By Misha Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.

To maintain a healthy gynecological system and maximum fertility - balanced and free of disease -- you must tend to the mind, body, and spirit. These Chinese medicine tips will help you stay in harmony:

Tune into your cycle

Keep a daily log of information on your cycle and associated physical and emotional responses. Make these notations every day for at least six months. If you have a well-balanced cycle, it will help alert you to the development of any disharmonies. And if you are currently working to remedy an imbalance, it will alert you to triggers and help you track improvements. The monthly log should include information on:

• Food cravings or times when you lose your appetite for specific foods (or food in general)
• Information on alcohol and caffeine consumption
• Energy levels and ability to exercise. Make note of times when sore breasts, overall heaviness or bloating, depression or fatigue make it difficult to exercise.
• Emotional ups and downs. Note times when you are irritable, cry or feel like crying, are angry or depressed. Also make note of times when your emotions are positive.
• Physical symptoms you suspect are associated with your cycle: headaches, blood sugar problems, insomnia, swollen ankles, tender breasts, swollen abdomen, cramps, acne, lower back pain
• Information about the quality of your period itself -- date of ovulation and feelings surrounding it, date of onset and description of quality of flow, color, texture,intensity, duration.

A review of this information over the course of several months should reveal a correlation between monthly cycle, diet, exercise, emotions, and physical symptoms. This information indicates how you can control or eliminate some of the troubling symptoms associated with your cycle. You'll see which times of the month you should, for example, be particularly vigilant about exercising, avoiding stress, or avoiding foods that exacerbate symptoms.

Dietary guidelines

The following are Chinese and natural therapy nutritional principles that promote gynecological health:

• Eat a diet of warm, cooked foods. Be particularly careful not to eat cold, raw foods during your period -- it only increases cramping and discomfort. This practice can avoid the development of Cold Uterus.
• Eat a diet rich in low glycemic index and low glycemic load carbohydrates. Avoid high glycemic index and high glycemic load carbohydrates or balance them with low and no glycemic foods
• Avoid excess dairy products to decrease dampness and strengthen Spleen Qi.
• Reduce caffeine and drink a minimal amount of alcohol. (Alcohol increases PMS symptoms and is linked to increased breast cancer risk.) Artificial stimulants of all kinds amplify gynecological disharmonies causing liver Qi stagnation and liver and heart fire.
• Eat a relatively low-fat diet with small amounts of meat and dairy fat. Excess body fat may increase estrogen production and can lead to various gynecological problems. A fatty diet can also increase Qi stagnation and dampness, which is associated with depression and lack of energy.
• Increase fiber and low glycemic grains in diet to avoid premenstrual constipation.
• Eliminate excess salt from diet to ease water retention.
• Eliminate any foods that your daily log reveals as associated with PMS, cramps, irregularity or any of the emotional and physical symptoms surrounding the progress of your cycle.

Exercise

To regulate and move Qi and Xue so they flow smoothly, avoid excessive aerobic activities. If you're trying to reestablish a regular,symptom-free cycle, use yoga, Qi Gong, and walking to stimulate balanced flow. Once a routine is established (daily for 30 minutes), you can expand your exercises to include aerobics such as jogging, cycling, and swimming. Exercising five times a week, 45 minutes a day, will strengthen Qi -- but you should avoid exercise to the point of exhaustion or you will deplete your Qi. Your total exercise time should be about seven hours and 15 minutes per week, including the yoga and/or Qi Gong and aerobics.

If you have any gynecological disharmony, weight lifting exercises should be done only three days a week. The process of tearing down and building up muscle tissue can cause Spleen deficiency, which could lead to a Xue deficiency and increased menstrual problems.

Meditate

Stress is both a trigger and a result of gynecological problems. Meditation can alleviate the stress and diminish associated symptoms, such as premenstrual depression and anxiety.

Self-massage for preventive care

Qi Gong abdominal massage is effective while you are having cramps and, when used regularly throughout the month, it can dispel stagnation and dampness, relieving PMS and dysmenorrhea. You may use Cinnamon and Ginger infused almond oil to warm the abdomen while doing the self-massage.

Reflexology on the hands and feet -- particularly on the points for the abdomen, womb, uterus, lower back and brain -- is also beneficial. Acupressure on Liver 3 is recommended.

Perform a monthly breast selfexam. All women over 20 years old should examine their breasts once a month for changes in texture, shape, color of skin and evidence of discharge from the nipples. To examine the breasts effectively, the American Cancer Society suggests you examine first one side of the breast, then the other, while lying slightly to the opposite side so that the breast is distended downward. Then lie flat on the back and repeat examination of center and front. Make sure you examine the area around and in your armpit as well.

Nutritional supplements

For all women a daily supplement program should include:

• Omega 3 fatty acids, such as wild salmon oil, krill oil and organic flax seed oil
• Antioxidants, such as lycopenes and vitamin E
• Calcium hydroxyapatite (from organic beef bones, if possible)
• Magnesium -- in pill form with calcium for balanced dosage in a 2:1 or 1:1 ratio depending on need
• Daily dose of powdered refrigerated lactobacillus acidophilus to protect against yeast infections and keep digestive tract healthy.
• Ask your practitioner for specific recommendations according to your constitution and patterns

Adapted from The Chinese Way to Healing: Many Paths to Wholeness, iUniverse 2007. By Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.

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