Foods to Avoid During Menstruation
STOP!
While eating your favorite foods can be a stress reliever, it’s important to consider that physical stress also affects your well-being. Prioritizing your body’s needs can ultimately improve your mood as well.
The following list includes foods that tend to cool the body. Ice eating is considered a symptom of iron deficiency. Since cooling the body further can worsen your condition, it’s best to avoid it. Focus on increasing your iron intake first.
If you absolutely must eat these foods, pairing them with warming seasonings (such as green onions or chili peppers) can help mitigate their cooling effects. So, they are not an absolute no-go; just be cautious.
Foods That Cool the Body
- Spinach
- Mint
- Chrysanthemum
- Mulberry
- Kudzu (Kudzu root powder is good for heat, but not recommended for colds without fever)
- Celery
- Chinese cabbage
- Watercress
- Water chestnut
- Amaranth
- Reed (Makomo)
- Bitter melon
- Cucumber
- Tomato
- Zucchini
- Millet
- Sorghum
- Wheat
- Barley
- Tofu (Soy milk is fine)
- Yuba (tofu skin)
- Konnyaku
- Purslane
- Watermelon
- Melon
- Banana
- Sugarcane
- White sugar
- Mango
- Passion fruit
- Apple (okay when paired with cinnamon)
- Kiwi
- Coconut
- Clams
- Shellfish
- Crab
- Asari clams
- Various bean sprouts
- Pineapple
- Aloe
- Shepherd’s purse
- Lettuce
- Jerusalem artichoke
- Winter melon
- White cucumber
- Pike eel
- Clam
- Job’s tears
- Buckwheat
- Orange
- Pomelo
- Lotus root
- Eggplant
- Water spinach
- Black fungus (though it’s good for women’s health outside of menstruation)
- Okara (soy pulp)
- Daikon radish
- Okra
- Nori (seaweed)
- Kelp
- Seaweed
- Chinese yam
- Bamboo shoots
- Loofah
- Persimmon
- Pear
- Loquat
- Loquat leaves (often used in tea)
- Pearl
- Octopus
- Strawberry
- White sesame (black sesame is fine)
- Horse meat
- Rabbit
- Razor clam
- Lard
- Lily bulb
As previously mentioned, these foods are not absolutely off-limits. You can make them beneficial by pairing them with warming seasonings like ginger, garlic, or chili peppers to mitigate their cooling effects.
Ideally, try to avoid these foods about a week before your period.
Cooling the body might seem harmful, but some people have a constitution that tends to retain heat, such as those prone to eye redness or constipation. For these individuals or during the summer, these cooling foods can be helpful.
Everything has its uses, and even foods that are mostly water can be used medicinally. Nutrient-rich foods may be used in smaller quantities.
Next, let’s move on to beverages.→Beverages for Menstrual Periods
