--- title: Does eating harder or chewier food help with premenstrual symptoms? description: No. The study found no link between how hard food is to chew and premenstrual symptom severity, so eating harder foods does not appear to help. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/association-between-hardness-difficulty-of-chewing-of-the-habitual-diet-and-2010/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does eating harder or chewier food help with premenstrual symptoms? Survey study, 2010 # Does eating harder or chewier food help with premenstrual symptoms? No. The study found no link between how hard food is to chew and premenstrual symptom severity, so eating harder foods does not appear to help. Early or limited evidence 640 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18-22 ## What they did Researchers surveyed 640 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18-22. They assessed how hard their usual diet was to chew by evaluating 107 foods and calculating the muscle activity required to chew each one. They measured premenstrual symptoms using standard questions about pain, concentration, mood changes, water retention, and other issues. ## What they found There was no association between the hardness of the diet and total premenstrual symptom scores. No association was found for any individual symptom type either, including pain, concentration problems, behavioral changes, physical symptoms, or mood symptoms. ## What it means for you Eating hard or chewy foods does not appear to reduce premenstrual symptoms. The main limits are that this is only one study, the way chewing difficulty was measured may not have been ideal, and the results do not prove the opposite is true. 640 students studied 107 foods assessed 18-22 age range ## About the study Original title Association between Hardness (Difficulty of Chewing) of the Habitual Diet and Premenstrual Symptoms in Young Japanese Women Authors Murakami K, Sasaki S, Takahashi Y et al. Journal Environmental health insights Year 2010 Study design Survey study Participants 640 What was tested None; the study observed usual dietary habits and their relationship to symptoms. Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.4137/ehi.s2810](https://doi.org/10.4137/ehi.s2810) Original abstract Recent evidence suggests that voluntary rhythmic movements such as chewing may increase blood serotonin and subsequently brain serotonin, which in turn acts to alleviate premenstrual symptoms. In this observational cross-sectional study, we tested the hypothesis that hardness (difficulty of chewing) of the habitual diet (i.e. dietary hardness) is associated with decreased premenstrual symptoms. Subjects were 640 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18-22 years. Dietary hardness was assessed as an estimate of masticatory muscle activity for the habitual diet (i.e. the difficulty of chewing the food). The consumption of a total of 107 foods was estimated by means of a self-administered, comprehensive diet history questionnaire, and masticatory muscle activity during the ingestion of these foods was estimated according to published equations. Menstrual cycle symptoms were assessed using the retrospective version of the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, from which total score and subscale scores (i.e. pain, concentration, behavioral change, autonomic reactions, water retention, and negative affect) in the premenstrual phase were calculated and expressed as percentages relative to those in the intermenstrual phase. Dietary hardness was not associated with total score in the premenstrual phase (P for trend = 0.48). Further, no association was seen for any subscale score in the premenstrual phase (P for trend = 0.18-0.91). In conclusion, this preliminary study failed to substantiate a hypothesized inverse relationship between hardness of the habitual diet and premenstrual symptoms. Considering the plausibility of the putative mechanism, however, further investigation using more relevant measures of chewing and premenstrual symptoms is warranted. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Diet and nutrition](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diet/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Review, 1997 Does appetite and food cravings change during the menstrual cycle, especially in women with PMS? Review, 2026 Can diet and nutrition help reduce PMS symptoms? Cohort study, 2026 Are diet and lifestyle linked to premenstrual symptoms in college students? Cohort study, 2026 Are stress, physical activity, and diet linked to premenstrual symptoms? Survey study, 2026 How do pain, sleep quality, and appetite change across the menstrual cycle? Case-control study, 2026 Does vitamin D help PMS symptoms? 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