and feel dedicated to Advil as if it’s your only friend in the world. There are many options to reduce or eliminate cramps, and the ones listed here have the side benefit of improving your overall health.

One of the first things I recommend is changing your diet. By increasing your veggies and fruits, especially focusing on the really colorful varieties like kale, chard, beets, and berries, you can provide the nutrients your body is screaming for when your uterus twists itself in a knot every month. By reducing meat, dairy and sugar consumption, you’ll decrease the inflammation in your body (these foods create arachidonic acid which promotes inflammation). And that makes everything hurt more, whether it’s that old sports injury or your poor wimpering uterus. Part of this inflammatory response is also related to the types of fats we eat. Certain types of fish oil (anchovy, sardine, wild salmon, mackerel) and flax oil reduce inflammation, while the fats from most meat and dairy and even eggs do the opposite. Meat and dairy from animals raised without cages, has much healthier ratios of good to bad fats. If you’re going to eat meat, choose grass-fed beef or free-range organic chicken.

Magnesium is a very important nutrient to prevent menstrual cramps, and is deficient in most people (some researchers believe up to 80% of people are deficient) as it is not as easy to get a good supply in the diet. Eating organic leafy greens, nuts and seeds are our best bet as far as food sources go, but if the soil these foods are grown in is deficient, so are the foods themselves. While calcium is important for muscles to contract, magnesium is needed for muscles to relax again. Americans generally take in about a 3.5:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium, but for good health, I usually recommend a 2:1 or even 1:1 ratio as a supplement. Magnesium can also help with relaxing in general, try taking a dose before bed to see if it helps with sleep.

Reducing stress is probably once of the most helpful things you can do for almost whatever ails you, including monthly cramping. Whether you relax via a regular yoga class or other exercise, massage, being social with a group that nurtures you, or spiritual exploration, you will find the benefits ripple in all directions. One of the herbal formulas we use in Chinese medicine to help with this is “xiao yao san,” also called “free and easy wanderer.” It helps smooth out our rough edges and makes living in this frantic paced culture seem a bit more sane.

It can take a few months to figure out what kind of lifestyle changes will prevent the agony, so in the meantime, try warming your belly or back with a hot water bottle. Or use cramp bark (Viburnum opulus) tincture to ease the spasms, take 15 mg up to four times daily. You, and your loved ones, will be much happier campers.

"Ease Away Those Pesky Cramps" by Karla Koch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License