To this day, modern medicine still doesn’t know why menstruation is uncomfortable, why it is much more uncomfortable for some women than for others, or why the discomfort can vary from month to month. Ibuprofen, naproxen (NSAIDs) and oral contraception are the current mainstays of conventional treatment for menstrual pain; however, I recently ran across some evidence that fish oil may also help to reduce menstrual pain and the even more mysterious (and equally dreaded) PMS!
You may already know that omega 3s have an anti-inflammatory effect; it seems that omega-3s may relieve dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain) by affecting the metabolism of prostaglandins, natural substances which seem to play a central role in menstrual discomfort (more at How Eicosanoids Work). Here are the results of a couple of interesting studies:
- In a 4-month study of 42 young women ages 15 to 18, half the participants received a daily dose of 6 g of fish oil, providing 1,080 mg of EPA and 720 mg of DHA daily. After 2 months, they were switched to placebo for another 2 months. The other group received the same treatments in reverse order. The results showed that these young women experienced significantly less menstrual pain while they were taking fish oil supplements.
- A Danish study of 78 women in 2000 showed women who supplemented their diet with omega-3 fatty acids in fish oils along with vitamin B12 found relief from dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain), fatigue and headache. Researchers reported that omega-3s and vitamin B12 may serve as an alternative treatment to NSAID medication. The study is published in Nutrition Research 2000; 20:621-631.
Fish oil benefits are numerous, but if you’re a woman that experiences PMS/menstrual pain, it would certainly be worth upping your regular dose during that time of the month! Other studies I ran across also pointed to magnesium, vitamin E & GLA possibly providing some additional relief for menstrual discomfort. Hope this helps!
