Targeting menstrual pain: fewer soft drinks, more coffee

Dysmenorrhea affects 50%-to-90% of menstruating teenagers. Painful periods are a major cause of absenteeism from school for a third of them. Changes in diet can reduce the severity of their symptoms, notably by cutting down on soft drinks and sweetened non-alcoholic beverages, while integrating coffee into their daily lives.These are the findings of a study published in Scientific Reports and carried out on over 1,800 Chinese university undergraduate students. Nearly half of them (47.1%) had suffered from dysmenorrhea in the previous three months. Of these, 26% reported severe symptoms and 49% moderate symptoms. High menstrual flow was also more frequent in the case of dysmenorrhea.Analysis of the dietary habits of these young women revealed that the risk of dysmenorrhea was 24% higher among soft drink consumers. This association was even stronger for women living in rural areas, where the risk of dysmenorrhea climbed to 40%. This effect may be dose-related. Thus, drinking one soft drink or less per week would be associated with more moderate symptoms, while higher consumption would lead to severe menstrual cramps. Prostaglandin levels in playSurprisingly, caffeine showed a protective effect against painful menstruation. There were far fewer cases of severe or moderate symptoms among coffee drinkers (OR: 0.451 - 95% CI 0.228-0.892). Unlike soft drinks, there was no relationship between the quantity of coffee consumed and the severity of symptoms.In women suffering from dysmenorrhea, the concentration of type F2 prostaglandins in the menstrual fluid was much higher than in those who did not. A diet rich in refined sugars can lead to an increase in these metabolites. “High levels of prostaglandin F2 cause the uterus to contract, restricting blood flow. This leads to the appearance of anaerobic metabolites that activate pain receptors,” the authors wrote.Other studies have shown that excessive sugar consumption increases circulating steroid levels in the blood, particularly cortisol. This stress hormone is found in greater quantities in women suffering from menstrual pain. Dysregulation of the stress response could therefore also be involved in the onset of dysmenorrhea.As for coffee, it is thought to have a beneficial effect on another type of prostaglandin: prostaglandin E1, responsible for uterine relaxation. These molecules naturally increase during menstruation, but caffeine amplifies their effect by stimulating vasodilation and uterine smooth muscle relaxation.

Targeting menstrual pain: fewer soft drinks, more coffee

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