Cramps, headaches, and nausea are common symptoms a woman may feel during her period. While particular food can help relieve these symptoms, other food might exacerbate them. So, what should you eat during your period? In this article, find out what foods can relieve bloating, swelling, mood swings, and other period symptoms. You can also learn about what food to avoid while on your period.
Foods to Eat During Your Period
If you’re experiencing uncomfortable period symptoms, these healthy food options should relieve your pain:
Dark Chocolate
Chocolate can make absolutely any situation more manageable. It’s one of the most popular “comfort foods” that women can eat during their periods — and with good reason. Chocolate is loaded with antioxidants and magnesium, which not only help with sensitive skin but can also improve your blood sugar levels, heart health, and inflammation.
Do you experience migraines when on your period? Migraines and nausea are symptoms that you may feel when you’re on your period. The thing about migraines is that they can mess with your daily productivity and set you back weeks with work.
The magnesium in dark chocolate can help relieve the discomfort you feel, as long as you consume reasonable amounts of it. Eating too much dark chocolate can heald to more headaches, indigestion, and heartburn.
Citrus
Do you experience fatigue and nausea when you’re on your period? Citrus fruits like oranges, limes, and lemons are great for treating vomiting and tiredness during periods. They can also help improve mood swings and bloating — two other symptoms that are commonly felt during periods.
When eating or drinking citrus fruits and other products, it’s important to practice moderation as well. Eating too much can irritate your stomach and cause hyperacidity.
Chamomile
The amount of rejuvenating sleep you get each night can influence the amount of pain you feel when you’re on your period. Studies show that women who get less sleep are more likely to feel cramps and fatigue while on their period.
Chamomile tea is great for period cramps and fatigue. It helps improve sleep and relaxation, saving you from a day of fatigue and pain. Nevertheless, further studies are still to be conducted on the subject. It’s best to drink chamomile tea in controlled amounts until they find concrete evidence on how it can help period cramps.
Watermelon
Who doesn’t love a sweet slice of watermelon? Apart from being a lovely alternative to sugary treats, watermelon is packed with vitamins that can help prevent bloating. They also have a high water content that helps keep your body hydrated throughout the day.
Dehydration is a huge factor that contributes to bloating and inflammation. Keeping your body hydrated won’t only prevent these symptoms from developing but it’ll also give you more energy to handle the challenges of the day.
Foods to Avoid During Your Period
During your period, your body undergoes rapid hormonal changes while simultaneously losing blood. Making sure that your body gets the nourishment it needs to help you stay in tip-top shape is important. Otherwise, you might develop unwanted symptoms and conditions that could put your health and life at risk.
Besides eating healthy, you should also proactively avoid eating food that can exacerbate your menstrual symptoms. This includes the following:
Junk Food
They’re called “junk” food for a reason — they don’t technically carry any nutrients that your body needs. Junk food is notoriously packed with sodium and saturated fats that can be perilous to your health.
Undeniably, eating junk food can feel extremely gratifying and comforting. So, we understand why most people can’t avoid snacking on a bag of Lays or a sleeve of Oreos during their periods. Unfortunately, this soothing effect only lasts for a short while. Once the sugar and sodium have run their course, the cramps, bloating, and migraines will come back — sometimes with double the fury.
Avoid snacking too much when you’re on your period.
Spicy Food
Your gut can only handle so much when you’re on your period. If you hit it with a few shots of chilies — or anything spicy for that matter — it can lead to horrendous effects on your tummy. Ulcers and increased abdominal pain are some of the symptoms that you can expect after eating spicy food during your period.
Chilies stimulate your body’s sympathetic nervous system. In turn, this can cause changes in your uterine blood flow, pushing your periods further. So, instead of your periods lasting three to seven days, some might experience them going as long as nine days — which is a lot of period underwear to go through.
If you love spicy food and can’t bring yourself to avoid them for a couple of days, try to look for safer alternatives that won’t cause as much discomfort. For instance, fennel, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger are ingredients that have been found to help relieve several menstrual symptoms.
The Bottom Line
Food can influence the symptoms you feel during your period. It can help relieve some of it but can also cause adverse effects.
The key here is to practice moderation with the food you choose to consume. You don’t want to overindulge your cravings; however, you shouldn’t allow yourself to feel deprived.