Water retention, mood changes, back pain, stomach pains, abdominal tension, headache ... these are the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, which in a more or less serious form affects the majority of women of childbearing age.
An inevitable suffering? Absolutely not. «The various ailments can be countered by bringing to the table the right foods»Assures Dr. Anna D'Eugenio, a specialist in food science in Rome.
Lots of magnesium and potassium
«In the days preceding the arrival of the flow, the diet must be diuretics (to favor the elimination of liquids), mildly sedative (to reduce nervousness) and finally anti-inflammatory (to counteract pain) », continues our expert.
“It is therefore necessary limit the consumption of foods containing gluten and lactose, which irritate the intestines, and focus on those instead rich in magnesium and potassium, minerals that relax the muscles and the mind ».
Below you will find the food program to follow for 5 lunches and as many dinners before the arrival of the cycle. "While for breakfast I recommend yogurt or kefir with oat flakes and dried fruit and, alternately, rye bread with honey, plus green tea and orange juice," adds Dr. Anna D'Eugenio.
«The first combination, in addition to being very energetic, provides antistress minerals and lactic ferments that improve the intestinal environment; the second, on the other hand, relieves water retention, provides fibers that prolong the feeling of satiety and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substances that mitigate the physical discomfort typical of the menstrual cycle ».
1 DAY
Lunch
• Brown rice plus vegetables sautéed with oil
• Fennel
Price
• 2 scrambled or soft-boiled eggs
• Boiled chicory
• Mandarins
↘ Brown rice with vegetables keeps blood sugar constant and avoids hunger pangs.
↘ Cooked oil stimulates the release of bile, aids in the digestion of fats and fights constipation.
↘ The fibers of the cereal and vegetables improve the functioning of the intestine.
↘ Eggs and chicory help the liver (responsible for the metabolism of ovarian hormones) to work at its best, thus contributing to the improvement of symptoms such as headache, moodiness, heavy legs and insomnia.
2 DAY
Lunch
• 130 g of chicken breast with sage
• Mixed salad
• Trifoliate artichokes
• Pineapple
Price
• Cream of pumpkin
• Salad
• Avocado
• Nights
↘ The meat gives tone and allows you to prepare for the arrival of menstruation which involves an inevitable loss of energy.
↘ Sage increases the digestibility of proteins. Furthermore, it is rich in phytoestrogens which, taken in this phase of the cycle, favor the appearance of the flow.
↘ Dinner without complex carbohydrates or proteins reduces retention that exacerbates premenstrual pain.
↘ Avocados and nuts are rich in high quality fatty acids with an anti-inflammatory action.
3 DAY
Lunch
• Bean and chard soup
• Cooked fennel
Price
• Blue fish with lemon
• Mixed salad
• Pineapple
↘ Cooked with chard, beans (sources of fiber and vegetable protein) create a dish that releases sugars very slowly and helps to keep the desire for sweet under control.
↘ The association with cooked fennel reduces any meteorism caused by legumes.
↘ Blue fish provides Omega 3 fatty acids, with a strong fluidifying and anti-inflammatory action, and iodine which, by acting on the thyroid, speeds up the elimination of liquids.
↘ Raw vegetables, rich in water, and pineapple, with its marked diuretic characteristics, improve the "deflating" effect of the evening meal.
4 DAY
Lunch
• Quinoa with radicchio and pine nuts
• Raw vegetables
Price
• Lentil soup with turmeric
• Spinach salad
• Apple
↘ Quinoa is a pseudo-cereal (gluten-free) with a high nutritional value.
↘ Radicchio and pine nuts are sources of iron (essential mineral for the construction of hemoglobin in red blood cells), which should be stocked up in view of the inevitable loss induced by the flow.
↘ Lentils and spinach are used for their anti-anemic action: they provide iron.
↘ Turmeric mainly provides substances with anti-inflammatory properties.
5 DAY
Lunch
• Baked potatoes
• Baked fish
• Salad
Price
• Boiled broccoli
• Salad
• Baked apple
• Almonds
↘ In potatoes there are substances similar to estrogens useful in the premenstrual phase to facilitate the decrease of progesterone and, therefore, the arrival of the flow.
↘ Associated with raw fish and vegetables, potatoes (gluten-free) perform their diuretic action at their best.
↘ An "unloading" dinner, based only on vegetables (raw and cooked) and fruit, gives a feeling of lightness to both the stomach and intestines and legs.
↘ The cooked apple sedates the excitability and possible intestinal contractions induced by broccoli.
↘ Almonds calm the irritability of the nervous system, frequent in this hormonal phase.
