Menstrual period healthy eating guide content

There is no universal "fasting list" for menstrual diet. The core principle is to prioritize the intake of foods with high nutrient density and completely avoid foods that are clearly uncomfortable for you. You don't have to be kidnapped by various taboos spread online.

A while ago, I came across several complaints from girls, saying that after reading the menstrual taboo posts on the Internet, they didn’t even dare to touch their favorite mangos and watermelons, for fear that touching them would stop bleeding and cause colds in the uterus. In fact, it’s really unnecessary. Judging from objective nutrition data, women’s blood loss during each menstrual period is about 20-60ml, and the corresponding iron loss is 10-30mg. In addition, gastrointestinal motility changes and mood swings caused by menstrual prostaglandin secretion, priority is given to supplementing enough iron, high-quality protein and B vitamins as the core. I used to suffer from mild iron deficiency anemia. The gynecologist specifically told my aunt to add about 100g of braised beef or a small bowl of duck blood vermicelli every day. The absorption rate of heme iron can reach more than 20%, which is more iron than eating a large plate of spinach. After three months of persistence, the reexamination index became normal.

As for the most controversial question, "Can I eat ice during menstruation?", there is no unified answer at all. The views in different fields are actually reasonable: the traditional Chinese medicine system does believe that eating too much raw and cold food will cause qi and blood to stagnate, aggravating uterine cold-type dysmenorrhea. Girls who usually have cold hands and feet and roll in pain during menstruation are indeed recommended to avoid ice drinks and ice fruits as much as possible.； But the view of modern nutrition is that after food enters the intestines and stomach, it will quickly rise to a temperature close to body temperature, and will not directly freeze to the uterus. As long as you eat ice on a regular basis, you will not feel uncomfortable, and eating it during menstruation is absolutely fine. There are two extreme examples around me. A friend who was born and raised in Guangdong rarely touches ice. A sip of iced milk tea during menstruation was so painful that she had to take half a day off. Another girl from Northeast China had to chew popsicles when the temperature was minus 20 degrees in winter, and she didn’t even feel pain in her back. This stuff is really like honey and arsenic, and the bad mood caused by trying to endure it may have a greater impact than eating ice.

Many people also ask whether brown sugar ginger tea and red dates must be eaten during menstruation? Objectively speaking, it's really not that amazing. 96% of the ingredients in brown sugar are sucrose, and the iron content is not as high as 10g of pork liver. If you want to drink it to supplement iron, it is better to eat two more bites of lean meat. However, the gingerol in ginger can indeed relieve the spasm of uterine smooth muscle. If you feel warm after drinking it and the dysmenorrhea can be relieved a lot, then just drink it and don’t worry about the sugar content. ； If you are afraid of getting fat and have high blood sugar, you can switch to warm lemon water or 70% hot cocoa. When I have dysmenorrhea, drinking hot cocoa is much more effective than brown sugar ginger tea. After checking the information, I found out that the magnesium in cocoa can not only relax muscles, but also regulate emotions, which can just relieve the irritability during menstruation.

It’s not that you don’t need to avoid anything. There are several types of foods that you can adjust according to your body’s reaction: such as high-salt puffed foods and pickled products. My aunt ate a big bag of chicken feet with pickled peppers because she was greedy. The next day, her face was swollen like steamed buns, and even the shoes she usually wore were squeezed. High salt aggravates water and sodium retention. If you are prone to edema in normal times, it is best to avoid touching them during menstruation.； There are also high-caffeine drinks such as espresso and energy drinks. Some girls will experience breast swelling, anxiety, and even insomnia all night after drinking them. During menstruation, switch to light tea or warm water. If you drink two cups of Americano every day, but you suddenly stop and get a headache, then drink as much as you need. There is no need to stop drinking.

In fact, to put it bluntly, menstruation is a normal menstrual cycle for women, not a "sick state" that requires caution. You don't need to check the online list one by one to see if you can eat it. Your own body feeling is the most accurate. Eating that is comfortable and nutritious is better than anything else.