Forums: April 2011 Kickstart Forum: Hormone Imbalance
Created on: 04/13/11 07:38 PM Views: 3899 Replies: 11
hannahmac16 Joined: 04/13/11 Posts: 2	Hormone Imbalance Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 7:38 PM Has anyone decided to turn vegan to help regulate hormone imbalances? If so, has it been successful?
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kiwi Joined: 01/03/11 Location: New Zealand Posts: 405	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 4:55 AM sorry - accidental double post. Not sure how. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food - Hippocrates.
	Edited 04/14/11 5:06 AM Quote | Send PM | Link | Top | Bottom
kiwi Joined: 01/03/11 Location: New Zealand Posts: 405	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 5:00 AM My apologies in advance to the men (and anyone else in our forum) who probably dont want to read about "that time of the month" but to answer the question - I didn't turn vegan to help regulate hormone imbalances but for me a low fat vegan diet has been a great 'side effect' helping with PMS and menstrual problems. Prior to vegan eating I was a vegetarian who ate cheese with just about everything with a few cookies and things thrown in and oils for cooking. It added up to quite a bit of fat and associated weight gain. My symptoms included fluid retention, lower back ache, painful swollen breasts all starting a week or so before menstration and then the painful cramps etc - This entire cycle was happening every 3 weeks, not monthly. However, if I stay low fat then these symptoms stay away and that time of the month is more 'normal', manageable and way more pleasant without the need for pills. If I go back to eating poorly and high fat with cookies and such, then back come the symptoms. At first I thought maybe it was just happenstance and not related to the food but I have since read Dr Joel Furhmans book 'Eat to Live'. He states "Researchers testing similar diets to the one I recommend have noted that a low-fat vegetarian diet increases sex-hormone-binding globulin as it reduces estrogen activity. This not only reduces one's risk of breast cancer but also significantly reduces pain and bloating associated with menstration". Sorry to get so personal with descriptions but I hope this helps answer your question. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food - Hippocrates.
	Edited 04/15/11 6:59 AM Quote | Send PM | Link | Top | Bottom
carrottop Joined: 09/21/10 Posts: 36	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 9:58 AM More oversharing: I had the same experience once I switched to a low(er)-fat, vegan diet. I rarely get bloated or crampy any more, and often my period arrives without me even realizing it. This happened pretty much instantly when I went vegan - even though I'd been vegetarian for years before that.
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hannahmac16 Joined: 04/13/11 Posts: 2	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 11:19 AM Thank you for your experiences, it has really helped me. I am on my first day being vegan, its going to take some planning on my part but I am very excited!
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vegankitty Joined: 12/29/10 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 109	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 11:38 AM Vegan diet helped to clear my acne! Many people belittle the power of nutritious food. But after reading works of Dr. Barnard and Dr. Fuhrman I sincerely believe 'Let food be thy medicine, not medicine be thy food' It is easy to be mankind, Difficult to be human Striving to become human!
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CorrieAnn Joined: 04/07/11 Posts: 10	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 6:53 PM My endocrinologist highly recommended the PCRM program to help manage my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and insulin resistance. I didn't know immediately that it was vegan - she knew better than to throw that at me. LOL. I checked out the site and realized exactly what it was. This was four months ago. It took me that long to decide I would give it a try. And I'm happy I did. I'm losing weight, my skin is awesome, and I'm having fun developing my menus. I think it is too soon to say if my hormones are balanced, but I am confident they are going in the right direction. The journey begins with a single step. pcosrevolution.wordpress.com www
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:52 AM being vegan doesn't do a darn thing for my hot flashes & night sweats. but it does give me more energy.
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kiwi Joined: 01/03/11 Location: New Zealand Posts: 405	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Monday, April 18, 2011 at 3:04 PM marge wrote: being vegan doesn't do a darn thing for my hot flashes & night sweats. but it does give me more energy. Ah.. mother nature at its best. My theory is that low-fat vegan helps regulate if you have hormone problems. Menopause isnt a problem, its a natural progression like puberty. Still, symptoms may be worse on an unhealthy SAD diet. I found the vegan poet website yesterday and she has a poem about menopause (and many other topics). If you like poetry check it out at http://www.veganpoet.com/. The menopause poem is under the Humanity column. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food - Hippocrates.
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Nyssa23 Joined: 04/03/11 Location: Athens, Ohio Posts: 35	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Monday, April 18, 2011 at 5:51 PM I usually get really bad PMS (or more accurately PMDD). I was feeling like I was having those symptoms this morning, but it shouldn't be time for them yet. I started wondering if it was because I ate a lot of junk food yesterday. I just couldn't get enough fat and sugar. I kept eating a little bit of everything I could find to see if it would satisfy the craving, but nothing worked. Then I was totally crabby this morning, and I almost started crying for no apparent reason. It made me wonder if the PMDD is actually caused more by the sugary and fatty foods I eat when I am premenstrual rather than just the natural hormones. Maybe if I can keep myself from eating that junk when I really am premenstrual I'll see if avoiding them helps.
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 12:28 PM kiwi, thanks for the poetry. My dr. & I thought I was going to sail through menopause. ha ha! the worst thing is the brain fog. I can't remember anything! hopefully not too much longer.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Hormone Imbalance Posted Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 12:34 PM Nyssa23 wrote: I usually get really bad PMS (or more accurately PMDD). I was feeling like I was having those symptoms this morning, but it shouldn't be time for them yet. I started wondering if it was because I ate a lot of junk food yesterday. I just couldn't get enough fat and sugar. I kept eating a little bit of everything I could find to see if it would satisfy the craving, but nothing worked. Then I was totally crabby this morning, and I almost started crying for no apparent reason. It made me wonder if the PMDD is actually caused more by the sugary and fatty foods I eat when I am premenstrual rather than just the natural hormones. Maybe if I can keep myself from eating that junk when I really am premenstrual I'll see if avoiding them helps. Could possibly be if you're eating more soy than usual as well - I know that I get 'wrong time' PMS type symptoms if I eat a meal with tofu or have soy milk in my cereal for 2 or 3 days in a row. So, I just skip all the soy I can manage to skip. --Deb R
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