Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
PCOS is defined as a set of symptoms including androgen excess and anovulatory cycles. In simplest terms, PCOS is the condition of androgen excess when all other causes of androgen excess have been ruled out. It’s an umbrella diagnosis which can be caused by different underlying drivers or functional types. The four functional types of PCOS are insulin-resistant PCOS, post-pill PCOS, inflammatory PCOS, and adrenal PCOS.
Soy contains phytoestrogens or “plant-estrogens,” which sounds bad but by out-competing estradiol, phytoestrogens can have a beneficial anti-estrogen effect in women of reproductive age.
That’s why soy and other phytoestrogens can make periods lighter and improve estrogen excess symptoms such as PMS and heavy periods.
High-dose fructose can cause or worsen insulin resistance, abdominal weight gain, fatty liver, heavy periods, and PCOS.
High-dose fructose comes from table sugar (sucrose), high-fructose corn syrup, and even some natural sweeteners such as agave, coconut sugar, dates, dried fruit, and fruit juice.
Whole fruit is healthy and does not cause insulin resistance because 1) whole fruit contains only low-dose fructose, and 2) fruit also provides beneficial nutrients, fibre, and polyphenols.
Thank you to my nutrition professor, who first taught me about vitamin B6 (pyridoxine or pyridoxal-5-phosphate) for PMS. It is an effective, reliable treatment for premenstrual mood problems, including PMDD.
Back then (30 years ago), vitamin B6 relieved my own premenstrual symptoms so dramatically that it became my eureka moment in natural health and menstrual health. I realized that although premenstrual mood symptoms are common, they’re not normal. And going forward, I had much higher expectations of what a period should be like.
Progesterone is a startlingly beneficial hormone, and almost all of us could do with more than we have.
Progesterone acts on your breasts and uterus, so it’s essential for healthy reproduction and periods. It also acts on your brain, immune system, and detoxification enzymes. Progesterone does a lot more for you than just fertility and easy periods. It soothes, nourishes, energizes, strengthens, and rescues your body in ways you never imagined.