Food does not cure a period problem, and we won’t tell you it does. What it can do is narrower and easier to check: keep your iron up when your periods are heavy, steady your eating when appetite swings, and put into practice what the NHS and the British Dietetic Association advise for PMOS.

Heavy periods, and your iron. Heavy periods are one of the most common causes of iron deficiency anaemia, and fibroids can make periods heavier. If your GP prescribes iron tablets, food does not replace them. What we work on is the rest: more of the foods the NHS lists as rich in iron, such as dark-green leafy vegetables, fortified cereals, meat, dried fruit and pulses, and less of the tea, coffee and dairy that, in large amounts, make iron harder to absorb. The NHS says you might be referred to a specialist dietitian if you’re finding it hard to include iron in your diet. That is this work.

If you have PMOS and heavy periods. The two sets of advice pull in different directions: wholegrains are part of eating for PMOS, and the NHS lists wholegrain cereals among the foods that can stop your body absorbing iron. Balancing the two for one person is exactly what a dietitian is for.

The days before your period. Cravings, bloating and changes in appetite are common signs of PMS. The NHS suggests a healthy, balanced diet, and says you may find eating frequent smaller meals every 2 to 3 hours better. On supplements such as vitamin B6, calcium, vitamin D and magnesium, it says there is not much evidence that they work. We start with your meals.

PMOS and insulin. Many people with PMOS are resistant to the effects of insulin, and it is one of the things checked by blood test when PMOS is investigated. The eating that follows is practical rather than restrictive: regular meals, carbohydrates that raise blood sugar more slowly, and balanced plates. NHS advice adds losing weight if you are overweight, and the British Dietetic Association is candid that insulin resistance and cravings can make that hard. We work on it without a fad diet.

Endometriosis. Not because food treats it: the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which sets the clinical guidelines the NHS works to, makes no dietary recommendation for endometriosis, and we won’t invent one. What we can work on is what sits alongside it: the IBS-type symptoms that so often overlap, and eating that has become erratic around pain and fatigue. If digestive symptoms are the main problem, that work is on Gastroenterology Support.

Alongside your GP, never instead. We do not diagnose PMOS, endometriosis or fibroids, and we do not prescribe. We work with the diagnosis and treatment your GP or consultant has set.

Fertility care is often a long wait punctuated by things you cannot influence. Nutrition is one of the few you can.

We work with women trying to conceive, women preparing for or already in IVF, ICSI or IUI, women who are pregnant, and women after the birth.

Before you conceive, whatever route you take. NICE advises 400 micrograms of folic acid a day for anyone planning a pregnancy, ideally for three months beforehand, and a 5 mg dose only for specific reasons: a personal, partner or family history of neural tube defect, a previous pregnancy affected by one, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, sickle cell anaemia or thalassaemia, or medicines that interfere with folate such as anti-epileptics. If your BMI is 25 or over, NICE is now explicit that you do not need the higher dose, and a good deal of older material still says otherwise. We check what you are actually taking, and where the dose looks wrong in either direction, we write to your GP. We don’t prescribe.

If you have had bariatric surgery, NICE asks that you get individualised specialist advice about folic acid and other micronutrients before conceiving. We work with your bariatric unit on that.

Before an NHS-funded cycle. In England, each local NHS area sets its own criteria for funded treatment, and body weight is commonly one of them, often as a BMI between 19 and 30 before treatment starts. If weight, too high or too low, is what currently stands between you and treatment, that is a nutrition problem, and it is one we work on with you.

During treatment. Stimulation, appetite changes, fatigue, bloating and nausea are common. We adapt your eating around the cycle instead of adding another set of rules to follow.

Conditions worth checking. If you have PMOS or endometriosis, the work is set out under Periods, PMOS and endometriosis above; where treatment is the goal, weight and eating around them come into it. And where fertility problems are unexplained, NICE advises considering a test for coeliac disease. We will ask whether it has been checked, and if it hasn’t, we write to your GP. Until then, don’t cut out gluten: the test needs it.

Pregnancy. NICE’s guideline on maternal and child nutrition names dietitians among the professionals who discuss eating and weight in pregnancy. It is clear that weight loss during pregnancy is not recommended, and that routine weighing isn’t either unless there is a clinical reason. If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, NICE asks for advice built on your usual diet, and says there is no convincing evidence that one particular diet is better than another. So the advice is yours, not a template, and we work alongside your midwife and maternity team.

After the birth, and while breastfeeding. Feeding a baby raises what your body needs at the exact moment you have least time to think about it. We work around the sleep you are actually getting, not the routine you would have if you were sleeping.

Alongside your clinic, never instead of it. We do not diagnose, we do not prescribe, and we do not replace your consultant, your midwife or your GP. We work with the plan they have set.

What the evidence says, and what it does not. NICE's fertility guideline (NG257, March 2026) advises that a BMI of 30 or over is likely to lengthen the time to conception, and that where ovulation is affected, losing weight is likely to increase the chance of conceiving. That is the ground we stand on. We will never tell you that food guarantees a pregnancy or improves your IVF success rate. No dietitian can promise that, and anyone who does is selling you something.

Herbal remedies such as red clover and black cohosh are sold for menopause symptoms. The NHS says there is very little evidence of how well they work or how safe they are, and that some can cause serious side effects with other medicines. We don’t sell any, and we start from what the NHS and NICE do say.

What the guidance says, and what it does not. NICE's menopause guideline contains no dietary recommendation for menopause symptoms, and we won't invent one. What it does ask is that bone health is discussed at review. That part is nutrition, and it is measurable.

Perimenopause, and your periods. One of the first signs of perimenopause is usually a change to your periods, and bleeding may get heavier. If it does, your iron is worth checking with your GP, and the food side is set out under Periods, PMOS and endometriosis. Bleeding after the menopause is different: see your GP, even if it has only happened once.

Bone health. Menopause can weaken your bones. On the food side, the NHS names calcium-rich foods such as milk, yoghurt and kale, and vitamin D, which government advice says everyone should consider taking as a daily supplement in autumn and winter. We work out what your diet actually provides before anyone sells you a tablet.

Hot flushes and night sweats. The NHS lists triggers worth identifying properly rather than guessing at: caffeine, alcohol, spicy food and hot drinks. Keeping to a healthy weight is on the same list.

Premature ovarian insufficiency. Where hormonal treatment isn't an option, NICE asks that women receive advice on bone and cardiovascular health. Both have a nutritional side, and both are ours.