Are you struggling with period pain, heavy bleeding, headaches, mood swings, menstrual cycle irregularities and more?
These are all common symptoms that many women experience and although they are common symptoms, these signs tell us that your body needs support and your overall health can be optimized. Our menstrual cycle is considered our 5th vital sign and can be regarded as our health’s report card. Here are 5 things to help improve your menstrual cycle.

1. Eat regularly

It is important that we eat regularly for our hormone production and regulation. When we skip meals, especially breakfast, this causes a hormonal imbalance and as a result can lead to irregular periods, painful periods, heavy periods, etc. It is important to eat balanced meals regularly and to try and avoid skipping meals throughout the day for our hormonal health.

2. Eat more protein

It is quite common that many women don’t consume enough protein for their body’s needs. Eating adequate amounts of protein is important for the health of our menstrual cycle because it can help manage cravings, support hormone production, support energy levels and help reduce PMS symptoms. Getting adequate amounts of protein helps us to feel full and satisfied and helps to maintain healthy blood sugar levels to help curb those sugar cravings and sustain higher energy levels. On average, an adult needs about 1.0 gram of protein per kilogram of your body weight per day. For example, if you weigh 62kg then you would require at least 62 grams of protein a day. To simplify it further, you would need at least 20g of protein per meal if you are having 3 meals a day. It is helpful to know an estimate of the amount of protein in the common foods you eat to help you achieve your protein goal per meal. If you are struggling to know how much protein you are getting with each meal, let’s chat and put together a simplified meal plan for you to reach your target protein goals so you can be in control of your health!

3. Reduce stress

Increased levels of stress is one of the most common causes of why we can experience changes to our menstrual cycles. What I often chat with my patients about is that stress is going to be present in our lives in different shapes and sizes and the important factor to focus on is what we can do about it or what can we do to manage that stress to help lower its overall effect on us. There are many different ways we can reduce stress, one of my favourite ways is through movement! Incorporating daily movement into your everyday routines can significantly reduce stress! The best movement is based on what you enjoy to do, because that’s what you will actually do, so whether that looks like walking, cycling, swimming, running, pilates, yoga, gym or at home workouts, dancing, etc, the most important is if you enjoy it you will want to commit to doing it regularly and consistency will help you reap all the benefits! Other ways to help reduce stress can be through getting outside, breath work, journaling, having hobbies (creating art, gardening, sewing, knitting, etc) and reading.

4. Prioritize sleep

Ensuring you are getting adequate amounts of sleep every night is important to support our menstrual cycle. Hormones like estrogen and progesterone fluctuate during our menstrual cycle and can affect our sleep. It has been shown that poor sleep quality is linked to having heavier periods. Most adults need an average of about 6-8 hours of good quality sleep a night. When we have good quality sleep we tend to feel well rested, more refreshed upon waking and can tackle daily activities better. Having poor sleep quality not only can make you tired but can impact the length of your menstrual cycle, by having too short or too long of cycles. Creating a consistent sleep schedule is one of the ways we can improve the quality of our sleep. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, this helps to regulate our body’s internal clock. For example, going to bed at 10:00pm and waking up at 6:00am every day. Your sleep environment also plays a huge role in your ability to sleep well, so making sure your bedroom is dark, cool and quiet is important to help improve your quality of sleep. Try your best to avoid screen use before bed, the blue light in our phones, TVs, iPads, etc interfere with our natural melatonin (sleep hormone) production and can make it harder for us to fall asleep quicker and to stay asleep throughout the night.

5. Move your body

Regular physical activity is important for our menstrual cycle because it helps to regulate our hormones. Regular physical activity is needed for healthy hormone function, it impacts many different hormones like estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, serotonin, dopamine, insulin, testosterone, etc to name a few. It is important to note that overexercising and undereating can negatively impact our hormone function so it is best to have a balance between exercise and healthy eating. The best movement as mentioned above is choosing a form of physical activity that you enjoy because that will help create a level of consistency and make it part of your regular routine. Some examples of ways you can move your body include gym or at home workouts, walking, running, pilates, yoga, cycling, swimming, dancing, etc. I enjoy working out with a friend to help keep me accountable and it also allows for some social connection as well. Create a movement schedule that fits your schedule so that it isn’t a daunting task, for example you can choose to workout before going to work or after work but schedule it in like an appointment to help keep you accountable and create consistency.