What to Eat When Feeling Weak and Fatigued During Your Period

The Best Foods to Eat When Feeling Weak During Your Period

It's common for women to feel weak, tired, or experience headaches, cramps, and other unpleasant symptoms during their monthly menstrual cycles. While some discomfort is normal, adjusting your diet around your period can help provide relief and energy when you need it most.

Focus on Iron-Rich Foods

Iron deficiency or anemia is a key reason why many women feel run down and depleted of energy during their periods. Losing blood each month can drain iron reserves over time.

Boosting iron intake in your diet is crucial for rebuilding low iron levels to combat period fatigue and weakness. Great high-iron foods to eat more of include:

• Red meats like beef and liver
• Dark meat poultry like turkey or chicken thighs
• Seafood like oysters, sardines, and mussels
• Beans, lentils, spinach, and pumpkin seeds
• Iron-fortified grains and cereals

Pair iron-rich foods with vitamin C for maximum absorption. Try squeezing lemon on fish or having an orange with iron-fortified oatmeal.

Stay Hydrated

Dehydration is another key contributor to period-related fatigue and weakness. Losing fluids through heavy menstrual bleeding coupled with poor fluid intake takes a toll.

Drink plenty of water and herbal teas like chamomile or ginger tea to provide hydration and electrolytes your body urgently needs. You can also try coconut water or diluted fruit juices.

Pick Snacks High in Potassium

Potassium helps balance fluids in the body, supports muscle and nerve function, and can provide an energy boost when levels run low.

Snacking on potassium-rich foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, dried apricots, yogurt, potatoes with skin, tomatoes, oranges, and leafy greens can help alleviate weakness from potassium loss during menstruation.

Eat More Anti-Inflammatory Foods

For painful menstrual cramps and bloating, focus your diet on anti-inflammatory foods. These help calm inflammation implicated in period symptoms like muscle cramps, headaches, bowel issues, and back pain.

Great anti-inflammatory options include oily fish, nuts, seeds, tart cherry juice, beets, tomatoes, leafy greens, berries, pineapple, grapes, broccoli, onions, and garlic.

Choose Vitamin B6-Rich Foods

Getting enough vitamin B6 in your diet can help mitigate weakness, fatigue, nausea, and mood swings around your monthly cycle. Vitamin B6 plays vital roles in protein metabolism, hemoglobin synthesis, and proper immune function.

To up your vitamin B6 intake, enjoy more wild-caught fish, chicken, potatoes, bananas, pistachios, spinach, avocado, and lean red meat several times a week.

Consume More Magnesium-Packed Foods

Magnesium relaxes muscles and nerves, regulates hormone balance, and provides immune support. Running low on it makes period symptoms feel far worse.

Stock up on magnesium through pumpkin seeds, dark leafy greens, avocado, yogurt, almonds, figs, bananas, beans, tofu, salmon, dark chocolate, and squash.

Choose Vitamin E-Rich Plant Foods

Vitamin E has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that can ease menstrual cramps, bloating, breast tenderness, nausea, and mood changes. It also supports immune health.

Great plant-based sources high in vitamin E include almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, safflower oil, spinach, broccoli, kiwi, trout, shrimp, butternut squash, avocado, blackberries, and mangoes.

Avoid These Foods That Can Worsen Period Symptoms

While focusing on the right nutrients, also cut back on foods linked to aggravating common period discomforts like pain, diarrhea, and inflammation.

Skip the Alcohol

Drinking alcohol tends to worsen period-related pain, mood changes, and sleep disruptions. Alcohol also interferes with the liver's metabolism of estrogen, potentially making PMS symptoms and breast tenderness feel more severe.

Limit Caffeine Intake

Consuming too much caffeinated coffee, soda, tea, or energy drinks can fuel anxiety, headaches, diarrhea, and dehydration during your period. Try to limit caffeine to one small serving daily as part of a balanced diet.

Avoid Added Sugars

Foods with added sugars like baked goods, candy, ice cream, and chocolate tend to cause inflammation and blood sugar spikes then crashes, exacerbating symptoms of fatigue, moodiness, and cravings during your period.

Reduce Processed Carbs and Fast Food

Refined grains found in products like white rice, white pasta, chips, crackers, and fast food are quickly broken down into sugars that spark inflammation in the body, worsening cramps and hormonal fluctuations.

Limit Dairy If Needed

Some women experience more bloating and diarrhea when consuming dairy products during their periods, likely due to temporary lactose intolerance from hormonal shifts. Limit milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream if cramps worsen.

Sample Meal Plan for a Symptom-Soothing Period Diet

Want to put these nourishing period superfoods into action? Here is a simple yet delicious one-day meal plan showcasing the optimal foods for combating fatigue and other symptoms:

Breakfast

• Spinach, tomato, mushroom, and feta omelet
• 1 orange
• Chamomile tea

Lunch

• Quinoa beet salad with walnuts, feta, and lemon vinaigrette
• 8 oz. tart cherry juice
• Sparkling water

Dinner

• Broiled salmon with sweet potato and Brussels sprouts
• Dark chocolate avocado mousse
• Herbal tea

Lifestyle Tips for Coping With Period Discomfort

While diet plays a big role, other healthy lifestyle factors like exercise, sleep, stress management, and smart supplementation also impact the severity of period symptoms.

Keep Exercising

Staying active with gentle exercise like walking, yoga, stretching, or swimming helps ease menstrual cramps, back pain, and mood issues related to your cycle. Just listen to your body and adapt intensities as needed.

Prioritize High-Quality Sleep

Aim for at least 7-9 hours nightly, going to bed and waking up at consistent times. Quality sleep minimizes inflammation, balances hormones, stabilizes moods, and gives you the energy to function during menstruation.

Learn Effective Stress Management

Unmanaged chronic stress can negatively impact menstrual cycles and provoke symptoms like headaches, bowel changes, insomnia, fatigue, and low moods. Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, journaling, or taking baths.

Ask About Supplements

Discuss supplementing with iron, vitamin B6, vitamin E, magnesium, omega-3s or a comprehensive premenstrual formula with your doctor to help ease deficiencies and symptoms.

While no one enjoys feeling unwell during their period, taking steps like eating the right nutrition for your body's needs can help you feel healthier, happier, and fully energized all month long.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.