Avoid processed and fast foods, with their high-salt composition, and you'll help hold water retention at bay and minimize bloating. Caffeine -- found in your daily ration of coffee, tea or soda -- can irritate the stomach by increasing gastrointestinal acidity, making your cramps worse and adding to the discomfort. You don't have to give up your morning pick-me-up cup of coffee, but do limit your intake.

About the author

This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.

Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.

Kendra Syrdal is a writer, editor, partner, and senior publisher for The Thought & Expression Company. Over the last few years she has been personally responsible for writing, editing, and producing over 30+ million pageviews on Thought Catalog.