Menstrual cramps (Dysmenorrhea) is the medical term used to refer to the painful cramps that some women experience immediately before or during their menstrual period. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you when some women are menstruating because of the kind of pain they pass through and how they react to things around that period. You cannot blame them; you don’t know how it feels unless you have passed through it before. At least that’s what several women told me when I asked.
However, there are some foods that can help you through the episode of menstrual cramps and the resultant pains. These foods are not guaranteed to totally prevent the pain but they cab relieve it. There are several attendant pains like aching pain in the abdomen, feeling of pressure in the abdomen, pain in the hips, lower back, and inner thighs.
Some 9+ Foods That Help Relieve Menstrual Cramps
These foods will take some of the pains away for you if you eat them during your and after your menstruation period.
Different types of Tea can help!
Since there are several attendant symptoms of menstrual pains, different types of tea can help you relieve different symptoms. For example, green tea can help with cramps, while peppermint tea can soothe the stomach upset that may arise.
If you are someone that takes coffee normally, you should avoid it during this period because it may add to your anxiety and cause some other types of pain.
2. Banana does help relieve the pain!
Are you a football fan? Have you ever seen some of these footballers eating bananas during or before football matches? Well, if you have never seen one, below is a picture that can show you what I am talking about. Below is a picture of Rafael Nadal, a Tennis player eating a finger of banana during a Tennis match.
Photo: edition.cnn.com
Away from Tennis, if you have ever worked with a fitness trainer, they would have, at one time recommended banana after exercising to stop muscle cramps from settling in the next day. The same thing applies to menstrual cramps. Banana can help you relieve it.
3. Calcium from almonds, sesame seeds, and leafy green vegetables
Why calcium from almonds, sesame seeds, and leafy green vegetables when there even better sources of calcium? Yeah, that’s a good question if you are asking that — milk and yoghurt contain good amount of calcium but dairy products during menstruation could trigger cramps too. Also, I would not advise that you take calcium supplements without consulting your doctor.
The mentioned foods are really better than taking in supplements every time you menstruate. Personally, I don’t take it because I get headache and aching bones whenever I took them. I did not even know they were the cause until I consulted my doctor. Don’t make similar mistake.
Imagine having menstrual pain with pains from calcium supplements. Foods are better!
4. Foods that are rich in Vitamin D
Vitamin is occasionally referred to as the vitamin from the sun. This vitamin can prove very useful to menstruating women. Here is why — during menstruation, the uterus of women contracts to expel its lining. This process is a process that is triggered by hormone-like substances called prostaglandins.
These substances are associated with both pain and inflammation. At higher levels, these substances are linked to more severe menstrual cramps. Vitamin D, as well as helping to decrease the production of prostaglandins, also helps decrease the production of cytokines, which promote inflammation in your body.
Foods that are rich in Vitamin D include liver, cheese and egg yolks.
5. Low fat, high fibre foods are great
A low-fat, high-fiber diet can significantly reduce estrogen levels which makes you experience lesser pain during your period. If women can reduce the amount of fat consumed just before and during menstruation, the estrogen level will drop, which is a good change because a lower hormone level will have less effect on the uterine cells.
The high fibre in the foods will help you soak up the estrogen released by the liver, through the bile duct like a sponge and carries it out with other waste. This is a beneficial process during menstruation.
Foods that contain high-fiber and low fat include vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes), beans, fruits, and whole grains.
6. Water! Water!! Water!!!
Yes, water again. We have discussed water under different topics in the past and what they are capable of doing. Drinking of water is good and we do recommend taking in enough.
I would however surprise many people that water is being recommended as a remedy for menstrual pain and cramps. Well, it helps a lot. Drinking hot or warm water keeps your body from retaining water and helps to avoid painful bloating during menstruation.
Warm water increases blood flow to the skin and may relax cramped muscles. Eating fruits and vegetable that contain a lot of water can help hydrate the body too. Example of these are cucumbers and watermelon.
7. Ginger and water!
Another food remedy that may appear strange to women, except those that have been using it is the combination of ginger and water — warm water to be precise. We have just told you the importance of warm water on the previous page. Now let us add that benefit to what ginger brings to the table.
To make use of this combination, all you have to do is to grate a small piece of ginger, then add it to hot or warm water. Drink it and see how it works for menstrual cramp relief. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginger has been widely used as a remedy for menstrual cramps.
8. Foods Rich in Zinc and Magnesium
We have talked about eating foods that are rich in calcium. Other minerals that, when present in sufficient amount in foods, help relieve reduce cramps and painful periods are Magnesium and Zinc. Dietary zinc and magnesium can be found in many common foods.
Leafy greens, nuts, seeds, fish, beans, whole grains, avocados, yogurt, bananas, dried fruit, dark chocolate, are loaded with the anti-cramping mineral magnesium. Soybean, yoghurt, cashew nuts are also some of the best sources of dietary zinc.
