Case-control study, 2016
Does caffeine intake cause or worsen PMS?
No. Total caffeine intake was not associated with PMS development, and high coffee intake also was not associated with PMS. Current recommendations for women to reduce caffeine to prevent PMS may not be helpful.
What they did
A case-control study nested within the Nurses' Health Study II tracked women from 1991 to 2005. All were free from PMS at baseline in 1991. PMS cases reported a new clinician diagnosis and confirmed moderate-to-severe symptoms. Controls had no or mild symptoms. Researchers measured caffeine, coffee, and tea intake every 4 years using questionnaires.
What they found
After adjusting for age, smoking, and other factors, highest caffeine intake (543 mg/day) versus lowest (18 mg/day) was not associated with PMS (odds ratio 0.79, 95% CI 0.61-1.04). High caffeinated coffee (4 or more cups per day compared to less than 1 per month) also was not associated with PMS (odds ratio 0.73, 95% CI 0.48-1.12) or breast tenderness.
What it means for you
Caffeine does not appear to cause or worsen PMS, so current advice to cut caffeine for PMS prevention may not help. This is important because women are often told to avoid caffeine. However, this is an observational study, so we cannot prove caffeine definitely does not cause PMS, only that it was not associated in this large sample.
543 mg/day
highest caffeine intake
18 mg/day
lowest caffeine intake
0.79
odds ratio for PMS
About the study
- Original title
- A prospective study of caffeine and coffee intake and premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Purdue-Smithe AC, Manson JE, Hankinson SE et al.
- Journal
- The American journal of clinical nutrition
- Year
- 2016
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 2,426
- What was tested
- Observational study of caffeine, coffee, and tea intake
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.127027
Topics
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