Whole grains for a healthy menstrual cycle

Some of the most common advice women may hear when inquiring about fertility diets is “eat whole grains every day”. And the same applies to food for menstrual cycle too!

Why?

Because regardless of your pregnancy plans, a healthy menstrual cycle is all about fertility!

If you want to read more about this topic, don't forget to check out my blog post Let's Start Talking About Menstrual Health Outside of "Pregnancy" where I shared my thoughts on why the menstrual cycle and women’s health continue to be mostly discussed in the context of pregnancy, and how we mixed up "fertility" and "pregnancy"...two related, yet quite significantly different, concepts.

But today I’d like to invite you to look at what whole grains are and why and how much of it can be beneficial for women who want to naturally reduce PMS symptoms and address hormonal imbalance.

What are whole grains?

Unlike processed grains (that are stripped of precious nutrients during the refining process), whole grains contain every part of the original grain (including the outer layers, bran and germ) as was intended by nature. Some examples include:

· whole oats

· whole corn

· popcorn

· whole rye

· brown rice

· whole barley

· bulgur

· amaranth

· millet

· quinoa

· wild rice

· teff

· buckwheat

and of course, whole wheat* (note: in the store “whole wheat” is not always “whole grain”). I know, crazy, right?

WHEAT SHOPPING TIP: When looking at ingredient lists for whole wheat products, make sure it says “whole grain whole wheat”. If it just says “whole wheat” or “100% whole wheat”, that often means that part of the wheat kernel has been removed.