Menstrual Cramps, Bloating, PMS, UGH!

Goodbye Cramps, Hello Energetic Living!

My friend writes: "I'm sorry to say I have to use Advil once a month for my cramps or I'm in complete agony. I have a tilted uterus and have been told my cramps are child-labor contractions like." Can you relate?

I sure can! I also have a tilted uterus. I used to be out of commission for three days a month. In high school I wondered, "How do women hold a job when they clearly need to take of several days of work each month to handle this pain?"

I often thought my degree of pain was abnormal, but I'm beginning to think it isn't uncommon. Leg cramps, nausea, bloating, overall body tiredness that makes it hard to move, low energy, foggy thinking, sudden loss of ability to move or think or do anything but clutch one stomach in agony... Yeah, every month.

I tried various pain relievers and none of them worked. I tried walking it out, sleeping it off, even vigorous excerise. Surprisingly, that seems to he help a bit, but it is nothing like real relief.

Now, after years of experimentation, I've finally found a way to eliminate cramps and bloating, reduce my period length to only three days (instead of eight!) and even feel energetic on my period.

Eating all raw brought my period down from eight days to three by itself, yet the cramps were still often brutal, leaving me curled up in a ball, sometimes crying from pain. Often I'd fill up the bathroom with hot water and just stay there for hours, not daring to move lest I increase the pain.

Then, I began to observe a trend... There were months where the pain was less, and months where it was crippling. The times where it was really bad were times when I had a fancy raw dessert the night before, like a coconut curry soup (yes, those can be made raw in your blender) or a zucchini-noodle dish with a rich cashew sauce. The times where it was hardly there at all were times when the previous night I had mostly greens.

I began to make it a routine to drink a green juice the morning I got my period. This would reduce pain by about 60%, which is nothing to sneeze at, but if your cramps are as bad as the ones I used to get, then you know that even 40% of the pain is still enough to keep you from living your life.

Times where I combined eating "light" the day before and drank vegetable juice the day of the pain would be down to about 30% of those "full strength" monster cramps.

So I finally got this fantastic idea... What if I did a nearly fat-free cleanse starting three days before I expect my period to start? To my delight, I found this to be incredibly effective.

Why does it work? The severity of cramps has a lot to do with what is going on in your intestines and colon. If you're at all backed up, the cramps are much worse. Fat takes the longest to digest, so the more fat you eat, the more stuff is hanging out in your colon at a given time. This isn't to say fat is bad. We actually need healthy fats for every cell in our bodies, but cleansing and eating a very low fat diet for several days out of the month gives you digestive system a break. It is good for men as well as women, but for women, we have that motivation of a shorter, less painful (or pain-free!) period.

The fertile female body is always cleaning itself. During your period you are shedding away blood that is no longer suitable for feeding an embryo. Many women, while retaining their fertility, lose their period entirely when they become cleansed enough. It is no longer necessary to shed the blood because it is still perfectly good the next month.

Following my protocol, I actually experience a lift in my mood, a boost in my energy, and a spirit of enthusiasm that I don't have the rest of the month. Raw food has made me a generally happy and energetic person, but this little cleanse causes my motivation, endurance and spirits to sky-rocket. The mild inconvenience vegetable juices and enemas are so worth it. So what exactly do I do to make my period go so smoothly without PMS symptoms, menstrual cramps, bloating and so on? I've compiled my best advice, my best tips, my best protocols all into one comprehensive article on having a moon-time of relaxation, rejuvenation and restoration.

Wishing you a more fulfilled moon-time. Interested in learning more ways to streamline your life and experience more pleasure and less pain? Sign up for my e-letters below.