Coupled with the sudden drop in blood sugar levels, refined sugar also increases the urinary excretion of the body’s magnesium, adding to the magnesium deficiency, exacerbating PMS. This causes the brain to once again signal for more sugar, thus setting in motion a self-perpetuating cycle.

Sudden increased sugar intake triggers hypoglycemia which results in palpitation and fainting. Rapid drops in blood sugar levels cause many PMS symptoms, including headaches and fatigue. These alternating symptoms lead women to feel “out of control.” Researchers have termed this up-and-down sensation the “roller-coaster effect.”

During this period of increased sugar intake weight gains of 5 to 15 pounds is common, weight which is difficult for any woman to lose during the symptom free period of her cycle. Binge eating and subsequent weight gain is not a matter of self-control. It’s PMS.

Long term weight reduction and control is much more likely to be effected by the management of PMS then dieting. Increasing magnesium intake by a minimum of 300 to 400 mg. daily is the only way to break the negative self-perpetuating cycle that causes the “sweet tooth” and leads to weight gain.

Women suffering from PMS must increase their intake of B vitamins. Known as the “energy vitamins,” B vitamins have attributes which set them apart from all other vitamins. B vitamins are synergistic, to achieve optimum efficiency all the B vitamins must be taken in a particular ratio.

The B vitamins work as a team in producing energy, in the function of the central nervous system, metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins, stimulation of the immune response system and are essential to the formation of RNA and DNA.

Women suffering from PMS often complain of headaches. During PMS excess fluid swells the nerve tissue and membranes surrounding the brain. The brain is encased with the skull, and can only expand as far as the skull permits. This leads to torturous migraine headaches are often described as “vise-like.”

Magnesium deficiency causes a very specific depletion of brain dopamine. Without sufficient dopamine, the biogenic amines are not held in check, moods are greatly affected in a negative manner, sodium and water retention increase, setting off numerous PMS symptoms.

Dopamine, produced by the brain, balances out the effects of the biogenic amines

American women are so deficient in vitamin B6 that it was discovered back in the early 1940’s. The process of refining flour eliminates the B vitamins altogether, B6 is destroyed in cooking and canning, and when foods are packaged. Pregnancy and birth-control pills also cause a B6 deficiency. To prevent PMS increased intake of B6 is essential.

Vitamin B6 reduces blood estrogen and increases progesterone. Therefore, B6 deficiency will cause decreased liver metabolism of estrogen, causing an excess of estrogen, this results in “estrogen dominance.” Increased intake of vitamin B6 is vital in preventing the onset of PMS.

The only positive method of diagnosis is the simple method of recording the symptoms and the dates of menstruation on a menstrual chart for a three month period. Symptoms scattered about the chart with no discernable pattern indicate that factors other than PMS are affecting the woman. Symptoms clustered before menstruation indicate PMS, however, most women know intuitively when they have PMS

Every woman with PMS suffers a different set of physical and emotional symptoms. Symptoms and their intensity vary from woman to woman, and from month to month, making each PMS sufferer unique. Major physical symptoms include; weight gain, headaches, water retention. Major emotional symptoms include; anxiety, fatigue, and depression.