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Alternative Treatments for PMS
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els. She found that by eating the right
combination of foods—lots of carbo-
hydrates with moderate proteins—at
certain times throughout the day, the
volunteers gained a sense of well-being
and reduced food cravings.
Before her death in 2004, Dr. Kath-
arina Dalton was another advocate for controlling PMS symptoms
with diet. As was mentioned earlier, Dr. Dalton was one of the
forerunners in studying PMS and for many years played a signifi-
cant role in its treatment. Dalton believed in the 3-Hourly Starch
Diet. She said that women should never go longer than five hours
between eating, while women suffering with PMS symptoms
need to eat more frequently, having small meals or snacks that
must include starches. For those who worry about consuming ex-
tra calories, she suggested eating only half a sandwich at lunch
and saving the other half for a mid-afternoon snack. This eating
regimen
regulates blood sugar levels, keeping them even rather
than too high or too low. Dr. Dalton encouraged her patients to carry
emergency supplies of food with them at all times. Then if a woman
is caught in traffic, held up at a meeting, or just running late doing
errands, she has food with her to maintain her blood sugar level.
She also insisted that women keep to this diet routine throughout
their menstrual cycle. She insisted it would not work unless adhered
to on a regular basis. Besides the benefits to PMS symptoms, eat-
ing small meals has been proven to lower cholesterol and increase
weight loss.
In another book, called
Natural Prozac
, author Dr. Joel Robertson
shares information from studies that show various foods, activities,
thoughts, and behaviors can influence the brain’s chemistry. Ath-
letes experience a high from strenuous activity; persons who experi-
ence a traumatic event experience emotional backlash for days or
weeks afterward, and when you have a fight with a friend you may
feel upset for an hour or even days afterward. All of these may alter
regimen
: A regular
course of action, a
systematic plan.