A collaboration post with Bristol Illustrator Laurel Molly - click to visit her website here.

 

Most women are taught to push through their period. To treat fatigue, cramps, and cravings as inconveniences to suppress. But the menstrual phase isn’t a weakness. It’s an internal reset. When estrogen and progesterone fall, inflammation rises, and your body begins the work of cellular repair. What it needs most is warmth, minerals, and gentle nourishment , not depletion. This is the phase for slow-cooked foods, deep hydration, and nutrients that rebuild: iron, magnesium, zinc, and omega-3s. It’s also the time to eat in rhythm. Smaller, frequent meals if digestion feels sensitive, and comforting, whole ingredients that keep your blood sugar steady. When you eat with your cycle, not against it, you stop fighting your body and start collaborating with it. That’s when symptoms soften, energy stabilises, and your period becomes a time of release rather than resistance.