Best Foods for PMS

Do you experience symptoms of PMS (premenstrual syndrome)? This could manifest as acne, bloating, cramping, moodiness, fatigue, nausea, irritability, depression, cravings, or breast tenderness in the week or so leading up to your period - not fun!

You might be thinking feeling this way is just normal and your body’s way of coping with your hormones. However, though PMS is common, it’s far from normal. While feeling a bit more tired than usual is normal, the other serious symptoms so many women struggle with are in fact a sign from your body that you may have some underlying imbalances that are manifesting as PMS.

These imbalances can take time to fix, but it is possible. You do not have to suffer with PMS. Read that sentence again! In the meantime, I often get asked what the best foods are for that time of the month, and we’ll dive into that, but before we get into that, let’s talk about what PMS actually is.

PMS is the condition affecting women during the time leading up to menstruation that affects both physical and emotional health. It is estimated that 90%(!) of women are affected by PMS, which is mind blowing because as I already mentioned - you do not have to suffer with PMS, and there is so much you can do to mitigate it. 

What’s happening with your hormones during this time? After you ovulated and your egg did not get fertilized, that signaled to your body to release the endometrial lining your body had been building up all month to support the potential fertilized egg. Since the egg was not fertilized that means your body can release that lining, and it uses prostaglandins to help release it (which shows up as your monthly bleed).

These prostaglandins constrict blood vessels in the uterus and tell the muscle layer to contract. The prostaglandins are inflammatory in nature and can contribute to cramping if too many are released, which is partly why many women experience painful periods. They can also enter the bloodstream and contribute to headaches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Women with period pain have been shown to have higher levels of prostaglandins in their bodies.

It’s also important to consider the role of estrogen and progesterone in PMS. Estrogen rises throughout the monthly cycle, and if ovulation occurs then progesterone rises in the second half of the cycle (before menstruation begins). Ovulation is necessary in order for progesterone levels to rise, and some women have anovulatory cycles, meaning they did not ovulate (even though they may still bleed normally). This is a problem for many reasons, but in the context of PMS it’s especially important because too much estrogen and not enough progesterone can greatly contribute to PMS symptoms. Progesterone helps shield you from those PMS symptoms.

The ratio of estrogen to progesterone can also contribute to PMS. Even if progesterone levels are “normal,” if estrogen is too high it can present as estrogen dominance and show up as PMS. So, it’s important to firstly make sure you’re ovulating to produce progesterone, and secondly make sure your estrogen isn’t too high. Many women suffer from low progesterone and high estrogen, so this is a very common problem I see when working with clients.

So, you might be asking yourself if there’s a way to help prevent PMS symptoms with diet, and the answer is YES! Though it’s important to get to the root cause of why you have PMS symptoms in the first place (which is what I do with my clients), it can still be very helpful to eat in a way that nourishes your body and supports your hormones to decrease those symptoms.

In order to do this you want to focus on foods that:

• combat inflammation

• help with estrogen detoxification

• improve gut health (which is interrelated with both inflammation and estrogen detox)

• are high in magnesium (a mineral that is a game changer when it comes to PMS)

• have iron (to prepare your body for handling blood loss with menstruation)

So, what foods do all these things? Here’s a list of some of my top food picks to include in your diet for managing and decreasing PMS:

• Dark green leafy vegetables

• Wild salmon

• Sardines

• Avocado

• Legumes (beans & lentils)

• Flax seeds

• Pumpkin seeds

• Beets (and beet greens)

• Oats

• Pasture-raised eggs

• Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)

• Berries

• Dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao)

• Ginger

• Turmeric

Some other dietary things to keep in mind are to limit are:

• Excess salt intake to prevent bloating and water retention (if you’re cooking your own foods you likely don’t need to worry about this)

• Added sugar (which can contribute to inflammation and cause blood sugar irregularities)

• Caffeine (can contribute to PMS symptoms in some people)

So there you have it! Start adding these foods into your diet and notice how you feel and if your PMS symptoms start to decrease. Remember - PMS is not something you have to just struggle through every month. Your period is your monthly report card, and if it feels hard or unpleasant then it warrants looking deeper to understand why that’s happening so you can help bring your body back into balance.

If you’re interested in balancing your hormones, optimizing your cycle, improving gut health, and ditching PMS so you can have easy, pain-free periods, get pregnant when you want, and live a vibrant, joyful life, I encourage you to schedule a FREE strategy call with me so we can uncover what’s holding you back from living this way and make you a game plan to help you feel amazing in your body.

You can schedule that free strategy call here.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions!