Foods To Reduce Menstrual Cramps

Unless you are one of the lucky ones who doesn't experience cramps menstrual cramps can be horrendous. Lying in bed at night unable to fall asleep because you are in such pain ahh yes I have been there. If you are experiencing a regular cycle then you can find yourself in this position every month and what you want to avoid is reaching for medications and painkillers every month!

In today's post I am going to be going through foods which you can add into your diet which are going to help ease menstrual cramps. I have just posted a video on my channel sharing all my tips which go beyond food so if you want to know all the ways to reduce the pain I recommend checking out that video.

1) Foods rich in Magnesium.

Magnesium encourages muscles to relax. A muscle contains filaments called Actin and Myosin and when they filaments are contracted magnesium is needed to release the bond and relax the muscle. This is why body products targeted for sports relief contain magnesium because it is promotes relaxation. So when we are having menstrual cramps it is because our uterus is contracting so adding magnesium into your diet around that time is scientifically going to reduce your discomfort. 

Foods high in magnesium include;

Pure Dark Chocolate

Avocados

Nuts - Almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts 

Legumes - black beans

Pumpkin seeds

Flaxseeds

Pseudograins - Buckwheat, Quinoa

Oats

Salmon

Leafy greens - kale, spinach, collard greens

2) Tea

The following teas are great to reduce pain and relax nerve fibres:

Camomille

Fennel

Ginger

Cinnamon

3) Anti-Inflammatory foods

I always visualise anti inflammatory foods like a hose on our body put out the fire inside.

4) Foods high in Iron

Quite obviously we loose a lot of blood on our period. This means we also loose a lot of iron. To prevent iron deficiency be sure you are topping up your iron levels.

Foods high in Iron include;

Animal products - Meat + fish

Beetroots

Spinach

Broccoli

Legumes

Pumpkin seeds

Quinoa

Dark chocolate

Lentils

You will see a lot of these foods repeat in each sections which is great because you can get all these benefits from one source in some cases.

I know this post is simple and basic but the idea behind it is to give you an idea of what you can add into your diet to see if it makes a difference to the pain you experience around that time of the month.

Ebony x