10 Worst Foods With Menstruation
Most women suffer uncomfortable symptoms like nausea, pain, inconsistent digestion, headaches, painful bloating, and cramping when having periods. While your body is persevering that ruthless war from the uterus, you may crave for different foods. However, in addition to taking Midol, peppermint tea and applying heat, there are certain foods that you should avoid to help ease the cramping pain.
While some women struggle to step out of their bed during that time of the month when their uterus is waging painfully, others don’t notice any symptoms; they live a normal life. Some of the symptoms are initiated by the food you eat. Following are the worst foods to take during menstruation.
- Spicy Foods
If you are already struggling with awful cramps, mood swings, instability and fatigue, then adding spiced meals to your diet can worsen the situation. This increases bloating and gas in your stomach which adds to the list of your ailments. And if you can’t give up these spicy things, you can substitute them with organic and natural spices. Moreover, research suggests that fresh fennel, turmeric, and cinnamon helps in battling those common symptoms of PMS.
All those organic spices have ant-hypertensive, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. If your stomach doesn’t tolerate the spicy foods on regular days, don’t try them on your periods.
- Alcohol
Why is it important to eliminate alcoholic drinks during the 5-7 days of your monthly period? During this time, you lose a lot of blood which makes you vulnerable to the side effects of alcohol. Although alcohol beverages may temporarily minimize the cramp pains, there are several adverse effects in the end. It can result in increased and irregular oestrogen in your body as well as worsening the period symptoms. It aggravates and fatigue.
- Processed foods
Those canned foods, papad, canned soups, pickles, bacon, fast foods, frozen foods, and heavily processed meat contain unknown ingredients, preservatives and chemicals. This increases water retention and worsens bloating. They also have high levels of sodium that are ordinarily unhealthy and can amplify your discomfort as well as interfering with the hormones.
- Caffeinated drinks
Coffee is one of the significant beverages you should avoid during menstruation because it causes your heart rate and blood pressure to increase, which leads to anxiety attacks and tension. This, in turn, worsens your PMS symptoms. Caffeinated drinks lead to bloating and water retention, but if you are used to a few cups per day, don’t cut it off entirely because it can also cause headaches. Some people get diarrhoea during their periods, but one can reduce these digestive issues by reducing caffeine intake. Apart from keeping off things like soda, tea and coffee, you must also try to avoid the caffeine hidden sources like chocolate-and-coffee flavoured snacks, and vitamin-infused beverages.
- Fried Foods
Sometimes during your periods, you can’t help it but crave for doughnuts, French fries or pizza. This is fine, but fried foods are known to cause inflammation which leads to increased pain during menstruation, according to research done by the University of North Carolina, Department of Nutrition at Greensboro. To avoid those painful cramps, you must opt for a snack-free of grease. These fried foods can leave you struggling to get out of bed with severe PMS symptoms.
- Dairy
This might surprise you but eating cheese, cream and milk on your menstruation can worsen your cramp pains. They contain high levels of arachidonic acid, which triggers your period cramps to wage even more. Furthermore, dairy can lead to increased diarrhoea, gas and bloating, so play safe and avoid milk-based products during this time of the month.
- Fatty Foods
It has been proven from time to time that fatty foods are bad for health, and adding them to your diet during your period makes it even worse. Saturated fats disrupt hormones which makes you feel gassy and also cause cramp pain. During these five to seven days, your skin is usually susceptible, so making the wrong choice of foods can make your symptoms worse. It can cause it to be more dehydrated and dry. It would be best if you tried not to eat cream-based desserts, burgers and fatty meats.
- Refined Foods
Just like processed foods, refined grains have less nutrient content which causes them to interrupt your regular appetite control as well as blood sugar level. Refined foods contain simple carbohydrates and may have a ton of sugars, and you already know what sugary things can do to you during your menstruation. Besides, many refined foods have less nutritional value to your diet but if you are craving for a toast, then take whole grains. Avoid tortillas, cereals, pizza, bread, cookies, cakes, crackers, pasta, and rice as they cause constipation and bloating.
- Salty Foods
If your period leaves you looking bloated, you shouldn’t eat those salty things. During this period, your body is already storing fluids, and sodium, which means eating foods with high salt contents only leaves you more bloated and leads to more water retention. If you can’t avoid that salty deliciousness, then ensure you pair it with a cup of water and a natural diuretic food like ginger, lettuce, beets, parsley and asparagus. Chips, bacon, and canned soups are some of the salty foods to skip during your periods. They not only cause bloating but also make you feel gassy. Moreover, you can look for low-sodium alternatives which are also an effective way of keeping your stomach calm.
- Red Meat
Although red meat tastes delicious, it can make you stay awake the whole night struggling with cramp pain. Those ribs, steak and hamburgers make your menstrual cramps more intense. Often, red meat has high saturated fat which causes inflammation and in turn, leads to severe pains. You might think you are boosting your energy while you are worsening your situation simultaneously. You can substitute the red meat with oily fish which gives your body the healthy nutrients it needs.
Conclusion
The key to having calm menstruation is by staying away from all those foods in our list. Don’t make your five days unbearable with foods that you can easily avoid. Some of the foods you eat during periods are what contributes to the intensity of your cramp pains. If you take our advice your periods may leave you less fatigued, instability, mood swings with a flat stomach.