Randomised trial, 2025
Does caloric restriction and aerobic exercise improve PMS symptoms in obese women?
Yes, when combined with medication, caloric restriction and aerobic exercise significantly improved PMS symptoms, reduced weight, and improved stress and reproductive hormones over 12 weeks.
What they did
Randomized controlled trial with 40 obese women with PMS. Both groups received ibuprofen for 12 weeks (one tablet daily for 5 days before menstruation, two daily during). The study group also did caloric restriction and aerobic exercise. Researchers measured PMS symptoms, weight, body size, and hormones.
What they found
The exercise and diet group showed significantly greater improvements than medication alone: lower PMS symptom scores, weight loss, lower BMI, smaller waist and hip measurements, lower stress hormone (cortisol), and higher reproductive hormone (progesterone) (all p < 0.05). At baseline, the groups had no differences.
What it means for you
For obese women with PMS, adding exercise and dietary changes to medication works better than medication alone. This suggests that weight loss and fitness improvements help reduce PMS. The main limitation is that it only tested women with obesity, so results may not apply to women at a normal weight.
40
Sample size
12 weeks
Duration
20
Per group
About the study
- Original title
- Effect of Caloric Restriction and Aerobic Exercise on Premenstrual Syndrome, Anthropometric, and Hormonal Parameters in Obese Females: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Soliman YM, Okeel FM, Yousef AM et al.
- Journal
- Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 40
- What was tested
- 12 weeks of caloric restriction and aerobic exercise plus medication
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/pri.70015
Topics
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