9 Effective Period Supplements According to A Period Health Mentor

It’s that time of the month again. You’re feeling irritable and sluggish. You feel anxious. You’re craving certain foods. You have painful cramps. This scenario plays out over and over and it interferes with your life. But sis,  it doesn’t have to be like this.

Various women’s health vitamins can help with period pain, PMS symptoms, heavy bleeding, and major discomfort. Thankfully, we have some of the best recommendations from our very own Certified Plant-Based Nutritionist and Period Health Mentor,   Dana Drahos.

“From a very young age we learn to hate our bodies and that dreaded time of the month,” says Drahos.  “What we don't get taught is that relief can be found through healing your relationship with your body, proper nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes. We can live in harmony with our cycle and experience easy, pain-free periods.”

It’s true: you can fix or at least alleviate your period woes with the right supplements.

But what exactly does your body need?

Keep reading for nine of the most effective period supplements to help you feel better, less anxious, and more comfortable during menstruation.

It’s a great idea to take a period supplement to replenish the iron stores in your body, as 

heavy bleeding during your period can lead to iron deficiencies. Women with a particularly heavy flow may also suffer from anemia. 

Not having enough iron can decrease normal cell function, so it’s especially important to increase that iron intake with a supplement. And iron has other benefits too. It increases hemoglobin levels, improves energy, and can help reduce depression and anxiety.

Vitamin C is essential for the growth and repair of our bodies’ tissues, supporting the immune system, healing wounds, and forming collagen. 

For women with excessive bleeding, vitamin C can help because it strengthens capillaries and improves iron absorption in the body. Vitamin C supplements can also help increase progesterone levels during your period.

Zinc is a wonderful period supplement, and it can help you when you have your period by improving PMS. The fact that it nourishes healthy ovarian follicles and promotes ovulation means that it can help you if you have irregular periods. It can ease the pain during menstruation as it reduces inflammation and prostaglandins. 

But zinc offers other benefits as well. It’s effective at blocking androgens, slowing sebum production, and killing bacteria, so it improves your skin’s appearance. It also supports the hippocampus in stabilizing cortisol levels and helping to reduce our stress responses.

Magnesium is an excellent supplement, especially for women with painful period cramps. These cramps are produced when your uterine muscles contract. Magnesium is extremely effective at relaxing those muscles to provide relief, and at reducing the prostaglandins that can also cause period pain.  

Decreased magnesium levels can also lead to PMS, and if you have migraines while on your period, a supplement with this mineral may help ease them.

This mineral can aid in healthy bowel movements and is also important for dopamine synthesis. If there’s an imbalance in the body, we can become more moody and even anxious. Magnesium, known as “nature’s relaxant,” has calming properties that are extremely beneficial. It works particularly well when combined with B6.

This vitamin is a true star when it comes to improving your mood, regulating your blood levels, and promoting healthy brain function.

As I mentioned, when you take it together with magnesium, it can help reduce anxiety and irritability. It also helps relieve PMS symptoms through the synthesis of progesterone, and it’s needed to make brain neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. B6 can also help with cyclical acne and mood disorders associated with PMS.

Vitamin D is another period supplement that can help ease menstrual cramps. This particular vitamin can help regulate the production of prostaglandins, which in turn can make that time of the month feel a little less painful. 

Additionally, studies show that 80% of women diagnosed with fibroids also had a vitamin D deficiency. This vitamin is very important, as it can help to reduce inflammation, it supports the body in retaining phosphorus and calcium, and it improves immunity

This is an important vitamin for countless reasons, from red blood cell formation to helping the brain and nervous system function. When it comes to your period, it can help replace losses from a heavy menstrual flow by stabilizing hormone levels.

Beyond your period, B12 is also essential for supporting nerve functions, boosting energy and combating fatigue, and producing serotonin. 

We all know flaxseeds are great to eat but this super seed also helps to promote ovulation regularity and progesterone production for optimum hormonal balance during your monthly cycle. Flaxseeds are also loaded with fiber which helps the body eliminate toxins. 

The show's superstar, Diindolylmethane (DIM) is an organic compound derived from the digestion of indole-3-carbinol (I3C), found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. ​​Hello daily veggies! 

A few clinical trials have shown the ingredients to support healthy estrogen metabolism, which could help lower the risk of certain cancers and estrogen-induced conditions such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, fibroid growth, endometriosis, and polyps.

The good news

The good news is that instead of taking all of these vitamins and minerals individually, you can take our period vitamins My Happy Flo!

My Happy Flo is a plant-based period relief vitamin with almost all of the supplements mentioned above. It contains iron, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, B6, D3, and B12. It will help:

• Alleviate heavy bleeding
• Reduce intense cramps
• Reduce bloating
• Replenish essential micronutrients
• Support hormonal balance, and
• Reduce mood swings

“When we experience PMS, heavy bleeding, insomnia, painful cramps, irregular and missing periods, this is our body's way of communicating that something is wrong. Yet, so many of us were never taught how to listen to our body's wisdom and interpret her message in order to heal,” Dana continues.

Instead of taking it strictly during your period, you can take it like a multivitamin twice a day. Include this period supplement in your regular repertoire, and get ready to see a positive change in your cycle and overall wellness.