Eating chocolate really relieves menstrual cramps, study finds
- Experts have found that listening to music can also help reduce discomfort during your period
- Researchers tracked 84 students at Manisa Celal Bayar University in Turkey
- Eating 40mg of dark chocolate daily for 4 days significantly reduced pain
It is already the go-to remedy for millions of women battling tough times.
However, scientists argue that eating chocolate is really beneficial.
That is, as long as the woman eats a small amount of the dark variety a few days before her due date.
A study of 84 nursing students found that listening to relaxing music also helped reduce discomfort during the first day of menstruation.
Turkish experts believe that the endorphins released by the body after eating chocolate and listening to music reduce pain and act as a natural sedative.
Turkish experts have found that eating dark chocolate and listening to music can reduce cramps and anxiety during the first day of menstruation.
9 out of 10 women in the UK and 80% of women in the US suffer from period cramps at some point in their lives.
This is caused by the muscles around the uterus tightening, cutting off the blood supply to the organs and causing the tissues to release chemicals that cause pain.
Conditions such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, pelvic inflammatory disease, and adenomyosis can also cause discomfort during your period.
The NHS recommends taking pain relievers such as ibuprofen or aspirin to relieve pain and keep your tummy warm.
A new study published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine followed women aged 18 to 25 studying at Manisa Celal Bayar University.
Originally 90 students participated and all ranked period pain as at least 5 out of 10.
However, 6 people dropped out because they wanted to take painkillers. No one who was given chocolate gave up.
Volunteers were randomly divided into three groups of 30 people. Control groups were given nothing for pain, a chocolate group and a music group.
The chocolate eating group ate 40mg of dark chocolate containing 60% cocoa. For example, an average sized bar like those sold at Cadbury’s or Galaxy contains up to 200g of chocolate.
They were asked to eat chocolate three days before their period and on the first day of their period.
Music group volunteers listened to 29 minutes and 32 seconds of music each day for the same duration.
The song was composed by neurology researcher Juan Sebastian Martín Saavedra with the intention of studying the effects of music on pain in another study.
Slow orchestral pieces are designed to keep you calm and slow.
Participants were asked about pain on the first day of their period at the start of the study.
Questions were also asked at the same time points at the end of the study, allowing researchers to see if their discomfort had changed.
A separate questionnaire was used to assess anxiety levels at regular intervals during the study.
They found that the average pain level dropped from 6 to 5 in 10 in the group that started eating chocolate.
It decreased from 7 to 6 in the music group, but remained at 6 all the way in the control group.
Anxiety levels were reduced by 18% in the chocolate group and 13% in the music group, but not at all in the control group.
A team led by Dr. Asli Karakus Selcuk argued that dark chocolate and music could help relieve dysmenorrhea, the medical term for menstrual cramps.
As they wrote in the journal, they wrote: “Both dark chocolate and music pills have been shown to be highly effective in reducing menstrual pain and anxiety in young women with primary dysmenorrhea.” did.
“It has been suggested that dark chocolate and music therapy can be used safely and effectively as nursing interventions for primary dysmenorrhea to control menstrual pain and anxiety.
“Further research is needed to draw stronger conclusions about the effects of music therapy and dark chocolate.”
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