Keeping my eye on this…
The one thing that pops in my mind (it isn’t evidence-based; just a hunch) is to eat a diet rich in iron and vitamin C, due to the typical loss of iron (via blood loss) during a period. Vitamin C helps the absorption of iron. And I can get even more ~woo~ with this (again, just a hunch) — a diet rich in the nutrients you are deficient in should help lift your mood.
OK, so that’s my little hypothesis.
But otherwise, keeping an eye on this thread! 🤞👀
Dr. Stacy Sims is a great resource for the relationship between exercise performance and menstrual cycles. She talks a lot about nutrition in that context as well. I believe she’s done a Ted Talk but I don’t have the link handy.
There is a popular theory to reduce exercise right before cycle and gradually increase right after, but I really don’t know the research behind this suggestion.
I have read few research articles supporting anerobic exercise and fiber rich meals, in their ability to improve menstrual cycle symptoms for a good part of the population. A trial in an Australian university is ongoing to compare the effects of probiotic strains against menstrual symptoms based on prior promising research
There was a trial done recently where woman with difficult symptoms were asked to go on a WFPB diet for one of two cycles, with the plan to go back to their previous diet plan (or a different planned diet). Many women refused to change their diet from WFPB and withdrew from the trial after the remarkable difference they saw. Maybe placebo effect, but interesting nonetheless.