6 Mood Boosting Nutrients You Need Before Your Period
Yelling at your significant other randomly, crying over something random and feeling more anxious than ever are just a few red flags that your hormones need some support. Learn why you get mood swings before your period, why it's important to cycle sync with food and 6 nutrients that are the best for boosting your mood!
If you get your mood swings 1-2 weeks away from your next period, this is called your luteal phase. Your luteal phase takes place after ovulation and progesterone is the dominant hormone.
Progesterone keeps you chill & calm but if you aren’t producing enough of it and supporting it through seed cycling and other diet/lifestyle changes...you may notice the exact opposite during this phase.
Irritability, sadness, anxiety and anger are just a few examples.
We’ve all been there..but the most important thing to know is that this be avoided! YAY!🎉
Supporting this hormone through nutrition is critical⬇️
Below are some progesterone loving, mood boosting vitamins and minerals that are found in our RADIANT Blend (sesame & sunflower) which is taken in your luteal phase.
1. Magnesium. This mineral is deficient in the majority of Americans and gets depleted with more stress. Magnesium is known as the ‘calming’ mineral and helps relax your nervous system. This leads to less stress & sadness.
Also found in pumpkin/flax (GLOW blend), dark chocolate, cashews and dark leafy greens.
2. B6. This vitamin is known to boost mood and reduce symptoms of depression because it can create happy neurotransmitters that regulate emotions. For example, dopamine, serotonin and GABA all uplift your mood!
Also found in tuna, salmon, chickpeas and beef liver.
3. B1. This is another B vitamin that helps boost mood and relieve irritability.
Also found in fish, pork and green peas.
4. Calcium. People with higher calcium intake were correlated with having less perceived stress, higher resilience, less anxiety and overall more positive moods. Calcium also helps you feel less fatigued.
Also found in dairy products, broccoli, soybeans, fortified foods and eggs.
5. Iron. This mineral is a common deficiency among female athletes. A 2020 study in BMC Psychiatry discovered that people with iron deficiency anemia were more likely to have anxiety, depression and sleep issues.
Reminder that plant based iron (non-heme) needs to be paired with vitamin C to be absorbed properly. Examples of this is peppers and RADIANT on your salad, RADIANT in your smoothie or RADIANT on top of yogurt/oatmeal with fruit.
Iron is also found in flax/pumpkin (GLOW blend), red meat, beans, dark green leafy veggies, seafood and poultry.
6. Vitamin E. This vitamin has a direct effect with boosting your progesterone which will help boost your mood and keep it more stable throughout this phase.
Also found in almonds, peanut butter, beet greens, avocado, collard greens, spinach and red bell pepper.
Don’t Forget About Your Follicular Phase!
Just because you develop mood swings more doing your luteal phase, does not mean that you don’t need to support your hormones in your follicular phase. Your follicular phase is your period to ovulation where estrogen is the main hormone. How you eat during this phase is just as important and can help also avoid mood swings in your luteal phase.
For example…
Did you know that you can’t produce progesterone unless you ovulate? Your follicular blend provides you with zinc that helps support ovulation to make sure you produce the lovely, chill and mellow - progesterone. Learn how to track ovulation and why it’s important.
Did you also know that if you don’t excrete estrogen efficiently in this first half of your cycle that you will experience PMS symptoms like headaches, mood issues and acne in your second half aka too much estrogen?
How To Seed Cycle To Kick Mood Swings To The Curb!
Step 1: Track your cycle.
Step 2: Create a plan. When are you taking the seeds everyday and what food/drink are you putting them in?
Step 3: Add 2 tbsps, daily on top of anything for a hormone friendly boost.
GLOW (flax & pumpkin) is taken on days 1-14 (period to ovulation) and RADIANT (sesame & sunflower) is taken on days 15-28 (ovulation to period).
Add on top of foods like smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, soups, salads or make desserts & energy bites with them!
Check out these mood boosting cookie bars that contain the RADIANT blend!
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