Ingredients

Research suggests that chasteberry extract may help clear premenstrual acne, all thanks to its ability to balance hormones. The valleys and peaks of hormones throughout your cycle cause increased oil production, inflammation and closed off pores, creating the perfect environment for those pesky PMS blemishes. Chasteberry helps you stay ahead of premenstrual breakouts by telling your hormones to chill out. Further studies have found that chasteberry extract is superior to a placebo in terms of its efficacy in reducing mood swings and breast tenderness that come with PMS. Take for instance a study published in the Journal of Women's Health & Gender-Based Medicine, during which 1,634 patients suffering from PMS were treated with chasteberry extract. After three menstrual cycles, 93% of the women reported a decrease in symptoms including depression, anxiety, cravings, and mastodynia/mastalgia. Masto-what? Allow us to explain. Mastodynia and mastalgia are both fancy words for breast pain. Ever notice how your boobs tend to swell up and get *insanely* sore just before your period hits? That's mastodynia. Chasteberry reduces that pain by suppressing the hormones that cause it.

Long story long, research shows that the pharmacological effects of dong quai include the ability to relax smooth muscle within the uterus. Dong quai also contains ferulic acid, a natural anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory that can help to further relieve PMS symptoms like bloating and muscle pain.

Less cramps = less feeling like an energy-zapped zombie when that time of the month rolls around. And that's not even the best part. Further evidence shows that dong quai begins working its magic after just 30 minutes.

Take for instance this study, in which a group of 160 women with PMS were randomly assigned to two groups; half were given a placebo, and the other half were given B6. The B6 group saw a significant decrease in a myriad of symptoms, including moodiness, irritability, unreasonable crying, increased appetite, bloating, breast tenderness and... wait for it... candy craving. Any woman who's ever experienced PMS (that'd be >90% of us, BTW) knows that it rarely feels like just one thing. Just sad? We wish it was that easy. More often than not, it's a jumbled up combination of a lot of hard-to-describe symptoms. And it's in those cases, when you're up against a ton of "can't-quite-put-your-finger-on-it" feelings, that your girl vitamin B6 has your back.

A 2015 study found lemon balm to be effective at reducing the intensity of PMS cramps among a group of 100 participants. A separate study conducted in 2014 researched the anti-stress effects of lemon balm; those participants who were given lemon balm reported improvements in mood and cognitive performance. Not sure about you, but when that time of the month rolls around we want all the mood boosting benefits we can get.

In addition to helping with cramps and stress, lemon balm can also be used to help with pain and bloating, as well as other uh, *digestive issues*. While not one of the most talked about symptoms, weird stomach stuff does happen with PMS. We just feel fortunate that we've found lemon balm to help.