Your life is already pretty complicated because of the hectic work and complex family life. Why not make it easier on yourself and on your body by adopting a PMS diet to soothe all of those symptoms?
What is PMS anyway? It amounts to plenty of symptoms, including breast swelling and tenderness, bloating or water retention, headaches, irritability and moodiness, depression, and food cravings. So this is how PMS actually influences your diet: you want to have something sweet or fat when the mood swings hit.
You are also bombarded with food cravings which can override your healthy eating impulses. But there are foods you can choose in order to have relief from the bloating, your more emotional phases and the digestive changes you go through in your pre-menstrual phase. So here is the PMS diet we recommend wholeheartedly.
6 foods for a balanced PMS diet
1. Wine
Sounds almost too good to be true, right? But a glass of wine with dinner might help you with all your difficult symptoms. According to Chinese medicine, some wine might help your cramps dwindle and your mind be more relaxed. Wine – but in moderate quantities, don’t forget – can also help with your headaches.
2. Spinach
Thanks to spinach being rich in magnesium, it is a very important food for your PMS symptoms. The mineral helps lower your stress levels and keep you on a more balanced state of mind. If you’re not getting enough magnesium, you might suffer from migraine headaches and also feel exhausted most of the time. One cup of fresh spinach has 40 percent of your daily need for magnesium.
You can replace some spinach with lettuce if you’re not a fan.
3. Gingko Biloba
This herb can reduce the bloaty feeling you have related to your PMS states, according to a study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Some of the subjects took 40-milligram gingko tablets for two months during the last half of their menstrual cycle, while the other subjects were given placebos. The ones who took gingko reported that their PMS symptoms were about a fifth less severe compared to the other group.
The secret lies in the flavonoids found in gingko. Flavonoids reduce inflammation and increase blood flow.
4. Sweet potatoes
Mood swings and cravings during your PMS stage are related to a shortage of serotonin in your brain. This brain chemical contributes to well-being and happiness. So in order to boost its levels, you can do something instantly: eat some carbs. But these serotonin boosters should be eaten with no fat or protein. That’s where sweet potatoes come in. Try some mashed sweet potatoes for an almost instant mood recovery!
5. Milk
Calcium can reduce muscle spasms and soothe tension, so drink a glass of warm milk before going to bed. It will help relieve insomnia and anxiety which are often associated with PMS. According to a 2005 study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, women who drank four or more servings of milk per day had a 46 percent lower risk of PMS symptoms than the ones who only had one serving or 1 cup of milk.
6. Bananas
Another food which can help with your errant sleep patterns is bananas. Experts at Johns Hopkins University found that women who slept too little during their pre-menstrual time were more susceptible to pain. Bananas help you sleep sounder thanks to the melatonin they contain. This is a sleep-aid hormone which is secreted at night and helps your natural sleep rhythm stay the course.
