WHY YOU WANT TO HOLD ON TO YOUR PERIOD

Hands up if you ever wished your period just vanished? Whether you have an underlying condition, symptoms of PMS or just a heavy, painful cycle, it’s common to wish it away. But we actually want you to hold on to your period for as long as possible.

WHY YOU WANT TO HOLD ON TO YOUR PERIOD

I’ll save you the rant about how pain, severe mood swings and the like aren’t normal. Instead, let’s dive into the why behind you should want to hold on to your period.

There are a lot of different signs to look out for when it comes to whether you’re healthy or not. But the most regular and often most accurate is your period. Think of it as a monthly update – it tells you about your hormones, reproductive system, thyroid, metabolism and bone health all in one week-long report!

Your period also gives you the health benefits of sex hormones. For example, your brain LOVES oestrogen – even more than it loves chocolate! But then we also need progesterone to balance oestrogen. Otherwise, you’ll reap symptoms like heavy bleeding and feeling angry, irritated or depressed.

If you’re menstruating regularly with mild to no symptoms, that tells us your body is making appropriate levels of sex hormones. When these are in balance, you:

• Feel great
• Have plenty of energy
• Sleep well
• Are interested in sex (unless someone forgot to take the bins out again!)

But then if you’re under constant stress, your hormones shift out of balance. An irregular period is one of its first ways of asking for help. So yes, it could be perimenopause for you, but it could also be stress making that a lot worse. Either way, you want to support and nourish your body so that you hold on to your period as long as possible.

THE BIG HEALTH BENEFITS OF GETTING YOUR PERIOD

Now that you have some idea of why you might want to hold on to your period, let’s look at some specific health benefits. Having a regular period:

1. Keeps your bones healthy – oestrogen and progesterone help to build bones and protect against osteoporosis
2. Sustains a healthy cardiovascular system
3. Supports thyroid health & encourages a balanced production of thyroid hormones
4. Maintains a healthy and comfortable body composition – oestrogen supports metabolism rate, helps reduce fat mass around the waist, increases insulin sensitivity, increases muscle strength and is a natural appetite suppressant!
5. Gorgeous nails, skin and hair – thanks progesterone!
6. Better sleep – hot flushes, sweats, and insomnia are all triggered by an imbalance in sex hormones
7. Supports adrenal function (stress resilience) – Progesterone buffers or protects your body from stress and helps build resilience.
8. Combats perimenopause brain – this is caused by loss of oestrogen, which helps brain cells use glucose for energy.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HOLD ON TO YOUR PERIOD FOR LONGER

This comes down to what’s going on for you and what the imbalance might be. You might have too much oestrogen, not enough, gut issues, liver load, insulin resistance, nutrient deficiencies… the list goes on!

However, there are some basic concepts you can get started with today.

Eat enough food! Undereating freaks your body right out and adds a heap of stress onto your poor nervous system. At each meal, enjoy protein, healthy fats and wholefood carbs (and don’t forget plenty of veg!)

Moderate your exercise habit. This is another way to freak your body out and throw your hormones off-balance. More exercise and more intensity does not always equal healthier!

Keep alcohol and caffeine to a minimum. In an ideal world, you’d avoid them altogether, but let’s be realistic, shall we?

Alcohol is toxic to the brain and liver. In fact, sometimes just leaving out alcohol is enough to reverse many perimenopause symptoms.

Caffeine decreases stress resilience, loads the liver and impacts your nervous system and sleep. At the very least, stick to 1-2 cups per day before midday. If you really enjoy coffee for the taste, switch the afternoon cups to decaf (see, you were lying weren’t you, you’re drinking it for the buzz!)

IS IT TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR PERIOD AGAIN?

If you’ve just realised that a healthy cycle is your BFF, it’s not too late. By making changes now, you can hold onto that goodness – and yes, we can work on reducing the symptoms as well!

Book in for a free discovery call today, and we can explore how I can help you to rebalance your hormones and feel good again.