Survey study, 2015
Does isoflavone supplement help with premenstrual syndrome and period pain?
Isoflavone supplement at 500 mg per day improved several PMS symptoms including mood, concentration, pain, and water retention after 8 weeks, compared to no improvement in women who didn't take it. However, the study was very small with only 10 women in each group.
What they did
Researchers divided 30 college women with moderate to severe period pain into three equal groups. One group took isoflavone supplement at 500 mg per day, another took Cynanchum wilfordii supplement at 6 grams per day, and the third took nothing. They measured PMS symptoms and pain levels before and after 8 weeks.
What they found
Women taking nothing showed no change in symptoms or pain after 8 weeks. Women taking isoflavone supplement showed improvements in negative emotions, behavioral changes, concentration, pain, autonomic nervous system response, water retention, and skin changes. Results for the Cynanchum wilfordii group were not reported in detail.
What it means for you
Isoflavone supplement may help improve several PMS symptoms including mood, pain, and concentration. The main limitations are that this was a very small study with only 30 women total and the published abstract is incomplete, so we don't have full details of the results.
30
college women studied (10 per group)
500 mg per day
isoflavone dose
8
weeks of treatment
About the study
- Original title
- Effects of Isoflavone and Cynanchum wilfordii Supplementation on Premenstrual Syndrome, Dysmenorrhea - Focus on 20’s Women -
- Authors
- Sung Ja Kim
- Journal
- Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
- Year
- 2015
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 10
- What was tested
- Isoflavone supplement at 500 mg per day or Cynanchum wilfordii at 6 grams per day for 8 weeks
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.17495/easdl.2015.2.25.1.64
Topics
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