Several things can affect your period. Along with smoking, excessive exercise, stress, and many other factors, diet can affect your period also.
Generally, a change in diet can have effects in your period. Both eating too much and too little can have an impact on the body. If you are trying out a new diet and not following it properly it can cause an irregular period.
If you gain weight suddenly or lose a lot of weight, it can also have an impact on your period. It is important to know how diet can affect your period and what can you do about it so you can make positive changes in your diet plan.
What To Eat For Healthy Periods?
There are several things you can do that can help make the health of your body better and have a positive effect on your periods.
There are some foods that you can add to your diet plan which can make sure that your period goes smoothly. A period diet plan is very important to have and you need sufficient knowledge of what foods are healthy for your periods to plan that diet plan.
1. Sleep Well
Sleep is very crucial. During periods your body is very tired and it needs proper rest. The hormone level in your body rises and uterine lining sheds. If you sleep properly you are providing your body with the extra energy it needs to get the work done.
You need to maintain an eight-hour sleep for the proper regulation of your body. Sleeping properly helps a lot with your periods.
2. Get More Calcium
Calcium is a very important element in the body of a woman. You should have a healthy supply of calcium in your body. Deficiency in calcium can cause hormonal imbalance and painful cramping.
You can get calcium in various supplement forms. But natural food sources are the best. You can add some dairy products in your daily diet to get more calcium.
Foods like milk, cheese, Soya beans, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and others are a very good source of calcium. It is best to keep dairy food consumption limited to your body.
3. Get More Iron
Iron is very essential for our body. Women lose iron every month because of their periods. If you are feeling tired and you look pale the reason can be iron deficiency.
To combat this problem, you can try eating more foods that have a sufficient amount of iron in them. Seafood, lentils, baked potatoes, dark green leafy vegetables, are very good sources of iron.
You can add them to your diet plan to get sufficient iron. Make sure that your diet is balanced and healthy.
4. Get More Protein
Protein is one of the most essential nutrients for our bodies. For a woman, it is more important and it provides essential energy to their bodies. Protein is available in various kinds of foods and it is a good idea to add them to your diet plan.
One of the best sources of protein is lean meats. You can get them in beef, lamb, and other animal meats. You can also get proteins in various seafood like prawns, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, and other sources.
Protein helps you with your period and gives your body the energy to go through it smoothly.
5. Get more Vitamin E
Vitamin E is very important for your periods. It can positively impact your period. It is a nutrient that you must include in your diet plan.
There are many foods from which you can get vitamin E. Some of them are nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables. Nuts like almonds and hazelnuts are rich in vitamin E and are a healthy source of this nutrient.
6. Proper Hydration
A woman loses a lot of blood during their period. It is important to drink water regularly to keep the balance. Many experts recommend drinking 8 glasses of water every day.
There are other ways to fill that quota of water by eating steamy steamed vegetables, smoothies, and soups. Keeping yourself properly hydrated would result in much healthier periods.
7. Get more Magnesium
Magnesium is also very important for regulating a healthy period in women. Magnesium has other benefits for our bodies as well.
Some of the food sources where you can find magnesium are pumpkin seeds, almonds, spinach, cashew nuts, and also peanuts. Eat them in appropriate amounts for the proper growth of your body and a healthy period.
What You Should Not Do For A Healthy Period?
There are many things that you can stay away from to make your period better and smooth. These activities are listed below.
1. Avoid eating too much sugar
Sugar not only is the result of gaining weight quickly. It can also increase the blood sugar level in your body. If are thinking can sugar affect menstruation, then the answer is it definitely can do that.
If your blood sugar level goes up then the symptoms of your periods can be very severe.
2. Avoid Caffeine
Caffeine can deprive you of sleep. Sleep deprivation is one of the causes of PMS symptoms. It is best to avoid caffeine intake just before going to bed. It is better to limit the consumption of caffeine throughout the day.
3. Smoking
Smoking has many side effects. One of them is making your menstrual cycle horrible. It can cause many abnormalities during your periods.
It is best if you can quit smoking completely. The next best thing would be to at least limit the number of cigarettes that you consume every day.
4. Alcohol
Alcohol is very bad for your periods and can make your PMS symptoms worse. It is best if you can completely refrain from any kind of alcohol indulgence.
If it is not possible to fully avoid alcohol then you should make sure you are consuming alcohol in a moderate amount for the sake of your health.
Diet can affect your period and it is now up to the choices you make which would decide if it would impact positively or negatively.
Related: How Diet Affects Sleep: The Connection Between Them
