Does Your Period Make You Poop
These chemicals stimulate the smooth muscles in your uterus to help it contract and shed its lining each month. If your body produces more prostaglandins than it needs, theyll enter your bloodstream and have a similar effect on other smooth muscles in your body, like in your bowels. The result is more poop.
Foods You Dont Tolerate Well
This might seem obvious, but its worth emphasizing: If you have food sensitivities, avoid those foods, especially during your period.
If youre lactose intolerant, you might occasionally treat yourself to a milkshake, regardless. But during your period, its especially important to avoid the foods that can trigger issues in your body.
Eating these foods can cause nausea, constipation, or diarrhea, which will only add to your discomfort when youre having a painful period.
Eating and avoiding certain foods isnt the only action you can take to ease the symptoms of your period. Try these, too:
- Exercise. Some evidence suggests that exercise, such as light cardio and yoga, can reduce menstrual cramps.
- Hot compresses. Hot water bottles or microwaveable hot compresses can soothe pain in your abdomen and back.
- Over-the-counter medication. Ibuprofen and other OTC meds can reduce your cramps.
- Massages. Massaging your stomach or your back can reduce menstrual pain. In a small
What Not To Eat During Period Top 10 Foods To Avoid
Eating certain foods during menstruation can worsen the symptoms of your period. So you should know what not to eat during period to reduce the symptoms. Salty food can cause water retention and this results in bloating. Also, eating too much sugar can put you in a bad mood. These foods can cause indigestion and more period pain.
Some women experience harsh symptoms during their periods like nausea, fatigue, mood swings, and headaches. They also have cramps, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloating. Some women find it hard to get out of bed during their periods due to these awful symptoms.
Eating unhealthy foods during menstruation to comfort your hormones can make the symptoms worse. Your body needs nutrient-rich foods during this time to restore its strength. Healthy foods can ease the symptoms and help you regain your energy. Chicken, fish, fruit, and vegetables can help you feel better. Also, drinking enough water can reduce bloating and water retention.
So here is a list of foods that you should avoid during your period:
Don’t Miss: Period Cup You Can Have Sex With
Is It Ok To Eat More Before Your Period
It’s OK to eat more before your period, as long as you’re eating healthy snacks and well-balanced meals. Before your period, avoid unhealthy fats, refined sugars, and processed food, which can alter your hormones. Substitute candy bars with nuts, seeds, and fresh fruit, and add avocados, olive oil, grains, and fish to your diet.
What Are Symptoms Of A Period
Common signs that your period is approaching are: Youre breaking out. Acne is a common problem at this time of the month. Your breasts are sore or heavy. Youre tired but you cant sleep. You have cramps. Youre constipated or have diarrhea. Youre bloated and gassy. You have a headache. Youre having mood swings.
Also Check: I Got My First Period But Not My Second
Saturated Fats Are Not Your Friend
It’s been proven time and time again that saturated fats are mostly bad for your health. They’re especially bad during your period, causing inflammation in your body and making your period cramps worse, according to WRAL. Foods high in saturated fats include dairy, fatty meats, and coconut oil to name a few.
How Does Food Impact Menstruation
Filling up on the right foods can give a major boost to your energy, sex drive , appearance, and more.
On the flip side, eating the wrong foods can set you up for irregular periods, moodiness, skin woes, weight gain, and even extreme bouts of sleepiness. In other words, the food you eat can take your period from bearable and semi-manageable to unbearable and unbelievably frustrating .
So, what should you avoid, like the plague, during your monthly flow? To keep the icky symptoms of PMS down to a minimum, do your best to steer clear of the following:
Recommended Reading: I Have Period Cramps But No Period
Foods To Eat During Periods
Lets be honest- even without symptoms, periods arent easy on anyone. Sudden cravings are also often accompanied by an increase in hunger, and that should not be ignored. However, eating right can not only help you satiate your hunger and curb cravings but can also make you feel much better! Below is a list of foods to eat during your period.
Avoid: Foods Produced With Pesticides
SDI Productions/Getty Images
Buying organic foods as often as possible is ideal for both environmental and health reasons, not the least of which is that pesticides are proven hormone disruptors. This study explains that estrogenic pesticides found in common produce can increase estrogen in the bodyâwhich in turn is linked to heavier blood flow and debilitating cramps.
Read Also: Can A Woman Have A Period While Pregnant
Foods To Avoid During Periods
Sugar cravings will likely hit you during your period, but it is important to remember that refined sugars and processed food might worsen the symptoms of your period. While it is okay to give in to your cravings occasionally, dont make it a habit. Scroll down to find out which foods to avoid during your period.
A Closer Look At Estrogen
There may be a more fundamental approach. Rather than focusing on the prostaglandins themselves, it may help to look at the cellular factories that make them. Oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, lower the production of prostaglandins by slowing the growth of the uterus lining. As a result, 90% of women who take birth control pills experience reduced menstrual pain. However, diet changes may lead to similar results.
Estrogens are female sex hormones, a sort of hormonal fertilizer that makes the cells of the body grow. In every monthly menstrual cycle, the estrogen levels in a womans body rises and falls. These hormones are responsible for breast development at puberty, and each month they cause the lining of the uterus to thicken in anticipation of pregnancy.
Estrogen gradually rises as a womans period ends and falls again at the start of a new cycle. Then, for about two weeks, the hormone rises toward a peak and falls quickly around the time of ovulation. It rises again in the second half of the month and then falls just before the next period for a total of two rises and falls throughout the cycle. The uterus sheds its lining in a menstrual flow, accompanied by crampy pain.
Don’t Miss: Can You Still Be Pregnant After A Period
The Reason To Know What To Eat During Your Period
A proper diet and dinner as well are crucial during your period like normal days. Foods play a vital role in various actions in your body. Many foods are responsible to increase or decrease several issues during these days.
Eating the right foods during our period can do wonders from decreasing bloating to improving our mood and energy. But eating the wrong types of food and drink can make PMS symptoms, and leave you feeling more bloated, lethargic, and irritable.
Essential nutrients can make your period dates easy with less suffering. We may suffer much during these days for the lacking of proper nutrition.
In our busy days, we are not always able to pay concentration for our lunch. As we have time to make our dinner at home with our own choice, we can pay attention while we are preparing our dinner.
We can ensure the necessary nutrients for our body at our dinner time while we are having menstruation.
What Should We Not Do In Periods
Avoid Caffeine: Caffeine can also irritate your stomach and give you that achy, crampy, bloated feeling, so its best to limit your intake on your period. In addition to caffeine, its a good idea to avoid sweet and carbonated drinks that can also increase bloating. A good caffeine-free drink option is herbal tea.
Also Check: Can You Miss A Period On Birth Control
Salmon Or Other Oily Fish
A simple salmon salad or pasta is great to eat during your period, according to the experts.
One scientific studyfound that omega 3, found in Salmon, is effective in helping to ease breast pain.Whilst another study found that this fish oil iseffective in reducing period pain. It’s also a common natural remedy for PMS .
As Mina explains: Omega 3s found in Salmon are known to decrease inflammation which can help reduce the intensity of period pains. Additionally, iron rich fish such as salmon can help counteract your dip in iron levels experienced while menstruating.
Nurse Midwife Sarah Toler adds that the omega 3 in salmon can improve mood disorders pre-menstruation too:
If you experience depression or anxiety before or during your cycle, you may want to consider eating foods high in omega-3 like salmon, nuts, or flax seed oil, she says. Some research suggests omega-3 fatty acids might reduce anxiety and depression and increase our ability to focus.
Which Foods To Eat And Avoid During Your Period
Its hard to predict exactly how youll feel during your period. While some people barely have any symptoms, others struggle to get out of bed thanks to cramping, headaches, pain, and nausea. Today, Flo reveals the top foods to eat during your period to alleviate swelling, bloating, mood swings, and much more.
Don’t Miss: What Do You Take For Period Cramps
Kayawell Provide You A Best Facility Around You
Foods to Avoid During Period
on all Lab Tests & Packages
Best Offers
Summary
The days leading up to your period can be filled with uncomfortable symptoms such as fatigue, mood swings, breast tenderness, bloating, food cravings and constipation or diarrhea. You may also experience pain caused by the physical act of menstruation, including cramping, bloating and headache. Avoiding certain foods leading up to and during your period may help alleviate some of your discomfort. Here we are discussing the foods to avoid during period.
Instructions
/6never Eat These Foods During Periods
Many women suffer from unbearable cramps, heavy bleeding, discomfort and flatulence during their menstrual cycle. While some experts consider these effects as a normal part of the periodic cycle, others believe that excess of any of these symptoms can be an early sign of slackening reproductive health. But did you know, unbearable cramps or uneasiness is not always related to your health, rather these are a result of the unhealthy foods that you love indulging during this phase. Here are some common foods that can make your periods miserable and its time to strike them out!
Recommended Reading: How To Swim On Your Period
Is It Normal To Feel Extra Hungry Just Before Your Period Starts
Around three-quarters of all women experience pre-menstrual syndrome or PMS. For some women, this does not affect their daily life, but for others, it can be more disruptive.
Right before your period starts, your hormones go through a cyclical change as progesterone levels rise. This can cause bloating, increased hunger, headaches or mood fluctuations.
As your hormones go through this natural cycle, serotonin levels can fluctuate too, contributing to the typical mood swings and increased appetite that can occur right before your period.
This is all a perfectly normal part of your cycle!
Foods To Stock Up On Around Period Time
Since a womans body goes through so much during periods and throughout life, Dr. McClure encourages women to fuel up with good foods that are rich in antioxidants, iron and fiber. You also want to focus on getting key nutritional elements such as vitamin D and your omega-3s like salmon, flaxseed and tree nuts to naturally decrease inflammation.
According to Dr. McClure, start building up your iron levels a week or two before your cycle to increase your blood counts.
This is where a modest amount of lean red meat comes in as well as green, leafy vegetables everything from spinach to chard and broccoli, she says. If youre going down the bean route or if youre someone whos a vegetarian, lentils and beans actually have a good amount of iron in them. However some beans are known to increase inflammation, so you will want to cook them properly for instance, using a pressure cooker in order to get the good aspects of the beans without adding to the problem of inflammation. All of these foods are good for helping to restore your blood counts, Dr. McClure says.
Need ideas for other sweet treats during your period? Stock up on dark berries. Dr. McClure says blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries are great . Antioxidants are important because they help fight off free radicals which are linked to illnesses like diabetes and cancer. They can also be destructive if you have a high level of them in your body.
Also Check: What Is Spotting In A Period
Milk Chocolates Cravings And Menstruation
If women want to eat chocolate during menstruation, choose bitter chocolates. Doctors say no to milk chocolate. Because Milk Chocolates can make your stomach work worse.
Alternatively, when you take dark chocolate, it will help reduce your stomach cramps. Try Mogo moringa bars, one healthy super-nutritious bar. If you like to go all-natural, peanut chikki and sesame chikki can also add up flavors to your cravings.
Processed Foods That Contain Unknown Ingredients
As much as it pains me to say this, those cookies or frozen pizzas you love so much might only make your period feel worse. “Our bodies are already sensitive during this time. Introducing unknown substances into your digestive system is rarely a good idea, but certainly more discouraged during menstruation. Our bodies are already working overtime, it’s best not to add to this work when avoidable,” says Barton.
Also Check: When Does A Girl Start Her Period
What Causes The Pain
Before a period begins, the cells that form the lining of the uterus, also called endometrial cells, begin to break down during menstruation and release large amounts of inflammatory prostaglandins. These chemicals constrict the blood vessels in the uterus and make the muscle layer contract, causing painful cramps. Some of the prostaglandins enter the bloodstream, causing headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.2
Researchers have measured the number of prostaglandins produced by cells of the uterus and found that it is higher in women with menstrual pain than for women who have little or no pain. This helps explain why nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work for menstrual pain. Ibuprofen , naproxen , and other NSAIDs reduce the production of prostaglandins. NSAIDs have been found to decrease menstrual flow, which may reduce menstrual pain.
Things You Should Avoid
Salt and spicy food
Steer clear of fried food and readymade snacks including packaged food since they are rich in salt and sodium. Consumption of excess salt causes water retention that leads to bloating during your period, said Dr Patil. In fact, also avoid spicy food since it can upset your stomach and cause acid refluxes.
Coffee
Avoid drinks like coffee, energy drinks etc as they can cause headaches and constipation. It can also cause digestive problems, she said.
Alcohol
For more lifestyle news, follow us: Twitter: lifestyle_ie | : IE Lifestyle | Instagram: ie_lifestyleTWO IS ALWAYS BETTER |
Also Check: Signs My Period Is About To Start
Should You Take Supplements For Periods
This is a case-by-case scenario, Dr. McClure says. Some women are vitamin D deficient or maybe they dont generally eat well so they dont get a lot of their B-complex vitamins. In these cases, supplements can be helpful. There have been a few studies with women who tend to experience premenstrual mood disorders, and they found that vitamin B6 supplements can actually help a little bit. But theres still a lot of research that needs to be done about supplementation for periods, says Dr. McClure.
She adds that another thing thats currently being researched is if omega-3 supplements can help with cramping and the inflammatory aspects of periods.
Some of the studies have shown a benefit while others have shown no difference. A lot of research just needs to be done in that area. But overall, supplements could be helpful. I recommend that women discuss them with their healthcare providers.
And if youre trying to get pregnant, youll want to start taking a prenatal vitamin or folic acid supplement for at least a month prior to when youre planning to conceive.
Quite often, women dont realize that folic acid is important for decreasing certain birth defects that occur early after conception. So, any woman whos trying to get pregnant should stay on a prenatal or at least take a folic acid supplement daily for at least the first month leading up to when theyre trying to conceive.
Why Am I Craving Chocolate
Eating chocolate releases endorphins and serotonin, which regulate your mood and balance neuromediators, encouraging relaxation. After getting used to this positive reaction to chocolate, your body starts to crave it. It intensifies during your period because of hormonal shifts and the loss of blood and nutrients.
Consider swapping that chocolate bar with a serving of sliced fruit. If that doesnt seem realistic, then opt for dark chocolate with less sugar when you really want to indulge.
Recommended Reading: Does Birth Control Delay Your Period