Being a woman is great and all, but periods are the worst.Turns out, there are certain foods (usually the ones you crave like crazy) that make those awful menstrual side effects even worse. If you don't want to go through hell and back once every month, steer clear of these foods.

Cheese

Cheese is a magic food that brings happiness to everything it touches, but those saturated fats in cheese aren't very friendly to your menstruating body.

"Eating a diet high in saturated fat during the first few days of your period can lead to bloating, breast tenderness and breakouts," Dr. Lori Shemek said in an interview with Bustle.

Candy

Thanks to your fluctuating hormones, your body usually craves sugar and fat. According to Women's Health, as your hormones spike the feel good hormone, serotonin, drops. Sugar and fried foods give your body those happy hormones it wants, but only temporarily.

If you look for healthier snacks (like dark chocolate covered almonds rather than a Twix), the protein will last you longer, and you won't need to snack on junk food as often.

White bread

Consuming carbs isn't bad, but certain refined carbs like pasta, rice and white bread can make your emotions worse. Since white sugar is a refined carb, your body goes through the same roller coaster of hormones when you eat bread as it does with sugar.

French fries

This isn't the 90's anymore, and we've now scientifically proven that fat doesn't actually make you fat. In fact, your body needs healthy fats to function, but the fats used in French fries and other fried foods are trans-fat, which are not on the healthy list.

Stay away from these heavy foods and fuel your body with healthy fats that come from salmon, chia seeds, nuts, soybeans and flaxseed oil. These foods, which contain omega-3, can actually reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, according to this study.

Processed foods

This includes snacks like chips, cookies, crackers, hot dogs, breakfast cereal and bacon. These foods are high in trans-fats, so they affect your body the same way French fries do.

Ice cream

This might possibly be the worst news to all women everywhere, but similar to cheese, ice cream can increase cramping as well, according to LiveStrong.

A food that most people believe are effecting your period, but hasn't been proven:

Caffeine

Many articles recommend steering clear of caffeine while menstruating, but a 14-year study published in July discovered that caffeine isn't associated with PMS.

Basically, science has concluded that the healthier you eat on your period, the better chance you have at alleviating PMS symptoms. But, cut yourself some slack and don't force all these changes at once. This will increase your chances of getting even more overwhelmed and binging on all the worst foods.