Greening up Aunt Flo

Ah, my lovely Aunt Flo has stopped by for her monthly visit once again which got me thinking about greening up my period.

You may recall that back during Ditch the Disposables I wrote about switching from disposable feminine pads to reusable ones. For me it was one way to help green up my period by no longer contributing to the 14 billion (yes billion) pads, tampons and applicators that end up in landfills every year.

I switched over to Lunapads (they sent me some sweet samples & a discount code good until 2/28 easyeco09 ;)) but you can also find pads at GladRags and even on Etsy.

For the tampon users there's the Diva cup (which can be found at the sites mentioned above as well). Now I heard some great things about it when I wrote the last post but for reasons no one wants to hear, they just aren't the right choice for me.

But there's a lot more to periods then just protecting your panties. There's also the bloating, tiredness, crankiness, cravings, cramps and more.

Well it seems to me that there should be a greener way about taking care of those issues then by taking over the counter pills. Ok, that and it was brought up on an #ecowed Twitter party. Seriously if you're not on Twitter, the #ecowed parties are reason enough to join!

What I found were things like exercise, diet changes, herbs, sunlight and sex.

Now I know exercise is good for you and it's supposed to cure everything with it's endorphin releasing effects but I'm tired and cranky and don't want to move more then I absolutely have to. Next! ;)

So onto eating better. Well that doesn't sound too bad what with already going off gluten, corn and soy and adding lots more veggies into my diet. I think I can work with this one. Foods rich in vitamins A, D, B complex and E can all help with PMS. So during Aunt Flo's visit I'm going to eat more brown rice, bananas and be sure not to forget to take my fish oil supplements. This site gave a great break down of how the different vitamins help PMS symptoms.

As far as herbs go I read that peppermint tea and chamomile tea can help with cramps. Now lucky for me, I don't get cramps, but a cup of peppermint tea seems pretty relaxing and may just help with the overwhelming urge to throttle someone.

Ok, I didn't actually read anything about sunlight helping it's just something I've heard people say. I know when I'm crabby and go outside on a sunny day I feel the crabbies start to lift. This one of course is a little tougher to get during these gray winter months but it's something to think about. And if there's even a sliver of sun run outside!

Ok, sex to help PMS just kind of made me laugh because when that time of the month rolls around I feel decidedly un-sexy. But I suppose there are worse cures!

And you know what else helps with PMS, chocolate. My triple batch chocolate chia seed pudding has plenty of good for you cacao in it. Also chia seeds have calcium and omega 3's & 6's both of which are helpful with PMS.

So I say the next time Aunt Flo stops by make a big cup of peppermint tea, some triple batch chocolate chia seed pudding, sit outside and don't go back in until the last drop of pudding is gone.

Well, that's what I'm going to do anyways. Do you have any other natural PMS busters?

Oh, and don't forget to stop by Lunapads to get 10% an order of $35 or more with discount code 'easyeco09', you only have until 2/28!