PMS: Tell it Like It Is. Your cravings, Babe (Part 1)

[bleudauvergne]

Thank you, thank you.

[klc14]

helenjp: You must have been getting enough calcium already through other sources? I think I was like 75% starches in my diet, I may have had a deficiency thing going on....varies from person to person.

For instance, I don't always reach for chocolate. Sometimes, potato chips are what I crave. Mindless food. I get the low salt kind because they taste better (Utz). But I gotta have crunch.

As for my former "cheese cure" I don't eat cheese every day anymore. I did keep it up till another problem intruded: sinusitis! Had to drop cheese and all dairy entirely while I got various infections under control and I never went back to the Daily Morsel. But the dragging pulling pain I described before never returned either. So it worked out.

[bleudauvergne]

I made the chocolate cheesecake brownies with pralines. They were almost too much! Everyone who tasted them praised the individual parts but we all agreed that they would be better each in their own individual spotlight. Thus I posted the very easy Dark Chocolate Brownie Recipe in the gullet. Once I come up with a satisfying crust for the cheesecake part, I will post that as well. As for the pralines, a recipe will also be up shortly.

Thanks for the help with the flour!

Edited March 22, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[helenjp]

helenjp: You must have been getting enough calcium already through other sources?

Yeah, maybe so, though these days I eat a stack of yogurt, yogurt cheese, tofu, sesame seeds, small dried fish, seaweeds, cabbage...all known to have plenty of calcium, and never have any trouble. I wonder if the type of calcium salt or whatever in the medication was the problem???

Maybe crunch factor is just a bitten-back snarl??? I sometimes wonder just what it is I think I'm biting down on...

[bloviatrix]

I've got really bad cravings today. All I want is Herr's Ranch Flavored tortilla chips, but I can't find them ANYWHERE!!!! They're the only ones that have kosher certification. So, I had to make do with a bag of yogurt and green onion potato chips. I snarfed down most of a 5 oz. bag in about 15 minutes. Now I feel sick.

[NeroW]

So . . . ahem . . .

Are there any foods you can eat that'll *make* your period come?

EDIT: to say, I'm gonna' go get a pizza!

Edited March 25, 2004 by NeroW (log)

[snowangel]

So . . . ahem . . .

Are there any foods you can eat that'll *make* your period come?

Larb.

[NeroW]

So . . . ahem . . . 

Are there any foods you can eat that'll *make* your period come?

 

Larb.

Really?

[babka]

So . . . ahem . . . 

Are there any foods you can eat that'll *make* your period come?

 

pennyroyal tea makes your uterine muscles contract, which should do the trick. your local health food store should have it, either as is or in a femmy mix of some sort.

should go without saying, but if you don't see the tea, don't even _think_ about messing with the oil.

Edited March 25, 2004 by babka (log)

[suzilightning]

So . . . ahem . . .

Are there any foods you can eat that'll *make* your period come?

EDIT: to say, I'm gonna' go get a pizza!

don't know about any foods but i find an orgasm will get mine going

[duckduck]

Somewhere above there's talk about PMS treatments, so I'll put my two cents in. After years and years of dinking around with it, I have found that calcium over time relieves my pms problems. It takes a couple of months to build up enough. It starts with more days of weak cramps instead of one day of knock down drag out cramps and eventually they disappear. I've found that B vitamins in the huge amounts that they tend to put in vitamin pills labeled to help pms, they make me suicidal if the amount is high enough and just angry as hell with lower doses. I've been doing better eating Odwalla high protein bars a couple times a week but the Luna bars which taste better are apparently too high in B's because I damn near went postal on the office this last month. As far as cravings...is any food really safe? Hide everything you got 'cause if it's that time, I'm eatin' it! There just isn't enough chocolate in the world!

[wagyuboy]

Just a question as an ignorant boy--what's the point of that awful "That-Time-of-the-Month" Woman tea that everybody has a box of lurking in their nether cupboards? I've drank it out of curiosity once or twice and it was worse than those teas that are made from tree bark. My mom and girlfriend never touch the stuff, as they hew closer to the salty/sweet side of the spectrum, so what's this stuff for?

[klc14]

well, wagyuboy, your link didn't work for me, but I went to the tealand.com site and looked at this PMS tea. Never tried the stuff myself. I just suffer nobly in silence.

The stuff has mostly dandelion root in it and is apparently supposed to be a diuretic, to deal with, you know, that "temporary water weight gain." Which if you eat all the carbs you really want could be a permanent fat gain. Sigh.

brave man, to sacrifice yourself for science!

If your mother and wife never use it, possibly they already tasted it, but just can't bring themselves to throw an entire box. In case it works and they need it sometime.

edited: for clarity.

Edited March 30, 2004 by klc14 (log)

[klc14]

Oh, duckduck, I know what you mean about calcium. I've already told my month-of-eating-cheese-pizza story so I won't repeat it. But just as you said, the calcium reduced the rending pains to dull aches that now don't appear. Although that may be age for me....

Interesting about the vitamin B. Never noticed a problem myself but you seem really sensitive to B levels in your system if you can notice a difference from eating a couple of Luna bars v. Odwalla bars!

I'm glad you were just able to let your co-workers live. For now.

[duckduck]

For now would be the key words here!

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Re: PMS Tea

Looking at the ingredient list on their page, this is a highly encapsulated take on each one:

dandelion root:

-- cooling and bitter, so ideal for reducing internal and external heat like inflammations and yit hay ("hot air"), and the bitter property stimulates the liver and kidneys to produce more of their biles and other cleaning functions, as well as reduce breast pain and swelling. It also has a lot of iron.

carob pod:

-- don't know that this does.

barley grain:

-- soothing, cleansing diuretic and restorative, though I wonder if this would work better in a soup rather than as a tea.

chicory root:

-- don't know what this does, suspect it's for flavor since roasted dandelion and roasted chicory are the primary ingredients in that coffee alternative.

parsley leaf:

-- warm and spicy. A diuretic and emmenagogue (brings on Aunt Flo...) also with lots of vitamins.

oatstraw herb:

-- sweet and cooling. Also a diuretic and it calms nerves and stress. Plus it has a lot of calcium.

nettle herb:

-- cool and a little bitter. Yet another diuretic, but also a tonic that boosts energy.

chickweed herb:

-- bitter, sweet and cool. This has a lot of calcium and iron, is a mild diuretic and an anti-inflammatory. By inflammatory I don't necessarily mean big red swollen somethings or others, rather it's a reference to anything to do with excess heat and swelling in the body.

uva ursi leaf:

-- cool, bitter, astringent. A (surprise!) diuretic, and also tones the uterine lining, as well as stimulates the kidneys and liver to do their thing.

cornsilk style and stigma:

-- don't know what this does.

cramp bark:

-- sounds like its name. For reducing cramps.

Disclaimer: I am not a trained naturopath. I am just an ordinary person who studied this on my own because among other reasons, once upon a time I wanted to go into naturopathy.

Pat

Edited April 2, 2004 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[Deborah17]

My cravings are for chips...potato chip...especially Ruffles...a whole entire bag...or torilla chips loaded with extra old cheddar and jars of fireball hot salsa...until I am so full I feel like a whale....

But if I don't eat at least a little...I crave all out and end up eating too much...So I catch the crave early and eat less of it...the longer I wait the worse it is...

[Verjuice]

Af, for me, it is all about the food with the biggest chew. No mush. No crunch.

I go through a 48 hour period every 28 days when I just need to work my jaw with, well, you name it. Rare steak. Old gum. Slightly stale sourdough baguettes. Undercooked radiatore. Octopus sashimi, calamari ceviche. Powerbars; the original ones that supposedly wreck your kidneys and your jawbone and have the consistency and appearance of impacted turds. Frozen Charleston Chews. Turkish Delight. Wha Guru nut chews. Antiquated Swedish fish. Knudsen caramels if possible, otherwise the little French fleur de sel ones will do. Plain old naan with peanut butter and unripe banana (plus avocado, when the going gets rough). Frozen dried fruit. Frozen cashews. Frozen bars of Kookaburra licorice. Frozen crystallized baby ginger or yogurt raisins. Saltwater taffy. Ice cream that has frozen rock solid and needs to be sawed at with knife and fork. Grape nuts that have softened in yogurt. Dark chocolate covered marzipan; either stale or frozen, obviously.

I don't get it either.

[lesfen]

Chips and french onion dip. Oh, the french onion dip. Now I'm cranky AND stinky! I also turn into a vending machine junky. Cheez-it's, Tater Skins, Dunkin' Sticks, peanut butter and orange cheese crackers... nothing is safe if I have change in my pockets!

[Al_Dente]

Is it my imagination or does this topic make its way back to the top again once a month?

[Lady T]

It's not your imagination, Al. Be nice, or else.

And pass the nachos, please.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

The last time my partner sat with me while I was playing a video game, the game in question was a convenience store simulator. I was arranging the shelves and stocking this one particular section with instant noodles, candy, chips, ice cream, and beer, and when finished she asked "Is that supposed to be PMS Corner?"

Pat

[suzilightning]

nachos with the velveeta/rotel dip - something i have NEVER had - with pickled okra and chip ahoy big chunk cookies

[Bombdog]

I know, I know

INTRUDER

But since my K9 is a female (Barbie), let me live long enough to say that this thread is the best read on eGullet....

and some of the food combo's aren't too bad either

[suzilightning]

a pint of healthy choice fudge and caramel ice cream....for breakfast