Bloating is common, and the key to beating it is to understand the cause.
What kind of period bloat do you have?
Estrogen can cause salt and water to beretained in the tissues1.
Many women have too much estrogen relative to deficient levels of progesterone.
That’s the effect of cortisol: It puffs you up byforcing the body to retain sodium3.
(I get on my trampoline at least once a day!)
Stress makes all physical symptoms worse, including bloat.
Also: self-pleasure!Masturbatingis one of the fastest and most fun ways to flush massive amounts of cortisol.
Menstrual cramps are also a sign of low magnesium.
I love recommending dark chocolate as medicine.
Just ensure that you choose chocolate that contains 70 percent cacao or more.
Gut microbiome low-belly bloat.
But here’s where things get really interesting: Digesting food isn’t your gut flora’s only job.
A specific set of your bacteriaknown as the estrobolome11is responsible for helping metabolize estrogen.
When these bacteria are out of balance, your body doesn’t process and eliminate excess estrogen efficiently.
That’s why the first step in putting a stop to bloat is addressing gut health.
Reduce or eliminate sugar, dairy, and gluten, and keep inflammatory processed foods to a minimum.
Then stock up onhormone-healthy whole foodslike organic greens, avocados, pastured eggs, ground flaxseed, and berries.
Make probiotics part of your diet.
Taking a high-quality probiotic helps nudge your gut flora back into balance.
And of course a great magnesium glycinate supplement is great this week.
General bloating advice for every menstruating person.
PMS, including bloating, could be a sign from your body to put yourself first for a week.
Read more from Alisa Vittihere.
