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Here are the 10 most common and potentially high-impact changes to try if
you want to improve your menstrual symptoms.
Each woman will have a different experience, so take notes about what you
discover about your unique body!
Rather than overhauling everything at once, try making one or two small
changes for a few weeks and seeing if they make any difference to the
menstrual and premenstrual symptoms you normally experience.
If the changes help, great! If nothing happens… well, there’s always next
month to try something else. And the silver lining? These nutrition strategies
can all boost overall health regardless.
o Using an app.
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Some women can eat everything just fine, with minimal menstrual
symptoms. Other women find that some foods — or food types — are
triggers for things like migraines and cramps.
Some of the most common ones our GGS community members report
include:
o Dairy intolerance.1,2,3,4
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None of these foods are “bad” — in fact, for some people, they may
be “good”. (For instance, dairy is often linked to fewer cramps,
because of its calcium and magnesium content.10)
Of course, if you’re doing this for the benefit of your own health, you
can use the same approach.
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When women don’t eat enough calories to support their needs, they may
have irregular periods or lose their period altogether, as the body protects
itself from potential famine. While many athletic women might appreciate
a break from having their periods, the long-term effects of this can harm
hormonal health and recovery.11,12,13,14
Try a few extra bites: Throughout the second half of your cycle, eat an
extra 3–5 bites more than you normally would at each of your main meals.
During this luteal phase, your calorie needs go up as your body uses extra
energy to build the uterine lining.
These few extra bites can support this process — while also preventing
you from getting overly hungry (which can lead to “snaccidents” or eating
a bunch of processed foods you weren’t planning on eating). If you’re a
coach, you can encourage your clients to try this and see if it helps!
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o Beans and legumes (such as split peas, lentils, kidney beans, and
chickpeas)
o Starchy tubers (such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yuca, and cassava)
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Adequate protein also gives your brain the raw materials for neurotrans-
mitters (aka brain chemicals) that can help balance mood.15
If you or your client are a plant-based eater, you may have to get a bit more
creative to ensure adequate protein intake.
Protein = Palm
Protein = Palm
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Minimally processed foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, contain all
kinds of wonderful vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients,
like phytonutrients (aka plant nutrients), that can help lower inflammation
and give your body all that it needs to support healthy menstruation.
o Eggs
o Whole grains
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Fresh & frozen meat Canned meat/fish Deli meats Frozen dinners
Fresh & frozen seafood Canned vegetables Canned soups Frozen pizza
Eggs Frozen produce Instant noodles Cereals
Pre-cut produce Plain milk/yogurt Breads/pastas Pastries
Bagged greens Natural nut butters Crackers/chips Candy
Roasted nuts & seeds Dried fruit/jerky Protein bars/shakes Fruit snacks
Dried beans, rice Soft drinks
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Maybe it’s the tacos you usually have on Tuesdays or the pizza you order
on Saturdays.
o Replace some of the queso dip you usually use with a dollop or two
of plain Greek yogurt.
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o Olive oil
o Avocado
Getting enough fiber helps us feel full (thus helping decrease food
cravings). It feeds our good gut bacteria and helps digestion, which can be
tricky at certain times in the menstrual cycle. Fiber can bind to hormones
and excrete them, which is helpful for regulating hormone levels (and
preventing constipation).
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When our friendly gut bacteria eat and ferment the fiber in healthy carbo-
hydrates, they produce a special type of fatty acids called short-chain fatty
acids. These can also help lower inflammation, manage our mood, and
potentially even help protect us against the progression of conditions like
endometriosis.23,24,25,26,27,28
How much is enough? For women before menopause, the USDA’s Dietary
Guidelines for Americans suggest 25–28 grams of fiber per day.29
Look for ways to “nudge” fiber intake up by making some small substitu-
tions or “upgrades” to an existing diet.
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Building off this idea, you could take the revised sample day of eating and
make it even more fiber-rich (and nutritious) with the following tweaks:
o For breakfast: Sprinkle hemp, flax, or chia seeds plus some chopped
almonds on the oatmeal. Raspberries or some chopped figs (dried or
fresh) would provide even more fiber as well.
o For lunch: Add spinach and avocado to the sandwich wrap.
o For dinner: Add chopped bell peppers and onions to the pasta sauce.
Of course, you could go a step further and increase the nutritional quality
of this menu by adding even more protein, fruits, and vegetables.
The point here is that you can significantly improve fiber intake even with
small adjustments.
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Drinking plenty of water throughout the cycle, and especially during the
luteal phase, can actually help ease symptoms like fluid retention and
constipation. This, in turn, can help beat the bloat.
Habit stacking: Try linking a newer habit (e.g., drinking more water)
with an existing habit (e.g., brushing your teeth). Practice having a glass of
water every time you brush your teeth.
Many women might also use alcohol to manage the symptoms of the pre-
menstrual phase, such as feeling overwhelmed or anxious. Unfortunately,
this tends to have a rebound effect, and you’ll often end up feeling worse.31,32
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Similarly, if you typically drink two glasses of wine in the evening, see if
one glass is enough to satisfy. Or, create a lower-alcohol spritzer with a
couple of ounces of wine plus ice, citrus, and sparkling water.
If you’re eating the types of foods listed earlier, you’ll be making great
progress toward meeting most of your nutrition needs for the nutrients
listed here.
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B VITAMINS
B vitamins like thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), and B12 can help
decrease symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and help support
women who have heavier bleeds during their periods.33,34,35
MAGNESIUM
Magnesium may help level out mood and decrease cramping, as magne-
sium is involved in helping to relax muscles.
Low magnesium is linked to worse PMS, and evidence suggests that getting
enough magnesium may help decrease painful periods as well as
menstrual-related migraines.34,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45
For women with PCOS, magnesium may be part of an overall nutrition plan
that helps lower insulin resistance and improve cycle regularity.46
Look for magnesium in leafy greens, beans and legumes, fish, nuts and
seeds, and tofu.
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IRON
Iron is especially important for women who have heavy bleeding, as well
as women who are endurance athletes, as losing blood from the period
along with the specific demands of endurance sports can mean low iron,
aka anemia.
Women who have a higher iron intake tend to have fewer premenstrual
symptoms, like depression, than women with lower iron.47
Grab that iron from lean dark meats and fish (e.g., tuna), leafy greens,
beans and legumes, and some nuts and seeds, like pumpkin seeds. Consid-
er cooking with cast iron pots and pans, or using something like the Lucky
Fish (a small iron nugget developed to increase iron content when it’s
cooked with foods).48
VITAMIN D
Higher levels of vitamin D are linked to fewer PMS symptoms, more regu-
lar cycles, and less pain with the cycles.49,50,51,52,53 In fact, research suggests
that taking a large dose of vitamin D during the luteal phase before the
period can dramatically reduce period pain.54,55,56
Few foods are high in vitamin D, but leaving mushrooms in the sun for a
few hours before eating them will boost their vitamin D content. (Fun fact:
Some types of lichen contain vitamin D, and are vegan sources.57)
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OMEGA-3S
Thanks to their effects on decreasing inflammation and opening up blood
vessels, omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA can help decrease inflam-
mation and pain like cramps, breast pain, and back pain.34,58
Fatty cold water fish are your friends here, along with many other types of
seafood.
Nuts and seeds like walnuts, flax, and chia also contain omega-3s, but
they’re in a chemical form (ALA) that we don’t absorb readily — only about
10% of this form of omega-3 will be converted and used by our bodies (and
in some people, it hardly converts at all to the important EPA or DHA).59
Fish oil is the go-to omega-3 supplement for most people, along with krill oil.
If you’re a plant-based eater, there are algae-based supplements available.
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For example, if you’re craving salty, carb-y goodness, you could bake
up some “fries” or tater tots and include them in your meal as your
carb source alongside your protein and veggies. This can scratch
your itch for salty, starchy carbs and prevent you from diving into a
bag of chips after dinner — while also making your meal more satis-
fying, which results in less snacking between meals.
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