Superfoods to Help you Manage Your Monthly Menstruation

Every month it’s the same thing.  You’re bloated, tired, cranky, fighting cravings, and trying to get rid of headaches.  You wish you could be like your friend or your sister, who seems to just breeze right through her cycle with little or no problem. Take a look at your diet and see if these superfoods are a part of it.  If they’re not, they can easily become a part of a well-balanced healthy diet that might just make your cycles to come simple to manage.

Bananas have long been well known as nature’s ‘perfect food.’ They’re loaded with potassium, zinc, iron, folic acid, calcium, B6 and soluble fiber. They’re good for digestion, menstrual difficulties and essential for athletes because they can quickly replace what your body loses during your cycle or when you’re exercising frequently. And, if you suffer from diarrhea during your monthly cycle, they are the idea treatment when eaten in conjunction with apples, rice and dry toast – more commonly known as the BRAT treatment.

Bee pollen has been popularized by famous athletes who take it regularly for strength and endurance. It has been used successfully to treat a variety of ailments including allergies, asthma, menstrual irregularities, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, low energy, cancer, rheumatism, arthritis and toxic conditions. It can, however, provoke allergic reactions in those who are taking it for the first time, so it’s important to start with small amounts and slowly build up to a teaspoon or so per day.  Bee pollen can be taken in powder, capsule or tablet form—or in raw unprocessed honey mixed with cereal or spread on toast.

Make sure you’re getting plenty of iron-rich foods in your diet. Leafy green vegetables, beans, shellfish, red meat, poultry, soy foods are great choices.  Try teaming these with citrus foods containing vitamin C, which will promote iron absorption.  Steer clear of alcohol, caffeinated beverages, or salty foods, and as always, make sure you choose unsaturated fats.  These will only exacerbate that bloated feeling you suffer through each month.  

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