“Ladies, got you covered!,” Here’s how to fight menstrual cramps with food.

About 85 percent of girls suffer painful bloating, cramps and abdominal pain during their monthly periods — and for some the problems can last for years.
“Since menstrual pain is a leading cause of school absenteeism for adolescent girls, it’s important to explore options that can minimize the pain,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida.

But there are behavioral adjustments girls and young women can make to reduce pain, according to a new analysis of studies.
“Diet modification could be a relatively simple solution that could provide substantial relief for them,” said Faubion, who is also the medical director for The North American Menopausal Society, of the research findings.

The abstract, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of NAMS, explored the connection between diet and dysmenorrhea, the medical term for painful periods.The lead author, Serah Sannoh became interested in the topic due to her own menstrual pain, which has plagued her since adolescence.
“I found diets high in inflammatory foods such as animal meats, oil, sugars, salts, and coffee contribute to an increased risk of pain during a woman’s period,” said Sannoh, who conducted the research as an intern at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey….“A lot of the things that young people like to eat are are highly inflammatory … lunch meats, foods full of sugars and trans fats. But if you go on an anti-inflammatory diet — fruit, vegetables, olive oil, like the Mediterranean diet — you’ll get less cramping,” said NAMS board member Dr. Monica Christmas, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.

The scientific evidence has shown eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep and exercising are effective measures in curtailing the duration and severity of cramps, Christmas said…But she noted it’s important for women to see a health care provider: “Make sure that there’s no some other medical condition that might also be contributing to the symptoms.”As your body prepares to menstruate, endometrial cells that built a lining in the uterus to welcome a fertilized egg begin to break down.

Eating inflammatory foods only adds to the discomfort, studies have found. Highly processed and high-sugar foods and fatty, greasy foods are common culprits — a 2018 study found college students who ate more snacks had more pain during their periods.But too many of these fatty acids can cause inflammation when the body ultimately breaks them down into arachidonic acid, which lowers the body’s pain threshold.
“From my research, I found out that people with diets high in omega-6 fatty acids, especifically those derived from animal-based products, have a higher presence of arachidonic acid in the body, which increases the amount of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins that help the uterus contract,” Sannoh said….“When you have a diet that balances omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and you decrease the amount of inflammatory foods that you ingest, that will decrease the painful menstrual experience,” she added.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, reduce the production of prostaglandins, which is why they are a mainstay of treatment for cramps, Christmas said.

However, these pain medications also have side effects. According to a 2015 Cochrane Library review of evidence, NSAIDs are linked to bloating, diarrhea, dizziness, indigestion, headaches, heartburn, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting and on rare occasions, raised liver enzymes.There’s an added benefit to adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, Christmas said.
“These diets are also associated with less high blood pressure, less cardiovascular disease, less diabetes, less arthritic issues, decreased morbidity and mortality, especially after menopause,” Christmas said….“So if you can get people who are young to eat better, exercise, and live a healthier lifestyle, they’re going fare better as they age.”

Article By Suzy Nyongesa.