Survey study, 2026
Do women with severe PMS symptoms have higher odds of eating disorders?
Yes. Women with worse PMS have higher odds of eating disorders, mainly because they tend to engage in more emotional eating and food addiction, particularly if they have unhelpful thinking patterns.
What they did
Surveyed 600 women (average age 26.6 years) about PMS symptoms, eating patterns, food cravings, unhelpful thoughts, and eating disorder screening. 25% identified as Asian, Black, Latina/Hispanic, or White minorities.
What they found
Women with worse PMS had more emotional eating and food addiction. Both emotional eating and food addiction linked PMS severity to higher odds of eating disorder screening. The connection between PMS and food addiction was stronger in women with more unhelpful thought patterns. PMS was not linked to age or body weight.
What it means for you
Severe PMS may increase your risk of eating disorders through emotional eating and cravings, especially if you tend to think in unhelpful ways. However, this is a snapshot survey, so we cannot say PMS causes eating disorders. The results are from online responses in one study.
600
women surveyed
26.6
average age in years
25%
identified as Asian, Black, Latina/Hispanic, or White minority backgrounds
About the study
- Original title
- The association between premenstrual symptom severity and eating disorder: Mediation by food addiction and emotional eating, moderation by irrational beliefs
- Authors
- Nolan LJ, Aurelus E, Eshleman A
- Journal
- Physiology & behavior
- Year
- 2026
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 600
- What was tested
- Premenstrual symptom severity
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115180
Topics
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