Vidya Reddy is the host of The Tea on Wellness Podcast and co-founder of Tea & Turmeric in Laguna Beach.
Why does it feel like your body is working against you every few weeks, or every few years? Three different women came into our Laguna Beach shop this same week, one dealing with cramps so intense she cancels her life every month, one whose PCOS left her feeling completely disconnected from her body, one waking up drenched in sweat at 3 a.m. wondering what's happening to her. Three different decades, the same underlying question. In this episode, Vidya breaks down what's actually happening during PMS, PCOS, and menopause, and the one thread that connects all three.
Read the companion article: PMS, PCOS & Menopause: What’s Really Happening With Your Hormones
What You Will Learn
- Why PMS causes such an intense mood shift, and what's actually happening with your progesterone and brain chemistry
- Why period cramps can feel like early labor, and when that pain is worth mentioning to a doctor
- Why you can have PCOS even with a regular period
- Why weight loss is so much harder with PCOS than standard diet advice accounts for
- What's really happening in your brain during a hot flash
- The Ayurvedic ritual Vidya's mother used on her as a teenager, and why she still uses it today
The Science Behind It
PMS, PCOS, and menopause look like three separate conditions, but they share the same underlying conversation between your hormones, your nervous system, and inflammation.
During the luteal phase, the drop in progesterone means a drop in allopregnanolone, a compound that acts on the brain's GABA-A receptors, the system that tells your nervous system it's safe to relax. That sudden loss is part of why PMS can feel almost like a withdrawal, and why mood and sleep often shift at the same time. Cramps come from a separate process, prostaglandins, inflammatory compounds released as the uterine lining breaks down that trigger uterine contractions. The higher the level, the more forceful the contraction, which is why some women describe pain that rivals early labor.
PCOS is rooted in insulin resistance. When cells stop responding properly to insulin, the body produces more of it, and that excess insulin signals the ovaries to produce more androgens, which disrupts ovulation and makes weight loss significantly harder than diet and exercise alone can fix. Diagnosis only requires two of three markers, irregular ovulation, elevated androgens, or polycystic-appearing ovaries, which is why a woman can have PCOS with a completely regular cycle and go undiagnosed for years.
Perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause, brings hormone fluctuation rather than a steady decline, which is why symptoms can vary so much month to month. Hot flashes trace back to the hypothalamus, the brain's temperature control center, losing its stability as estrogen swings, so small shifts in temperature suddenly trigger a full response. Beyond hot flashes, this same hormonal shift touches sleep, mood, bone density, and much of the brain's neurotransmitter activity, which is why perimenopause can feel like it's touching every part of life at once.
Across all three, the underlying thread is the same: hormones, the nervous system, and inflammation, communicating with each other. Support that calms one system tends to support the others too.
Key Takeaways
- PMS, PCOS, and menopause share the same underlying hormonal, nervous system, and inflammatory pathways
- You can have PCOS even with a completely regular period
- Weight loss with PCOS is a physiological challenge rooted in insulin resistance, not a lack of discipline
- Hot flashes originate in the brain's temperature control center, not just a drop in estrogen
- Herbal tea supports the picture, it doesn't replace medical care
Featured Teas and Blends
- PMS and Menstrual Support Herbal Tea
- PCOS Support Tea
- Ayurvedic Meno-Pause Tea
Find all of these at teaandturmeric.com or visit us in Laguna Beach at 1175 S Coast Highway.
Stay Connected
Come visit us in Laguna Beach or explore our teas and spices anytime at teaandturmeric.com. We share recipes, brewing tips, and behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram at @teanturmeric. Got a question or a story about how tea is helping you? Email me and the team at hello@teaandturmeric.com
If this episode brought you a little calm or clarity, tapping follow and leaving a quick review helps more people in Orange County and beyond find the show. Thank you for supporting our little wellness community.
Chapters
0:00 — Show Intro
1:00 — The Three Women in My Shop
2:45 — A Mother's Ayurvedic Remedy
4:17 — PMS: The Luteal Phase Crash
6:18 — The Herbs Behind Our PMS Tea
8:40 — PCOS: The Metabolic Puzzle
9:49 — The Herbs Behind Our PCOS Tea
11:27 — Menopause: The Great Transition
12:58 — The Herbs Behind Our Meno-Pause Tea
14:35 — The Thread That Connects It All
15:28 — Simple Ways to Support Your Hormones
16:25 — Show Outro
Note: timestamps are estimated from script pacing, not the final recording. True these up against the actual audio once it's edited.
Transcript
The Tea on Wellness | Episode: PMS, PCOS & Menopause - Your Holistic Guide | Host: Vidya Reddy | Laguna Beach, CA
[1:00] The Three Women in My Shop
[VIDYA]: Hi, I'm Vidya, and you're listening to The Tea on Wellness.
Three women came into our Laguna Beach shop this week. One is in her twenties, dealing with cramps so intense, she cancels her life one week every month. Another has not had a regular period in six months. Her PCOS has left her feeling completely disconnected from her own body. And the third is waking up drenched in sweat at 3 a.m. every single night, wondering what the heck is happening to her.
Three different women. Three different decades. But the same question.
Why does it feel like my body is working against me?
Here is what I want you to hear before we go any further. It is not. Your body is not fighting you. Your hormones are signals, and right now they are overwhelmed and asking for support.
This is the conversation I wish someone had with me twenty years ago, because women's health has been misunderstood, dismissed, and undertreated for so long that most of us have just learned to push through it. Today we are talking about PMS, PCOS, and menopause.
What is actually happening in your body, what is driving it, and what genuinely helps. This comes from my own experience and from talking to women about this every single day at the shop.
[2:45] A Mother's Ayurvedic Remedy
[VIDYA]: When I was a teenager, my cramps were so bad I would end up curled up on the bathroom floor thinking something was seriously wrong.
But my Amma, my mom, did not treat it like something was broken.
She warmed sesame oil with ajwain and ginger, massaged my lower belly and my feet, and then made me this simple tea. Cumin, coriander, fennel, simmered slowly with a little jaggery. She would say it helps calm downward energy and settle digestion. What that really means is it relaxes the spasms and settles your nervous system.
But what stayed with me was not just the remedy.
She never once made it seem like my body was the problem. She treated it simply like something that needed support.
That shift matters. Because whether you are dealing with PMS, PCOS, or menopause, the approach does not really change. You stop fighting your body and you start paying attention to what it is trying to tell you.
That is also what eventually led me to open Tea and Turmeric. And everything I am sharing today comes from both that traditional wisdom and what the research now confirms.
[4:17] PMS: The Luteal Phase Crash
[VIDYA]: Let's start with PMS. Premenstrual syndrome.
The mood swings that come out of nowhere. The bloating that makes your jeans feel tight overnight. The fatigue, the headaches, the cramps that make you want to cancel everything.
Up to 75 percent of women experience this. So if you've ever felt like a completely different person that week, you are not imagining it.
Here's what's happening. As you move toward your period, estrogen and progesterone drop. But it is not just the drop. It is the sudden loss of progesterone's calming effect on the brain. Progesterone supports two of your brain's most important feel-good systems. GABA, which is your natural calm-down signal, the thing that tells your nervous system it is safe to relax. And serotonin, which regulates your mood, your sleep, and how you handle stress. When progesterone drops suddenly, both of those systems take a hit at the same time. Your brain is essentially going through a withdrawal. That is why everything feels more intense. That is why you feel like a different person that week.
And the cramps come from prostaglandins. These are inflammatory compounds your body releases as the uterine lining breaks down, and they cause your uterus to contract. The higher the inflammation in your system, the more painful those contractions. Some women are dealing with pain that rivals early labor contractions. So if you have ever been told you are overreacting, you are not.
The goal is not to shut your body down. It is to reduce the intensity.
[6:18] The Herbs Behind Our PMS Tea
[VIDYA]: This is where plants have been doing this work for thousands of years. Cramp bark relaxes the uterine muscles directly. Chamomile calms both the inflammation and the nervous system. Vitex berries work gradually to regulate your cycle and support hormone balance over time. Spearmint helps with the hormonal fluctuations. Nettle is deeply nourishing for a body that is losing blood every month. And red clover, pau d'arco, and strawberry leaf are all in there supporting the whole picture. These are the exact herbs I put into our PMS and Menstrual Support Herbal Tea, and every single one is in there for a reason.
I'll tell you something that really stayed with me.
Earlier this year we ran out of our PMS tea for a few months. I had women coming into the shop genuinely upset. One of them looked at me and said, no, you do not understand, I need this tea.
That is when it really hit me. This is not just tea for people. It is part of how they get through their cycle.
Here's how to best use our PMS tea. Start a few days before your period and continue through your cycle. And stop when your cycle stops. And do the double steep method. Steep your tea for five minutes in the morning, don't throw the leaves away, keep them and re-steep them again in the evening for ten minutes. That second cup, especially at night, is where a lot of the support really lands.
Sarah from Westminster told me: I used to dread that week. The mood swings were awful. Now it is like the sharp edges are gone. The cramps are actually manageable.
That shift, from dreading your own cycle to just moving through it, that is what we are after.
[8:40] PCOS: The Metabolic Puzzle
[VIDYA]: Now let's talk about PCOS, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
This one feels different because it is not about a rough week. It is when your cycle becomes unpredictable or disappears altogether.
If your periods are coming every 40 or 50 days, or not at all. If weight feels hard to lose, especially around your middle. If you are dealing with acne or excess hair growth. Or just a constant sense that something is off. This might be what you are dealing with.
About one in ten women of reproductive age experience PCOS.
At the root of it is insulin resistance. Your cells are not responding properly to insulin, so your body produces more of it. That excess insulin signals your ovaries to produce more androgens. Those elevated hormones disrupt ovulation and throw your cycle off.
So this is not just a hormone issue. It is also metabolic.
[9:49] The Herbs Behind Our PCOS Tea
[VIDYA]: The encouraging part is that this can improve.
Spearmint has been shown to reduce androgen levels when used consistently. One study found a significant drop in free testosterone after just 30 days. Cinnamon helps improve insulin sensitivity and supports more regular cycles. Ashwagandha is in there because cortisol and insulin resistance are deeply connected. Fenugreek helps with blood sugar balance. Chasteberry supports cycle regulation. Tulsi for your adrenals. And nettle, flax seed, licorice, St. John's wort, and green tea are all working together to support the whole metabolic picture. That is our PCOS Support Tea.
Best way to use this tea: same double steep here too. Morning and evening for steady support throughout the day.
But I am always honest about teas. Tea is one piece of a bigger picture. Strength training helps a lot with insulin sensitivity. Eating in a way that keeps your blood sugar stable matters. And working with your doctor is important, because PCOS sometimes needs support beyond what herbs can provide.
I am not going to tell you tea fixes everything. But as part of your toolkit, it helps.
Your body is not broken. It is responding to what is happening internally. And when you shift that, things can change.
[11:27] Menopause: The Great Transition
[VIDYA]: Now let's talk about menopause, and everything leading up to it.
Here is something that does not get said enough. Perimenopause, the years before menopause, can actually be the hardest stretch. Because your hormones are not declining steadily. They are fluctuating wildly. One month you feel fine. The next, everything feels off.
Hot flashes are the symptom most people know. But if you have had them, you know they are not just feeling a bit warm. We are talking intense waves of heat radiating through your whole body. Sweating through your clothes in the middle of a meeting. Waking up at 3 a.m. completely drenched, sometimes more than once a night.
But the hot flashes are only the most visible part.
There is also the sleep disruption, the mood shifts, the anxiety, the brain fog that makes you lose words mid-sentence, the joint pain, and that strange feeling of not quite recognizing yourself anymore.
Estrogen and progesterone affect far more than your cycle. They regulate your body temperature, protect your bones, influence your mood, and shape almost every neurotransmitter system in your brain. When they shift, everything shifts with them.
[12:58] The Herbs Behind Our Meno-Pause Tea
[VIDYA]: There are herbs that have been used for centuries to support women through exactly this.
Shatavari is at the heart of this blend. It has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years specifically for this phase of life. Ashwagandha helps regulate the stress response, which is closely tied to how intense the hot flashes are. Red clover provides gentle phytoestrogen support as your own estrogen declines. St. John's wort for mood. Ginkgo biloba and brahmi for the brain fog. That is our Meno-Pause Tea.
It's best to take this tea morning and evening, same as always. And that evening cup matters most. It is what supports sleep and those middle of the night wake-ups.
Theresa from Anaheim told me: for months I was waking up drenched at 3 a.m. Not sleeping was affecting everything. I started the tea morning and evening like you said. I finally slept through the night. I felt like myself again.
That is what we are after. Not perfection. Just feeling like yourself again.
Menopause is not a disease. It is a natural transition. But that does not mean you have to suffer through it. You deserve to move through this with some grace and some ease.
[14:35] The Thread That Connects It All
[VIDYA]: Across all of this, PMS, PCOS, menopause, there is a common thread.
You stop feeling like yourself. That aliveness, that sense of being comfortable and present in your own body, it dims. Fatigue takes it. Stress takes it. Hormonal shifts take it.
And that loss ripples into everything else. How you show up for the people you love. How you feel about yourself. How present you can actually be in your own life.
That is why we created Her Sensuali-Tea. Not as a fix. As a ritual. A few minutes to slow down and remember that feeling good in your body is not a luxury. It is the foundation of everything else.
[15:28] Simple Ways to Support Your Hormones
[VIDYA]: Hormonal health is not about forcing your body to behave. It is about paying attention and giving it the support it needs.
If you want to try the teas we talked about today, you can find all of them at teaandturmeric.com. And yes, the PMS tea is back in stock. So if you have been waiting, now is the time.
For this week, keep it simple. Pick whichever tea speaks to where you are right now. Do the double steep, morning and evening. And give yourself a few minutes without multitasking. Not productive time. Just yours.
You deserve to feel steady in your own body.
Thank you for being here. I'm Vidya, and this is The Tea on Wellness.
About the Host
Vidya is the host of The Tea on Wellness Podcast, ranked in the top 25% of new podcasts globally. She is co-founder and owner of Tea & Turmeric, a tea and spice shop in Laguna Beach, Orange County, California. Raised in Eastern Canada in an Indian family rooted in Ayurveda, she grew up drinking masala chai daily in her Amma Amma's kitchen long before sourcing loose-leaf herbs for her own shop. Today, Vidya formulates functional herbal teas and spice blends and speaks with customers every day about stress, sleep, digestion, and nervous system support. She shares Ayurvedic tea traditions, adaptogens, and practical wellness rituals bi-weekly on The Tea on Wellness Podcast.
Resources & Links
Shop the Episode: PMS Tea, PCOS Tea, Meno-Pause Tea
Visit Us: 1175 S Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA
Shop Online: teaandturmeric.com
Instagram: @teanturmeric
Email: hello@teaandturmeric.com
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
Disclaimer
This guide is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any wellness program, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, have existing health conditions, or are taking medications. Individual results may vary.
Episode Length: 17:25
Category: Alternative Health, Women's Health, Hormonal Health, PMS, PCOS, Menopause, Herbal Tea, Ayurveda, Orange County
Publish Date: Sept, 24th, 2026
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
