Lunar Wellness: Part 2
Is there a time during the month where you find yourself craving something to eat? Maybe sweet or salty? Nutrition and your cycle are greatly connected. You can change your energy levels and feel less bloated or irritable. So, let’s talk about what foods are best for you throughout your cycle.
Menstruation & Follicular Phase
During this period of time (pun intended) it’s important to eat to replenish the nutrients lost due to bleeding. Iron is the major nutrient lost. Iron is responsible for transporting oxygen to your blood cells, so you can understand its importance.
Hormones are also at their lowest, so energy levels are low and you may feel sluggish. But by eating the right foods, you can improve how you feel both physically and emotionally.
What To Eat
- Water-Rich fruits & veggies like kale, kelp, mushrooms, beets, watermelon, kidney beans
- Iron-rich foods, Vitamin B12- beef, wild game, salmon, chicken, dark leafy greens, beans, lentils, nuts & seeds
It’s important to include foods with vitamin C when eating iron-rich foods. It increases your body’s ability to uptake the iron and use is it more efficiently.
Ovulation Phase
In this phase, thanks to high estrogen levels, your energy levels are finally high, your sexual energy, too. Your focus should be on eating lean protein and healthy fats to help sustain this increase of energy. The amount of carbs you eat can be small because your body doesn’t require a large amount for energy. What carbs you do eat, be sure they are whole grains.
What To Eat
- Protein from lean cuts of meat, chicken, nuts, eggs, fish
- Fiber-rich veggies like artichokes, beets, potatoes, broccoli
Luteal Phase
Here your hormones start taking over again and throwing things into a tizzy. Your progesterone is rising and with it comes PMS, bloating, constipation, water retention and cravings for comfort food. This is the phase where your food choices are so important.
What To Eat
- Roasted starchy foods- sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin & parsnip
- High-fiber foods like beans, legumes, whole grains
- Calcium-rich foods-dairy like cheese, milk, sardines & salmon, seeds, beans & lentils
- B-vitamins & magnesium found in a lot of the foods listed above and dark, leafy vegetables
High-fiber foods, B-vitamins, calcium and magnesium all help to reduce sugar cravings and mitigate the effects of fluid retention. Fiber also helps combat the slow digestion and constipation that progesterone can cause.
Here are some other tips to make this phase much better.
- Drink lots of water
- Limit your salt intake
- Eat 3-4 meals per day to prevent drastic blood sugar changes- this can dramatically shift your mood in either direction (don’t allow yourself to be hangry!)
- Be aware of cravings and keep healthy alternative foods for whatever you crave
An interesting study was done that looked at the hormones leptin and estrogen and how they affect food cravings. It found that as these hormones increase, women had increased cravings for sweet and carb-rich foods.
I find this amazing because I crave sugar like a crazy person during this time! I’m so glad it’s not just me who gets like this every month. And its good to know that it’s my body behind the cravings and not just my crazy mind and lack of willpower.
Summing Things Up
After writing all of the this I have found that it really comes down to eating whole foods like fruits, vegetable, and whole grains. Drink lots of water.
Nutrition and your cycle are connected. They can work with each other or against. It’s up to you to make the choice.
When you feed your body nutritious foods it can do it what its needs to do to be feel happy and healthy. This means you will be happy and healthy.
Parts 1 & 3
Part 1 is all about understanding your menstrual cycle. If you need a little refresher check out Part 1: Understanding Your Cycle.
Part 3 is going to be about understanding your shifts in energy and how to use them to your advantage.