Did you know that by customizing your meals to the phase of your menstrual cycle you could eliminate those annoying monthly symptoms you’ve come to accept as normal? Keep reading to learn how!
Table of Contents
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition 101
What is Menstrual Cycle Nutrition ?
In a nutshell Menstrual Cycle Nutrition is where you customise your nutrition to sync with your menstrual cycle phases.
What are the menstrual cycle phases?
Our menstrual cycle consists of 4 phases:
| Menstrual Phase – Phase 1 | Follicular Phase – Phase 2 |
| Ovulatory Phase – Phase 3 | Luteal Phase – Phase 4 |
Why Menstrual Cycle Nutrition works
Each month our hormones fluctuate through the four different phases of the cycle and that’s totally normal but without the right nutritional support hormonal highs can become too high or the lows too low. And that causes pms, cramps, hormonal acne, missed periods and all sorts of mess. The good news is that when we eat for our cycle, we can nourish our bodies back to balance.
Who is this for?
Every woman should eat in sync with her menstrual cycle but it is especially beneficial if your goal is to:
- Decrease or completely eliminate PMS and cramping
- Clear up hormonal acne
- Balance your hormones after coming off the pill or IUD
- Balance your hormones as you prepare to come off the pill
- Bring your period back if you have amenorrhea
- Balance your hormones postpartum
- Put the symptoms of PCOS and Endometriosis into remission
- Get your body in optimal health for conception
Foods to avoid when eating for your cycle
Before we get into what to eat for your menstrual cycle we must first discuss what not to eat. There are certain food like products out there that should you choose to continue eating them will silently wreak havoc on your hormones. Depending on your age you may feel that you can ‘get away’ with eating these foods, in that you may not gain weight but trust me they are doing the damage behind the scenes.
- Processed and refined snack foods with a long list of ingredients
- White sugar
- White flour
- Margarine
- Processed meats, hot dogs, cold cuts
- TV dinners
- Fast food especially anything deep fried
- Fake sugars like Aspartame
- Soda or soda with artificial sweeteners
- Salad dressing with hydrogenated oils
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- BPA found in plastic bottles & can lining
Foods to include during all phases
The cardinal rule of eating for balanced hormones is to eat real food. That means food that is as close to nature as possible. For example potatoes vs packaged potato chips. In fact everyone can benefit from eating this way.
- water – at least 2L per day
- fresh fruit and vegetables
- organic animal proteins
- healthy fats – your body needs fat to produce hormones efficiently.
- detoxifying foods like raw apple cider vinegar, lemons
- If you have PCOS it’s imperative that you keep you blood sugar balanced. Stick to the low carb veggies and grains and low sugar fruits to help accomplish this.
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Recipes for the 4 Phases of your Menstrual Cycle
How do I know what phase I’m in?
If your cycle is regular…
Find the date of your last cycle day one i.e. the first day of full flow blood, and then count forward from there. That’s today’s cycle day. Use an app like MYFLo or Clue to track your cycle.
If your cycle is irregular …
If your cycle is irregular or basically non existent it may seem impossible to know in which phase you’re at. Don’t despair you can still benefit from eating for your cycle. All you need to do is use the moon as your guide. Stay with me here this isn’t some woo woo stuff… lol
You see by nature, women are lunar. This can be seen in the fact that the length of our menstrual cycles are synced up with the waxing and waning of the moon, occurring around every 28 days. If we are synced up with the moon’s cycle, we will menstruate around the new moon and ovulate around the full moon.
So using this information you can count day 1 of your cycle on the same day of the new moon. The internet makes it pretty easy to do this. Check the moon phases on a website like Moongiant.
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition – phase by phase
What to expect each phase / week and how to eat and drink so you can live your best life yet!
Menstrual Phase – Week 1
Image credit https://www.myhormonology.com
Moon: new moon to half moon
What’s happening: Day 1 = the first day of your period when the uterus lining sheds. This occurs after hormone levels drop at the end of the luteal phase, signaling blood and tissues lining the uterus to break down and shed from the body. Usually by Day 7, bleeding has stopped. Leading up to this time, hormones cause fluid-filled pockets called follicles to develop on the ovaries. Each follicle contains an egg.
How are you feeling: At the beginning of the week you’ll probably feel pretty tired, achy and less social but as the week progresses and estrogen rises so will your mood and energy levels.
Why you’re feeling this way: As you menstruate, your body’s iron reserves gets depleted, which makes you feel tired. Cramping and pain are a result of uterine contractions and the increased production of inflammatory prostaglandins.
Goal: Boost iron levels & reduce inflammation
How to go about it: Your body needs iron to maintain energy especially if you experience heavy bleeding. Help ease pain with anti inflammatory & warming spices.
Preferred cooking method: warming slow cooked foods like bone broths, soups, casseroles, and stews.
What to avoid: limit raw fruits and vegetables, cold and frozen foods. Useful Supplement:Fish oil supplement that contains at least 1500mg combined total of EPA/ DHA.
Menstrual Phase Foods
Foods rich in iron (blood building foods) and vitamin C (for better iron absorption) are essential in your diet during this phase.
TIP! Cook food in a cast iron pan: Foods prepared in a cast iron pan tend to provide two to three times more iron as those prepared in non-iron cookware!
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition Recipes for Menstrual Phase
Follicular Phase – Week 2
Image credit https://www.myhormonology.com
Moon: half moon to full moon
What’s happening: Between day 7 and 14, one follicle will continue to develop and reach maturity. Estrogen and testosterone rise till they peak as the lining of the uterus wall starts to thicken, waiting for a fertilized egg to implant there.
How are you feeling: You should be feeling confident, full of energy, assertive, adventurous and sexy.
Why you’re feeling this way: High estrogen is literally giving you your mojo back!
Goal: Take advantage of your increased energy and drive to nail your weight loss goals.
How to go about it:This is the time of month for strength training. Rising estrogen helps build more muscle, which explains why we tend to lose muscle as we age and estrogen levels decline. Estrogen also acts as a bit of an appetite suppressant which makes it much easier to control portions. Eat fat to burn fat and eat high protein foods to build more muscle and burn up calories like crazzzzy!
What to avoid: alcohol and tobacco, especially if you’re trying to conceive! Your body is nourishing a follicle that’s about to be released so you want to make sure you’re not negatively influencing that follicle in anyway.
Useful Supplement:Fish oil supplement that contains at least 1500mg combined total of EPA/ DHA.
Follicular Phase Foods
Eat a variety of ‘muscle building’ high protein, high fat foods along with good sources of folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin E to nourish the follicle.
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition Recipes for Follicular Phase
Ovulatory Phase – Week 3
Image credit https://www.myhormonology.com
Moon: full moon to half moon
What’s happening: Over the next few days, the egg travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus. If a sperm unites with the egg here, the fertilized egg will continue down the fallopian tube and attach to the lining of the uterus.
How are you feeling: You start feeling sluggish, moody, slightly constipated and if you step on a scale it might seem like you’re putting on weight.
Why you’re feeling this way: Rising progesterone is likely the culprit for the extra digits on the scale. Don’t worry it’s probably just water weight.
Goal: Keep bowels healthy
How to go about it: Fill up on foods rich in fiber such as raw (or lightly steamed) veggies and fruit to keep things moving. Some women are more sensitive to drops in blood sugar during this cycle week due to progesterone, so eat regularly to keep blood sugar stable and avoid mood swings.
What to avoid: heavy carbs and grains which will only make you feel even more sluggish. You could try replacing regular pasta with spiralized zucchini.
Best exercise for this phase: Aeorobic exercises such as running, jogging, biking and skating. Research shows that you burn 30% more calories with aerobic exercises during this phase.
Useful supplement : Taking 500mg of Evening Primrose Oil helps inhibit the production of inflammatory prostaglandins that can cause menstrual pain.
Ovulatory Phase Foods
Include a variety of fiber rich fruits and veggies with high water content along with fermented and detoxifying foods to flush any excess oestrogen which peaks in this phase.
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition Recipes for Ovulatory Phase
Luteal Phase – Week 4
Image credit https://www.myhormonology.com
Moon: half moon to new moon
What’s happening: The uterus lining continues to thicken before shedding. If the egg is not fertilized, estrogen and progesterone plunge signalling the next menstrual cycle to begin. The egg breaks apart to be shed with the next period.
Trying to get pregnant? Stock up on pineapple. Pineapple contains bromelain, which thickens the uterine lining to help with egg implantation.
How are you feeling: This week is tough. You’re probably feeling irritable, moody and having intense cravings especially for fatty, carby foods.
Why you’re feeling this way: As estrogen levels drop it takes levels of serotonin down with it. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter regarded by some researchers as a chemical that is responsible for maintaining mood balance and guess what carbohydrates help replenish it! So it makes total sense that your body signals you to eat more carbs right? Progesterone is also descending during this week, but because it’s still at relatively high levels, you’ll likely still feel the urge to eat foods high in fat and calories and have a greater appetite.
Goal: Prepare for menstruation & stabilize hormones
How to go about it: Honour your body’s needs! Eat the chocolate 😉 And eat the most nutrient dense form of carbohydrates and fat. Stabilize hormones by eating foods that increase progesterone naturally.
Preferred cooking method: warming slow cooked foods like bone broths, soups, casseroles, and stews.
What to avoid: sugar, alcohol and caffeine which adds further burden to your liver that’s working feverishly to detox any excess estrogen. Limit raw fruits and vegetables, cold and frozen foods.
Best exercise for this phase: Walking, yoga, pilates
Useful supplement : Taking 500mg of Evening Primrose Oil helps inhibit the production of inflammatory prostaglandins that can cause menstrual pain.
Luteal Phase Foods
Foods rich in Magnesium and B vitamins can help stabilize hormones and keep cravings at bay.
Menstrual Cycle Nutrition Recipes for Luteal Phase
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