Adopting a healthier lifestyle is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to minimize the symptoms of PMS. Virtually every health and PMS expert says you should exercise regularly; eat more fruit, vegetables, and fiber; avoid caffeine, salt, sugar, and high-fat foods; and make time to relax. Yet this simple and direct advice is hard to follow, in part because it is so all-encompassing. It seems as though you need to change everything in your life to feel better. Wouldn't it be simpler just to take a pill?

Well, no. Both prescription and over-the-counter drugs treat symptoms, not necessarily the cause of PMS. In addition, they have side effects and may be costly to take over time. In contrast, better diet, regular exercise, and learning to relax are inexpensive, have multiple benefits beyond PMS relief, and can prevent, than medicate, your symptoms. For many women, however, to a healthier lifestyle is an exercise in frustration that includes diets, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of information

Fad Diets

Dieting is an American hobby, and fad diets are a particular because they promise quick and dramatic results. Although be tempting to succumb to the latest diet craze, it can lead to cycling, also known as yo-yo dieting. That’s because diets that quick results tend to overemphasize a particular food and portions unrealistically small, so that you quickly feel deprived—when you feel deprived, you’re more likely to cheat.

Weight cycling can also have negative effects on PMS. First, fad or excessive diets are nutritionally bad because by limiting certain types of foods, they also exclude the nutrients associated with those foods. They may also pose serious health risks. For example, highprotein diets tend to have a high fat content, which may harm the cardiovascular system.

Second, the weight lost on a fad diet is usually caused by dehydration (especially if you drop several pounds in a week). While that may be good news if you get bloated during PMS, dehydration means you lose electrolytes, the salts and minerals that control the fluid levels in your body. An electrolyte imbalance reduces your circulating blood volume, which means your heart has to beat harder to pump blood to your organs, and your body is less able to control blood pressure. Third, the stress of losing and then regaining weight is significant, and increased stress means more severe PMS.