You can do more than just use the right period products to make that time of the month more comfortable. Period pains can be made easier when you eat the right foods too.
Here’s our list of 9 foods that’ll help soothe your stomach during your time of the month to let you power through your period!
1. Dark Chocolate
Now you no longer need an excuse to indulge. Not only does dark chocolate satisfy your sweet tooth during your period, but it’s high in potassium which helps your muscles to function, ideal for when those cramps come!
2. Peanut Butter
When that sudden hunger strikes, peanut butter is the perfect solution for snacking. Just a couple of tablespoons will fill you up with protein, healthy fats and fibre. Plus, peanut butter is full of vitamin e which helps with cramping and inflammation.
3. Eggs
Whether you like them scrambled or sunny-side up, eggs are a great way to fight PMS. Vitamin D, B6 and E have been proven to help reduce the symptoms of the cycle, and luckily, eggs are full of them!
4. Leafy Greens
There’s no better time to start on the health hype than before or during your period. Leafy green vegetables like kale and broccoli are packed with calcium which help to relieve muscle tension during cramping.
5. Ginger
It’s time to get drinking! Ginger kills two birds with one stone. It helps to relieve the inflammation and pain associated with period cramps, and is often used to soothe upset stomachs – a symptom many experience during this time of the month.
6. Pineapple
Manganese, copper, vitamin C, B1, B6… name it, it’s probably in it. The vitamins in pineapple help to relax your muscles, making a great solution for combatting menstrual cramps.
7. Bananas
Bananas might be the answer to calming down those menstrual cramps. Packed with potassium, they can help prevent muscle pains and fight that bloated feeling. It’s a win win in our eyes!
8. Salmon
If you’re still struggling with the cramps, try adding salmon into your meals. Just to name a few benefits, salmon is rich in fatty acids which helps with menstrual cramps, it’s a source of vitamin D which helps absorb calcium (a mineral that maintains muscle), and filled with B6 which may stop those moods from swinging.
9. Water
We’re advocates of staying hydrated anyway – water is essential for your body to function! But drinking even more water during this time of the month can help out with both the bloated belly and cramps.
If you’re not a fan of the taste, try infusing different fruits and herbs like lemon, strawberry, and mint, into your water.
Foods to avoid on your period
Some of our biggest food and drink vices can hinder how comfortable our periods are. While we don’t recommend indulging in these during your time of the month, everything is okay in moderation.
1. Coffee
Loading up on caffeine from the exhaustion of having a period can be tempting, but caffeine can cause water retention, bloating, and headaches, all of which are often present when you’re on your period anyway.
2. Alcohol
Can you drink alcohol on your period? Well, in short, consuming alcohol on your period can worsen headaches, cause bloating, and dehydrate you. It might also worsen headaches and cause digestive issues like diarrhoea, which we already know can be part of your period poos. Plus, who wants to be hungover AND menstruating?!
3. Sugar
We absolutely encourage you to eat chocolate and ice cream and whatever else will help you feel better on your period but be warned! Eating too much sugar can cause a spike in energy followed by a dreaded sugar crash. If you’re already mood swingin’, sugar overload will only worsen this.
4. Salt
Similar to caffeine, excess salt intake (for example eating processed foods) can cause water retention and uncomfortable bloating, which is likely to be happening during PMS and your period.
5. Spicy food
For those who can’t handle your spice, rejoice! You can be reassured knowing that avoiding spicy food will help avoid diarrhoea, stomach pain, and nausea. And to those who are heat fanatics, maybe save the challenges for another week.
6. Red meat
You might think that losing iron during our period means it can be made up for in consuming red meat, and in theory you’re right! But red meat also contains high levels of prostaglandins. Your body already produces prostaglandins during your period (uterus contraction and shedding of lining), but excess may result in cramps.
Other ways to help menstrual cramps
Your food consumption isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to menstrual cramps. You might follow the rules to a T and still get period pains. If this is the case, there are other methods that you can try:
- Switching some items for vegan food to help period pain
- These yoga positions to help ease period pain
- Try these tips for running on your period
- Natural pain relief to reduce cramps
Remember that your period pains should never stop you from doing daily activities. If you’re worried about them, be sure to check in with your OBGYN or doctor.
What helps ease your menstrual cramps? Let us know.
What about ramen?
Ramen packed with veggies and healthy fats might be helpful in getting you through!
Why do I swell my whole body when I take lemon juice even if I put just a little?
I don’t know
Could be an allergic reaction. I’d talk to a doctor.
I drink coffee to deal with the fatigue caused by blood loss.
Also, liver’s a good food to eat on your period because of the high iron count to replenish your blood cells.
Ice cream helps with some pain relief in mine and my mom’s experiences. You can eat popsicles if you can’t do dairy ice cream, it works just as well.
Great ideas, thanks so much!
-Don’t eat or drink anything cold if you have heavy menstruation cramps.
-Dont consume citrus acid
Here’s a tea that would help if you have period cramps: 1 whole Avocado seed, 1 1/2 cups of water , two cinnamon sticks, and 1 in of ginger
Yeah it helped so nice of you thnkx for the useful information
Great that you found it useful 🙂
Thanks you so much for your help
You’re very welcome! 😊
Can you use any other kind of chocolate? I’m not a big fan of dark chocolate..🤢
Well dark chocolate is ideal but I’ve found that milk chocolate works for me
Sometimes I also like to use white chocolate cause it helps me so… I think it depends on you.
you are so weird its delicious
This really helped me. Especially cause I’m 10 years old and I got my periods on 9 years old so I really don’t have that much knowledge about periods. Thank you for teaching me this!
We’re glad to help!
Thank so much
You’re welcome! 😊
Wow! This really works ! But I am a middle schooler , and I am wondering what would help with my cramps when I’m in class? I can’t focus on work , and they’re so bad , medicine doesn’t do jack!!! Help!!
Try asking your teacher if you can step out for a little while to walk around or lay down, depending on what helps you. So far all of my teachers have been good about it and have let me leave when I need to. If hot water bottles work for you then you could ask if the school has any that you could borrow, I believe most schools have some. If you don’t feel comfortable having a hot water bottle in class then you could slip in under a hoodie or sit with it outside of class if you are allowed to. Because what works best for me is having hot water running over my stomach, sometimes I take my water bottle and fill it from the hot tap in the bathroom and then carefully pour it over my tummy (while sitting on the toilet so it doesn’t make a mess). If the cramps are really really bad you should at least talk to an adult you trust like your mum or aunt, if you have them and maybe even talk to a health care provider, if you don’t have a family doctor there are a lot of places that do walk in clinics for teens. I know full well that having a conversation about your period can be really awkward, but it really does help to talk to people and it can also deepen your connection with them because it shows you trust them with personal stuff. I hope one of those suggestions helped, and remember, you are not alone in this, half the people on earth have or will have gone through what you are going through now.
Thanks so much have being going through pain every month after watching this tips i feel better than before
So glad to be able to help! Cramps can be so painful so every little helps
I also think yogurt also helps but I think this is really helpful ^^
Great shout Sammy, thanks! Will share with our team and see if it helps as well 🙂
Love it
😊
NICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE what about milk chocolate??
It helps too but dark chocolate is wayy better
Does coke help
Once i drank coke it really helped me
While we don’t have evidence to suggest it, fizzy drinks might help for you – finding what works for your body is the important thing!
Wow thanks so much
You’re welcome, hope it’s helpful for the future!
Thank you for telling us these things..i didnt even know about most of it.
Happy to help!
Ginger causes my flow to be heavier. Pineapple and lemon or anything sour aggravates my cramps, but the rest of the foods are truly helpful for me.
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing, will do some experimenting with sour vs. non-sour foods!
Thanks for the information. I really found it useful
You’re welcome!
Thanks
👍
Yeah I like it 👍
🙌
🥳🥳🥳
so if chocolate and peanut butter are good does that mean i can eat reese’s cups?
OMG THANK YOU!!!!!! I seriously JUST bought chocolate out of my school vending machine. This helped me soooo much!!!
My cousin started her period and she’s 12 and she has really bad cramps
I like your plan during periods . It’s actually good
I woke up super early because I couldn’t sleep, I had really bad cramps. And of course I wanted to get rid of them soon as possible. I saw this and tried the dark chocolate. My cramps got a lot better.
Good ideas
Thank yuuu
Im 11, just got mine yesterday and i showed this to my dad because my mom is in court for a hearing about drugs, and he went to the store and came back and said “The period fairy told me that M&M’s help.” and he got the peanut and peanut butter ones!!! Thanks so much for the foods. So far I haven’t had very many cramps thanks to you and my dad!!
i think that this advice is helpful and makes me feel encouraged not to feel scared if i do get any cramps
Don’t be scared! Cramps can be unpleasant and uncomfortable, but they shouldn’t be scary. Glad we could help you, even a little 🙂
I find milk chocolate to be really soothing to my cramps, but my question why do you get so weak and pale on your period?
We love all kinds of chocolate on our period too! Some people can be slightly anemic (lack of iron in your blood) when on their period – the common symptoms of this is paleness and feeling tired or weak. Eating lots of leafy greens the week before your due on can really help, or iron supplements too.