The monthly menstrual cycle, menses, “Aunt Flo” whatever names you and your gal pals have for calling periods. You know that your period days might not be your best days of the month and the reason that periods feel uncomfortable, unwanted and tedious are – Menstrual Cramps.

PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) symptoms like bloating, mood swings, acne, breakouts, and breast tenderness cause discomfort but menstrual cramps (stomach pain or lower back pain, leg pain) make periods unpleasant every month.

Menstrual cramps are clinically called as Primary Dysmenorrhea and Secondary Dysmenorrhea

Following are the habits and food products that you might want to avoid if you want to prevent or lessen menstrual cramps during periods –

1. Not getting enough sleep and rest

Sleeping does the work of a ‘reboot’ or ’maintenance’ of your body and all its organs and functions. Hence, an adult person requires a sleep of 6 – 7 hours daily to maintain the balance of hormones and body’s optimum performance. During sleep, a hormone named Serotonin is released in your body. When you sleep less, serotonin secreted is also less. Less serotonin flow increases your sensitivity towards pain. So now you know, that if you take adequate sleep regularly you may not have lose sleep later during periods due to menstrual cramps.

2. Caffeinated Drinks – Tea, coffee, aerated drinks/cold drinks

You may be a “chai person” or a “Coffee is in my blood” tribe but you may want to avoid your favorite caffeinated beverage during periods. Caffeine is a diuretic or a ‘vasoconstrictor’ which basically means that it tightens the blood vessels in our body and in a way tightening blood vessels in our uterus that can also contribute to your menstrual pain. If you are someone who cannot live with your cuppa chai or coffee – you can still cutting down the quantity of your consumption.

3. Salty and Sugary foods

Most of our comfort food and cravings like chocolate, pastry or desserts, chips, namkeen, fries, canned foods, ready-to-eat foods etc. contain high amount of salt or sugar. Salt contains sodium which causes water retention that leads to bloating and increases cramping. Sugar, on the other hand, is known to cause inflammation contributing to cramps. Blood sugar has tendency to fluctuate during period days so you can control your sugar intake to not be too much or too less. Consuming natural sugars from fruits or dry fruits in moderate quantity is advisable as compared to consuming sugar through junk and processed food. Next time, you can check the nutritional content section on the box or the packet of the chips or chocolate you choose to satiate your cravings with.

4. Stress

Stress is a silent killer and contributes towards many diseases that hamper health in the long run. Stress causes imbalance in hormones that can also disturb the regularity of your periods. So, take time to relax and find constructive solutions to your stress related problems because stressing on them will do more harm than any good to you.

5. Resting too much and less physical activity/exercise

While, lying on the bed most of the day and resting during periods without worrying about the routine work and the to-do list sounds too good to be true and lucrative, it is not the best idea. Why? Just as much as rest is important for the body, so is physical movement and activity. Exercising releases “feel good hormones” and increases blood circulation throughout your body that eases menstrual pain. You don’t have to become the gym beast or a full-on runner but mild cardio exercises, yoga or pilates, pranayama helps in relieving the pain of menstrual cramps.

6. Processed (Packaged) Foods

Processed foods and junk foods contain refined flour (also called as Maida in Hindi) and hydrogenated oils, preservatives, high amount of sodium. These foods and add on to empty calories cause inflammation which worsens pain. The refined flour is also said to have bad effect on thyroid function so if you have thyroid problems you should definitely consider cutting back on the intake of junk food and maida.

7. Smoking and Excessive Alcohol

There won’t be anything new if we tell you that smoking is bad for your health and can push you to maladies like Lung or Mouth cancer. Women with persistent smoking habit are more susceptible to female cancers like cervical cancer or vulvar cancer. Smoking also impacts menstrual cramps. The more cigarettes you smoke in a day, the worse it can get. If quitting smoking is difficult or seems impossible to you, cutting back on the number of cigarettes per day should be definitely one of your health resolutions. Coming to excessive drinking – we are not talking about your 1 glass of cocktail or wine or 1-2 pegs of hard liquor. Excessive drinking causes dehydration and hangover which might worsen your moods the next day and also your cramps.

For menstrual cramps that are so serious and extreme that they disrupt your routine life and makes your body difficult to function – you must get a physical checkup done from a Gynecologist. Health conditions like Endometriosis, Polyps, Fibroids, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) can lead to extreme or intolerable menstrual pain and needs attention and medical treatment soon as possible.

Read More About Why Menstrual Cramps Happen and how to deal with them?

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