(Nästan) Allt du velat veta om Agnus Castus/munkpeppar!
I denna tråd hade jag tänkt lägga ut infotexter jag hittat om örten, och vad man vet om den i andra (engelskspråkiga) länder. Och jag tycker det är anmärkningsvärt hur mycket mer välkänt och accepterat det är i andra länder. Jag har tagit mig friheten att markera sådant jag tycker är av extra intresse. Jag börjar med detta inlägg och lägger till nya när jag hittat nya texter av intresse, men observera att jag inte är någon expert och inte kan garantera informationen.
Hoppas du hittar vad du söker!
Det du kanske först och främst bör veta är att Agnus Castus/Munkpeppar är en hormonbalanserande ört.
Nedanstående info är saxat ur HealthyWay magazine: http://www.healthywaymagazine.com/WebIssue46/AgnuscastusMarriageSaviour.html
What people don?t necessarily realise is that Agnus is amazing for a particular (specifik) type of PMS, not every type of PMS. Agnus is great for:
Anger
Irritability
Mood swings
Sore breasts (ömma bröst)
Fluid retention
Normally you will see improvements (förbättringar) within 1-3 cycles, which isn?t bad going.
If, however, you have light periods, on a longer rather than shorter cycle (i.e. more than 4 weeks apart rather than less than 4 weeks apart), and get tired, sad and weepy rather than angry and irritable before your period, Agnus castus is not for you.
När man inte bör ta Agnus Castus (munkpeppar)
Please don?t take Agnus castus, or Black Cohosh, or any other hormone-balancing herb (eller andra hormonbalanserande örter) if you are using hormonal contraceptives (preventivmedel), such as the Pill, the mini Pill, the contraceptive injection, the coil, or an implant.
Don?t take Agnus castus or any hormone-balancing herb if you are on hormonal medication such as anticancer treatments.
The reason for these contraindications (kontraindikationer, varningar) is that contraceptives (preventivmedel) and other hormonal medications work by deliberately imbalancing (avsiktligt obalanserande) your hormones. Agnus castus (or any other hormonal herb) is likely to rebalance (balansera, återställa balans) them, preventing (förhindra) the medication from working.
Angående hormoner och ACs påverkan på progesteron
During the first half of your cycle, oestrogen levels rise. Oestrogen thickens the lining of the womb in anticipation of an implanted egg (i väntan på ett befruktat ägg). Once oestrogen reaches a certain level you ovulate (ägglossar) and progesterone is then secreted by the ruptured egg sac (progesteron avges från den söndriga äggsäcken). The role of progesterone is to stabilise the lining of the uterus (livemodern) (the endometrium) during the second half of your cycle. When no fertilised egg is implanted, levels of both hormones fall and you menstruate.
Progesterone does more than just look after your womb lining. Here are some of its other roles
It helps to rebuild bone, by stimulating osteoblasts (bone-forming cells)
It helps to regulate blood sugar levels, thereby preventing hunger and cravings
It has a sedative (ung. ?lugnande?) effect on brain chemicals, promoting (ung. ?förebygger?) calmer moods
You can see that having the right amount (rätta halten av progesteron) of progesterone is quite useful for a healthy life as a woman.
There are many reasons why you might not have enough progesterone in your system:
You have been on the general Pill (the one you take for three weeks and then leave off for a week)
You have a high sugar intake ? this is associated with higher oestrogen levels and more PMS symptoms
You are obese ? body fat contains an enzyme that helps create oestrogen, so the more fat you have the more oestrogen you?ll make, which will affect your oestrogen/ progesterone ratio
Your liver isn?t breaking down oestrogen properly ? one reason for this can be a lack of vitamin B and magnesium
Taking Agnus castus will help your body to produce more progesterone. This is not the same as taking a synthetic form of progesterone as a supplement: Agnus castus makes your body do the work itself, and produce its own progesterone. This is a more natural approach that makes it more likely your body will continue the good work on its own once you stop taking Agnus castus.
Källa: www.healthywaymagazine.com/WebIssue46/AgnuscastusMarriageSaviour.html