Period Repair Manual Quotes

“Many things can impair ovulation and promote excess androgens. They include: Thyroid disease, because hypothyroidism impedes ovulation and worsens insulin resistance. [212] Vitamin D deficiency, because your ovaries need vitamin D. Zinc deficiency, because your ovaries need zinc. Iodine deficiency, because your ovaries need iodine. Elevated prolactin, because it increases DHEA. Too little food or too few carbs, because you need carbs to ovulate. If you’re undereating, then you’ve slipped into HA.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“but it’s not the only diagnosis. Other diagnoses include: hormonal birth control with a “high androgen index” some types of psychiatric medications high prolactin hypothyroidism rare pituitary or adrenal diseases congenital adrenal hyperplasia.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Breastfeeding suppresses periods because it stimulates your pituitary gland to make a hormone called prolactin, which prevents ovulation. Your prolactin should drop within three months after you stop breastfeeding, but it can sometimes stay high. Prolactin can also be mildly elevated from thyroid disease and stress.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Together, estrogen and progesterone are the perfect yin and yang for mood. Estradiol lifts you up by boosting serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine. Progesterone calms you down by acting like GABA in your brain.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Fertility is an expression of health, not a disease to be treated with a drug.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“The pill does not regulate hormones. It switches them off entirely.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“The technology exists for a male contraceptive pill. We have the drugs to switch off testosterone and prevent sperm production. These drugs have never gone to market because developers know that men would never take something like that. Men would never agree to switch off their hormones. They would never put up with the side effects such as depression and low libido. And, honestly, why should they put up with it? Why should women?”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“período ligero o escaso no significa necesariamente que algo vaya mal.”
― Lara Briden, Cómo mejorar tu ciclo menstrual (edición para América Latina): Tratamiento natural para mejorar las hormonas y la menstruación

“desarrolla los músculos [59] promueve el sueño [60] [61] protege contra enfermedades del corazón [62] calma el sistema nervioso y facilita lidiar con el estrés [63]”
― Lara Briden, Cómo mejorar tu ciclo menstrual (edición para América Latina): Tratamiento natural para mejorar las hormonas y la menstruación

“La progesterona tiene muchas otras ventajas (yo las llamo “superpoderes”): reduce la inflamación [58”
― Lara Briden, Cómo mejorar tu ciclo menstrual (edición para América Latina): Tratamiento natural para mejorar las hormonas y la menstruación

“The technology exists for male hormonal birth control, but those drugs have not yet gone to market. Developers seem to think men would never agree to switch off their hormones and suffer the resulting depression and low libido. And, honestly, why should they? Why should women?”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Checklist for inflammatory PCOS Avoid wheat and cow’s dairy. Identify and avoid other food sensitivities. Fix any digestive problems. Consider taking a zinc supplement. Consider an additional anti-androgen supplement, as discussed later in the chapter.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Checklist for post-pill PCOS Stay calm and give it time. Eat enough. Consider zinc or peony and licorice combination. Consider an additional anti-androgen supplement, as discussed later in the chapter.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Checklist for insulin-resistant PCOS Quit sugar. Take magnesium. Consider an additional PCOS supplement listed above, such as myo-inositol, zinc, or peony and licorice combination. Consider an additional anti-androgen supplement, as discussed later in the chapter.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“I recommend 30 mg per day taken directly after a large meal. Do not take zinc on an empty stomach, or it may cause nausea.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Do not take berberine for more than eight weeks in a row, because its antimicrobial effects could alter the composition of your gut bacteria. In the short term, berberine’s antimicrobial effects are probably beneficial. For example, berberine can improve digestive health and repair intestinal permeability. [186] In the long term, it could deplete gut bacteria. I’m cautious with berberine and usually recommend taking it only five days per week, with a two-day break. Then, after eight weeks, I recommend stopping the medicine for at least one month.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Do not take berberine if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Berberine is not a single herb. Instead, it’s a phytonutrient, or active constituent, of a number of different herbs including goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), barberry (Berberis vulgaris), and the Chinese herb Phellodendron amurense. You can take a concentrated berberine extract or a preparation of a whole herb such as Phellodendron. Berberine-containing herbs taste bitter so are best taken as a tablet or capsule. The exact quantity depends on the concentration in the formula. The standard dose for a berberine extract is 350 to 500 mg twice daily.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“There are two types of supplementary inositol, which have different effects. D-chiro-inositol improves insulin sensitivity throughout the body. Myo-inositol improves insulin and FSH signaling inside the ovary, thereby improving ovarian function and promoting healthy ovulation. The inositol formula used in the clinical trials is a combined supplement of myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol in a 40:1 ratio, which corresponds to the body’s normal ratio. The standard dose is 2000 to 4000 mg and is generally safe for long-term use.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Alpha-lipoic acid is safe, but more than 1000 mg per day may decrease thyroid hormone. I recommend 300 to 600 mg per day with food. It combines well with the next supplement, myo-inositol.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Alpha-lipoic acid is a naturally occurring molecule involved in energy production. It’s made by the body and can also be obtained from foods such as liver, spinach, and broccoli. As a supplement, alpha-lipoic acid is beneficial for PCOS.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“What else you need to know: I recommend 300 mg magnesium per day taken directly after food. I prefer magnesium bisglycinate (magnesium joined to the amino acid glycine) because glycine has its own insulin-sensitising properties. [172] And I usually give it in combination with another amino acid taurine, which also improves insulin sensitivity. See Chapter 10 for more information about taurine.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Don’t make the mistake of reducing starch but continuing to eat sugar. In other words, there’s no point forgoing potatoes with dinner only to binge later on a Paleo dessert.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“you can also restrict your eating to an eight- or ten-hour eating window. You will, of course, be hungry during your eating window, so eat what you need in the form of full, satisfying meals. An eating window is a gentle type of intermittent fasting which has been found to improve insulin resistance.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“If you need a sweetener while you adapt to a low-sugar diet, try the natural sweeteners stevia or xylitol.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Get enough sleep, because sleep reduces sugar cravings. Eat full, satisfying meals that include all three macronutrients: protein, starch, and fat. Do not restrict calories. Pick a start date during a low-stress time of your life. Go cold turkey for four weeks. Know that intense cravings subside after twenty minutes. Know that all cravings should subside after seven days. Supplement magnesium, because it reduces sugar cravings. Know that you’re okay. You’re not a bad person just because you crave sugar.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“You can have whole fruit as long as you stay below the 25 grams of fructose discussed in Chapter 6.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“Fasting insulin is a blood test for the hormone insulin. Your result should be less than 8 mIU/L (55 pmol/L). Fasting insulin can pick up severe insulin resistance. To detect milder insulin resistance, you’ll need the more sensitive insulin glucose challenge test. HOMA-IR index is a mathematical calculation using the ratio of glucose to insulin. For healthy insulin sensitivity, your HOMA-IR index should be less than 1.5. Insulin glucose challenge test is a blood test that is similar to the two-hour oral glucose tolerance test, in which several blood samples are taken during the two hours following a sweet drink. The difference with this test is that insulin is tested in addition to glucose.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“At the same time, you could be normal weight and still have insulin resistance and the insulin-resistant type of PCOS. [163] In that case, the only way to know if you have insulin resistance is to do a blood test. A test for blood sugar or blood glucose is not a test for insulin resistance. Instead, you need one of the following: fasting insulin HOMA-IR index (insulin resistance index) insulin glucose challenge test (also called insulin assay with oral glucose tolerance test or glucose tolerance test with insulin)”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

“How does insulin resistance lead to PCOS? Too much insulin can impair ovulation and cause your ovaries to make testosterone instead of estrogen. Too much insulin also stimulates your pituitary to make more luteinizing hormone (LH), which stimulates even more androgens. Finally, too much insulin lowers the androgen-binding protein SHBG, which results in even more free testosterone or unbound testosterone.”
― Lara Briden, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods