Study, 2017
Does what women eat affect how severe their premenstrual symptoms are?
Yes. Women with severe premenstrual tension symptoms ate different amounts of certain nutrients compared to women with mild symptoms. Women with severe symptoms ate significantly more fat and vitamin C.
What they did
300 women filled out a questionnaire to measure premenstrual symptoms. From these women, 40 with severe symptoms and 20 with mild symptoms were selected. Researchers tracked what these women ate during 9 days of their menstrual cycle using diet charts.
What they found
Women with severe symptoms ate significantly more fat and vitamin C overall. Women with mild symptoms ate more thiamine. When looking at different cycle phases: women with severe symptoms ate more protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, calories, and riboflavin in the phase before their period and more vitamin C during their period. Women with mild symptoms ate more vitamin C after their period and more magnesium before their period. No significant differences were found in iron, sodium, potassium, and magnesium intake between the two groups overall.
What it means for you
What you eat during your cycle may be linked to how severe your symptoms are. This study shows associations between diet and symptoms but not whether changing your diet would actually change your symptoms. The amounts and types of nutrients vary depending on symptom severity and cycle phase.
300
women in the study
40
women with severe symptoms
20
women with mild symptoms
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Tension Syndrome: Role of Nutritional Intake
- Authors
- Aprajita Sharma
- Journal
- Journal of Research THE BEDE ATHENAEUM
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 300
- What was tested
- Observation of dietary intake during 9 days of the menstrual cycle
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.5958/0976-1748.2017.00004.2
Topics
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