Feeling tired and moody? Try these 10 diet changes for a better period

Plate of kale salad topped with a turmeric fried eggnext to a ramekin of dressing and parsley

Food is not a cure-all but can play a powerful role in improving period problems. Every meal is a new opportunity to add in foods that positively support our menstrual and hormone health. Most importantly, we’re not aiming for perfection, but rather to use food to influence better, calmer periods and easier menstrual cycles.

10 tips for a better period

Handling heavy periods

1. Increase your iron

Heavy periods are one of the most common period problems I see in my nutrition clinic. During our periods, we lose 1mg of iron per bleed, while those with a heavy bleed will lose between 5-6mg on average. If you have a heavy period, consider adding iron-rich food such as beef, lamb and dark poultry meat into your meals at least three times a week. For vegetarians, adding dark leafy greens such as kale or swiss chard, lentils, pulses and beetroot will help boost your iron stores.

2. Don’t forget the vitamin C

If you’re plant-based and mindful about the amount of iron you’re including in your meals, adding foods with vitamin C will help your body do even more with the non-haem iron in foods such as kale, oats, chickpeas, black beans, black olives and prunes. This is extra important for vegans and vegetarians because iron from plant-based sources is harder for the body to absorb and vitamin C gives its absorption an extra boost. Try squeezing lemon juice on your kale salad or stirring blueberries and sliced kiwi into your next bowl of porridge.

3. Try liver

A heavy period can be anxiety inducing – you can feel as though the ‘tap’ isn’t going to turn off. This is where adding in foods rich in vitamin K like liver can be helpful. Vitamin K helps the body make clotting factors, which are compounds that help us shed the lining of the uterus more consistently, which can be an issue with heavy periods. Liver is a fantastic source of vitamin K, but if you’re plant-based (or can’t bear the thought of liver), try adding more dark leafy greens like kale, chard and spinach or natto, which is a Japanese fermented soybean dish.

Calf's liver served on a bed of mashed potatoes

Support your mood

4. Get fishy

When you get nearer to your next period, you might start to experience changes in your mood or increased levels of anxiety, which can continue into the week of your periods. This is where the omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish can help. DHA and EPA, the fatty acids in salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, haddock, herring and trout (use the acronym SMASHHT to remember) are associated with some reduction of symptoms of depression. For calmer moods, try adding oily fish into your meals three to four times a week.

Two plates of mackerel with crisp skin sat on a tomato and chickpea mix with a pink linen background

5. Add some zinc

Ovulation isn’t just for making babies. When we ovulate, we release a hormone called progesterone, which improves our mood and helps us have a better night’s sleep. Foods rich with zinc help us make and release as much progesterone as possible when we ovulate, cushioning us as we go into our next period and reducing premenstrual mood swings. Oysters are a wonderful source of zinc, as are beef, lamb, shellfish and pumpkin seeds.

6. Get to know tryptophan

The contents of your breakfast porridge can go a long way in giving you a mood boost. Oats and pumpkin seeds are a great source of an amino acid called tryptophan, which cells in our gut use to make serotonin, our happy hormone. You can also get this amino acid from poultry, beans and wild salmon.

Berry porridge with nut butter in two bowls

Get a handle on pain

7. Magnificent magnesium

For many of us, pain is one of the worst things about having a menstrual cycle. From premenstrual pain to menstrual pain to ovulation pain – pain has the potential to feature heavily across our entire menstrual cycle. Magnesium can lend a helping hand. This calming, anti-inflammatory mineral is used for over 300 different functions in the body and can be very helpful for reducing the contractions that cause pain during different times of the menstrual cycle. Leafy green vegetables like kale, rocket, watercress and spinach are great for getting in more magnesium. Pumpkin seeds and almonds also have a lot of magnesium, so spread some almond butter on some sliced banana for a sweet treat during your period.

A bowl of leek, spinach and pea soup, topped with seeds

8. Vital vitamin E

Research tells us that balancing your oestrogen and progesterone levels can help to reduce period pain. This where vitamin E comes in – this antioxidant has oestrogenic and progesterone-like properties, which means that it is beneficial for increasing or decreasing these hormones where required. Progesterone is a calming, anti-inflammatory hormone, so we want to release as much as possible when we ovulate, and this can then help to reduce premenstrual and period pain. Try adding in vitamin E-rich foods like sunflower seeds, almonds, kiwi, hazelnuts, spinach and chard.

Beat the bloat

9. Potassium packs a punch

If you reach for trousers with an elasticated waist right before or during your period, try adding in potassium foods like apricots, potatoes with the skin, prunes, bananas, artichokes, oranges, and sunflower seeds. Potassium works hand in hand with sodium as electrolyte minerals that help our cells work their best and maintain fluid balance in the body. Potassium takes water out of cells and sodium pulls it into cells. When we don’t have enough potassium in our meals, it can make us a little more sensitive to salt and more susceptible to premenstrual and menstrual bloating, so your lunchtime jacket potatoes just might be the ticket to keeping the bloat at bay.

A white bowl filled with a beetroot, orange and green leaf salad with crumbled feta on top

10. Know your fibre

How regular are your bowels? Constipation is another frequent cause of menstrual bloating and upping your fibre intake with lots of green vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, pulses and grains can help get things moving. Ideally, we need to have at least one bowel movement every day. There are two types of fibre that can help with this: soluble fibre sources like oats, apples, green bananas and beans add bulk to stools, whereas insoluble fibre sources like chia and flax seeds, the peels of fruit and vegetables, and nuts help hydrate and move waste through the intestines – in a nutshell, eating both types of fibre gets things moving to reduce bloating and constipation.