Being on your period can be draining, tiresome, and often frustrating. So why not support yourself throughout it? Your menstrual cycle is split up into four phases and you can eat different food to support your body throughout each one!
Here’s a bit of information on the foods that can support you throughout each phase to get you started…
Menstrual Phase
This is the first day of your period and, depending on your body, will last between three and seven days. During this time, as you probably already know, you might feel tired, drained, stressed, and a bit rubbish. While you might want a hot water bottle to ease those pesky cramps, you can also eat some foods that will help soothe the discomfort too.
During this part of your cycle try eating rich soothing foods like broths, stews, and soups to remineralise your body and keep the uterus warm. You’ll also be losing iron during your period through menstrual bleeding so try and restore your body with the nutrients that it requires. You can do this by eating iron-rich foods and adding foods like dark berries, kale, broccoli, and bell peppers to help increase the absorption of iron.
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Some other foods to add during this phase include mushrooms, dark chocolate (yay!), cucumber, cranberries, grapes, and kidney beans for various reasons that will also help to support your body during your period. Fancy making some dark chocolate brownies?
Follicular Phase
When you’re finishing your period you enter the Follicular Phase. This generally lasts between seven and ten days but depends on your body and cycle length. You might start to feel happier and more energised during this phase though so you’ll just want to eat foods that support this energy! This can include cherries, sourdough bread, avocado, fish, green vegetables, nuts and seeds, and plums.
Your osetrogen levels rise during this phase so it’s important to feed your follicles and eat higher fat and fresh foods.
Ovulation Phase
Your Ovulation Phase only lasts around three days and is when your oestrogen levels are at their highest, and you are most fertile.
During this phase eating anti-inflammatory, raw, cleansing foods that are rich in fibre will help to eliminate metabolised oestrogen. Some of these foods include raw vegetables like bell peppers, tomatoes, and spinach. Other foods like pistachios, salmon, mango, raspberries, quinoa, chives, cucumbers, and almonds are also good! Why not make a quinoa salad? Or have some nuts as a snack?
Luteal Phase
Lastly, you have your Luteal Phase which can last up to around two weeks, depending on your cycle.
Here your hormone levels will rise and you might notice some Premenstrual Symptoms like hormonal mood swings and fatigue. Your metabolism speeds up during this phase so you might also find that you have more cravings and an increased appetite.
This is why you want to try and eat foods that help eliminate PMS symptoms and make sure you’re giving your body what it needs! Foods rich in Vitamin C and calcium are good for this phase. Roasted vegetables, apples, bananas, cinnamon, chicken, garlic, peaches, and sweet potatoes can be good too.
After this phase, the cycle starts again!
So if you’re on your period, struggling with PMS or just fancy supporting your body throughout your cycle then give this a go! You don’t have to make big changes. Ease yourself into adding the odd fruit into each cycle and start supporting your body when it needs it most!
Check out EmpowerPeriods on Instagram for more information on the Menstrual Phases and how to cope with them.
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