Wishing the world would come back to normal again from COVID-19, I want to share my experience of participation in an online workshop 'Diet in Menstruation' on April 10, 2020, which was my last achievement of Nepali year 2076. 

The event was organized by- ATHOTA, tff and ypardnepal. Trainers or key speakers of the event were Nutritionist and Dietians : Mr. Aarem Karkee and Ms. Tasnina Karki. Facilitators were Ghanshyam Bhattarai (Country Ambassador Thought for Food President, Athota), Anjali Shrestha (Lab Technician NARC HRD) and Anushuya Guragain (Local Representative YPARD Nepal).

It was found that 34%-94% of ladies have Dysmenorrhea. Being a girl, I too have been suffering from Dysmenorrhea so much that I have to give up on many opportunities and a painful hindrance on my daily activities.

After participating in the workshop, I knew about the major causes of Dysmenorrhea, symptoms, risk factors and its treatment. Primary cause of dysmenorrhea is increment on the level of prostaglandin hormone which is normal during periods. Secondary causes are endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, cysts, infection, etc. As menstrual cramps are so hard to tolerate, most of us prefer medical treatment, use medicines like Meftal. But the easiest and healthiest one, that I learnt from the workshop, was diet we eat specially during periods. Change in lifestyles has made us modern but we started to follow bad habits of consuming junk foods in the name of being modern, which is never healthy. From many researches, it is found that frequency of pain severity in Dysmenorrhea can be lowered significantly by consuming a healthy diet including following items on our diet: 

- Omega-3 : acts against Omega-6 and lowers inflammation.

- Calcium: helps in better functioning of muscle including muscles of uterus + leg muscle.

- Vitamin D: helps in Calcium absorption and use. Helps to reduce prostaglandins. 

- Vitamin E: decreases production of arachidonic acid which is used for the making of prostaglandins. 

- Vitamin B1 : helps in good mechanism of uterus muscle.

Thus, the workshop was safely concluded with a message that starting our day with healthy foods like hot lemon, Ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, chia seeds etc. But not with bread, puff, doughnut, biscuits etc. and healthy snacks during the day (fruits, pulses, nuts, herbal teas etc.) could help us  get rid of dysmenorrhea if practiced on a regular basis. 

Have safe diet.

Stay healthy. 

GREEN CHEERS!!